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The following is the list of past events organized or attended by Auckland. It should give you a better idea of to what's been happening for the sport of Handball in the Auckland region. And it's probably the best way to tell the story of this sport in the region, so if you know of any events that hasn't been listed here, please do let us know and we will be very happy to add them to the list.
December 2007 - Spring Open Tournament (Auckland)
For this last event of the 2007 season, the atmosphere was amazing and the results for both men and women were a perfect draw between the different teams.
So the scores had to be settled down during the after tournament party, starting by a great BBQ with everybody, and it seems that once again every team did well in staying up until down.
October 2007 - Men Oceania Champions Cup (Tahiti)
With 6 teams from 4 countries competing in Tahiti for the second edition of the Men Oceania Champions Cup, the level of play was much higher than during the first edition. Held from the 22th of October to the 2nd of November, the final rankings were as followed:
1. JS Mont Dore (New Caledonia), 2. AS Dragon (Tahiti), 3. AS Dumbea (New Caledonia), 4. Canberra (Australia), 5. Auckland (New Zealand), 6. Faa'a HB (Tahiti)
September 2007 - Women Oceania Champions Cup (Noumea)
With 8 teams from 5 different countries competing in Noumea for the first edition of the Women Oceania Champions Cup, this tournament was a popular success. Held from the 12th to the 15th of September, the final rankings were as followed:
1. ACB Poya (New Caledonia), 2. CS Sinoj (New Caledonia), 3. AS Dragon (Tahiti), 4. Tiare Anani (Tahiti), 5. JS Mont Dore (New Caledonia), Monash University (Australia), Auckland (New Zealand), HB Kafika (Wallis and Futuna) and New Caledonia U17 (New Caledonia)
August 2007 - New Caledonia Men Tourney (Auckland)
In preparation for the 2008 World Championship Qualifications, the New Caledonia men national team came to Auckland for games against the three Auckland clubs and a "best of three" series of games against the Auckland Region Handball men selection.
These three games against the respective selections were really amazing and saw New Caledonia come on top 2 to 1 with three close games:
Auckland Region Handball wins the first game 23-19
New Caledonia wins the second game 19-18
New Caledonia wins the third game 29-28
August 2007 - Winter Open Tournament (Auckland)
Taking advantage of the visit of the New Caledonia men national team, an open tournament was organized and we were happy to host players from all the country for that weekend.
This men tournament saw the unexpected victory of an All New Zealand team created the day of the tournament with players from Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Palmstorn North and Wellington:
1. All New Zealand Team, 2. Auckland Uni Handball and Grafton Team Handball, 4. Auckland Frogs Handball Club, 5. Massey University Handball Club
For the women, the alliance of Christchurch and Wellington players proved once again to be too strong for the other two teams as hey won all their games:
1. Christchurch/Wellington, 2. Auckland, 3. Huntley/Palmy
June 2007 - South Island Championships (Christchurch)
Organized by the Canterbury Handball in Christchurch this tournament was a great opportunity to play against some new oponents from the South Island.
Unfortunately Auckland could not send full men and women teams to this tournament because of the Oceania Nations Cup just a few days earlier.
But the players that went there had a great time nevertheles they played some good Handball over the two days tournament and definitely won the party there!
No photo from this event
May 2007 - Women Oceania Nations Cup (Auckland)
The first edition of the Women Oceania Nations Cup was held at the AUT Sport and Fitness Centre, Auckland from the 25th to the 26th of May 2007.
With New Zealand, New Caledonia, Tahiti and Vanuatu participating, this tournament was a huge success and an amazing experience for all those that participated in it.
1. New Caledonia (3 wins), 2. New Zealand (2 wins, 1 loss), 3. Tahiti (1 win, 2 loss), 4. Vanuatu (3 loss)
May 2007 - Central Region Tournament (Wellington)
For the first time ever, Auckland Region Handball sent two men and two women teams to Wellington for a national tournament in which the four teams shown some very good Handball and spirit.
Taking the 1st and 3rd position in the men competition and 2nd and 4th position in the women competition the Auckland players have once again proven that they could play some strong Handball while having a great time together.
March to October 2007 - Regional Leagues (Auckland)
Featuring two divisions of three teams each, these regional leagues were a great success and definitely helped further promote the sport of Handball in the region. Three active clubs were running during that season: Auckland Frogs Handball Club, Auckland Uni Handball, and Grafton Team Handball.
Other Events with photos in 2007
The following is the list of others events like BBQs, dinners and parties with the players of Auckland Region Handball so you might want to check out their photos to see what it's like outside the court.
First Alumni Reunion
(Paris, France)
Jordan's Farewell Game
(Auckland)
Trip to the Coromandel
(Tairua)
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You are here: Home > Blog > 5 of the Best Film Tours in London
5 of the Best Film Tours in London
By The Weekend Team in London
Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd, Oliver Twist and James Bond. What do they have in common, besides a glittering career in Hollywood?
London, the city that’s rich in history and full of film-inspired tours.
Here’s our pick of five of the best film tours in London.
Harry Potter Walks
Location: Starts from Temple Underground Station
Nearest Tube Station: Temple
Harry Potter is one of the most famous literary figures of the past decade, and this walking tour and treasure hunt is great for kids who want to explore some of the places they’ve seen in the films. Best of all – it’s free!
Starting outside Temple station, the tour visits Australia House, which was used for filming the inside of Gringotts Bank, Leadenhall Market where Diagon Alley scenes were shot, Whitehall, which was the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, and of course Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station.
There are also a number of clues, quizzes, activities and points of interest along the way to keep children entertained throughout the tour.
James Bond Boat Trip
Adults £29 / Children £16*
Duration: Approx. 1 hour
Location: Embankment Pier
Nearest Tube Station: Embankment
This particular Bond tour starts in a speedboat and recreates the thrill of those opening scenes from Pierce Brosnan’s The World Is Not Enough when 007 charges along the River Thames and ends up falling from a hot-air balloon onto the top of the O2 Arena, also known as the Millennium Dome.
From the boat, you’ll see many familiar London landmarks between Canary Wharf and Tower Bridge before the captain turns around, opens up the throttle and returns to the dock at high-speed, all to the backdrop of the famous Bond theme tune!
Along the way you will learn more about the world of MI5, Bond and a little about his creator, Ian Fleming. You’ll also pass MI6 headquarters along the way.
Charles Dickens Walks
Location: Starts from Chancery Lane Underground Station
Nearest Tube Station: Chancery Lane
Charles Dickens is one of the UK’s most famous literary figures and several of his works have been brought to the screen, such as Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.
Walk past the Old Curiosity Shop, which inspired a novel of the same name and London’s Inns of Court, which featured in Great Expectations.
After a stroll around what’s left of Dickensian London, pay a visit to the Charles Dickens Museum at Doughty Street, 10 minutes from Chancery Lane Tube Station. Entry costs £6 for adults and £3 for children.
Sherlock Holmes Museum
Adults £6 / Children (under 16) £4
Location: 211b Baker Street
Nearest Tube Station: Baker Street
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective and his assistant, Dr. Watson, used to live at 221b Baker Street, where today a museum celebrates the fictional sleuth and his companion. Tours of the museum bring Holmes’ Victorian dwellings to life through exhibitions that give an insight into the detective and his brilliant mind.
You can visit the detective’s study and pose in his armchair for pictures and then read a multitude of handwritten notes from his published adventures and Holmes’ private papers. The third floor contains wax models, which replicate a number of scenes from the stories.
True fans of Sherlock Holmes may also wish to visit some of the locations used in the recent film adaptation, such as St Paul’s Cathedral and the Brompton Cemetery, which is just off Finborough road, West Brompton.
Sweeney Todd at the London Dungeon
Adults £22.50 / Children £16.50 – considerable savings are available by booking in advance online.
Location: Tooley Street, London
Nearest Tube Station: London Bridge
The demon barber of Fleet Street was recently portrayed by Johnny Depp in a film directed by Tim Burton. One of the most notorious of London’s legends, Sweeney Todd remains a popular character for ghost walks, particularly around Halloween.
Visit Fleet Street, the former home of Todd’s barber shop, and then walk on to Bell Yard, where his accomplice Mrs Lovett used to turn his work into meat pies.
The Dungeon in London Bridge has an exhibit dedicated to Todd and his gruesome legacy. Mrs Lovett greets you at her infamous pie shop before you enter the barber’s shop itself and take a seat in one of the chairs. A combination of animatronics and binaural special effects make you feel as though Todd is right behind you, giving you a close shave – and the experience can seem frighteningly real!
*All prices are correct at the time of writing
This guest post was written by the team at travelsupermarket.com. They’re a travel comparison site and have nothing to gain by promoting any of the tours above (and nor does Cheap Weekend Breaks for that matter.)
Ten More Things To Do in London For Free
How to Visit London’s Top Theatres For Less
Ten Things to Do in London for Free
London Tourist Attractions
City Break Rome, a Second Trip to the Eternal City
2 Responses to 5 of the Best Film Tours in London
Lewis Swan May 10, 2011 at 7:51 pm #
me and my brother are big film buffs and we went on a Harry Potter Tour recently which seemed really popular so I would add this to the list. http://britmovietours.com/bookings/harry-potter-london-tour/
cheap weekend breaks May 17, 2011 at 10:36 am #
Thanks for the suggestion – it looks good!
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Clash of the Titans: China’s rise fuels competition with Japan’s interests in Asia
China has undoubtedly modelled itself as the new champion of globalisation. Nowhere is this felt more strongly than in Asia. Since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the country has positioned itself at the core of the world’s most important supply chains, rapidly becoming the largest trade partner for many Asian economies. More recently, the intensifying rhetoric surrounding China’s Belt and Road initiative1 – aimed at boosting investments in infrastructure and beyond – has led observers to neglect the role played by another regional powerhouse: Japan. Although China may be king in terms of trade, it is considerably behind Japan in terms of investment. But fears surrounding China’s hegemonic dominance in Asia Pacific (APAC) may have been overplayed: Japan remains a key player in this sphere, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.
However, a closer look at the evolution of trade and investments reveals that the two countries’ are becoming competitors in the region. Japan and China are net commodity importers from Asia. More importantly, they both import significant amounts of mechanical and electronic parts and components, which are processed into higher value-added goods for export, owing to the important role that both countries play in the global electronics supply chains. Not surprisingly, the top three exports to Asia for China and Japan are exactly the same: electrical machinery and equipment, machinery and mechanical appliances, and steel products. Their production structures are therefore becoming increasingly similar. This has led China to refocus its investments, moving away from mineral resources and towards manufacturing. Increases in Chinese investment in the Asia-Pacific region may eventually pose a threat to Japanese corporate interests.
1 - Formerly known as the “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Download this publication : Clash of the Titans: China’s rise fuels competition with Japan’s i... (1.29 MB)
Regional economic ambitions of China and Japan show striking parallels
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By: Isaac Schlotterbeck, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs
Soccer is one of the most powerful and influential institutions in Argentine society. From children playing in the streets after school to recreational leagues filled with washed up once hopefuls, soccer shapes the everyday lives of all classes of Argentines. Due to the widespread popularity of the domestic league, the Primera División (First Division), soccer has become an economic institution in which clubs fight for supremacy. Unfortunately, a dark underworld has become increasingly visible in recent years in the form of las barras bravas, the Argentine term for organized hooligan groups. The most powerful of these barras bravas are known throughout Latin America and support the most popular and influential Argentine clubs. They include La 12, which supports Boca Juniors, Los borrachos del tablón from River Plate, and La gloriosa butteler of San Lorenzo de Almagro.[1] These groups have become so institutionalized in Argentine soccer and society that Nicolas Balinotti, an Argentine journalist wrote, “Even the President [Cristina Kirchner] has praised them. Without using the words barras bravas she spoke of her respect for them. They have a legitimacy and are seen as part of the spectacle of Argentine soccer.”[2] Characterized by violence and a yearning for money, these gangs shape the lives of any Argentine who follows soccer and represents an endemic problem.
Violence: No One Is Safe
The startling reality is that 179 people have been killed since 1990 due to soccer related violence in Argentina.[3] These deaths have been the result of violence both inside and outside of the stadiums and have occurred because of infighting between different groups of barras bravas who support the same club and fights between barras bravas from rival clubs. In an interview with The Guardian, José Méndez, a member of a barra brava, states, “These people, the bosses who run the barras bravas, they don’t care who you are, if you cross them, they will hunt you down and come after you and your family.”[4] Unfortunately, the majority of those who perpetuate violence within the barras bravas enjoy impunity, since police officers are often corrupt or members of the barras bravas themselves.
One example of this involves two distinct factions of barras bravas who support Boca Juniors, a popular Buenos Aires club. Prior to a planned fight between the two groups, police forces fooled their superiors and handed over a false location for the pre-determined fight, allowing the skirmish to go on between the two sides as planned. This fracas resulted in the deaths of two fans, with multiple others in the hospital.[5] Other examples of violence are easy enough to find. In 2013 Diego Ochoa, the leader of a barras bravas of Newell’s Old Boys, was arrested by local rosarino police for his involvement in two murders; one of the victims was the ex-leader of the very same barra brava.[6]
Alarmingly, the violent nature of the barras bravas is occasionally felt by the very players who they support. Jonathan Bottinelli, a star defender for San Lorenzo, was once attacked by members of the club’s barra brava.[7] After a string of losses, members of the barra brava decided to infiltrate a closed-door practice and yell at the players. During this exchange, Bottinelli asked the barra brava to leave, at which point they beat him.[8] Due to this event, “the Argentine government canceled San Lorenzo’s next match while officials investigated.”[9] The fact that violence can extend to the players raises alarm, as nobody can avoid the wrath of the all-powerful barras bravas.
It’s All About the Money
In addition to being known for violent tendencies, las barras bravas prosper economically from their activities. Reporter Gustavo Grabia claims that the La 12 of Boca Juniors averages revenue of $1,000,000 USD each game day by forcing fans to pay for parking services in the neighborhood that surrounds La Bombonera.[10] This sum represents only a fraction of the illegal revenue that these gangs receive, as barras bravas “cream hundreds of thousands from the game every year through illegal rackets, money laundering and narcotics.”[11] The reach of these gangs can not be understated. According to Gustavo Grabia, the barras bravas receive “up to 30 percent of transfer fees when a player leaves and up to 20 percent of some players’ paychecks.”[12]
These enormous profits often lead to fighting among fans, as different individuals and barras bravas fight for control. An example of infighting between rival barras bravas can be seen in one club in particular, River Plate. The rivalry between Los borrachos del tablón and Los del oeste dates back to 2007 and revolves around control of territory and money-making activities around the stadium. This rivalry between the two barras bravas of River Plate has left several dead and many more injured.[13] An article published by El País states, “This [violence] serves as an example of what occurs in all Argentine clubs, regardless of the status of the club or the geographic region.”[14]
Journalist Jon Sistiaga claims that the members of the barras bravas are not actually fans of the clubs they support. Sistiaga filmed a documentary titled Con las barras bravas (With the Barras Bravas) where he questions the passion that these individuals have for their clubs. He states, “I have not encountered a single member of a barra brava who is capable of naming the complete line-up of their team.”[15] Sistiaga is not alone in his doubts. Monica Nizzardo, founder of the NGO Salvemos al Fútbol (Let’s Save Soccer), says, “The barra brava is a mercenary who does not want to watch the game… He is attentive to the business that revolves around it.”[16] These critics believe that the members of the barras bravas do not actually care about the game but rather are only interested in the economic benefits of membership.
This notion is also supported by the number of soccer related deaths that have occurred since 2002, when severe economic contraction occurred in Argentina. For example, in an 11-year span prior to 2002, from 1990 to 2001, 77 soccer related deaths occured; however, in the 13 year window after this economic crisis known as el corralito, the number skyrocketed to 102.[17] These numbers illustrate that the number of members in barras bravas grew at the same time that economic hardship plagued the country. This conclusion helps support the idea that individuals join barras bravas for economic incentives.
Las Barras Bravas and Corruption
One of the reasons that las barras bravas have been able to solidify their place in Argentine soccer culture and profit from illicit activities is corruption. Due to high levels of soccer-related crime and violence, the Argentine government created a new Security Unit for Live Sporting Events. One of the officers in this force, Carlos de los Santos, comments on the influence of the barras bravas. De los Santos claims, “Corruption is endemic in Argentina and it is what has allowed the barras to get so powerful. The problem is that everyone is taking a cut. It won’t help just throwing the barras bosses in jail, we’ve tried that. To break the barras you have to sever their political connection and root out those police complicit in their activities.”[18] However, this would not be as easy as it sounds, and de los Santos says, “I don’t see how it’s going to be done.”[19] Such pessimism coming from a member of a special Security Unit tasked with targeting the barras bravas speaks to the degree to which the barras bravas have become institutionalized in Argentine soccer.
The Superclásico of Nightmares
River Plate and Boca Juniors. Combined, these two fierce rivals have won 66 Primera División titles and are far and away the two most successful clubs in Argentine soccer. Furthermore, both of these clubs are based in Buenos Aires and are supported by fervent fans and forceful barras bravas. The stage was set for an incredible night. The two clubs were seeded against each other in the Round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores (Liberators Cup), the most prestigious club soccer tournament in Latin America. In the second of the two rounds, where each team plays a home game, the unthinkable happened. After halftime, while the River Plate team and coaches returned to the field, members of a Boca Junior’s barra brava released pepper spray into the tunnel. The pepper spray got into the eyes of the River Plate players and caused burns on their backs and shoulders. After a 90-minute delay and debate, CONEMBOL officials, the governing body of South America soccer, decided to suspend the game and disqualify Boca Juniors from the competition, which advanced River Plate to the quarterfinals. Ironically enough, in part due to the actions of Boca Juniors’ fans on this night, River Plate, their biggest rival, advanced in the tournament and ended up claiming the Copa Libertadores championship, becoming club champions of Latin America.
The reason for the attack, according to pundits, is surprising to those who are unfamiliar with Argentine soccer. Experts on barras bravas suggest, “The main motivation was not hatred for a traditional adversary, rather the need to ‘mostrar huevos’ [assert their masculinity] and capacity for violence.”[20] The fact that this debacle, which caused the elimination of a team from the most prestigious tournament in Latin America, stems from the actions of a barra brava shows the warped nature of these gangs and of Argentine soccer culture. The president of Boca Juniors, Daniel Angelici, shares the sentiment that clubs have become helpless to the actions of barras bravas. During a news conference regarding the incident he stated, “An aerosol [the type of can used to shoot pepper spray] is small, I don’t know how it works, but it is very powerful, it can fit in your pocket and when there are almost 50,000 people it can get by security” [21] He continued to lament that “this is society’s problem, not football’s [soccer’s] problem.[22]
Hopefully, seeing a match that had the potential to be one of the most exciting in the history of Argentine soccer ruined by the barras bravas has had an impact on the country. Leading the fight against the barras bravas is the NGO Salvemos al Fútbol, which raises awareness about the negative effects of these groups. Organizations such as this one have the power to draw attention to this problem; however, the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (Argentine Soccer Association) needs to take concrete action to quell the influence and institutionalization of the barras bravas if Argentina wants to truly rid itself of this problem.
Please accept this article as a free contribution from COHA, but if re-posting, please afford authorial and institutional attribution. Exclusive rights can be negotiated. For additional news and analysis on Latin America, please go to: LatinNews.com and Rights Action.
Featured Photo: Boca Juniors fans in the second leg of the 2005 South American Cup Final. From: Nica, Wikimedia Commons.
[1] http://colgadosporelfutbol.com/las-barras-mas-bravas/
[2] http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/violence-power-soccer-and-drugs-argentinas-barras-bravas
[3] http://salvemosalfutbol.org/lista-de-victimas-de-incidentes-de-violencia-en-el-futbol/
[4] http://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/aug/21/argentina-football-gangs-barra-bravas
[5] http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2013/08/07/actualidad/1375898034_194430.html
[6] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v5qv8wv4MBnuGGB9kvN5QDGmCjaezWtMrl4VcDkW5gY/edit
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/sports/soccer/in-argentina-violence-is-part-of-the-soccer-culture.html
[10] http://www.clarin.com/deportes/Gustavo-Grabia-Fantino-hipotesis-River_0_1360664012.html
[11]http://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/aug/21/argentina-football-gangs-barra-bravas
[13] http://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2014/11/27/actualidad/1417047813_753565.html
[14] Ibid. “Pero también porque sirve como ejemplo de lo que ocurre en prácticamente todos los clubes argentinos, sin importar la categoría o la región geográfica”
[15] http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2012/06/18/television/1340041537_528388.html “No he encontrado un solo barra brava que sea capaz de decirme la alineación completa de su equipo”
[16] Ibid. “El barra brava es un mercenario que no quiere ver el partido. Está atento al negocio que gira a su alrededor”
[17] http://salvemosalfutbol.org/lista-de-victimas-de-incidentes-de-violencia-en-el-futbol/
[18] http://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/aug/21/argentina-football-gangs-barra-bravas
[20] http://www.bbc.com/mundo/blogs/2015/05/150519_blog_lalo_deportes_violencia_futbol_barras_bravas “la motivación principal no fue el odio al adversario tradicional, sino la necesidad de “mostrar huevos” y capacidad de violencia”
[21] http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/17/football/boca-river-ban/
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Trainer Harty`s life keeps returning to Dubai
Dubai, UAE, March 24, 2011 - If life is a circle, as the saying goes in many cultures, then the professional life of trainer Eoin Harty keeps coming back around to Dubai.
Previously an assistant to American Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Harty’s current life in racing began when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s bloodstock advisor John Ferguson telephoned him one day in 1999.
Harty recalls that he was standing in a Wal-Mart store in Florida during preparations for the Breeders’ Cup at Gulfstream Park when he was asked if he would train horses for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godolphin. Almost instantly his world changed.
Harty went on to train the likes of 2002 Dubai World Cup winner Street Cry, who he personally selected from a group of young horses and conditioned through his juvenile season, and 2001 American champion two year old filly and Breeders’ Cup winner Tempera.
He and his wife Kathy and son Eddie lived in Dubai for several years in the winter months and were able to visit parts of the world they never imagined they would be able to see.
Although Godolphin changed course and cut back on young horses racing in America in 2003, Harty returned to Dubai triumphant in 2009 when he saddled WinStar Farm’s Well Armed to win the Dubai World Cup by a record-smashing 14 lengths.
And now, returning to the key point on his life’s circle, he is back with Dubai Duty Free, sponsored by Dubai Duty Free contender Victor’s Cry, who, in another circular twist, is a son of Street Cry. Circling again, Victor’s Cry is stabled in the same international quarantine barn as Dubai Golden Shaheen entrant Euroears, who is trained by Bob Baffert, with whom Harty maintains a jovial friendship.
“I’ve been very blessed,” Harty, 48, reflected this week as he stood outside the barn and gazed at the statuesque Victor’s Cry, who he described as “the Brad Pitt” of the horses that will be running on Saturday’s Dubai World Cup program. In addition to Victor’s Cry, Harty also trains Group One Kentucky Derby candidate Anthony’s Cross and thus is fully immersed in two of horse racing’s biggest events of the year.
“I’ve been to the Dubai World Cup program three times with three different horses and won with Well Armed. I’ve been to the Kentucky Derby with horses for the last three years. Things just seem to work out for me; I don’t know why, but I don’t worry about it,” he said.
A native of Dublin, Ireland, Harty moved to the United States as a teenager to pursue his luck in racing, his family’s professional domain since the time of his great-grandfather. Working for Baffert when he trained classic winners Real Quiet and Silver Charm, with the latter winning the 1998 Dubai World Cup, was the springboard to the job with Godolphin, and to this day Harty continues to train horses for the Maktoum family in America.
“His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has been very, very good to me,” Harty said. “My association with the Maktoums has really paid off in spades. Sheikh Mohammed supports me and he always puts the horses first—he never puts any pressure on me. It’s been a great association.
“He’s an extremely generous person,” Harty said of Dubai’s ruler. “I never take it for granted what he’s done for me. You never get a chance to go up and say, ‘Thanks for everything you’ve done, you’ve impacted my life so much,’ but he has. I wouldn’t be here today without him.”
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Delights & Dances
Chicago SinfoniettaHarlem QuartetMei-Ann Chen
Delights & Dances for String Quartet and String Orchestra (13:03)*
MICHAEL ABELS
I. Allegro con brio (7:42)
BENJAMIN LEES
Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (20:49)
II. Andante cantando (7:32)
III. Allegro energico (5:28)
“Saibei Dance” from Saibei Suite No. 2 (4:08)
AN-LUN HUANG
Mambo (2:06)
LEONARD BERNSTEIN arr. RANDALL CRAIG FLEISCHER
West Side Story Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (25:47)*
Cha Cha (2:02)
Maria (2:32)
Tonight (3:17)
Cadenza (4:44)
Prologue (2:42)
America (2:56)
Quintet (3:18)
Cadenza 2 (0:59)
Finale (1:07)
Delights & Dances, the Chicago Sinfonietta’s first recording with its new music director, award-winning conductor Mei-Ann Chen, does what this singular ensemble does best: it captivates listeners of all ages and diverse ethnic backgrounds through irresistible music and superb musicianship. On Delights & Dances, the Chicago Sinfonietta, a standard-bearer for racial diversity in the orchestral world, works its magic through a one-of-kind program featuring music for string quartet and orchestra, with guest artist, the Harlem Quartet.
The album takes its title from Michael Abels’ witty, soulful, and infectiously rhythmic Delights & Dances, which receives its world premiere recording. The greatly admired contemporary African-American composer wrote the work for the Harlem Quartet, an ensemble of first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition for outstanding young black and Latino string players. A New York Times review of the work’s 2007 premiere, presented at Carnegie Hall, described the piece as “an energetic arrangement . . . which incorporates jazz, blues, bluegrass and Latin dance elements” — and which the Harlem Quartet “played with panache.”
Robert Moon, Audiophile Audition
"This is an exhilarating and significant American concerto, and the Harlem Quartet and Chicago Sinfonietta play it for all it's worth. ...The most significant work on this album is Benjamin Lees' Concerto, but the whole album is easy to enjoy."
Delights and Dances
Notes by Andrea Lamoreaux
The incomparable PDQ Bach— better known as composer and classical music comedian Peter Schickele—once wrote a Concerto for Two Pianos vs. Orchestra. The spoof reflects on what would happen if a pair of virtuoso soloists decided to show off with no regard for what the orchestra was playing; and if the orchestra then decided to show off with no reference to what the soloists were doing. It's hilarious in performance, but it ignores the principle of concerto writing: the term comes from the Latin word "concertare," which means "to sing together."
Our image of a concerto today posits a single soloist in front of an orchestra, pouring out beautiful solo melodies. Of course, these melodies would be far less impressive without the contributions of all the supporting musicians. In the 17th and 18th centuries, when concertos originated, they were quite different, calling for a small group of soloists trading themes with a slightly larger ensemble, about the size of a modern chamber orchestra. This genre, known as the Concerto Grosso, was practiced by Handel, Telemann, Corelli, and many of their contemporaries. Bach composed the concerti grossi most often heard today: the six Brandenburg Concertos. He was also a pioneer of the solo concerto, having borrowed and expanded on the example of Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote hundreds of concertos featuring a single soloist, although he also composed some of the concerto grosso variety.
In the 19th century, with the solo concerto firmly established as the preferred musical idiom, only a few composers carried on the concerto grosso tradition. Ludwig Spohr was one; England's Sir Edward Elgar composed his Introduction and Allegro for solo string quartet and string orchestra; and in the first half of the 20th century, prolific Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu created several works of the concerto grosso variety. On this album, the Chicago Sinfonietta compiles three recent examples of this type of work, showcasing the virtuosity of the Harlem Quartet, which performed these works with the Chicago Sinfonietta under the leadership of music director Mei-Ann Chen in concert prior to their recording sessions.
Michael Abels composed his Delights & Dances for string quartet and string orchestra specifically for the Harlem Quartet. Born in 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona, Abels studied composition at the University of Southern California. Along with the standard curriculum, he explored his African-American roots by studying gospel music and African drumming. Abels received two Meet the Composer (now New Music USA) grants, one allowing him to work with young musicians through the Watts Tower Arts Center in Los Angeles, the other providing a residency with the of Richmond Symphony (VA) and its youth orchestra. His works include the 1997 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute Dance for Martin's Dream and 1991 composition Global Warming, which is not just a reference to climate change, but also to the thawing of international relations Mr. Abels hoped for after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Delights & Dances, a single-movement work, often features rapidly-paced chord patterns and 16th-note runs for the solo quartet. These are rhythmically varied by the insertion of triplet patterns, which tend to relax and slow down the pace.The introductory section commences at a measured pace, Largo, with the further notation, molto rubato, indicating rhythmic freedom. Indeed, the opening passage for solo cello sounds almost like a cadenza. The solo viola picks up the cello's ascending seven-note motive and they combine in a short duet, joined soon by the two solo violins. When the orchestra enters, it plays pizzicato, in short, detached, syncopated patterns. This "Bluesy" first section has the smokey sound you would expect, but still manages to feel upbeat and rhythmic. The blues theme is reintroduced by the solo cello, then viola and violins, and finally as a solo for the first violin. Each instrument in the solo group gets its own riff, and for the first time we hear the orchestra playing bowed strings. The final section, "Bluegrassy," begins with the theme in the solo viola part, but soon all four soloists are engaged in a lively hoedown. Eventually, the solo quartet and the strings of the orchestra are united in a grand unison tutti for a full-throttle, upbeat conclusion.
Born Benjamin George Lisniansky in 1924, American composer Benjamin Lees (d. 2010) came from Russian-Jewish parents who settled in San Francisco after Lees was born in China. He served briefly in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, Lees studied composition at the University of Southern California, where his teachers included Halsey Stevens. His most fruitful student-teacher relationship, however, was with the iconoclastic American George Antheil. In a conversation with musical commentator and record reviewer Martin Anderson, Lees recalled, "George never considered himself a teacher per se. His role was one of analyst.... It was a true master-apprentice relationship." Subsequently, Lees received fellowships from the Fromm and Guggenheim foundations, which allowed him to travel and compose in Europe during the 1950s. These experiences encouraged his individualistic approach to music without reference to any prevailing "school" of composition.
Returning to the U.S., he undertook teaching posts at the Peabody Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Queens College and, eventually, Juilliard—continuing to compose all the while. Several works were commissioned by the Dallas Symphony: his Symphony No. 4, "Memorial Candles," a commemoration of the Nazi Holocaust, and Concerto for Brass Choir and Orchestra among them. Lees wrote a similar work for the Detroit Sym-phony, using a wind-solo group. His very first work in this concerto grosso vein was the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra of 1964. This work exhibits several Lees trademarks including vigorous rhythmic activity with frequent shifts of meter. Some of the meters in the String Quartet Concerto are unusual, such as 7/8 and 5/4; these tend to make the pulse feel unsettled and more propulsive. Another characteristic is the repeated use of semitone intervals (e.g., C to C-sharp), either as reiterated thematic or accompanimental patterns, or as dissonant chordal strikes.
The orchestral winds and trumpets open the Allegro con brio first movement with just such a passage of insistent semitonal chords. This is virtually a perpetual-motion movement, with little slackening of pace or lightening of texture. The solo quartet enters as a body, with a short, questioning theme. The only brief moment of relaxation comes with a cello solo, curiously marked Calmo ma inquieto (quiet yet restless) — the underlying tension remains even where the sound is momentarily more mellow. Orchestral tutti passages re-introduce the opening chord pattern, this time with the addition of pounding tympani. Another solo cello passage leads to a return of the opening material and an abrupt end.
Andante cantando, the marking for the second movement, means moderately paced with a singing tone. Here the atmosphere is much more relaxed and lyrical, and the solo quartet stands out more from the surrounding orchestral texture. Soft tympani strokes support a sinuous theme for the solo quartet, presented in imitation. A later passage for the solo group unfurls a melody full of semitones. An orchestral climax ensues and is succeeded by a lyrical first-violin solo. The quartet then re-unites to provide a tranquil ending based on diatonic triads, punctuated by high-pitched closing comments from the flute and piccolo.
Launched by brass fanfares followed by rapid figures from the solo quartet, the Allegro energico finale takes us back to the perpetual motion feel of the opening. Musicologist Niall O'Loughlin describes this closing movement as a rondo, typical of Classical era concertos, where a recurring theme is interspersed with contrasting episodes. The overwhelming impression here, though, is of themes and motives tumbled one upon another at a headlong pace, with constant emphasis on those ever-important semitones: as repeated motivic figures or percussive chords. The music sweeps the listener along on a wave of virtuosic sound culminating in a fortissimo final chord.
Mei-Ann Chen and the Chicago Sinfonietta include on this recording an audience favorite, Saibei Dance by An-Lun Huang. Born in China in 1949, a former student at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, Huang emigrated to Canada in 1980 and currently resides in Toronto. After emigrating, Huang continued his composition studies in Canada, England, and the U.S. He has forged his own blend of Eastern and Western sounds in compositions for orchestra, stage, and film. Saibei Dance's Oriental-inspired opening theme is played first by a solo flute and then picked up by the full orchestra; a similar tune sounds from a clarinet and is likewise enlarged. The string section introduces a new melody, soon combined with the previous ones. Sudden dynamic contrasts, brass fanfares, and prominent percussion punctuate the melodic texture as the full orchestra carries this lively dance to its bright conclusion.
Conductor, composer, and arranger Randall Craig Fleischer says of his West Side Story Concerto: "The challenge for me in crafting this arrangement was to retain everything that is unique about the score, its sensual colors in the love duets, its edgy bite in the gang scenes, the Latin jazz flavor, and transfer all of Bernstein's unique genius from voices to string instruments." Fleischer's rich and vivid scoring echoes the original sound of Bernstein's 1950s Broadway hit, which updates the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by transferring the story to the streets of modern-day New York City. A motive that unifies the arrangement is the rising three-note pattern that identifies the song "Maria." It is an echo throughout, constantly reappearing amid other tunes.
The "Mambo" beginning for full orchestra, dominated by the brass, is contrasted by the gentler "Cha Cha" dance. This leads directly to the solo quartet's first presentation of "Maria," characterized by a poignant cello solo. The quartet then harmonizes on the "Tonight" duet, followed by another tutti passage before the quartet launches into the big cadenza. The orchestra returns to play music from the show's jazzy "Prelude" before introducing the popular "America" theme, which is then varied by the members of the quartet. Next comes the "Tonight" ensemble piece known as the "Quintet." This contrasts the sounds of the gang rumble with the love song. The sharp juxtaposition of romance and violence echoes this most intense and poignant scene from the show. Fleischer concludes his arrangement with a second cadenza, which returns to "Maria" before introducing the heartbreaking "Somewhere" ("There's A Place for Us") as the basis of the work's touching "Finale."
Andrea Lamoreaux is Music Director of 98.7WFMT, Chicago's classical experience.
*World Premiere Recording(s)
Recorded: June 19–20, 2012 in Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, Naperville, Illinois
Cover: Harem Dancers (the Jack Cole Group) performing at the Harem Nightclub in New York City, January 1, 1947; (Photo by Gjon Mili//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Cover Design: Sue Cotrill
Inside Booklet & Inlay Card: Nancy Bieschke
Abels ©2007 Subito Music Publishing
Lees ©1968 Boosey & Hawkes
Huang ©1975 An-Lun Huang
Bernstein/Fleischer ©2011 Boosey & Hawkes.
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Madhugiri
Achenahalli - Tumkur
Achenahalli Population - Tumkur, Karnataka
Achenahalli is a medium size village located in Madhugiri Taluka of Tumkur district, Karnataka with total 161 families residing. The Achenahalli village has population of 740 of which 387 are males while 353 are females as per Population Census 2011.
In Achenahalli village population of children with age 0-6 is 91 which makes up 12.30 % of total population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Achenahalli village is 912 which is lower than Karnataka state average of 973. Child Sex Ratio for the Achenahalli as per census is 750, lower than Karnataka average of 948.
Achenahalli village has lower literacy rate compared to Karnataka. In 2011, literacy rate of Achenahalli village was 62.25 % compared to 75.36 % of Karnataka. In Achenahalli Male literacy stands at 68.36 % while female literacy rate was 55.73 %.
As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act, Achenahalli village is administrated by Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of village. Our website, don't have information about schools and hospital in Achenahalli village.
Achenahalli Data
Population 740 387 353
Main Worker 99 - -
Marginal Worker 378 176 202
In Achenahalli village, most of the villagers are from Schedule Caste (SC). Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 35.81 % of total population in Achenahalli village. The village Achenahalli currently doesn’t have any Schedule Tribe (ST) population.
In Achenahalli village out of total population, 477 were engaged in work activities. 20.75 % of workers describe their work as Main Work (Employment or Earning more than 6 Months) while 79.25 % were involved in Marginal activity providing livelihood for less than 6 months. Of 477 workers engaged in Main Work, 42 were cultivators (owner or co-owner) while 23 were Agricultural labourer.
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Dear Anna
I have received your email about the next edition of The Corinthian, and note the intention to focus on the theme of compassionate Old Stoics to commemorate the Centenary of the birth of Leonard Cheshire. He was a man whom I admired when I was at Stowe, and remember reading a book about him entitled ‘Cheshire VC’, and I was proud that he was an Old Stoic.
In 1980/81 I was invited to become Chairman of a committee which would be responsible for building the first Cheshire Home in Northern Ireland. It was a pioneering venture, and different from all other Cheshire Homes. It was designed to cater for young handicapped people who were leaving home for the first time, and wanted to be independent of their parents. Cheshire House, Belfast was opened officially by Leonard Cheshire in 1983 and has been a great success. Leonard stayed at our house at the initiation of the building and at the time of its opening. He was a very modest man who made light of his achievements. Although frequently money was not available for projects, he never worried about it and somehow it always came good.
I retired as chairman of Cheshire House committee following his death in 1992.
I have the thank you letters from Leonard following his two overnight stays with us.
I hope that this may be of interest to readers of The Corinthian.
Robin Thompson (Grafton 60)
Many Old Stoics will remember Peter Longhurst (Former Staff 1966 – 1988), who arrived at Stowe as Economics Tutor in September 1966, two terms before I arrived as History Tutor. I was very fond of him and enjoyed his stories about his former school and about Southport, and exactly ten years after Peter left KGV, where he had been a housemaster, I went there as headmaster.
I then heard stories about Peter and how determined he was that his house should win as much as possible. Above all, he was determined that they should win the Jubilee Cup for overall excellence, which was calculated on points related to performance in everything.
My favourite of those stories, which I heard only recently from a retired GP, was of how, when he was a boy in the school fifty-five years ago, he had been in Peter’s house. He fought in the first round of the school boxing competition, won, but fractured his right hand. So he explained that he would not be able to fight in the next round. Not so! Peter demanded to see him and insisted that he should carry on. His opposition, Peter explained, was another boy in the same house, so he could fight single-handed and lose. The house would gain points and the winner would go on to the next round.
Peter was apparently noted for the equation I + R = MF, or integrity plus resolution equals moral fibre, and with that attitude his house won the Jubilee Cup three years running, at the end of which Peter came to Stowe to ensure that the squash team never lost and that junior hockey players (I have to say, perhaps prudishly, to my disapproval) were trained in the value of the professional foul. They usually won as well.
David Arnold (Former staff 1967-1976)
STOWE-X ROCK & BLUES
THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL
CLASSIC CARS AT SPEECH DAY
OLD CHANDOSIANS PICNIC
Stowe School
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Niagara Falls Without The Water...Old Pics Found!
It's taken 41 years, but a previously unseen set of photos of the mighty Niagara Falls reduced to nothing more than a barren cliff-top have finally surfaced. [via]
The stark images reveal North America's iconic - and most powerful - waterfall to be almost as dry as a desert.
In June 1969, U.S. engineers diverted the flow of the Niagara River away from the American side of the falls for several months.
Stark: A completely dry Niagara Falls has never been seen before or since the six months in July 1969 when U.S. engineers set about restructuring the American side of the twin landmark
Mountain of rubble: This set of photos only recently came to light when Russ Glasson found them in a shoebox in his in-laws' Connecticut garage
Their plan was to remove the large amount of loose rock from the base of the waterfall, an idea which they eventually abandoned due to expense in November of that year.
During the interim, they studied the riverbed and mechanically bolted and strengthened a number of faults to delay the gradual erosion of the American Falls.
The team, made up of U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, blew up their temporary dam in November 1969 and six million cubic feet of water once again thundered over the falls' sides every minute.
Now, after lying unseen for more than four decades, a set of images showing the eerie calm at the American Falls that year have been unearthed by a man from Connecticut.
Plan: The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers studied the riverbed and mechanically bolted and strengthened a number of faults to delay the gradual erosion of the American Falls
Historical moment: In order to stop the Niagara River running over the American Falls, engineers constructed a dam consisting of 27,800 tons of rock, stopping the water for the first time in 12,000 years
Russ Glasson recently stumbled across the pictures, which were taken by his in-laws, and had been left in an old shoebox in their garage for over four decades.
Mr Glasson said: 'My in-laws took these pictures during the six months through June to November that the Army was working to improve the health of the American Falls.'
Two rockslides from the plate of the falls in 1931 and 1954 had caused a large amount of rock to be collected at the base.
In 1965, reporters at local newspaper Niagara Falls Gazette revealed that the America Falls would eventually cease to flow and stop altogether if the rocks were not removed.
Four years later, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers were charged with de-watering the falls to clean the river bed and to remove any loose rock at the bottom of the falls.
Gradual deterioration: Two rockslides from the plate of the falls in 1931 and 1954 had caused a large amount of rock to be collected at the base
Eerie calm: The temporary dam can be seen in the top-right of this photograph
Thunderous: The American Falls as they normally appear, with millions of gallons of water hurtling over the edge every minute
To achieve this the army had to build a 600ft dam across the Niagara River, which meant that 60,000 gallons of water that flowed ever second was diverted over the larger Horseshoe Falls which flow entirely on the Canadian side of the border.
The dam itself consisted of 27,800 tons of rock, and on June 12, 1969, after flowing continuously for over 12,000 years, the American Falls stopped.
Over the course of the next six months thousands of visitors flocked to the falls to witness the historic occasion.
Once the engineers had removed the collected rocks from the falls base and made geological testing to make safe the rest, the falls were re-watered on November 25 in front of 2,650 onlookers.
Tourist hotspot: The Maid Of The Mist cruise boat journeys near to the Canadian Falls. The American Falls can be seen in the distance on the left
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CR's Favorites Curious Pictures
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Modern Family. Season 3, Episode 5: "Hit and Run"
Like that scene from Jurassic Park.
This episode takes a look at how gay people react to a hit and run. And you know what? It's no different from straight people. But it makes it a lot funnier because it's Cam and Mitchell.
Also like that scene from Jurassic Park.
Also, if Phil Dunphy seems to like black women, why haven't we seen this in the previous two seasons?
pic from VLC
2011 micro modern family reviews tv
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Terra Nova. Episode 4: "The Runaway"
Terra Nova. Episode 3: "What Remains"
Terra Nova. Episode 2: "Instinct"
Terra Nova. Episode 1: "Genesis" (Parts 1 and 2)
Pinoy Icons: Edith Tiempo
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World Icons: Steve Jobs
Modern Family. Season 3, Episode 4: "Door to Door"...
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The Secret Circle. Episode 5: "Slither"
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New Girl. Episode 3: "Wedding"
The Secret Circle. Episode 3: "Loner"
The Vampire Diaries. Season 3, Episode 3: "The End...
New Girl. Episode 2: "Kryptonite"
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"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." John Lennon
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor. With more than 25 million records sold as of 2003, he is regarded as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" and has been deemed the "God of Songs" of Hong Kong.
遙遠的她
111.3KB - 198d ago
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. He received a total of seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. Jarreau is perhaps best known for his 1981 album Breakin' Away. He also sang the theme song of the late-1980s television series Moonlighting, and was among the performers on the 1985 charity song "We Are the World."
121.07KB - 198d ago
Lin -Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and performer, as well as a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award recipient. His current musical, Hamilton - with book, music and lyrics by Mr. Miranda, in addition to him originating the title role - opened on Broadway in 2015. Hamilton was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and earned a record-breaking 16 Tony Nominations, winning 11 Tony Awards including two personally for Mr. Miranda for Book and Score of a Musical. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton won the 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Both Mr. Miranda and Hamilton won the 2016 Drama League Awards for Distinguished Performance and Outstanding Production of a Musical, respectively.
Chase is an American jazz rock band. They are best known for their hit single, "Get It On" (1971).
The band Chase was created in 1970 by Bill Chase, Ted Piercefield, Alan Ware, and Jerry Van Blair, all veteran jazz trumpeters who were also adept at vocals and arranging. They were backed up by a rhythm section consisting of Phil Porter on keyboards, Angel South (born Lucian Gondron) on guitar, Dennis Johnson on bass, and Jay Burrid (born John Mitthauer) on percussion. Rounding out the group was Terry Richards, who was featured as lead vocalist on the first album. In April 1971, the band released their debut album, Chase, which contains Chase's best-known song, "Get It On", released as a single that spent 13 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 beginning in May 1971, eventually peaking at #24 in July of that year. The song features what Jim Szantor of Downbeat magazine called "the hallmark of the Chase brass—complex cascading lines; a literal waterfall of trumpet timbre and technique". The band received a Best New Artist Grammy Award nomination, but was edged out by Carly Simon. 1971 proved to be the band's most fruitful with television spots on the Tonight Show and Tommy Smother's Organic Prime Time Space Ride. Chicago's WBBM televised a 1/2 hour special featuring the group but was aired only around the Chicago area. Appearances at both the Kansas City Jazz and Newport Jazz Festival boosted the band's popularity.
Run Back to Mama
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1 April 1873 - 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, the last great representative of Russian late Romanticism in classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom which included a pronounced lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity and a tonal palette of rich, distinctive orchestral colors.
Understandably, the piano figures prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, either as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble. He made it a point, however, to use his own skills as a performer to explore fully the expressive possibilities of the instrument. Even in his earliest works, he revealed a sure grasp of idiomatic piano writing and a striking gift for melody. In some of his early orchestral pieces he showed the first signs of a talent for tone painting, which he would perfect in The Isle of the Dead, and he began to show a similar penchant for vocal writing in two early sets of songs, Opp. 4 and 8. Rachmaninoff's masterpiece, however, is his choral symphony The Bells, in which all of his talents are fused and unified.
Rachmaninoff sometimes felt threatened by the success of modernists such as Scriabin and Prokofiev and wondered whether to cease composing even before he left Russia. His musical philosophy was rooted in the Russian spiritual tradition, where the role of the artist was to create beauty and to speak the truth from the depths of his heart. In his last major interview, in 1941, he admitted his music, like Russian music, was a product of his temperament. He said, on another occasion, "The new kind of music seems to create not from the heart but from the head. Its composers think rather than feel. They have not the capacity to make their works exalt—they meditate, protest, analyze, reason, calculate and brood, but they do not exalt."
Prelud op.3 no.2
1.66MB - 200d ago
Msgr. Rudy Villanueva
Since Vatican II gave increased importance to music of the local church, Monsignor Rodolfo E. Villanueva, head of Cebu’s Sub-commission on Sacred Music, has been supplying the Vis-Min area with music for the Catholic liturgy. But Cebuanos in general know him simply as Fr. Rudy.
Ordained in 1963, a graduate of Cebu’s San Carlos Major Seminary, he proceeded to Graduate studies in English Literature at Santo Tomas University, and two years after received a scholarship from Serra International, which took him to the State University in Minnesota where he earned a BM in Piano and Master’s in Music Composition. His years as accompanist for the Schola Cantorum at the seminary and for the Pro Musica Antiqua and the composite chorus at University very much shaped his musical interests. Thus, following his studies, he has composed mostly choral and solo vocal music, while coaching quite a few Cebu choral groups. To date, book publications and sound recordings of his music involve singing, while an extended work-in-progress is a theater-piece tentatively called Leon Kilat: A Cebuano Opera.
Eleventh Mass (Pastorela)
Three Dog Night is an American rock band. They formed in 1967 with a line-up consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sneed (drums). The band registered 21 Billboard Top 40 hits (with three hitting number one) between 1969 and 1975. Because Three Dog Night recorded many songs written by outside songwriters, they helped introduce mainstream audiences to writers such as Paul Williams ("An Old Fashioned Love Song") and Hoyt Axton ("Joy to the World").
Storybook Feeling
Riding Alone
81.68KB - 201d ago
Agnes Obel
Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel (born 28 October 1980) is a Danish singer, songwriter, and musician. Her first album, Philharmonics, was released by PIAS Recordings on 4 October 2010 and was certified gold in June 2011 by the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) after selling 10,000 Copies. At the Danish Music Awards in November 2011, Agnes Obel won five prizes, including Best Album and Best Debut Artist. Citizen of Glass, her third album, received the IMPALA Album of the Year Award 2016. Agnes Obel’s song "Riverside" was featured on the Spike TV series The Mist in Season 1, Episode 2, “Withdrawal“. "Riverside" has also been featured on Grey's Anatomy, Ringer, the British TV show Lovesick, the Australian comedy-drama Offspring, and the Danish series, The Rain, in Season 1, Episode 2.” Her song "Familiar" was featured on an episode of the German TV series Dark, the video game Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition trailer and is the theme song to the Canadian TV series Cardinal.
Falling Catching
Billy Moll / Murray Mencher
I want a little girl
Ludwig van Beethoven (16 December 1770 - 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most respected and influential composers of all time.
Born in Bonn, then in the Electorate of Cologne (now in modern-day Germany), he moved to Vienna in his early twenties and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. Beethoven's hearing gradually deteriorated beginning in his twenties, yet he continued to compose masterpieces, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.
RAGTIME FUR ELISE
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with 16 million in certified sales. He has had seven top 20 US albums, and ten number-one US jazz albums, earning more number-one albums than any other artist in US jazz chart history.
Connick's best-selling album in the United States is his Christmas album When My Heart Finds Christmas (1993). His highest-charting album is his release Only You (2004), which reached No. 5 in the US and No. 6 in Britain. He has won three Grammy Awards and two Emmy Awards. He played Grace Adler’s husband, Leo Markus, on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace from 2002 to 2006.
Coldplay are a rock band formed in London, England in 1997. The group comprises vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion. Coldplay have sold 34.6 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles, such as "Yellow", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound", "Fix You", "Viva la Vida" and the Grammy Award-winning "Clocks".
Coldplay achieved worldwide fame with the release of their single "Yellow", followed by their debut album, Parachutes (2000), which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Its follow-up, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) won multiple awards such as NME's Album of the Year and was later included on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, ranking at #473. Their next release, X&Y (2005), received a slightly less enthusiastic yet still generally positive reception. The band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), was produced by Brian Eno and released again to largely favourable reviews. All of Coldplay's albums have enjoyed great commercial success.
Coldplay's early material was compared to acts such as Jeff Buckley, U2, and Travis. Coldplay have been an active supporter of various social and political causes, such as Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. The group have also performed at various charity projects such as Band Aid 20, Live 8, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955) is an American composer best known for his many film scores.
Newman has been nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and three Golden Globes, and has won two BAFTAs, six Grammys and an Emmy Award. Newman was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the 2000 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.
Burdens
Michel Polnareff, born in Nérac (Lot-et-Garonne) on 3 July 1944, is a French singer-songwriter who was very popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. While his commercial success is considerably smaller nowadays, he is still active and critically respected.
Lettre a France
Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan.
concept for jazz rock
Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970 in Dublin, Ireland) is the principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish rock group The Frames. He is also known for starring in the film Once and co-writing its Academy-Award-winning song, "Falling Slowly."
Fallen from the Sky
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David Bryan Benoit (born August 18, 1953) is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer from Los Angeles, California. Benoit has charted over 25 albums since 1980, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. He is also music director for the Asia America Symphony Orchestra and the Asia America Youth Orchestra.
Major Dreams, Minor Lies
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were wriiten by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams. It opened in the West End at the London Palladium theatre on April 16, 2002 with six new songs by the Sherman Brothers who wrote the original academy award nominated title and song score as well. The London production, directed by Adrian Noble with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne, closed in September 2005.
Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair or "Fess" for short, was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970. His piano style has been described as "instantly recognizable, combining rumba, mambo, and calypso."
The music journalist Tony Russell (in his book The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray) wrote that "The vivacious rhumba-rhythmed piano blues and choked singing typical of Fess were too weird to sell millions of records; he had to be content with siring musical offspring who were simple enough to manage that, like Fats Domino or Huey "Piano" Smith. But he is also acknowledged as a father figure by subtler players like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John."
She Walks Right In
Stag-O-Lee
Hey Little Girl
Baldhead
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a musical composed in 1980 by the French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg with a libretto by Alain Boublil. Sung through, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the most performed musicals worldwide. On October 8, 2006, the show celebrated its 21st anniversary and became the longest-running West End musical in history and is still running (though it has changed venues).
Among the most famous songs of this Tony award-winning musical are "I Dreamed a Dream", "One Day More", "A Heart Full of Love", "Stars", "Bring Him Home", "Do You Hear the People Sing?", "Master of the House", and "On My Own."
The musical is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. The characters include a paroled convict named Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow ticket of leave, breaks his parole and conceals his identity; the police inspector Javert who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter; Cosette, who eventually falls in love with a French student named Marius Pontmercy. After Fantine dies, Cosette becomes Jean Valjean's adopted daughter; the Thénardiers, the unscrupulous innkeepers who thrive on cheating and stealing; Éponine, their young daughter who is hopelessly in love with Marius; Gavroche, a young beggar boy; and student leader Enjolras who plans the revolt to free the oppressed lower classes of France. The main characters are joined by an ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others.
Bring Him Home
Regina Spektor (born February 18, 1980) is a Soviet-born Jewish-American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City's East Village.
Spektor has said that she has created 700 songs, but that she rarely writes any of them down. She has also stated that she never aspired to write songs herself, but songs seem to just flow to her. Spektor possesses a broad vocal range and uses the full extent of it. She also explores a variety of different and somewhat unorthodox vocal techniques, such as verses composed entirely of buzzing noises made with the lips and beatbox-style flourishes in the middle of ballads, and also makes use of such unusual musical techniques as using a drum stick to tap rhythms on the body of the piano or chair.
Her lyrics are equally eclectic, often taking the form of abstract narratives or first-person character studies, similar to short stories or vignettes put to song. Spektor usually sings in English, though she sometimes includes a few words or verses of Latin, Russian, French, and other languages in her songs.
Maroon 5 is a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock band. Formed with only two members at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts and expanded in Los Angeles, the group comprises five members: Adam Levine (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Valentine (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mickey Madden (bass guitar), and Matt Flynn (drums, percussion).
John Milford Rutter CBE (born 24 September 1945) is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.
Candlelight Carol
Randall Stuart “Randy” Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is notable for his mordant (and often satirical) pop songs and for his many film scores.
Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a character far removed from Newman's own biography. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader's sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution. One of his biggest hits, "Short People" was written from the perspective of "a lunatic" who hates short people. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Leatherheads, James and the Giant Peach, Meet the Parents and Seabiscuit. He has scored five Disney-Pixar films: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Cars. Most recently he scored Princess and the Frog and is set to return for Toy Story 3 and Cars 2.
He has been singled out for a number of awards by his colleagues, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. Randy Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2007, Newman was inducted as a Disney Legend.
Bleeding All Over The Place
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today (except for The Crucifixion, still heard at Passiontide in many churches of the Anglican Communion), was very popular during his lifetime. His work as choir trainer and organist set standards for Anglican church music that are still influential. He was also active as an academic, becoming Heather Professor of Music at Oxford.
Stainer was born in Southwark, London in 1840, the son of a cabinet maker. He became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral when aged ten and was appointed to the position of organist at St Michael's College, Tenbury at the age of sixteen. He later became organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, and subsequently organist at St Paul's Cathedral. When he retired due to his poor eyesight and deteriorating health, he returned to Oxford to become Professor of Music at the university. He died unexpectedly while on holiday in Italy in 1901.
The Crucifixion
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983 in Muskogee, Oklahoma) is an American country singer-songwriter. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, and has become a multi-platinum selling recording artist and a multiple Grammy Award winner. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was certified seven times platinum and is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history.
Her second album, Carnival Ride, was released on October 23, 2007. It has so far sold about 2 million copies To date, Underwood has sold over 11 million records in the United States. Underwood was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008.
Before He Cheats
Queen were an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury, and drummer Roger Taylor, with bass guitarist John Deacon completing the lineup the following year. While it is uncertain how many albums the band has sold, estimations range from 130 million to over 300 million albums worldwide.
The band is noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies, and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances. Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live rock performance of all time in an industry poll.
Queen had moderate success in the early 1970s, with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. They have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums. Eighteen of these have reached number one on charts around the world.
Following Mercury's death in 1991 and Deacon's retirement later in the decade, May and Taylor have performed infrequently under the Queen name. Since 2005 they have been collaborating with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers.
Romance in The Dark
Herman Bahr's German play The Yellow Nightingale from 1907 became Paramount's 1938 entry in the then-popular operetta cycle. Gladys Swarthout, formerly of the Met, stars as Ilona Boros, a peasant girl with a magnificent voice who becomes a pawn in the rivalry between opera tenor Tony Kovach (John Boles) and his business manager Zoltan Jason (John Barrymore). Both men are infatuated with the beautiful, but cold, Countess Foldessy (Claire Dodd), and Tony plans to make Ilona a star so that Jason will be attracted to her instead. The scheme backfires, of course, and soon both men are fighting over Ilona, the outraged countess left to instead pursue Jason's butler, Von Hemisch (Curt Bois).
In between the comedy, Swarthout, Boles, and company perform such well-known selections as "Because," from the opera Jocelyn; "Habanera," from Carmen; "La Ci Darem la Nano," from Don Giovanni; and Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin's "Tonight We Love."
Yiruma (born February 15 1978, Seoul, Korea) is a South Korean piano music composer. He is married to Son Hye-im.
Yiruma is well-known throughout the world, and his albums are sold all over Asia, as well as the United States and Europe. His most famous pieces are "Kiss the Rain", and also "River Flows in You". These pieces are widely mistaken for being associated with the movie Twilight. Although he formerly held dual citizenship as a citizen of the United Kingdom and South Korea, in July 2006 he gave up his British citizenship and entered the Republic of Korea Navy to begin his military service, which is compulsory for all male South Koreans. He has lived in Osaka, Japan for 5 years to promote album sales before giving up his dual citizenship.
Michal Camilo
Philip David Charles Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951 Chiswick, London) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer and actor best known as the lead singer and drummer of English progressive rock group Genesis and as a Grammy and Academy Award-winning solo artist. He has also appeared in several films.
Collins sang the lead vocals on eight American chart-toppers between 1984 and 1989; seven as a solo artist and one with Genesis. His singles, often dealing with lost love, ranged from the drum-heavy "In the Air Tonight", to the dance pop of "Sussudio", to the political statements of his most successful song, "Another Day In Paradise". His international popularity transformed Genesis from a progressive rock group to a regular on the pop charts and an early MTV mainstay. Collins' professional career began as a drummer, first with obscure rock group Flaming Youth and then more famously with Genesis. In Genesis, Collins originally supplied backing vocals for front man Peter Gabriel, singing lead on only two songs: "For Absent Friends" from 1971's Nursery Cryme album and "More Fool Me" from Selling England by the Pound, which was released in 1973. On Gabriel's departure in 1975, Collins became the group's lead singer. As the decade closed, Genesis's first international hit, "Follow You, Follow Me", demonstrated a drastic change from the band's early years. His concurrent solo career, heavily influenced by his personal life, brought both him and Genesis commercial success. According to Atlantic Records, Collins' total worldwide sales as a solo artist, as of 2002, were 150 million.
Separate Lives
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born March 30, 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec) is a Canadian singer, and occasional songwriter and actress.
Dion had first gained international recognition in the 1980s by winning both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.
Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from rock and R&B to gospel and classical, and while her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals.
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Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an influential American songwriter, singer and guitarist. He has recorded and toured with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known for his brand of heartland rock infused with pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered around his native New Jersey. His eloquence in expressing ordinary, everyday problems has earned him numerous awards, including eighteen Grammy Awards and an Academy Award, along with a notoriously dedicated and devoted global fan base. His most famous albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., epitomize his penchant for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily life. He has sold over 65 million albums in the U.S.
Springsteen's lyrics often concern men and women struggling to make ends meet. He has gradually become identified with progressive politics. Springsteen is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, on which his album The Rising reflects.
Springsteen's recordings have tended to alternate between commercially accessible rock albums and somber folk-oriented works. Much of his iconic status stems from the concerts and marathon shows in which he and the E Street Band present intense ballads, rousing anthems, and party rock and roll songs, amongst which Springsteen intersperses long, whimsical or deeply emotional stories.
Springsteen has long had the nickname "The Boss", a term which he was initially reported to hate but now seems to have come to terms with, as he sometimes jokingly refers to himself as such on stage. The nickname originated when a young Springsteen, playing club gigs with a band in the 1960s, took on the task of collecting the band's nightly pay and distributing it amongst his bandmates.
Spanish Violin
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Miklós Rózsa (Hungarian: ; 18 April 1907 – 27 July 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931), and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953. Best known for his nearly one hundred film scores, he nevertheless maintained a steadfast allegiance to absolute concert music throughout what he called his "double life."
Rózsa achieved early success in Europe with his orchestral Theme, Variations, and Finale (Op. 13) of 1933 and became prominent in the film industry from such early scores as The Four Feathers (1939) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940). The latter project brought him to America when production was transferred from wartime Britain, and Rózsa remained in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1946. His notable Hollywood career earned him considerable fame, earning 17 Academy Award nominations including winning for Spellbound (1945), A Double Life (1947), and Ben-Hur (1959), while his concert works were championed by such major artists as Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and János Starker.
I Want To Be A Sailor
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theater lyricist and composer. In a career already spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972) and Wicked (2003). He has also contributed lyrics for a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998; music and lyrics) and Enchanted (2007). Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Awards, and three Academy Awards and has been nominated for six Tony Awards.
All That's Known
Mia Martini (Italian pronunciation: ; born Domenica Bertè ; 20 September 1947 – 12 May 1995) was an Italian singer.
E non finisce mica il cielo
Nelly Kim Furtado (born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and instrumentalist, who also holds Portuguese citizenship.
Furtado came to fame in 2000 with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her breakthrough Grammy Award-winning single "I'm like a Bird". After becoming a mother and releasing the less commercially successful Folklore (2003), she returned to prominence in 2006 with the release of Loose and its hit singles "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)". Furtado is known for experimenting with different instruments, sounds, genres, vocal styles and languages. This diversity has been influenced by her wide-ranging musical taste and her interest in different cultures.
Im Like A Bird
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981), commonly known as Beyoncé, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the best-selling girl group of all time.
In June 2003, after a series of commercial successes with the group, Beyoncé released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. The album became one of the most successful albums of that year, spawning the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy", and earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004. The formal disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success as a solo artist. She released her second album, B'Day in 2006, which spawned the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", as well as the worldwide hit, "Irreplaceable". Knowles has sold 15 million albums and singles worldwide.
The success of her solo albums has established her as one of the most marketable artists in the industry. However, she has also added acting and endorsement deals to her repertoire. In 2006, she starred alongside Steve Martin and Kevin Kline in the comedy The Pink Panther, and that same year, scored the main role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Knowles launched her family's fashion line House of Deréon in 2004, and among her many lucrative commercial deals are Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, and L'Oréal. Knowles has been with long-time boyfriend Jay-Z since 2002, though they have been discreet about their relationship. After much speculation, they married on April 4, 2008.
Pretty Hurts
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678 â July 28, 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), was a Venetian priest and Baroque music composer, as well as a famous virtuoso violinist; he was born and raised in the Republic of Venice. The Four Seasons, a series of four violin concerti, is his best-known work and a highly popular Baroque piece.
Many of Vivaldi's compositions reflect a flamboyant, almost playful, exuberance. Most of Vivaldi's repertoire was rediscovered only in the first half of the 20th century in Turin and Genoa and was published in the second half. Vivaldi's music is innovative, breaking a consolidated tradition in schemes; he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of the concerto, repeatedly looking for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes. Moreover, Vivaldi was able to compose nonacademic music, particularly meant to be appreciated by the wide public and not only by an intellectual minority. The joyful appearance of his music reveals in this regard a transmissible joy of composing; these are among the causes of the vast popularity of his music. This popularity soon made him famous in other countries such as France which was, at the time, very independent concerning its musical taste.
Vivaldi is considered one of the composers who brought Baroque music (with its typical contrast among heavy sonorities) to evolve into a classical style. Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his Johannes Passion, Matthäuspassion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed a number of Vivaldi's concerti for solo keyboard, along with a number for orchestra, including the famous Concerto for Four Violins and Violoncello, Strings and Continuo (RV 580).
Johann Pachelbel (baptized September 1, 1653 – buried March 9, 1706) was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most important composers of the middle Baroque era.
Pachelbel's work enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany. Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D, the only canon he wrote. In addition to the canon, his most well-known works include the Chaconne in F minor, the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard variations.
Pachelbel's music was influenced by southern German composers, such as Johann Jakob Froberger and Johann Kaspar Kerll, Italians such as Girolamo Frescobaldi and Alessandro Poglietti, French composers, and the composers of the Nuremberg tradition. Pachelbel preferred a lucid, uncomplicated contrapuntal style that emphasized melodic and harmonic clarity. His music is less virtuosic and less adventurous harmonically than that of Dieterich Buxtehude, although, like Buxtehude, Pachelbel experimented with different ensembles and instrumental combinations in his chamber music and, most importantly, his vocal music, much of which features exceptionally rich instrumentation. Pachelbel explored many variation forms and associated techniques, which manifest themselves in various diverse pieces, from sacred concertos to harpsichord suites.
Evita is the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce. It was released on December 25, 1996 by Hollywood and Cinergi Pictures.
Waltz for eva and Che
High Flying, Adored
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John Taylor, Steve Kuhn, Don Friedman, Denny Zeitlin, Bobo Stenson and Keith Jarrett, as well as guitarists Lenny Breau and Pat Metheny. The music of Bill Evans continues to inspire younger pianists like Marcin Wasilewski, Fred Hersch, Ray Reach, Bill Charlap, Lyle Mays, Eliane Elias and arguably Brad Mehldau, early in his career.
Evans is an inductee of the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
We Will Meet Again
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country-pop singer-songwriter. In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", which peaked at number six on the Billboard country charts. Later in October 2006, she released her self-titled debut album, which produced five hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and was certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. The New York Times described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".
According to Nielsen SoundScan, Swift was the biggest selling artist of 2008 in America with combined sales of more than four million albums. Swift's Fearless and her self-titled album finished 2008 at number three and number six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart. Fearless has topped the Billboard 200 in 11 non-consecutive weeks. No album has spent more time at number one since 1999-2000. It also was the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200. In mid-January 2009, Swift became the first country artist to top the 2 million mark in paid downloads with three different songs. As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with most paid downloads in history and the first country song to top the Mainstream Top 40 chart. According to the 2009 issue of Forbes, Swift is ranked as the 69th most powerful celebrity with over $18 million dollars in earnings this year.
Eric Coates
Eric Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and a viola player.
Don't Want to Miss a Thing
Jamiroquai is a Grammy Award-winning English acid jazz/funk/soul band. Jamiroquai was initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the Brand New Heavies, Galliano, and Corduroy. Subsequent albums have explored other musical directions such as, but not limited to, pop, rock and electronica. Jamiroquai has sold over 2.5 million records in the United States alone and over 21 million records all over the world.
The band name is a blend of Jam session and "iroquai", based on the Iroquois, a Native American tribe. The lineup of the band has changed several times, and the longest serving and now core members of the band are lead singer and songwriter Jason "Jay" Kay and drummer Derrick McKenzie (1994). Despite his self-professed attempts to treat Jamiroquai as a band, Kay has always been at the forefront of how the group is marketed, and has therefore always had the lion's share of media attention, to the point where he is viewed as almost a solo artist. He was the impetus behind the formation of Jamiroquai, deciding to form the band after an unsuccessful audition to become the singer of the Brand New Heavies.
Michel Camilo
Michel Camilo (born April 4, 1954) is a pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is known as a great jazz, Latin and classical pianist with superb technical ability, and has played and recorded with many world-famous musicians. Michel lists some of his main influences as Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Art Tatum.
Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American rock and blues musician. He is known for being a multi-instrumentalist — keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist and percussionist — as well as a singer. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, and their popular songs "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride".
Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States.
Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her album work, to much initial success, but her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001, and she was dropped by Virgin Records the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. In 2002, Carey signed with Island Records, and after a relatively unsuccessful period, she returned to pop music in 2005.
Carey was named the best-selling female pop artist of the millennium at the 2000 World Music Awards. She has had the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the United States (eighteen; second artist overall behind The Beatles), where, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, she is the third best-selling female and sixteenth overall recording artist. In addition to her commercial accomplishments, Carey has earned five Grammy Awards, and is well-known for her vocal range, power, melismatic style, and use of the whistle register.
Jule Styne
Jule Styne (/ˈdʒuːli staɪn/; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was a British-American song writer and composer known for a series of Broadway musicals, which include several famous and frequently revived shows.
If You Hadn't But You Did
Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in 1978 by David Coverdale, after his departure from his previous band Deep Purple. Their early material has been compared by critics to the blues rock of Deep Purple, but they slowly began moving toward a more commercially accessible rock style. By the turn of the decade, the band's commercial fortunes changed and they released a string of UK top 10 albums, Ready an' Willing (1980), Come an' Get It (1981), Saints & Sinners (1982) and Slide It In (1984), the last of which was their first to chart in the US and is certified 2x platinum.
The band's 1987 self-titled album was their most commercially successful worldwide, and contained two major US hits, "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love", reaching number one and two on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went 8 times platinum in the US, and the band's success saw them nominated for the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Group. Slip of the Tongue (1989), was also a success, reaching the top 10 in the UK and the US, and received a platinum US certification. The band split up shortly after this release, but had a reunion in 1994, and released a one-off studio album, Restless Heart (1997).
Whitesnake officially reformed in 2002 and have been touring together since, releasing three albums, Good to Be Bad (2008), Forevermore (2011) and The Purple Album (2015). In 2005, Whitesnake were named the 85th greatest hard rock band of all time by VH1.
Vitezslav Novak
Vítězslav Novák (5 December 1870 – 18 July 1949) was a Czech composer and pedagogue. Stylistically, he was part of the neoromantic tradition, and his music has been occasionally considered an early example of Czech modernism.
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THE POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT HAS LEFT THE PEOPLE OF DARFUR OUT
While the agreement reached today by Sudanese negotiating parties brings hope for peace in Sudan, we are extremely disappointed that the agreement overlooks those living in Darfur and their historical grievances. It’s extremely dismaying to see the complicity of the Alliance for Freedoms and Change (AFC) in their agreement with the Transitional Military Council (TMC). The AFC is taking an approach constantly used by the political elite: the exclusion of the majority of Sudanese who have the legitimate right to be included; a sentiment clearly missing from the Sudanese political process.
The people of Darfur have suffered for far too long only to see their concerns repeatedly ignored. The people of Darfur have suffered from genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for over sixteen years. Today, the rest of Sudan celebrates this step forward after working tirelessly for change. Those in Darfur, however, and their hopes for the future are once again neglected.
The agreement in its current context gives the military absolute power to control and dictate the first interim period. We fear the military will continue to oppress and kill civilians, particularly in Darfur, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile.
The agreement has further excluded the issues of safety and security for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees; it ignores their rights and freedoms. The restoration of humanitarian aid, of which people in conflict-affected areas are in dire need, also isn’t included in the agreement.
The agreement fails to prioritize criminal accountability for perpetrators, and justice for the victims, of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur and throughout Sudan.
The AFC fails to recognize the fact that the underlying causes for the uprising in Sudan are largely results of the intentional exclusion of all Sudanese from the political process––It was this same tactic that brought about the genocide in Darfur.
The danger of this agreement lies in its allowance of the military to protect themselves and to protect those who are responsible for committing crimes in Darfur. This agreement allows war criminals to get away with impunity and to continue to use military means to oppress more people.
This agreement allows the people of Khartoum to return home to some degree of normalcy. This is not the case for the people of Darfur. Women, men, and children have been in camps for almost two decades. Their land has been taken over by the Rapid Support Forces led by Hemeti. This agreement also ignores those in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, where many more are still hiding in caves and lack the minimal means of survival.
To show any legitimacy, the Interim Government must surrender President al-Bashir, Ahamed Haroun, Ali Kosheib and Abdulrahim Hussein to the International Criminal Court to face trial. This step is particularly important to build trust between the Interim Government and the people of Darfur.
For the solution to be sustainable in Sudan, priority must be given to the safety and security of those have been driven out of their homes and are continuously vulnerable to attack. We at DWAG believe that criminal accountability for those involved in the Darfur genocide is the only way to bring justice for the victims in Darfur. Sustainable peace is the only way to ensure a durable solution for victims of Sudan’s ongoing armed conflicts.
Latest Features and News
Al-Bashir’s “Trial” & the Theatrics of the TMC
ICC’s Prosecutor Demands Immediate Handover of Al-Bashir
June 20 - 2019
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Darfur Village Set Ablaze : 16…
International Inquiry into Khartoum Massacre Rejected by TMC
Sudan’s Emergency Courts sentence demonstrators, minors
April 05 - 2019
A Brutal Massacre is Unfolding in Sudan
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US Supreme Court declines involvement in state egg law cases
Written by DAVID A. LIEB - Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get involved in a legal dispute in which 15 states are seeking to strike down laws in California and Massachusetts that require larger living areas for some farm animals.
The attorney general’s office in Missouri, which spearheaded one of the lawsuits, vowed Tuesday to continue fighting for local farmers and consumers and said it was considering the next step.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice had urged the Supreme Court not to accept original jurisdiction over the states’ lawsuits. It said the dispute over interstate commerce was best suited for a district court.
The Supreme Court didn’t cite a reason for rejecting the lawsuits in a brief order Monday, although it noted Justice Clarence Thomas would have granted the motions.
The high court on Monday also declined to hear an appeal of California’s 2004 law banning a poultry product known as foie gras, a liver delicacy made by force-feeding ducks and geese. The issue has been simmering in courts since shortly after lawmakers passed the ban, which also prohibits liver produced out of state from entering California.
The multi-state egg lawsuit against California was led by former Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican who won election as a U.S. senator in November. He was replaced as attorney general last week by former state treasurer Eric Schmitt, a fellow Republican who pledged Tuesday to continue the fight to protect farmers and consumers from “burdensome regulations.”
California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2008 requiring that caged hens spend most of their day in spaces large enough to lie down, stand up, turn around and extend their limbs. The measure gave farmers until 2015 to comply. After California egg farmers raised concerns that they would be put at a competitive disadvantage, state legislators in 2010 expanded the law to bar the sale of eggs from any hens that were not raised in compliance with California standards requiring at least 116 square inches of floor space per chicken.
The lawsuit claimed the California law cost consumers nationwide up to $350 million annually because of higher egg prices since the requirements took effect in 2015.
California voters in November approved an even more aggressive law. It will require all eggs sold in the state to come from cage-free hens by 2022. It also bans the sale of pork and veal from animals that are not raised according to new minimum living space requirements.
The other multi-state lawsuit, led by Indiana, challenged a law approved by Massachusetts voters in 2016 that requires minimum living spaces for pigs and calves and also mandates that all eggs come from cage-free hens by 2022.
Both lawsuits alleged violations of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution for effectively imposing one state’s regulatory standards on people in other states.
The states involved in both lawsuits included Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. Iowa and Nevada were plaintiffs only in the lawsuit against California. South Carolina and West Virginia were plaintiffs only in the lawsuit against Massachusetts.
Posted in National, News, StateTagged cage-free chickens, egg farmer, Farming
Warren s Pugh January 9, 2019 at 10:36 am Reply
Most amusing. Humans thinking for animals, or is it for ‘other’ animals.
Perhaps if humans ate just fish . . .?:) Sure didn’t bother their ancestors
to slaughter the once abundant bison herds, and, for that matter, to
decimate millions of fish stocks.
If these whiners didn’t eat it would solve two problems wouldn’t it.
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Awkwardly realizing how white we all are
Posted by: Elizabeth Sandifer 5 years, 8 months ago
At this point the overlap between Lance Parkin's interests and mine is downright unsettling. How am I ever going to get anywhere with my interests when I have to compete with someone as good as him? It's not enough, apparently, that he be one of the best writers of Doctor Who auxiliary material and a damn fine scholar of the show, as evidenced by his marvelous volume of the Time Unincorporated series. He's got to go write about Alan Moore as well. Actually, he's on his second, having written a quite solid introduction to him for the Pocket Essentials series. But Magic Words is something else; a landmark, definitive tome that immediately establishes itself as one of the absolutely essential works for anybody interested in Alan Moore.
Before we get to any of that, however, let's start with the fact that the book is absolutely gorgeous. This is a sumptuous, lush book. Its cover, a green-tinged photo of Moore staring out at the reader through the smoke of the almost certainly not tobacco cigarette in his hand, is augmented by a bellyband proclaiming the title. The edges of the pages are inked black, giving the exterior a sleek elegance. Inside is similarly well-designed, save for a frustrating decision to use a cod-comics lettering font for chapter headers. Still, it's one of the nicest physical objects of a book I've laid hands on this year.
That bit of geekery aside, the book itself. It is, to be clear, a biography. It is not Gary Spencer Millidge's (very excellent) Alan Moore: Storyteller, nor George Khoury's The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore. The former is an overview of Moore's work; the latter an extended interview. This, however, is an attempt to grapple with Alan Moore the man. This obviously involves a lot of looking at his work, but mainly in terms of how it explains his evolving career.
This is, to be sure, an interesting subject. Moore's career, after all, is a fascinating litany of brilliance and idiosyncrasy. First of all, there's the somewhat puzzling matter of him worshipping a snake puppet. Second, there's the stark litany of fairly explosive feuds he's had with various people. Third, there's the fact that his life is simply full of idiosyncratic and extreme beliefs, positions, and courses of action, most of which are backed up by complex and nuanced explanations.
Complicating Parkin's task is the fact that, up until the very end of the writing process, Moore wasn't participating in the biography. Moore was shown what was at the time intended to be the final draft, and was impressed enough to both give a charming blurb ("In Magic Words Lance Parkin has crafted a biography that is insightful, scrupulously fair-minded and often very funny - a considerable achievement given its unrelentingly grim, unreasonable, and annoying subject. Belongs on the shelf of any halfway decent criminal profiler.") and what Parkin has described as the most wonkish Alan Moore interview ever, as it consisted of no questions regarding well-trod subject matter, and instead consisting entirely of issues like sorting out Grant Morrison's claim that Moore had written him a threatening letter in response to Morrison's unsolicited submission of a Kid Marvelman script (Moore says it never happened, and Parkin backs the claim up with a Dez Skinn interview) and why Moore decided to do his ABC work as a work-for-hire such that he doesn't own Tom Strong or Promethea (still unclear, actually, though I have my speculations for a few years from now).
For the most part the distance Moore kept from the book helps Parkin. Moore is uniquely well-suited to this approach - he's given a large number of interviews, and is one of the best interview subjects around, prone to lengthy answers that are in equal parts witty and informative (there's a lovely and deliciously throwaway joke in which he describes "a five-or-six page strip about Darth Vader," a joke that is hilarious to a vanishingly small number of people). But it means that Magic Words is breathtakingly well-researched. (The footnotes in the final version aren't numbered, but the draft Parkin sent me in June had 1046) It also means that Parkin gives plenty of weight to Moore's critics. Moore requested that Parkin not bother his family or friends, and so the only interviews Parkin did for the bulk of the book were with people who had fallen out with Moore. This doesn't make the book a hit piece - it's obviously not, since Moore endorsed it in the end. But it means that Parkin's take on Moore is fair-minded. The book is not a hagiography just as much as it's not a hit piece. Parkin's deep love of the subject matter shows through, and he's clearly broadly speaking on Moore's side.
Particularly impressive, given Parkin's limited access to Moore himself, are the early chapters, which provide tremendous detail about Moore's pre-professional life. Parkin somehow got ahold of some properly astonishing sources; his tracking down of Jeremy Seabrook's The Unprivileged, a sociological study of Moore's area of Northampton written by Moore's first-form French teacher, is the sort of thing that makes other scholars drool with envy. The casualness with which he describes the plot of Another Suburban Romance, meanwhile, is the Moore scholar equivalent of a mic drop. So thorough is Parkin's account that, reading the book, one does not realize that this section deals with a wildly less well documented phase of Moore's life.
All of this is bound up in the neat, well-organized package of Parkin's overall insights into Moore and his life. The book does not advance any sort of singular argument, but Parkin is deftly deductive, frequently grabbing bits of information from two or three sources and making a solid and compelling stab at explaining how it all fits together. The result is a detailed portrait of Alan Moore that is sympathetic, thorough, and yet put at enough of a remove to invite further engagement and discussion. Magic Words is in no way the definitive book on Alan Moore. But this is a good thing. Parkin believes, with good reason, that Moore has a real chance of being a writer who is still talked about centuries from now. It would undermine this claim horribly if Parkin had the last word. Rather than being definitive, Magic Words is something far more wonderful: essential.
Magic Words is out on November 7th in the UK. Americans have to wait until December 1st. Those in the UK will be further enticed by the November 26th book launch in London, which Alan Moore himself will be at. Tickets for that are here.
Allyn Gibson 5 years, 8 months ago
why Moore decided to do his ABC work as a work-for-hire such that he doesn't own Tom Strong or Promethea
I thought the reason for that was well-known — Moore received higher pages rates on the WFH ABC books. Moore made more money on the front-end than he would have otherwise, and Wildstorm stood to make more money on the back-end.
At least, that's what I was under the impression was the story. Could be that I've been taken in by an urban legend in the comics community.
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Elizabeth Sandifer 5 years, 8 months ago
That's the ostensible reason, but it's still strangely out of line with Moore's usual attitudes and approaches.
Nick Smale 5 years, 8 months ago
At this point the overlap between Lance Parkin's interests and mine is downright unsettling.
And to underline that point, here's Parkin's review of A Golden Thread.
timber-munki 5 years, 8 months ago
Given that Moore famously wrote Neonomicon to pay a large tax bill it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he'd be in a situation where he had to get a large amount of money quickly.
What is strange is that one of his most personal statements of belief and formally complex works, Promethea is owned by his bette noir DC along with (at least part of) League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen the thing that he appears to enjoy making the most.
The money wouldn't have been quick for the ABC stuff, though - he was getting a higher page rate, not an advance or anything. (Neonomicon happened specifically because William Christensen was willing to give him an advance on the royalties. And I suspect the large tax bill Neonomicon was settling was due to the sales bump the Watchmen movie caused, and was not just a random thing.) But yes, I agree that it's odd that Promethea isn't creator owned. Though I suspect the reason for that is that what Promethea became is not entirely what Moore originally intended it to be.
Jordan Murphy 5 years, 8 months ago
This sounds like a book I'll have to check out. I haven't commented much on your Eruditorium entries, as I feel others have far more to say than I about Doctor Who, and I've mostly refrained from commenting on Last War in Albion because, as an American, I'm not too familiar with the material covered thus far. But once M&M hit the states you'll be getting stuff I know very well, that I bought with my own hard-earned dollars in comfortably dilapidated comics shops as they happened. Stuff I have long-considered opinions on dating back 30 years. I suspect I'll have more to say on Moore (and Morrison, and Miller, Gaiman, Delano, Wagner, Sienkiewicz, the Hernandez Bros., Spiegelman, Clowes, Bagge, etc.) in the months to come.
Kit 5 years, 8 months ago
"That's the ostensible reason, but it's still strangely out of line with Moore's usual attitudes and approaches."
It has, in part, always been the reason Rick Veitch has given, since 1999, and he's a man not known for dissembling when it comes to discussing creative or financial decisions of his own or of publishers. And he was the closest to Moore as co-creator at the time, when the line was conceived in the wake of the collapse of Extreme/Awesome. (The other part of course being that Moore wasn't just trying to get himself the extra upfront money, but had created the entire line because artists he'd recruited for Awesome were now out of work, and he was trying to help them out as fast as possible.)
Remember, the titles were all meant to only run for a year under Moore before being handed off to other writers, too. He simply wasn't that attached to the creations at the time he made the decision over ownership.
(Obviously, I haven't read the Parkin book, so I don't know what other mysteries are stirred into the mix, per Phil's allusions. But I'll be arriving in London two days before the launch, and have my tickets already.)
Wm Keith 5 years, 8 months ago
I don't know much about comics.
It's interesting that five out of the first eight comments on this post relate partly or wholly to intellectual property rights.
Is the ownership of ideas a recurring theme in Moore's work or only in his career?
Joe Bowers 5 years, 8 months ago
Ownership of the characters and work is a pretty big deal in comics, particularly the difference between creative work for hire, where the rights stay with the company, and other arrangements where the rights stay with the creators. During the period that Dr. Sandifer is covering, it was the source of a lot of conflict and change in the industry, and also showed up as a common theme in the comics themselves.
I've read this part of the book now, and several bits and pieces of the rest of it, and it seems that any apparent holes in the story may be attributable to holes in Parkin's knowledge or telling of the story; he makes various small errors of fact (here and in other sections), including repeating uncorrected a self-aggrandising falsehood from noted oaf Don Murphy.
(League was never intended to be an ABC book at all; it was part of the Homage line, which was Wildstorm's creator-owned imprint. Its rebadging on moving to DC was an unfortunate byproduct of Firewall, but the different approach to design, different letterer, different copyright notice, and the fact it was set in a completely different universe all remained plain.)
Do you know of any sources that cover it more thoroughly? It's a moment I'm going to be terribly interested in when the time comes.
Argh, spent ten minutes typing a reply, then hostel wifi cut out and ate it. Drop me an email.
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Browse: Home / New graphene based inks for high-speed manufacturing of printed electronics
New graphene based inks for high-speed manufacturing of printed electronics
By Marko Spasenovic on October 20, 2015
A low-cost, high-speed method for printing graphene inks using a conventional roll-to-roll printing process, like that used to print newspapers and crisp packets, could open up a wide range of practical applications, including inexpensive printed electronics, intelligent packaging and disposable sensors.
Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Cambridge-based technology company Novalia, the method allows graphene and other electrically conducting materials to be added to conventional water-based inks and printed using typical commercial equipment, the first time that graphene has been used for printing on a large-scale commercial printing press at high speed.
Graphene is a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms, just one atom thick. Its flexibility, optical transparency and electrical conductivity make it suitable for a wide range of applications, including printed electronics. Although numerous laboratory prototypes have been demonstrated around the world, widespread commercial use of graphene is yet to be realised.
“We are pleased to be the first to bring graphene inks close to real-world manufacturing. There are lots of companies that have produced graphene inks, but none of them has done it on a scale close to this,” said Dr Tawfique Hasan of the Cambridge Graphene Centre (CGC), who developed the method. “Being able to produce conductive inks that could effortlessly be used for printing at a commercial scale at a very high speed will open up all kinds of different applications for graphene and other similar materials.”
“This method will allow us to put electronic systems into entirely unexpected shapes,” said Chris Jones of Novalia. “It’s an incredibly flexible enabling technology.”
Hasan’s method, developed at the University’s Nanoscience Centre, works by suspending tiny particles of graphene in a ‘carrier’ solvent mixture, which is added to conductive water-based ink formulations. The ratio of the ingredients can be adjusted to control the liquid’s properties, allowing the carrier solvent to be easily mixed into a conventional conductive water-based ink to significantly reduce the resistance. The same method works for materials other than graphene, including metallic, semiconducting and insulating nanoparticles.
Currently, printed conductive patterns use a combination of poorly conducting carbon with other materials, most commonly silver, which is expensive. Silver-based inks cost £1000 or more per kilogram, whereas this new graphene ink formulation would be 25 times cheaper. Additionally, silver is not recyclable, while graphene and other carbon materials can easily be recycled. The new method uses cheap, non-toxic and environmentally friendly solvents that can be dried quickly at room temperature, reducing energy costs for ink curing. Once dry, the ‘electric ink’ is also waterproof and adheres to its substrate extremely well.
The graphene-based inks have been printed at a rate of more than 100 metres per minute, which is in line with commercial production rates for graphics printing, and far faster than earlier prototypes. Two years ago, Hasan and his colleagues produced a prototype of a transparent and flexible piano using graphene-based inks, which took between six and eight hours to make. Through the use of this new ink, more versatile devices on paper or plastic can be made at a rate of 300 per minute, at a very low cost. Novalia has also produced a printed DJ deck and an interactive poster, which functions as a drum kit using the same method.
Hasan and PhD students Guohua Hu, Richard Howe and Zongyin Yang of the Hybrid Nanomaterials Engineering group at CGC, in collaboration with Novalia, tested the method on a typical commercial printing press, which required no modifications in order to print with the graphene ink. In addition to the new applications the method will open up for graphene, it could also initiate entirely new business opportunities for commercial graphics printers, who could diversify into the electronics sector.
“The UK, and the Cambridge area in particular, has always been strong in the printing sector, but mostly for graphics printing and packaging,” said Hasan, a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and a University Lecturer in the Engineering Department. “We hope to use this strong local expertise to expand our functional ink platform. In addition to cheaper printable electronics, this technology opens up potential application areas such as smart packaging and disposable sensors, which to date have largely been inaccessible due to cost.”
In the short to medium term, the researchers hope to use their method to make printed, disposable biosensors, energy harvesters and RFID tags.
The research was supported by grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Impact Acceleration Account and a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. The technology is being commercialised by Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm.
Credit: Cambridge University
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The Fretless
THE FRETLESS: The Fretless is the Canadian fiddle foursome playing an essential part in the emerging movement mainstreaming traditional irish folk music.
Starting with its debut album in 2012, the band has steadily pushed further into the public eye, winning Instrumental Album of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and Instrumental Group of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Its 2014 tune “Waving To Ryan” has topped a million Spotify plays, and in 2016, The Fretless took home a Juno™ award for Instrumental Album of The Year for its most recent full-length Bird’s Nest.
It took the release of the superb Bird’s Nest album to win them the attention they deserved on this side of the Atlantic. Consistently given four and five-star ratings, Songlines magazine loved its “plethora of thrilling moments” while fRoots magazine placed them “in the elite category.” RNR magazine said it was “high quality, inventive and absolutely full of life and energy.”
They rocked Celtic Connections with stunning shows in 2018 and emerged triumphant from Shetland Folk festival too, after releasing the superb Live From The Art Farm CD, which has also been nominated for another Juno Award in the Best Album category.
Karrnnel Sawitsky, Trent Freeman, Ben Plotnick and Eric Wright are each musicians at the top of their game and held in the highest regard by their peers.
The band is one of the main headline acts at this year’s big TradFest in Edinburgh.
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Gibson EB-1
Bass Bass Gear Bass Guitar Bruce Eb Eb-1 Eb1 Eb 1 Bass Eb1-1 Eb Bass Epiphone Felix Pappalardi Gibson Gibson Bass Gibson Eb 1 Jack Bruce Review Violin Bass
Jack Bruce Bass Gear
Felix Pappalardi Bass
Epiphone Eb 1 Bass
Gibson Eb 1 Violin Bass
Jack Bruce Gibson Bass
Gibson Eb 1 Bass
I know some of you are probably wondering why I’m writing about a bass player who is not really known for playing a Fender Bass, although Bruce did play a Fender VI Bass early on in his career.
The main reason I feel I should include an article about Jack Bruce is his enormous impact on how the electric bass was played and perceived in rock music, regardless of whether he was using a Fender or not.
Born in Scotland in 1943, Jack Bruce Bass Gear gained fame and recognition as the lead vocalist and bassist of the 1960’s super group Cream. Growing up in a musical family, Bruce went to the Royal Academy of Music in Glasgow, Scotland where he studied cello. Soon after he switched to double bass and became more interested in jazz than classical studies. Playing upright bass in jazz and dance clubs, Jack saw a blues band that featured an electric ギブソン eb-1 bass player. He was immediately fascinated by this “new” Jack Bruce Bass Gear instrument and soon purchased a cheap electric bass guitar and began experimenting with it.
gibson eb-1 bass was much more interested in playing the electric bass more like a guitar, rather than just playing roots and fifths like most bassists of the day. Hugely influenced by the great Motown bassist James Jamerson, Bruce began to develop a busy, lead bass style using melodic phrasing and complex syncopation. In 1965 Bruce was playing for the Graham Bond Organization on upright but soon decided to switch to his electric bass and push the boundaries.
Gibson has never really enjoyed the same success in Bass guitars as Fender none the less Gibson basses have a loyal following. The EB1 first appeared in 1956. It looked more like a violin than a modern bass and appeared very similar to the classic hofner Jack Bruce Bass Gear bass models popular in the 60’s. The EB2, a semi-solid body bass was introduced in 1958 and featured rounded Les Paul like contours. This was probably due to influence of the ES335 which was introduced at the same timeframe. Gibson’s introduced the EB0 in 1959. The EB3 appeared in 1961 and was a deluxe version of the EB0 with an extra bridge pickup which gave it a much brighter sound.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Eb-1Tags Bass Gear, Jack BruceLeave a comment
The violin shaped “Electric Bass”, as Gibsons first electric bass guitar was known, was first produced in 1953 as a response to the Fender Precision Bass. Only an average of 91 Felix Pappalardi Bass were produced each year untill 1958 when, with the launch of the hollow-body EB2 the EB was renamed the EB1, a name which has now been attributed to the whole production run of this model.
The violin shaped body was carved out of solid mahogony and fitted with a large, brown, pickup at the base of the neck, with the poles situated along the lower, bridge, end. The head was fitted with banjo-style tuners, as were all basses in the 1950’s, and the end of the body was fitted with a socket to take a screw-in telescopic end-pin which allowed the bass to be played as an upright.
Production ceased at the end of 1958, with a total 546 produced, making this an extremely rare model.
There was a nostalgia-driven resurgence of this model in the late 1960’s, leading Gibson to re-issue the model in 1970-72 when they produced 473 re-issues with a metal covered Humbucker, the then prevalent intonable bridge and conventional right-angle tuners.
The most famous player of an EB1 was Felix Pappalardi Bass, the Producer of the Cream and later the Bassist for Mountain, who played a 1970’s re-issue. Jack Bruce also played an EB1 in memory of Felix, during the Cream reunion at the Albert Hall in 2005.
The EB-1 briefly resurfaced in 1970 with a few cosmetic changes but by 1972 it was gone again! With its violin shape and endpin it was definitely aimed at bridging the gap between an upright bass and a bass guitar. The earliest versions of Felix Pappalardi Bass with a brown pickup cover had a huge single-coil unit inside that was actually mounted on its side. This gave it a cleaner and better-defined sound than the 1958 versions that were given a regular bass humbucker.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Gibson Eb 1 BassTags Bass, Felix PappalardiLeave a comment
The Epiphone Eb 1 Bass, then known as the Electric Bass, was first marketed in 1953 in response to the runaway success of the Fender Precision Bass. Rather than using a body styled after an electric guitar, the EB-1 was shaped to resemble a double bass, and even had false f-holes painted onto the top of the body. Production of the EB-1 ended in 1958, when it was superseded by the EB-2 and the later EB-0. The Electric Bass was renamed as the EB-1 at this time.
The Epiphone Eb 1 Bass was reissued twice; once in 1968, and again in 1999. The 1968 reissue deleted the false f-holes. Other changes included standard right-angled tuning machines, and the addition of a chrome bridge cover. This reissue was discontinued in 1972. The 1999 reissue, by Epiphone (a subsidiary of Gibson), was manufactured in Korea. This version of the EB-1 uses a more cost-effective bolt-on neck construction.
Despite its relative unpopularity among players, the Epiphone Eb 1 Bass is prized among collectors for its historical value. It is not uncommon for original EB-1s to fetch prices of over $4000 US dollars.
The Epiphone Eb 1 Bass featured a solid mahogany body with raised pickguard, and featured a 30.5″ scale set neck rather than the 34″ scale of the Fender Precision Bass or the 41.5″ scale of the 3/4-sized upright bass, which was the scale favored by many upright bassists of the time. The pickup was mounted directly against the base of the neck, rather than the mid-body position used by the Precision Bass, giving the Epiphone Eb 1 Bass a deeper, but less defined tone than its rival. The EB-1 is fitted with planetary banjo tuners, rather than the right-angled tuners used by most other guitar and bass designs.
In order to appeal to upright bass players, the EB-1 featured a telescopic end pin that allowed bassists to play the EB-1 in both the upright and horizontal positions. False f-holes and purfling were painted onto the body in order to resemble the upright bass. The Epiphone Eb 1 Bass was only available finished with a brown stain.
This was the first electric bass from Gibson hence the name. However it was rechristened the Epiphone Eb 1 Bass after the introduction of the EB-0 in 1956. It was Gibson’s tradition of organising model numbers by their price that caused the EB-0 to undercut this designation because it was cheaper!
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Eb-1Tags Eb 1 Bass, EpiphoneLeave a comment
This Gibson Eb 1 Violin Bass very early violin-shaped “EB-1” bass guitar with painted-on f holes (in black) weighs just 8.40 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 30 1/2 inches. Solid (two inch thick) mahogany body with a width of 11 1/2 inches and two black ‘pencil’ lines around the outline on the top and bottom. One-piece mahogany neck with a wonderful medium-to-thick profile and unbound rosewood fretboard with 20 thin frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl “Gibson” logo. Black plastic truss-rod cover. Two-on-a-side Kluson banjo-style tuners with rear-facing Keystone plastic keys. Serial number (“4 1991”) inked-on in black on the back of the headstock of Gibson Eb 1 Violin Bass. One Alnico magnetic pickup with a brown Royalite cover and a huge output of 16.28k. Brown plastic pickguard. Two controls (one volume, one tone) on lower treble bout. Brown plastic barrel-shape half-inch “Speed” knobs. Side-mounted jack socket. Combination “wrap-over” bar bridge/tailpiece with two adjustment screws. The pots are dated “134 320” (Centralab May 1953). All hardware nickel-plated. There are a couple of very small surface ‘cuts’ on the top treble edge of the body (adjacent to the pickup), otherwise this is a spectacular and totally original example in near mint condition, by far the finest we have ever seen, complete with it’s original telescoping end-pin and the original hang-tag. Housed in the original brown four-latch hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.25).
“In the late 1930s Gibson took another foray into the low end with the Electric Bass Guitar – the name, if not the instrument itself, proving prophetic. An over-size, 4-string hollowbody guitar made of solid maple, it was equipped with an endpin for stand-up playing and had a magnetic pickup similar to the Charlie Christian-model guitar pickup. The curved fingerboard had 24 inlaid fret markers, making it the first “lined fretless.” Scale length was an upright-like 42 3/4″. According to Gibson historian Julius Bellson, only two Electric Gibson Eb 1 Violin Bass Guitars were made between 1938 and 1940, before World War ll shut down product development. It’s interesting to speculate about what might have happened if Gibson had been able to follow this line of thought.
Gibson didn’t re-enter the electric bass market until two years after after the introduction of the Fender Precision Bass. The Gibson Electric Gibson Eb 1 Violin BassBass of 1953, like the Electric Bass Guitar of the late ’30s, was equipped with a telescoping endpin for upright playing – but this time the instrument had a small, violin-shaped solid-mahogany body (with painted-on f hole) and a scale length of only 30 1/2″. The short scale was intended, apparently, to make it more appealing to guitarists, an impression that would seem to be confirmed by the inclusion of frets and a pickguard. The large single pickup had a brown plastic cover and was mounted at the end of the neck. The tuners were banjo-style, with rear-facing knobs on the back of the peghead. The Electric Gibson Eb 1 Violin Bass was renamed the EB-1 in 1958, when Gibson introduced another electric bass, but discontinued within the year. Only 546 were made between 1953 and 1958. Updated with a chrome-covered humbucking pickup and some cosmetic refinements, the EB-1 made a brief comeback in 1970 but was dropped again two years later ” (Jim Roberts, American Basses, p.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Gibson Eb 1 BassTags Gibson Eb 1, Violin BassLeave a comment
Bill Black was an upright bassist who played electric bass later, and amongst my peers, Jaco Pastorius was a bass player from the word go; Steve Swallow, like me, switched from double bass to bass guitar – in fact, he saw me at the Fillmore in ’67, and decided to purchase a bass guitar.
In some of the British rock bands, the guy who wasn’t very good on guitar might have taken up Jack Bruce Gibson Bass (chuckles), but I think the serious bass players or bass guitarists are the ones who are in love with the bass and didn’t start off on another instrument.
But I have played Jack Bruce Gibson Bass guitar [since] my early skiffle days. I played acoustic, and still do. In fact, I play guitar on one track on the new album.I was very much a purist in wanting to play double bass, but then I was asked to do a session for a Jamaican jazz guitarist named Ernest Ranglin. He was very important in the development of Jamaican music like ska and reggae, as well as artists like Bob Marley, but he was also a jazz player. Island Records was doing a jazz EP, and I was doing quite a few sessions at the time. They told me specifically, to bring a “bass guitar.” So I borrowed one; I think Jack Bruce Gibson Bass was an old Guild semi-acoustic I got from a music shop, and I was immediately hooked.
More importantly, I think the invention of the bass guitar changed the whole direction of music. I would argue that it was more important than the guitar, because there have been guitars for a long time, and it was easy to amplify the guitar. But the bass guitar changed the whole sound and writing of music.
If you listen to early Elvis tracks, they’re using a double bass, and it’s a whole different feel – almost a country approach – from what came later. When the Jack Bruce Gibson Bass guitar began to be used more, that whole area – the bass frequencies – became more important, and that led to people like James Jamerson, who played very melodic bass. Sometimes, the bass was as important as the lead vocals, while the guitar was just chinking away rhythmically. There’s a very good book about that subject by a guy named Jim Roberts called How the Fender Bass Changed the World.
With an amplified guitar, the basic instrument is still the same. But the Jack Bruce Gibson Bass guitar had a different scale, and because of its sound, it made people write different kinds of music.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Eb-1Tags Gibson Bass, Jack BruceLeave a comment
Eb1-1 Sale
The most notable advantage of Eb1-1 Sale for those who qualify for an EB-1 petition is the waiver of a Labor Certification requirement in the green card process. Another advantage is that visa numbers are almost always current for the EB-1 application category. This means that an alien will not have to wait for visa numbers to become available before applying Adjustment of Status (I-485) and receiving a Green Card. Furthermore, the applicant can file other immigration petitions under other appropriate categories (such as National Interest Waiver) while a EB-1 petition is pending.
Obtaining a Labor Certification is a time-consuming and expensive process that seeks to determine whether sufficient able, willing, and qualified U.S. worker are available to fill the position sought by the alien. In addition to the time and expense of the Labor Certification process, an alien risks being denied a Labor Certification if any U.S. workers with the minimum technical qualifications for the employment is found (even if the alien is actually more suitable for the position based on factors not considered in the Labor Certification process).
In an Eb1-1 Sale petition, Labor Certification is not required at all. For aliens with extraordinary ability (EB-1A petition), a permanent job offer is not required, applicants don’t have to demonstrate that they have an employer in the US; they only have to demonstrate that they will keep working in the field in which they have the extraordinary abilities, EB1A applicants may file for immigration petition on behalf of themselves. However, Eb1-1 Sale and EB-1C petitions require permanent job offers. In other words, a U.S. employer must be the petitioner for EB1B or EB1C cases.
1969 Gibson EB-1 Bass Guitar in good condition. Modified with 2nd EB-3 pickup. 2 volumes and a tone. Aftermarket hard shell case. Similar to one used by Robin Trowers bass player. Straight neck. Bridge cover. Early serial number. Original finish. We may, in our sole discretion, apply any proceeds of sale then due or thereafter becoming due to the purchaser from us or any affiliated company, or any payment made by the purchaser to us or any affiliated company, where or not intended to reduce the purchaser’s obligations with respect to the unpaid lot or lots, to the deficiency and any other amounts due to us or any affiliated companies.
In addition, a defaulting purchaser will be deemed to have granted and assigned to us and our affiliated companies, a continuing security interest of first priority in any property or money of our owing to such purchaser in our possession or in the possession of any of our affiliated companies, and we may retain and apply such property or money as collateral security for the obligations due to us or to any affiliated company of ours. Payment of Eb1-1 Salewill not be deemed to have been made in full until we have collected good funds. In the event the purchaser fails to pay any or all of the total purchase price for any lot and Julien’s elects to pay the Consignor any portion of the sale proceeds, the purchaser acknowledges that Julien’s shall have all of the rights of the Consignor to pursue the purchaser for any amounts paid to the Consignor, whether at law, in equity, or under these Conditions of Sale.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Eb-1Tags Eb1-1Leave a comment
Eb Bass
Do yo like this Eb Bass and want to own one? It is a good news for you that it is still available in our shop, and you can get in a short time with a reasonable price.
Julien’s reserves the right to withdraw any property before the sale and will have no liability for doing so.
We reserve the right to accept or decline any bid. Bids must be for an entire lot and each lot constitutes a separate sale. All bids are per lot unless otherwise announced at a live sale by the auctioneer. Live auction lots will be sold in their numbered sequence unless the Auctioneer directs otherwise. It is unlawful and illegal for Bidders to collude, pool, or agree with another Bidder to pay less than the fair value for lot(s). Bidders participating in both live and online auctions acknowledge that the law provides for substantial penalties in the form of treble damages and attorneys’ fees and costs of Eb Bass for those who violate these provisions. For live auctions the auctioneer will have final discretion in the event that any dispute should arise between bidders.
The auctioneer will determine the successful bidder, cancel the sale, or re-offer and resell the lot or lots in dispute. Julien’s will have final discretion to resolve any disputes arising after the sale and in online auctions. If any dispute arises our sale record is conclusive. Julien’s will execute order or absentee bids, and accept telephone bids as a courtesy to clients who are unable to attend the live auctions. Therefore we take no responsibility for any errors or omissions in connection with this service.
Subject to fulfillment of all of the conditions set forth herein, on the fall of the auctioneer’s hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer, and such bidder thereupon (a) assumes full risk and responsibility (including without limitation, liability for or damage to frames or glass covering prints, paintings, photos, or other works), and (b) will immediately pay the full purchase price or such part as we may require. In addition to other remedies available to us by law, we reserve the right to impose from the date of sale a late charge of 1 ½% per month of the total purchase price if payment is not made in accordance with the conditions set forth herein. All property must be removed from either our premises by the purchaser at his expense not later than 10 business days following its sale and if it is not so removed, (i) a handling charge of 1% of the total purchase price per month from the tenth day after the sale until its removal will be payable to us by the purchaser, with a minimum of 5% of the total purchase price for any property not so removed within 60 days after the sale, and (ii) we may send the purchased property to a public warehouse for the account, at the risk and expense of the purchaser.
If any applicable conditions of gibson eb1 bass herein are not complied with the purchaser will be in default and in addition to any and all other remedies available to us and the Consignor by law, including, without limitation, the right to hold the purchaser liable for the total purchase price, including all fees, charges and expenses more fully set forth herein, we, at our option, may (a) cancel the sale of that, or any other lots sold to the defaulting purchaser at the same or any other auction, retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the purchaser, or (b) resell the purchased property, whether at public auction or by private sale, or (c) effect any combination thereof. In any case, the purchaser will be liable for any deficiency, any and all costs, handling charges, late charges, expenses of both sales, our commissions on both sales at our regular rates, legal fees and expenses, collection fees and incidental damages.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 30, 2015 Categories Eb-1Tags Bass, EbLeave a comment
Bruce Bass
Payments of Bruce Bass : Julien’s Auctions will invoice only for the property (including buyer’s premium). Payments for winning lots should be made to Julien’s Auctions, PO Box 691789, W. Hollywood, CA 90069. We accept wire transfer, cashiers check or personal check, American Express, MasterCard and Visa. California and New York residents will be charged sales tax.
Shipping: Shipping for all small items will be handled directly through Julien’s Auctions. For all large or oversize items, shipping has been contracted by Rockin Boxes Global, Inc. All shipping inquiries can be directed To arrange shipping with Rockin Boxes Global, please contact them directly at (877) 420-0212 or . The buyer is responsible to make contact regarding any concerns or shipping related questions. Please allow 2-12 weeks for the delivery of your property depending on the size of the auction, the receiver’s destination, or the mode of transportation. All auction property is shipped at the bidder’s expense. All shipments are sent signature required. Property will not ship USPS or on your personal shipping accounts.
Courtesy to all Julien’s auctions clients, Julien’s auctions will offer 30 days free pick up and storage. Rockin Boxes Global, Inc. will offer to non-shipping clients 30 days free storage and charge a 55.00 removal fee per invoice. For all shipping clients there will be no removal fee.After 30 days, we charge 8.00 per lot, per day, unless prior arrangements are made. Julien’s and Rockin Boxes Global will not falsify or claim a lower valueon custom’s documents to avoid paying government fees. Julien’s and Rockin Boxes Global is not responsible if there is any delay in customs and is not responsible for returned shipments.
The Buyer of eb1 bass is responsible for all government fees including duties, taxes, VAT, Customs, or any unforeseen charges. All door to door Freight Shipments are curbside delivery. If you have any special requests, (property unpacked, brought upstairs, or inside delivery) there will be additional charges.
Bids will not be accepted from those persons under the age of eighteen (18) without written consent of said persons parent or legal guardian. Written consent must acknowledge the terms and conditions of sale.This Bruce Bass written consent constitutes an agreement to be bound thereby on behalf of the bidder.Bidder registration is required for all persons wishing to bid live and online for Julien’s Auctions. Any person registering for the auction in person or online will complete a registration or bid sheet.
All items are offered subject to a reserve. The reserve is the confidential minimum price acceptable to the Consignor. During a live auction the auctioneer may open any lot by bidding on behalf of the Consignor and may bid up to the amount of the reserve, by placing successive or consecutive bids for a lot or bids in response to other bidders. Online sales may do the same by employing the use of a starting bid which will commence bidding at or below the reserve price agreed to by the Consignor.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 29, 2015 Categories Gibson Eb 1 BassTags Bass, BruceLeave a comment
Jack Bruce Bass Guitar
Julen’s Auctions guarantees the authenticity of Attribution of property listed in the catalogue or online as stated in the Terms of Guarantee. Except for the Limited Warranty contained in the terms of guarantee all property is sold “As Is”. We make no warranties, nor does the consignor, as to the merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, the correctness of the catalogue or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of any property of Jack Bruce Bass Guitar.
No oral or written statements made in the catalogue, online listing, advertisement, bill of sale, and announcement or elsewhere made by employees (including affiliated and related companies) shall be considered a warranty. We and the Consignor make no representations and warranties, express or implied, as to whether the purchaser acquires any copyrights, including but not limited to, any reproduction rights of any property. We and the Consignor are not responsible for errors and omissions in the catalogue, online listings or any other supplemental material.
It is the responsibility of prospective bidders of live auctions to inspect the property before bidding to determine Jack Bruce Bass Guitar condition, size, and to determine if it has been repaired or restored.
A buyer’s premium epiphone eb1 bass will be added to the successful bid price and is payable by the purchaser as part of the total purchase price. I acknowledge and agree that a 20% Buyer’s Premium will be added to the hammer price on individual lots $100,000 and higher, and a 25% Buyer’s Premium on all individual lots of $0 – $99,999 which I am the successful bidder. In addition, there will be an additional 3% buyer’s premium charged for any lots won online.
This is regardless of affiliation with any group or organization. I further acknowledge that I am responsible to pay Julien’s Auctions the aggregate of the hammer price and the Buyer’s Premium for such lot(s). All invoices must be paid within 10 calendar days after the close of the auction. I authorize Julien’s Auctions to charge my credit card listed provided at registration for all items purchased at this auction, and any future Julien’s Auctions I may participate in, if not paid in full within 10 calendar days after the close of the auction.
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 29, 2015 Categories Gibson Eb 1 BassTags Bass Guitar, Jack BruceLeave a comment
You’re welcome but again I caution you that the diagram I put together was by poking around the crammed wires with a pencil and pen light. I tried to trace the circuitry to the best of my ability but as I am not trained in electronics, I offer no guarantees. If the circuit fails to work get back to me and we can troubleshoot it.
As for a sound bite of the Gibson Eb 1 Bass – I currently don’t have coupler which can join my 1/4″ (6.5mm) guitar cord plug to the 1/8″ (3.5mm) computer jack. I’ll see what I can come up with sometime in the near future – record with audacity and convert to MP3 but I don’t think Blogger supports posting audio files.
I wish I could be of more help but if you read my introductory posting you’ll know that an injury has put me into a wheelchair and unfortunately those wheels remain strapped to my ass at this time. Limits what I can do.
Cheers, Yuri
The eb-1 gibson followed on the heels of the first “Les Paul” guitar, issued in 1952. It was marked by a distinctive violin-shaped body made of solid mahogany with printed f-holes and double purfling painted on. The mimicry of an acoustic double bass was carried to the extreme of including an adaptable extension pit that made it possible to stand the instrument on end. To complete the picture, the EB-1 had a one-piece mahogany neck with a 30-1/2″ scale (shorter than the Fender bass of the time), and was fitted with Kluson banjo-type tuning gears with handles extending out from the back of the headstock rather than the sides. The Gibson Eb 1 Bass was originally called simply the “Electric Bass.
There were just 65 Gibson Eb 1 Bass manufactured in 1956. This one has had a slight headstock crack repaired over 20 years ago. It has the original pickguard in the case that someone in the 1960’s painted a design on. A great playing and sounding bass that comes in the original Gibson brown hard shell case.
Serial number 614108 – Gibson Eb 1 Bass Violin bass, with large V shaped crack on top, in hardshell case. Stand up pole for bass is present. Large square covered “trap door” cutout in back. Original pickup has been removed but is present with original brown cover. There is a hand made pickup in the neck with unique tortoise shell pickup guard. Bare wire on front of bass. Together with a handwritten note reading in full, “Serial #614108 / This is one of the 1st Electric Bass Guitars / Gibson made. I was responsible for the violin / shape – and also my son Rusty L.P. Jr. / changed it from Hi to Lo Impedance. / Note – it all came about (the Electric Guitar Bass / from me playing my E string on the guitar as a / Bass using my thumb – this proved it could / replace a stand up Gibson Eb 1 Bass and Leo Fender & / Lots others picked up the idea – / Les.”
Posted on March 7, 2015 March 29, 2015 Categories Gibson Eb 1 BassTags Eb 1 Bass, GibsonLeave a comment
© 2019 Gibson EB-1. All rights reserved.
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What’s Coming Up in 2019 for GIH and Health Philanthropy?
At GIH, one of our goals is to contribute to the learnings that form the basis of philanthropy’s evolution. Funders, nonprofit organizations, board members, and our fellow philanthropy-serving organizations are among the sources we turn to in order to take the pulse of health philanthropy and understand new developments that are on the horizon.
Many topics that we have advanced over the years are now accepted practice. The list includes health equity, the social determinants of health, working across sectors, policy and advocacy, and public/private partnerships. Our experience is that, without losing sight of longstanding priorities, health funders are always open to emerging issues and approaches. Moreover, by being attentive and responsive to the external policy and social environment, health philanthropy advances and remains vital and relevant.
In 2019, there are several trends we will be following. They reflect the wide range of health funders’ priorities, as well as new understandings of the factors that affect health. These trends show that, in general, funders are grappling with the changing environments of service delivery, health in communities, and organizational effectiveness. Over the next months, I will write about many of the trends in my Bulletin letters. They will also feature in annual conference sessions, webinars, and other GIH programming.
The current list includes:
the changing health policy landscape;
innovation in safety net settings;
support for family caregivers;
the future of palliative care;
the causes and impacts of childhood trauma and community stress;
the health implications of ongoing changes in immigration policy;
disparities in maternal health outcomes;
data and health equity;
new directions in healthy eating/active living;
emotional well-being, spirituality, wellness, and health;
oral health care access and equity;
social and environmental health determinants;
advocacy leadership and civic engagement;
building authentic relationships with communities;
the future of health conversion foundations; and
the challenges of cross-sectoral grantmaking.
Closer to home, as previously announced, we are preparing for a leadership transition later in 2019, when I will step down from GIH. I shared my plans with GIH’s board well ahead of time, so that we could move through the process thoughtfully. The board will announce their transition plans as they take shape. In the meantime, and in the months ahead, your participation in GIH and contributions to our success will be more important than ever, and I look forward to working alongside you in the new year as it unfolds.
More From the President
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en - English (Selected)
Procedure : 2018/2024(BUD)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected : A8-0247/2018
Texts tabled :
Debates :
PV 05/07/2018 - 6.11
CRE 05/07/2018 - 6.11
Explanations of votes
Texts adopted :
Texts adopted
Thursday, 5 July 2018 - Strasbourg Provisional edition
2019 budget - Trilogue mandate
P8_TA-PROV(2018)0311 A8-0247/2018
European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2018 on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2019 draft budget (2018/2024(BUD))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
– having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,
– having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2019, which the Commission adopted on 23 May 2018 (COM(2018)0600),
– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(1),
– having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020(2) and its subsequent amendment by Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2017/1123 of 20 June 2017(3),
– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management(4),
– having regard to its resolution of 15 March 2018 on general guidelines for the preparation of the 2019 budget, Section III – Commission(5),
– having regard to the Council conclusions of 20 February 2018 on the 2019 budget guidelines (06315/2018),
– having regard to Rule 86a of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the other committees concerned (A8-0247/2018),
Draft budget 2019 - reinforcing solidarity and preparing for a sustainable future
1. Recalls that in its resolution of 15 March 2018 Parliament identified the following priorities for the 2019 EU budget: sustainable growth, innovation, competitiveness, security, the fight against climate change and the transition to renewable energy and migration, and also called for a particular focus on young people;
2. Underlines that the EU must be a frontrunner in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their mainstreaming into all EU policies;
3. Recalls that the 2019 EU budget will be the last under the current parliamentary term and will be negotiated in parallel with the negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the reform of EU own resources; recalls also that the UK has committed to contribute to, and participate in, the implementation of the Union annual budgets for 2019 and 2020 as if it had remained in the Union after March 2019;
4. Welcomes the Commission proposal and believes that it corresponds broadly to Parliament’s own priorities; intends to further reinforce key programmes and ensure an appropriate level of financing corresponding to the latter; notes the increase of 3,1 % in commitment appropriations and the lower percentage of GNI as compared to 2018 both for commitment appropriations (1 % as compared to 1,02 %) and payment appropriations (0,9 % as compared to 0,92 %);
5. Welcomes the proposed reinforcements to Horizon 2020, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), Erasmus+ and programmes contributing to increase the security of EU citizens; points, however, to the need to further reinforce support for SMEs, which are key to enabling economic growth and job creation, and to dedicate appropriate resources to the digitalisation of EU industry and the promotion of digital skills and digital entrepreneurship, as well as to programmes supportive of young people, and specifically ErasmusPro; recalls its conviction that the Erasmus+ budget for 2019 needs to be at least doubled;
6. Welcomes the launch of Discover EU, the distribution of 15 000 Interrail tickets to 18-year-old Europeans in 2018, as well as the Commission proposal of EUR 700 million for the MFF 2021-2027, which fits well with the EU’s ambitions to promote learning mobility, active citizenship, social inclusion and solidarity among all young people; regrets that the Commission did not propose any appropriations for 2019 and 2020; is determined to continue the Preparatory Action in 2019 and 2020;
7. Takes note of the Commission’s pre-assessment of the continuation of the Preparatory Action on the Child Guarantee scheme; underlines the reference made therein to a possible larger-scale implementation under the European Social Fund; suggests that the opportunity of a third implementation phase be taken in order to prepare for this larger-scale implementation under the ESF+;
8. Regrets the fact that the increase for the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), in comparison with the 2018 budget, is only 2,3 % (EUR 362,2 million in commitment appropriations), and that the proposed payment appropriations are lower by 0,6 %; recalls that this is a successful programme which has far more applicants than recipients of funding; stresses that SMEs are an important driver of employment, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, represent the backbone of the European economy, and have the capacity to create growth and jobs; urges, as a top priority, that this be reflected in sufficient funding for SME programmes and a further increase in appropriations for COSME given the success of this programme;
9. Commends the role of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in reducing the investment gap in the EU; calls, in the framework of an optimal regional and sectorial balance, for reinforcement of the social dimension of EFSI deployment, including innovation in healthcare and medicine, social infrastructure, environmental protection, sustainable transport, renewable energy and energy storage infrastructures; reiterates its long-standing position that any new initiatives within the MFF must be financed by new appropriations and not to the detriment of the existing programmes; reiterates also its commitment to reinforce Horizon 2020 and CEF so as to reverse as far as possible the cuts made to those programmes to finance the extension of EFSI in the 2019 budget;
10. Notes the commitment to a renewed EU defence agenda, namely through the agreement on the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP), as a first stage of the European Defence Fund; believes that this shared commitment will contribute to achieving economies of scale and greater coordination among Member States and businesses, allowing the EU to retain its strategic autonomy and become a genuine world player;
11. Notes that the Commission has proposed an increase for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) of EUR 233 million, in line with financial programming; reaffirms once again that Parliament did not agree to any frontloading of the 2018-2020 top-up resulting from the MFF mid-term revision (MTR); maintains that the budgetary authority retains in full its prerogatives as regards deciding the levels of funding of all programmes, including those which have been subject to the MFF MTR; underlines the importance of sincere cooperation between the institutions, and calls on all actors concerned to retain trust throughout the 2019 budgetary procedure;
12. Remains committed to the fight against unemployment and against youth unemployment in particular; believes in this respect that the YEI should be further strengthened, thus reflecting the need to step up EU funding in order to achieve the Pillar of Social Rights, in spite of the complexities involved in reprogramming YEI and ESF programmes in case of modifications of the YEI envelope; recognises that youth unemployment has not been adequately addressed across the EU, with youth unemployment still higher than 2007 levels; calls on the Commission to guarantee that Member States do not replace their own policies and funding with YEI funding to fight youth unemployment but, rather, use it as a complement; emphasises the fact that both vocational training and apprenticeship constitute efficient practices to tackle youth unemployment; stresses that mobility through Erasmus Pro strongly stimulates benchmarking for implementation of best practices;
13. Stresses that in 2019 cohesion policy programmes will be at cruising speed, and emphasises Parliament’s commitment to ensuring adequate appropriations for these programmes; welcomes the fact that almost all of the managing authorities for the 2014-2020 programmes have now been designated; points out that the unacceptable delays in the implementation of operational programmes have been to a large extent due to the late designation of those authorities; calls on the Member States to ensure that the implementation of the programmes is accelerated so as to catch up with the delays, and to seek the Commission’s assistance in this respect;
14. Takes note of the reports on the functioning of regional and cohesion policy in the Union and the economic challenges facing lagging regions, which recurringly point out shortcomings as regards efficiency and results;
15. Take notes of the fact that the Commission proposal would enable reaching the target of 20 % of the budget being dedicated to climate spending in 2019; regrets, however that the Commission has not followed up on Parliament’s request regarding offsetting the lower allocations made during the first years of the MFF; considers this proposal to be insufficient since in total only 19,3 % of the EU budget 2014-2020 would be dedicated to climate-related measures, which would prevent the EU from meeting its target of climate mainstreaming of at least 20 % during 2014-2020, also if it again allocates only 20 % of the budget to climate protection in 2020; regrets that the Commission has not been able to present draft budgets that are aligned with the commitments and targets set by the Union in this field in the European Council conclusions of 7-8 February 2013; believes that more should be done through the development of an action plan within programmes having massive potential, as for example under Horizon 2020, CEF, European Social Fund (ESF), European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) or LIFE+, as these programmes allow notably for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy; recalls the Court of Auditors' reasoned criticism as regards the methodology deployed by the Commission, and calls for swift improvements in this light and in this regard;
16. Welcomes the commitment of the Commission to improve the biodiversity tracking methodology; disapproves, however, the proposed decrease of the total contribution to biodiversity protection to 8,2 %, which is in contrast to the objective of halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020;
17. Believes that ensuring the security of the Union's citizens and addressing the challenges of migration and refugees remain two top Union priorities in 2019; deems it crucial to maintain spending in these areas at a level that is adequate to respond to the needs raised by the migration and refugee crisis in the African continent, especially in the Sahel, as well as in the Levant countries and the Mediterranean sea; considers that the necessary solidarity among Member States in order to manage the flow of migration, in particular once the revision of the Dublin Regulation has been adopted, has to be reflected in the EU budget; notes that the 2019 draft budget integrates the budgetary implications of the Commission’s proposal;
18. Emphasises that several important legislative initiatives under negotiation or in the early stages of implementation, such as the revision of the Dublin Regulation, the establishment of the Entry/Exit System and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, the upgrading of the Schengen Information System and the initiative on interoperability of EU information systems for security, borders and migration management, are expected to have significant budgetary implications for the 2019 budget, and underlines the importance of adequate financing to match the Union’s ambition in these areas; encourages the Commission to engage in an open and proactive dialogue with the budgetary authority on the above initiatives, in order to allow it to adjust appropriations, where necessary and without prejudging, during the annual budgetary procedure, the outcome of ongoing legislative procedures;
19. Regrets the Commission’s proposal for the funding of the second tranche of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRT) and the subsequent agreement reached between Member States in the Council on 29 June 2018; supports the continuation of the FRT, but maintains that, as also proposed by the Commission on 14 March 2018, the EU budget should contribute to its financing to the sum of EUR 1 billion, with Member States contributing EUR 2 billion by means of bilateral contributions, in order to leave sufficient margins under the MFF special instruments for unforeseen events in the last two years of the current MFF, as well as the financing of other priorities; also maintains that as the FRT has been a new initiative within this MFF, it should be funded by fresh appropriations; regrets that, despite Parliament's clear request to be fully associated with the decision-making process relating to the extension of the FRT, inter alia to avoid the repetition of the procedure of its setting-up, no negotiations on the financing of the second tranche of the FRT have so far taken place between Parliament and the Council; informs Member States that Parliament has every right to assume its role as an arm of the budgetary authority of the Union and that it will do so, as already announced on previous occasions;
20. Notes that the draft budget for 2019 leaves very limited margins or no margin under the MFF ceilings throughout Headings 1a, 1b, 3 and 4, as a consequence of the limited flexibility of the current MFF in terms of responding to new challenges and accommodating new initiatives; expresses its intention to further mobilise the flexibility provisions under the revised MFF as part of the amending process;
21. Remains concerned at the possible reconstitution of a backlog of unpaid bills towards the end of the current MFF period; notes the moderate increase of 2,7 % in payment appropriations over the 2018 budget, mainly due to the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), Internal Security Fund (ISF) and FRT; notes the proposed margin of EUR 19,3 billion under the payment ceiling; invites the Commission to remain vigilant on the evolution of payments, so as to allow the budgetary authority to take the necessary measures to avoid an abnormal backlog in due time; is convinced that the credibility of the EU is also linked to its ability to ensure an adequate level of payment appropriations in the EU budget in order to deliver on its commitments;
Subheading 1a – Competitiveness for growth and jobs
22. Notes that in comparison with 2018, the Commission proposal for 2019 corresponds to an increase in commitments under Subheading 1a of +3,9 %, to EUR 22 860 million; notes that Horizon 2020, CEF, Large Infrastructure Projects and Erasmus+ account for an important part of this increase as their commitment appropriations have risen by 8,5 %, 36,4 %, 7,8 % and 10,4 % respectively; underlines, however, that these increases are mostly in line with the financial programming and thus do not constitute additional reinforcements;
23. Recalls that programmes related to research and innovation, such as Horizon 2020, are essential for the creation of jobs and competitiveness within Europe; urges the Commission to reflect this within its priorities; calls for an appropriate level of funding for programmes related to research and innovation; stresses that in particular, Member States facing economic and financial difficulties should be supported in this area;
24. Recalls that new initiatives in the past few years such as EFSI (I and II), Wifi4EU and the EDIDP have come at the expense of several programmes under Subheading 1a which were severely impacted by redeployments, namely Horizon 2020, CEF, Galileo, ITER, Copernicus and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS);
25. Stresses that Erasmus+ remains the leading programme for fostering youth mobility at all levels of education and vocational training and encouraging young people to take part in European democracy; recalls that administrative efforts need to be made to increase access to Erasmus+ and that the volume of eligible applications is by far exceeding the current budget; believes, therefore, that the envelope of Erasmus+ should be able to meet the eligible demand for this programme, notably that linked to lifelong learning;
26. Notes with concern the discussions on the financing of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), which confirmed Parliament’s fear that new initiatives would come at the expense of existing well-performing programmes; notes as well with concern the precedent set by the outcome of the trilogue procedure, which fails to provide clarity on the sources of financing of the initiative, leaving further clarification to the annual budgetary procedure; expects the Commission to implement the agreement in a way that fully reflects the discussions in trilogue and the spirit of the agreement;
27. Welcomes the fact that the agreement reached on the financing of the EDIDP foresees much lower cuts to Subheading 1a programmes than those initially proposed by the Commission; is, however, concerned that the Council appears to put more emphasis on maintaining margins than on providing sufficient funding for what it identifies itself as high priorities;
28. Welcomes the allocation of EUR 500 million to the EDIDP for 2019 and 2020; notes that, according to EPRS estimates, the lack of cooperation between national industries in this field costs the EU EUR 10 billion per year; considers that defence is a clear example of how greater effectiveness could be achieved by transferring certain competences and actions currently performed by the Member States and the corresponding appropriations to the EU; emphasises that this would result in the demonstration of European added value and would make it possible to limit the overall burden of public expenditure in the EU;
29. Welcomes the proposal for the creation of the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, which will promote the latest high performance computing and data infrastructure and support the development of its technologies and application across a wide range of fields, to the benefit of scientists, industry and the public sector;
Subheading 1b – Economic, social and territorial cohesion
30. Notes that total commitment appropriations for Subheading 1b amount to EUR 57 113,4 million, representing an increase of 2,8 % compared to the 2018 budget; further notes that the proposed amount of EUR 47 050,8 million in payment appropriations is 1,1 % higher than in 2018;
31. Welcomes the fact that the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes is reaching full speed, and reiterates that any ‘abnormal’ buildup of unpaid bills must be avoided in the future; also welcomes the fact that the great majority of the national managing authorities have now been designated; calls on the Commission and the Member States to resolve any outstanding issues in order for the implementation to proceed smoothly;
32. Recalls that, as a result of revised forecasts by the Member States, Amending Budget 6/2017 reduced the payment appropriations under Subheading 1b by EUR 5,9 billion; sincerely hopes that both the national authorities and the Commission have improved their estimates of payment needs in the 2019 budget and that the proposed level of payment appropriations will be fully executed;
33. Underlines that in times of rapid technological development – including in fields such as AI – the divide between fast developing regions and lagging ones might widen if the impact of the Structural Funds is not enhanced by conditionalities of efficiency;
34. Notes the Commission’s proposal to fund the continuation of the YEI, as well as the proposed mobilisation of EUR 233,3 million from the Global Margin for commitments; recalls that any increase in the dedicated allocation for the YEI should be matched with the corresponding amounts from the ESF; recalls the commitment made by the Commission at the conciliation on the 2018 budget to swiftly present the revision of the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) in order to include the 2018 increase for the YEI; underlines that the Commission has not lived up to its commitment, and requests it to explain in detail the reasons for the delay in the presentation of the CPR revision;
35. Commits to adopting the new YEI and ESF legislation rapidly in order to facilitate an ambitious increase in YEI appropriations in 2019 without undermining other programmes running under the ESF in Member States, potentially by relieving Member States of their obligation to match ESF appropriations dedicated to youth employment, under the strict condition that the proposed modifications would neither allow Member States to be excused from the financial commitments they have already made in this area, nor imply a decrease in general terms of EU budget appropriations dedicated to the fight against youth unemployment;
Heading 2 – Sustainable growth: natural resources
36. Takes note of the proposed EUR 59 991,1 million in commitments (+1,2 % compared to 2018) and EUR 57 790,4 million in payments (3 %) for Heading 2; notes that EAGF expenditure for 2019 is estimated at EUR 44 162,5 million, which is lower than in the 2018 budget (by EUR -547,9 million);
37. Notes that the Commission has left a EUR 344,9 million margin under the ceiling of Heading 2; points to the fact that increased volatility of agricultural markets, such as experienced with the Russian ban, might justify recourse to this margin; calls on the Commission to ensure that the margin left under the ceilings is sufficient to address any crises that may arise;
38. Notes that some measures related to the Russian ban and included in the 2018 budget will not be extended (e.g. for fruit and vegetables where the market situation is still difficult), while market difficulties can still be found in the dairy sector; awaits the Commission’s letter of amendment, expected in October, which should be based on updated information on EAGF funding in order to verify the real needs in the agricultural sector; underlines that cases where market intervention is needed under the EAGF remain limited and represent only a relatively small part of the EAGF (around 5,9 %);
39. Stresses that part of the solution for combating youth unemployment lies in adequately supporting young people in rural areas; regrets that the Commission has not proposed increasing the budget line for young farmers;
40. Underlines that the implementation of the EMFF is accelerating and should approach cruising speed in 2019, following a slow start at the beginning of the programming period; welcomes the increase in commitments for the LIFE+ programme (+6 %), in line with financial programming; notes that the European Environment Agency (EEA) will assume additional responsibilities in the period 2019-2020 for environmental monitoring and reporting, as well as for the verification of CO2 emissions from heavy duty vehicles;
Heading 3 – Security and Citizenship
41. Notes that a total of EUR 3 728,5 million in commitment appropriations is proposed for Heading 3, which represents a 6,7 % increase over 2018, and that the total for payment appropriations is EUR 3 486,4 million, i.e. a 17 % increase over last year’s proposals; underlines, however, that these increases follow years of declining funding levels and that overall funding for different key areas such as migration, border management or internal security still represents only 2,3 % of total proposed EU spending in 2019; questions the proposed EUR 281,2 million in commitments for supporting legal migration to the Union and promoting the effective integration of third-country nationals and enhancing fair and effective return strategies, which represents a 14,4 % decrease over 2018; calls on the Commission to provide further explanations as to the reasons for this cut;
42. Notes that, for the fourth consecutive year, all margins under the Heading 3 ceiling are exhausted, proving that as things stand today the EU budget is not fully equipped to deal with the scale and depth of the present migration and security challenges facing the Union; welcomes, in this regard, the proposed mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 927,5 million in commitment appropriations;
43. Expects the pressure on some Member States’ migration and asylum systems, as well as on their borders, to remain high in 2019, and urges the Union to remain vigilant regarding any future, unpredictable needs in these areas; calls in this regard for the reinforcement of the means of control at the external borders, and in this context for an adequate funding and staffing of the EU agencies dealing with these issues, and reaffirms that tackling the root causes of the migration and refugee crisis represents a long-term sustainable solution, along with stabilisation of the EU’s neighbourhoods, and that investments in the countries of origin of migrants and refugees are key to achieving this objective;
44. Welcomes the European Council’s request of 28 June 2018 to further strengthen Frontex through increased resources and an enhanced mandate; asks for further information as to how many staff will be sent by the Member States and how many staff will be needed directly by the agency itself; invites the Commission to adapt its draft budget accordingly in the autumn amending letter; welcomes as well the additional EUR 45,6 million awarded to support Greece and Spain in their management of the flow of arriving migrants on their territory; underlines that effective border control must be accompanied with proper care of arriving migrants;
45. Notes that the instrument allowing the provision of emergency humanitarian support within the Union will expire in March 2019; invites the Commission, against the backdrop of persisting humanitarian needs of refugees and asylum seekers in certain Member States, to assess whether a reactivation and replenishment of this instrument would be appropriate; highlights the need for greater solidarity towards those countries in which arrivals and asylum seekers are concentrated; underlines, in the meantime, the importance of the continued availability of funding through the emergency assistance mechanisms under the AMIF, notably for the continued support of Greece; considers that financial support should also be granted to Italy; calls, therefore, on the Commission to state the reasons which led it not to propose this; recalls that Italy is the only Member State where a majority of the population consider that they have not benefited from membership of the European Union; regrets the sharp decrease in commitment appropriations for the second AMIF component, 'Supporting legal migration to the Union and promoting the effective integration of third-country nationals and enhancing fair and effective return strategies';
46. Believes that in the context of a wide range of security concerns, including changing forms of radicalisation, cybercrime, violence and terrorism that surpass individual Member States’ capacity to respond, the EU budget should encourage cooperation on security-related matters with the help of established EU agencies; in this context, questions how this high-risk security context is reconcilable with the proposed significant decrease of commitment appropriations (-26,6 %) for the ISF; highlights that spending in this area is efficient only when obstacles to intra-European cooperation and targeted information sharing are removed while fully applying any relevant data protection in line with EU legislation; regrets that the Commission has still not presented a proposal which would provide for the expression of financial solidarity at EU level to victims of acts of terrorism and their families, and calls on the Commission to do the necessary to ensure that such aid is put in place rapidly;
47. Takes note of the proposed revision of the legal base of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, which, once adopted, is expected to have a major budgetary impact in the last two years of the current MFF, with EUR 256,9 million to be borne by Heading 3 alone; insists that it is only logical that this significant upgrading of a key Union policy should be financed through new and additional means; warns against the use of redeployments, which are clearly at the expense of other valuable, well-functioning policies and programmes;
48. Reconfirms Parliament’s strong support for Union programmes in the areas of culture, justice, fundamental rights and citizenship; welcomes the proposed increase for the Creative Europe Programme; insists, furthermore, on sufficient funding for the Europe for Citizens programme and the European Citizens’ Initiatives, particularly in the run-up to the European elections;
49. Recalls Parliament’s support for the rights, equality, citizenship and justice programmes; underlines that the EU must maintain its commitment to enforcing women's and LGBTI rights;
50. Welcomes the increase in commitment appropriations for the Food and Feed programme, which should allow the Union to manage effectively any outbreaks of serious animal diseases and plant pests, including the recent epidemic of avian influenza that hit several Member States in recent years;
51. Calls on the Commission to provide adequate budget funding to raise the profile of the 2019 European Parliament elections and increase the effectiveness of media coverage thereof, and in particular to promote knowledge of the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’, the candidates for the Commission presidency;
Heading 4 – Global Europe
52. Takes note of the overall increase in proposed financing for Heading 4, amounting to EUR 11 384,2 million (+13,1 % compared with the 2018 budget) in commitment appropriations; notes that this increase is linked primarily to the financing of the second tranche of the FRT, for which the Commission proposes mobilising the Global Margin for commitments (EUR 1 116,2 million); notes that this proposal would result in an absence of margin under the ceiling of Heading 4;
53. Calls on the Member States to provide higher contributions to the Africa Trust Fund, the 'Madad' Fund, and the European Fund for Sustainable Development, in order to support stabilisation in crisis regions, provide aid to refugees, and foster social and economic development on the African continent and in the countries of the European neighbourhood;
54. Remains convinced that the challenges that the EU’s external action is faced with call for sustained funding exceeding the current size of Heading 4; maintains that new initiatives should be funded with fresh appropriations and that all flexibility options should be fully used; opposes, however, the proposed financing of the FRT extension and the related deal reached in the Council on 29 June 2018, as they would substantially limit both the funding possibilities of other priority areas within Heading 4 and the instrumental role of the EU budget in reaching out to people in need and promoting fundamental values;
55. Welcomes the increases aimed at migration-related projects linked to the Central Mediterranean Route, as well as the moderate increase for the Eastern component of the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the reallocation of priorities under the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) to the Middle East; calls for the allocation of sufficient financial resources to UNRWA, in order to ensure continuous support for Palestinian refugees in the region, in light of the recent US decision to withdraw its contribution to the agency;
56. Welcomes the increased support for regional actions in the Western Balkans; is, however, of the opinion that support for political reforms should be further stepped up; regrets the increased support for political reforms in Turkey (IPA II) and questions its alignment to the budgetary authority’s decision to reduce the appropriations on this line for the current budgetary year; reiterates its position in which it called for funds destined for the Turkish authorities under the IPA II to be made conditional on improvements in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law; calls for the appropriations on this line, if no progress is made in these fields and being aware of the limited space for manoeuvre, to be predominantly redirected to civil society actors with a view to implementing measures supportive of the objectives relating to the rule of law, democracy, human rights and media freedoms; supports the overall downward trend for political reforms in the allocations for Turkey;
57. Underlines the noticeable decrease in the amount to be provisioned in the 2019 budget to the Guarantee Fund for external actions managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as the substantial reduction of the planned amount of macrofinancial assistance (MFA) grants, due to a lower amount of outstanding EIB loans than previously estimated, as well as to a lower disbursement of MFA loans compared to the latest financial programming;
58. Reaffirms its full support for the pledges made by the EU at the Brussels conferences on Syria, confirming those made previously; agrees with the reinforcement of the ENI and of humanitarian aid by EUR 120 million each in order to meet this pledge in 2019;
59. Reiterates its support for the allocation of adequate financial resources to EU strategic communication aimed at tackling disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, as well as the promotion of an objective image of the Union outside its borders;
Heading 5 – Administration
60. Notes that Heading 5 expenditure is increased by 3,0 % compared to the 2018 budget, up to EUR 9 956,9 million (+EUR 291,4 million) in commitment appropriations; notes that, as for the previous budgetary exercise, the increase is mostly driven by the evolution of pensions (+ EUR 116,7 million), representing 20,2 % of Heading 5 expenditure; observes that the share of expenditure on administration in the draft budget remains unchanged at a level of 6,0 % in commitment appropriations;
61. Acknowledges the efforts made by the Commission to integrate all possibilities for savings and rationalisations in non-salary-related expenditure for its own budget; notes that the evolution of the Commission’s expenditure (+ 2,0 %) is mostly due to the automatic adaptation of salary expenditure and contractual commitments; further notes the Commission’s internal redeployment of staff to fulfil its new priorities;
62. Notes that the effective margin is EUR 575,2 million under the ceiling after the offsetting of EUR 253,9 million for the use of the contingency margin mobilised in 2018; considers the margin to be important in nominal terms, and believes it reflects the efforts made by the Commission, in particular to freeze the evolution of non-salary expenditure; believes that an additional effort to stabilise or reduce the Commission's administrative expenditure could lead to the postponement of important investments or jeopardise the proper functioning of the administration;
Pilot projects - preparatory actions
63. Stresses the importance of pilot projects (PPs) and preparatory actions (PAs) as tools for the formulation of political priorities and the introduction of new initiatives that might turn into standing EU activities and programmes; intends to proceed with the identification of a balanced package of PP-PAs, reflecting the political priorities of Parliament and taking into account a proper and timely pre-assessment by the Commission; notes that in the current proposal, the margin in some headings is limited or even non-existent, and intends to explore ways to make room for possible PP-PAs in ways that are not detrimental to other political priorities;
64. Notes the overall increase in the draft budget 2019 of the allocations for the decentralised agencies, of +10,8 % (without taking into account assigned revenues) and +259 posts; welcomes the fact that for the majority of the agencies their own budget increases while the EU contribution decreases; notes in this regard that Parliament is currently exploring the possibilities of further extending the fee-financing of decentralised agencies; notes with satisfaction that agencies with ‘new tasks’ (ESMA, eu-LISA and FRONTEX) are granted a significant increase in appropriations and establishment plan staff; calls for further financial support for the agencies that are dealing with migration and security challenges; believes that Europol and Eurojust should be further strengthened and that EASO should receive adequate financing for its transformation into the European Asylum Agency;
65. Reiterates its position that the 5 % staff reduction target has been successfully reached and underlines that in the light of the Court of Auditors’ rapid case review, this practice did not necessarily meet the expected results; believes that the decentralised agencies need to be assessed using a case-by-case approach; welcomes the endorsement by all institutions of the recommendations of the Interinstitutional Working Group;
66. Welcomes the creation of two new EU bodies to be considered as decentralised agencies, respectively the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Labour Authority (ELA); notes that appropriations corresponding to the ELA have been put into reserve pending the finalisation of the legislative procedure; notes that the EPPO has its seat in Luxembourg, and asks it to submit to the two branches of the budgetary authority all information on its buildings policy pursuant to the Financial Regulation; considers that new agencies have to be created by allocating fresh resources and new posts, while avoiding any kind of redeployment unless it is clearly demonstrated that certain activities are entirely transferred from the Commission or other existing bodies, such as Eurojust, to the new agencies; notes that Eurojust remains competent to deal with PIF cases, in close cooperation with EPPO, while being fully engaged in ensuring operational support to Member States in the fight against organised crime, terrorism, cybercrime and migrant smuggling; recalls the provisions laid down in the Common Approach for newly created decentralised agencies;
67. Expects the negotiations on the 2019 budget to be based on the principle that both branches of the budgetary authority make a commitment to start the negotiations at the earliest possible stage and to fully exploit the timespan of the whole conciliation period, while providing a level of representation that ensures a genuine political dialogue;
68. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.
(1) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884.
(3) OJ L 163, 24.6.2017, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.
(5) Texts adopted, P8_TA(2018)0089.
JOINT STATEMENT ON THE DATES FOR THE BUDGETARY PROCEDURE AND MODALITIES FOR THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CONCILIATION COMMITTEE IN 2018
A. In accordance with Part A of the annex to the interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree on the following key dates for the 2019 budgetary procedure:
1. The Commission will endeavour to present the Statement of Estimates 2019 by late May;
2. A trilogue will be called on 12 July in the morning, before the adoption of the Council’s position;
3. The Council will endeavour to adopt its position and transmit it to the European Parliament by week 37 (third week of September), in order to facilitate a timely agreement with the European Parliament;
4. The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets will endeavour to vote on amendments to the Council’s position by the end of week 41 (mid-October) at the latest;
5. A trilogue will be called on 18 October in the morning, before the reading of the European Parliament;
6. The European Parliament’s Plenary will vote on its reading in week 43 (Plenary session of 22-25 October);
7. The Conciliation period will start on 30 October. In agreement with the provisions of Article 314(4)(c) TFEU, the time available for conciliation will expire on 19 November 2018;
8. The Conciliation Committee will meet on 7 November in the morning hosted by the European Parliament and on 16 November hosted by the Council and may resume as appropriate; the sessions of the Conciliation Committee will be prepared by trilogue(s). A trilogue is scheduled on 7 November in the morning. Additional trilogue(s) may be called during the 21-day conciliation period, including possibly on 14 November (Strasbourg).
B. The modalities for the functioning of the Conciliation Committee are set out in Part E of the annex to the above-mentioned interinstitutional agreement.
Last updated: 6 July 2018 Legal notice
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May / June 2015
by Kristen K. Tucker / photos by Jordan Barclay
Letters to the editor can be sent to letters@evansvilleliving.com.
The first bicycle and pedestrian path attempted in Evansville was in 1927 when a St. Louis architect was hired to plan the city’s park system. It was to be called the “Pleasure Path” and would wind along next to Pigeon Creek.
It was an idea that finally stuck, after five more attempts, the last in 1990, which led to opening the first section of the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage, the Middle Levee Corridor, in 1997. Though hikers and bikers can enter the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage from six trailheads, I’ve heard comments from citizens who would like to use the Greenway, but aren’t sure where the trailheads are. Since the Greenway does indeed follow the creek, trailheads aren’t necessarily in the most obvious or high-traffic areas, though each is marked clearly on brochures and maps, available online at evansville.gov. I recently drove to each of the trailheads to see how easy it was to park and access the trail; it was very easy.
Currently 6.75 miles long, the Greenway stretches from the canoe launch and trailhead on Heidelbach Avenue (where Heidelbach ends at the creek) to Sunrise Park, at Waterworks Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway. Along the way, you’ll see many points of interest, more than a few seen only by visitors to the Greenway, like Eric Braysmith’s Coal Mine Mural (2002) installed along the passage between Garvin Park and the Uhlhorn Trailhead which is accessible just off of First Avenue, near the City of Evansville Animal Control Shelter. Eventually, the Greenway will encircle the city and extend to Newburgh, Indiana, connecting with the Rivertown Trail to the east, and the University of Southern Indiana-Burdette Trail to the west.
Southwestern Indiana seems to be hitting its stride in the development of trails for recreation, thanks mostly to the grassroots efforts of individuals. Shirley James, who is credited for her perseverance in creating the Greenway (she died in 2007), is recognized with a plaza — the Shirley James Gateway Plaza — near the Mead Johnson Trailhead and Joan Marchand Bridge overlook.
To produce Bikes & Hikes, the Evansville Living team talked with the leading regional innovators in the sport — hiking and biking enthusiasts who have helped forged new paths for us to enjoy. Adventure is calling! Paved or dirt, it’s time to hit the trails. With summer soon upon us, make a plan to experience Southern Indiana’s natural beauty from trails in your own backyard.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you.
Kristen K. Tucker
section: Editor's Letter / Topic: About the Magazine
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Concerts Tickets
Ludovico Einaudi Tickets
Ludovico Einaudi is every classical music fan’s favorite composer. An Italian pianist and composer, Einaudi’s secret to success is in his incorporation of folk music, world music, pop and rock into contemporary classical music. He has released many albums and soundtracks, and will now be performing live in the US for his fans. If you love listening to contemporary classical music, film soundtracks, and minimalist music then get your Ludovico Einaudi tickets now. Einaudi will be performing at select venues in the US in the fall of 2017 and therefore his concerts tickets will not be available for long. So avoid any last minute disappointment and get your tickets now.
Ludovico Einaudi will be performing in New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia in October, 2017.
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Behind every successful composer there’s a Mom
Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi was born on November 23, 1955, in Piedmont, Italy. His divergent paternal and maternal roots helped him become what he is today. His paternal grandfather was President of Italy, while his father was a publisher, who worked with various famous Italian writers such as Primo Levi and Italo Calvino. Einaudi’s maternal grandfather was a composer, opera conductor and pianist, while his mother was an accomplished pianist who played the piano to young Einaudi. The die was cast for Ludovico Einaudi at a rather early age.
It should not come as a surprise that Einaudi started composing music as a teenager. He also learnt to play folk guitar. Seeing his inclination towards music, his parents sent him to the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, where he obtained a diploma in composition. In 1982, Einaudi enrolled in an orchestration class, taught by Luciano Berio, a famous Italian composer. In a way, Berio was Einaudi’s mentor as is evident from this quote:
[Luciano] Berio did some interesting work with African vocal music and did some arrangements of Beatles songs, and he taught me that there is a sort of dignity inside music. I learnt orchestration from him and a very open way of thinking about music.
Taking lessons in orchestration from Berio helped Einaudi win a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in the US and the world. Here Einaudi met with various music artists from the rest of the world. The inspiration that he drew at the Tanglewood Music Festival still shows in his music. Einaudi’s music is called minimalist music because he learnt from various artists how to make music by using the least number of instruments. His exposure to world music and artists helped him make contemporary pop, introspective, meditative and ambient music.
Einaudi in the Real World
Once his formal education was over in the 1980s, Einaudi found himself composing music for orchestras and music chambers. All the while, Einaudi kept touring, playing music before thousands in the US and Europe.
Some of Einaudi’s most important works in the 1980s were compositions for the Sul filo d'Orfeo, the Emperor, The Wild Man and Time Out, a dance-theater piece created with writer Andrea De Carlo.
Einaudi’s penchant for composing film soundtracks started in mid-1990s. He started off with two Italian films, Acquario and Da qualche parte in città. Einaudi won the Grolla d'oro (one of Italy’s oldest film awards) for best soundtrack for both. The ball started rolling for Einaudi and he has never looked back since.
Ludovico Einaudi, Soundtracks and 21st Century
In 2000, he composed Un delitto impossibile soundtrack. Furthermore, Einaudi’s soundtrack of Fuori del mondo, got him nominated for an Osca. While he did not win the Oscar, instead he won the Echo Klassik award in Germany.
In 2002, Einaudi’s soundtrack for Luce dei miei occhi won an Italian award for Best Film Score. During the same year, Einaudi composed music for Doctor Zhivago, the TV serial. It was such a huge success that Allmusic compared it with Maurice Jarre’s score for Doctor Zhivago, the film. If you liked Einaudi’s composition of Doctor Zhivago then get your Ludovico Einaudi tickets today.
Throughout the 2000s, Einaudi kept composing music for a variety of Italian films. In addition, he also composed music for Hollywood, US and British television. Ludovico Einaudi is also known for his solo work. His debut solo piano album Le Onde was released in 1996. Since then, he has released nine more albums of piano, cello, strings, and electronic music.
Today, Ludovico Einaudi is recognized as one of the most gifted and accomplished music composers in the world. If you live in or nearby New York, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, make sure to get your tickets today.
Ludovico Einaudi Ticket Prices
Currently the average price for Ludovico Einaudi tickets is $227. The date and location for this event is 19-Jun-19 at Orpheum Theatre - Vancouver, Vancouver. The minimum get-in price for Ludovico Einaudi tickets is $43.
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Franco Pagetti is an Italian photographer, renowned for his depictions of war in regions such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, East Timor, Syria and Iraq. Pagetti’s lens has captured not only scenes of suffering, but also glimpses of hope and humanity that arise at the same time.
His detail-oriented, documentarian visual style expresses itself best not just while embedded with the military, but in the city streets and homes of those living with and affected by war. Filled with empathy and an understanding of local culture, his images pose beauty with brutality, idealism and realism, and tragedy with bravery to form a captivating, haunting portfolio of human conflict.
Pagetti studied chemistry at the Università degli Studi di Milano before a chance meeting with architectural photographer Carla de Bendetti posed a change of course. He became her assistant and honed his craft under her guidance. He then assisted on fashion shoots in Milan, Paris and New York, before shooting fashion stories himself.
Most recently, Pagetti has made a return to fashion photography, while still embracing his trademark reportage approach. His recognizable images for Dolce & Gabbana’s Fall 2016 advertising campaign on the streets of Naples showcase the city’s people as much as the models themselves.
Pagetti is based in Milan, Italy. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues in the United States of America and Europe, and his prints are held in both public and private collections. He has worked on assignment for Newsweek, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Sunday Times, Vogue (US) and W magazine. He is also a member of Agency VII.
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Method and Apparatus for Performing a Navigated Procedure
A system can be used to navigate or guide an instrument or device into an anatomy of a patient. The navigation can occur with the use of image data acquired of the patient. The image data can be registered to the patient space for navigation. Also, one or more coils can be used for tracking or localization.
Csavoy, Andrew N. (Minneapolis, MN, US)
Solar, Matthew S. (Indialantic, FL, US)
Waynik, Jeffrey M. (Nederland, CO, US)
Freas, Mark S. (Palm Bay, FL, US)
Miller, Thomas I. (Palm Bay, FL, US)
Sootsman, Keith (Kalamazoo, MI, US)
Medtronic, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN, US)
A61B5/05
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PENG, BO JOSEPH
Harness Dickey (Troy) (P.O. BOX 828 BLOOMFIELD HILLS MI 48303)
1. A surgical navigation system, comprising: a head support portion configured to support at least a head of a patient; a processor operably associated with a first coil, a second coil and a third coil; the first coil positioned within the head support portion and configured to generate a first navigation field encompassing a volume relative to the patient; an alignment device including a base configured to be connected directly to the head of the patient; the second coil integrated into the base of the alignment device, wherein the second coil is configured to sense the first navigation field produced by the first coil; and the third coil being coupled to an instrument; wherein the processor is configured to cooperate with at least the second coil and the third coil to determine a position of the instrument.
2. The surgical navigation system of claim 1, further comprising a patient support that includes a bed portion configured to support at least a substantial portion of a torso of the patient and the head support portion.
3. The surgical navigation system of claim 1, wherein the first coil includes at least three electromagnetic coils configured to form the first navigation field.
4. The surgical navigation system of claim 3, wherein the second coil integrated into the base is configured to generate a second navigation field to encompass at least a portion of the head of the patient; and wherein the third coil is configured to sense the second navigation field.
5. The surgical navigation system of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to drive the first coil to generate the first navigation field and the second coil to generate the second navigation field substantially independently; and wherein the first navigation field and the second navigation field are not simultaneously generated.
6. The surgical navigation system of claim 4, wherein the third coil is configured to sense the first navigation field, the second navigation field, or combinations thereof; and wherein the processor is configured to cooperate with the third coil to determine the location of a first instrument portion independently moveable relative to the base, a location of a second instrument portion moveable relative to a third instrument portion, or combinations thereof.
7. The surgical navigation system of claim 1, further comprising an imaging device configured to obtain image data of the patient.
8. The surgical navigation system of claim 7, further comprising a display device configured to display the image data of the patient, the display device further configured to display a graphical representation of at least the alignment device, the instrument, or combinations thereof relative to the image data.
9. The surgical navigation system of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to process data to determine a tracked location of the alignment device, the instrument, or combinations thereof for display on the display device.
10. The surgical navigation system of claim 1, further comprising a fourth coil integrated into the base, wherein the processor is configured to independently determine a position of the second coil and the fourth coil to at least check an integrity of the first navigation field, the base, the alignment device, the instrument, or combinations thereof.
11. A surgical navigation system, comprising: a processor operably associated with a first coil, a second coil, a third coil, and a fourth coil; the first coil configured to generate a first navigation field encompassing a volume relative to a patient; an alignment device including a base member and a trajectory guide member, the base member configured to be connected directly to a head of the patient, the trajectory guide member selectively moveable relative to the base member and configured to guide an instrument relative thereto; the second coil coupled to the base member and configured to sense the first navigation field generated by the first coil; the third coil coupled to the trajectory guide member and configured to sense a second navigation field generated by the second coil such that the processor can determine a trajectory of the trajectory guide member relative to the base member, the second navigation field being generated independently of the first navigation field; and the fourth coil being coupled to the instrument; wherein the processor is configured to cooperate with at least the second coil and the fourth coil to determine a position of the instrument.
12. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, further comprising a head support portion configured to support at least the head of the patient, the first coil being fixed to the head support.
13. The surgical navigation system of claim 12, further comprising a patient support that includes a bed portion configured to support at least a substantial portion of a torso of the patient, the head support portion integrated with the patient support.
14. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, wherein the first coil includes at least three electromagnetic coils configured to form the first navigation field.
15. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to drive the first coil to generate the first navigation field and the second coil to generate the second navigation field substantially independently such that the second navigation field is generated after ceasing the first navigation field.
16. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, wherein the fourth coil is configured to sense the first navigation field, the second navigation field, or combinations thereof; and wherein the processor is configured to cooperate with the fourth coil to determine a location of a first instrument portion independently moveable relative to the base member, a location of a second instrument portion moveable relative to a third instrument portion, or combinations thereof.
17. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, further comprising a fifth coil integrated into the base member, wherein the processor is configured to independently determine a position of the second coil and the fifth coil to at least check an integrity of the first navigation field, the alignment device, the instrument, or combinations thereof.
18. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to drive the first coil to generate the first navigation field of a first size to encompass substantially only a head of the patient, and to drive the second coil to generate the second navigation field of a second size smaller than the first size and so as to encompass substantially only a range of motion of the instrument.
19. The surgical navigation system of claim 11, further comprising: an imaging device configured to obtain image data of the patient; and a display device configured to display the image data of the patient, the display device further configured to display a graphical representation of at least the alignment device, the instrument, or combinations thereof relative to the image data.
20. A surgical navigation system, comprising: a processor operably associated with a first coil, a second coil, a third coil and a fourth coil; the first coil associated with a head support portion of a patient support, the processor configured to drive the first coil to generate a first navigation field of a first size to encompass a first volume relative to a patient; an alignment device including a base member and a trajectory guide member, the base member configured to be connected directly to a head of the patient, the trajectory guide member selectively moveable relative to the base member and configured to guide an instrument relative thereto, the second coil integrated into the base member and configured to sense the first navigation field generated by the first coil; the third coil being fixed to the trajectory guide member and configured to sense a second navigation field generated by the second coil such that the processor can determine a trajectory of the trajectory guide member relative to the base member; and the fourth coil being coupled to the instrument; wherein the processor is configured to drive the second coil to generate the second navigation field independently of the first navigation field and of second size to encompass a second volume of the patient, the second size being smaller than the first size; wherein processor is configured to cooperate with at least the second coil and the fourth coil to determine a position of the instrument.
21. The surgical navigation system of claim 20, wherein the second coil is configured to cooperate with the third coil and the fourth coil such that the processor can determine a trajectory of the instrument guided by the trajectory guide member and an axial position of the instrument relative to the trajectory guide member or the base member.
22. The surgical navigation system of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to drive the first coil to generate the first navigation field of the first size to encompass substantially only the head of the patient, and to drive the second coil to generate the second navigation field of the second size smaller than the first size so as to encompass substantially only a range of motion of the instrument.
23. The surgical navigation system of claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to control the second coil to sense the first navigation field at a first time to facilitate guiding the alignment device relative to the patient, and to drive the second coil to generate the second navigation field at a second time after the first coil ceases generating the first navigation field.
25. The surgical navigation system of claim 1, wherein the patient support includes a bed portion configured to support at least a substantial portion of a torso of the patient, the head support portion integrated with the patient support, the first coil being positioned within the head support portion.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/110,666 filed on Apr. 28, 2008, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/739,401 filed on Apr. 24, 2007. This application includes subject matter also disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/739,424, filed Apr. 24, 2007, entitled “FLEXIBLE ARRAY FOR USE IN NAVIGATED SURGERY and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/062,605, filed Apr. 4, 2008, entitled “NAVIGATED SOFT TISSUE PENETRATING LASER SYSTEM.” The disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a surgical navigation system, and particularly to a method and apparatus for navigating instruments.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In an anatomy, such as a human anatomy, various anatomical portions and functions maybe damaged or require repair after a period of time. The anatomical portion or function maybe injured due to wear, aging, disease, or exterior trauma. To assist the patient, a procedure may be performed that may require access to an internal region of the patient through an incision. Due to exterior soft tissue, visualization of portions of the interior of the anatomy maybe difficult or require a large opening in the patient.
Image data maybe required of a patient to assist in planning, performing, and post operative analysis of a procedure. For example, magnetic resonance image data can be acquired of the patient to assist in diagnosing and planning a procedure. The image data acquired of the patient can also be used to assist in navigating various instruments relative to the patient while performing a procedure.
It is known to fixedly interconnect fiducial markers with a patient while imaging the patient and substantially using the fiducial markers that are imaged in the image data to correlate or register the image data to patient space. The fiducial markers, to ensure maximum reliability, however, are generally fixed directly to a bone of the patient. It is desirable, in various procedures, to substantially minimize or eliminate the invasiveness of inserting the fiducial markers into the bone through the skin of the patient. It is also desirable to provide an efficient mechanism to allow for registration of the image space to the physical space without requiring a separate procedure to implant one or more fiducial markers. It is also desirable to provide a system that allows for registration of the image space to the patient space without requiring a user to touch or contact one or more fiducial markers on a patient.
During a surgical procedure on an anatomy, such as a human anatomy, instruments, implants, prosthesis, leads, electrodes and the like can be positioned in the anatomy. The various instruments or devices are generally positioned through incisions formed in soft tissue and/or hard tissue, such as the dermis and the cranium, of the anatomy. Therefore, anatomy of the patient can obscure or limit visualization of the devices in the anatomy during the procedure. It may be desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism to determine a position of the devices within the anatomy.
According to various embodiments, a system to register image space to physical space of a patient for a surgical navigation procedure is disclosed. The system can include a first dynamic reference frame that can be attached relative to the patient in a first manner and a second dynamic reference frame that can be attached to the patient in a second manner. A tracked device can be used to determine a fiducial point on the patient. A processor can correlate the fiducial point on the patient to an image fiducial point in the image data. A tracking system can track at least one of the tracked devices, the first dynamic reference frame, the second dynamic reference frame, or combinations thereof. The processor can register the image space and physical space with the first dynamic reference frame with a first accuracy and can register the image space and physical space with the second dynamic reference frame with a second accuracy.
According to various embodiments, a method to register image space to physical space of a patient for a surgical navigation procedure is taught. The method can include acquiring image data of the patient defining the image space and including an image fiducial point and identifying the image fiducial point in the image data. A first dynamic reference frame can be attached to the patient in a first manner and a first registration of the image space to the physical space having a first accuracy can be performed with the attached first dynamic reference frame. A second dynamic reference frame can be attached to the patient in a second manner and a second registration of the image space to the physical space having a second accuracy can be performed with the attached second dynamic reference frame.
According to various embodiments, a method to register image space to physical space of a patient for a surgical navigation procedure is disclosed. The method can include attaching a fiducial marker with the patient and acquiring image data of the patient including an image fiducial point produced by the fiducial marker. The method can also include non-invasively attaching a first dynamic reference frame to the patient in a first manner, performing a first registration of the image data to the physical space having a first accuracy with the attached first dynamic reference frame, and navigating a first procedure with the performed first registration. The method can further include invasively attaching a second dynamic reference frame to the patient in a second manner, performing a second registration of the image data to the physical space having a second accuracy with the connected second dynamic reference frame, and navigating a second procedure with the performed second registration.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
FIG. 1 is an environmental view of a surgical navigation system or computer aided surgical system, according to various embodiments;
FIG. 2 is a detailed environmental view of a skin penetrating laser system;
FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a flexible member including tracking devices, according to various embodiments;
FIG. 5 is a detailed environmental view of a flexible member including a plurality of tracking devices;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for performing a selected procedure;
FIG. 7 is an environmental view of a patient including various elements associated therewith;
FIG. 8 is an environmental view of a navigation system, according to various embodiments;
FIG. 9 is a detail environmental view of an alignment device including an EM coil, according to various embodiments; and
FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method of performing a procedure, according to various embodiments.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. Although the following description illustrates and describes a procedure relative to a cranium of a patient, the current disclosure is not to be understood to be limited to such a procedure. For example, a procedure can also be performed relative to a spinal column, heart, vascular system, etc. Therefore, discussion herein relating to a specific region of the anatomy will be understood to be applicable to all regions of the anatomy, unless specifically described otherwise.
As discussed herein various systems and elements can be used to assist in a surgical procedure. For example, image data can be acquired of a patient to assist in illustrating the location of an instrument relative to a patient. Generally, image space can be registered to patient space to assist in this display and navigation. Fiducial markers can be affixed to the patient during imaging and registration or fiducial marker-less systems can be used. Fiducial marker-less systems can use other techniques, including surface or contour matching, as discussed herein. Various techniques can be used in fiducial marker-less systems, including, but not limited to, soft tissue penetrating laser systems, flexible members including tracking devices, etc. Also, procedures can include two registration procedures, including a course and a fine registration. The two registrations can allow for lessoning invasiveness of the procedure and increasing efficiency of the procedure.
With reference to FIG. 1, a navigation system 10 that can be used for various procedures is illustrated. The navigation system 10 can be used to track the location of a device 12, such as a pointer probe, relative to a patient 14 to assist in the implementation or performance of a surgical procedure. It should be further noted that the navigation system 10 may be used to navigate or track other devices including: catheters, probes, needles, leads, electrodes implants, etc. According to various embodiments, examples include ablation catheters, deep brain stimulation (DBS) leads or electrodes, micro-electrode (ME) leads or electrodes for recording, etc. Moreover, the navigated device may be used in any region of the body. The navigation system 10 and the various devices may be used in any appropriate procedure, such as one that is generally minimally invasive, arthroscopic, percutaneous, stereotactic, or an open procedure. Although an exemplary navigation system 10 including an imaging system 16 are discussed herein, one skilled in the art will understand that the disclosure is merely for clarity of the present discussion and any appropriate imaging system, navigation system, patient specific data, and non-patient specific data can be used. For example, the intraoperative imaging system can include an MRI imaging system, such as the PoleStar® MRI imaging system or an O-arm® imaging system sold by Medtronic, Inc. having a place of business in Minnesota, USA. It will be understood that the navigation system 10 can incorporate or be used with any appropriate preoperatively or intraoperatively acquired image data.
The navigation system 10 can include the optional imaging device 16 that is used to acquire pre-, intra-, or post-operative, including real-time, image data of the patient 14. In addition, data from atlas models can be used to produce images for navigation, though they may not be patient images. Although, atlas models can be morphed or changed based upon patient specific information. Also, substantially imageless systems can be used, such as those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/687,539, filed Oct. 16, 2003, now U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0085714, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SURGICAL NAVIGATION OF A MULTIPLE PIECE CONSTRUCT FOR IMPLANTATION”, incorporated herein by reference. Various systems can use data based on determination of the position of various elements represented by geometric shapes.
The optional imaging device 16 is, for example, a fluoroscopic X-ray imaging device that may be configured as a C-arm 18 having an X-ray source 20, an X-ray receiving section 22, an optional calibration and tracking target 24 and optional radiation sensors. The calibration and tracking target 24 includes calibration markers (not illustrated). Image data may also be acquired using other imaging devices, such as those discussed above and herein.
An optional imaging device controller 26 may control the imaging device 16, such as the C-arm 18, which can capture the X-ray images received at the receiving section 22 and store the images for later use. The controller 26 may also be separate from the C-arm 18 and can be part of or incorporated into a work station 28. The controller 26 can control the rotation of the C-arm 18. For example, the C-arm 18 can move in the direction of arrow 30 or rotate about a longitudinal axis 14a of the patient 14, allowing anterior or lateral views of the patient 14 to be imaged. Each of these movements involves rotation about a mechanical axis 32 of the C-arm 18. The movements of the imaging device 16, such as the C-arm 18 can be tracked with a tracking device 34. As discussed herein, the tracking device, according to various embodiments, can be any appropriate tracking device to work with any appropriate tracking system (e.g. optical, electromagnetic, acoustic, etc.). Therefore, unless specifically discussed otherwise, the tracking device can be any appropriate tracking device.
In the example of FIG. 1, the longitudinal axis 14a of the patient 14 is substantially in line with the mechanical axis 32 of the C-arm 18. This enables the C-arm 18 to be rotated relative to the patient 14, allowing images of the patient 14 to be taken from multiple directions or in multiple planes. An example of a fluoroscopic C-arm X-ray device that may be used as the optional imaging device 16 is the “Series 9600 Mobile Digital Imaging System,” from GE Healthcare, (formerly OEC Medical Systems, Inc.) of Salt Lake City, Utah. Other exemplary fluoroscopes include bi-plane fluoroscopic systems, ceiling mounted fluoroscopic systems, cath-lab fluoroscopic systems, fixed C-arm fluoroscopic systems, isocentric C-arm fluoroscopic systems, three-dimensional (3D) fluoroscopic systems, intraoperative O-arm™ imaging systems, etc.
The C-arm imaging system 18 can be any appropriate system, such as a digital or CCD camera, which are well understood in the art. Two dimensional fluoroscopic images that may be taken by the imaging device 16 are captured and stored in the C-arm controller 26. Multiple two-dimensional images taken by the imaging device 16 may also be captured and assembled to provide a larger view or image of a whole region of the patient 14, as opposed to being directed to only a portion of a region of the patient. For example, multiple image data or sets of data of a patient's leg, cranium, and brain may be appended together to provide a full view or complete set of image data of the leg or brain that can be later used to follow contrast agent, such as bolus or therapy tracking. The multiple image data can include multiple two-dimensional (2D) slices that are assembled into a 3D model or image.
The image data can then be forwarded from the C-arm controller 26 to the navigation computer and/or processor controller or work station 28 having a display device 36 to display image data 38 and a user interface 40. The work station 28 can also include or be connected to an image processor, a navigation processor, and a memory to hold instruction and data. The work station 28 can also include an optimization processor that assists in a navigated procedure. It will also be understood that the image data is not necessarily first retained in the controller 26, but may also be directly transmitted to the workstation 28. Moreover, processing for the navigation system and optimization can all be done with a single or multiple processors all of which may or may not be included in the workstation 28.
The work station 28 provides facilities for displaying the image data 38 as an image on the display device 36, saving, digitally manipulating, or printing a hard copy image of the received image data. The user interface 40, which may be a keyboard, mouse, touch pen, touch screen or other suitable device, allows a physician or user 42 to provide inputs to control the imaging device 16, via the C-arm controller 26, or adjust the display settings of the display 36. The work station 28 may also direct the C-arm controller 26 to adjust the rotational axis 32 of the C-arm 18 to obtain various two-dimensional images in different planes in order to generate representative two-dimensional and three-dimensional images.
While the optional imaging device 16 is shown in FIG. 1, any other alternative 2D, 3D or 4D imaging modality may also be used. For example, any 2D, 3D or 4D imaging device, such as isocentric fluoroscopy, bi-plane fluoroscopy, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), optical coherence tomography (OCT) (a more detailed discussion on optical coherence tomography (OCT), is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,808, issued Apr. 21, 1998, entitled “Systems And Methods For Guiding Diagnostic Or Therapeutic Devices In Interior Tissue Regions” which is hereby incorporated by reference). Intra-vascular ultrasound (IVUS), intra-operative CT, single photo emission computed tomography (SPECT), planar gamma scintigraphy (PGS). Addition imaging systems include intraoperative MRI systems such as the PoleStar® MRI imaging system. Further systems include the O-Arm® imaging system. The images may also be obtained and displayed in two, three or four dimensions. In more advanced forms, four-dimensional surface rendering regions of the body may also be achieved by incorporating patient data or other data from an atlas or anatomical model map or from pre-operative image data captured by MRI, CT, or echocardiography modalities.
Image datasets from hybrid modalities, such as positron emission tomography (PET) combined with CT, or single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT) combined with CT, could also provide functional image data superimposed onto anatomical data to be used to confidently reach target sights within the patient 14. It should further be noted that the optional imaging device 16, as shown in FIG. 1, provides a virtual bi-plane image using a single-head C-arm fluoroscope as the optional imaging device 16 by simply rotating the C-arm 18 about at least two planes, which could be orthogonal planes to generate two-dimensional images that can be converted to three-dimensional volumetric images. By acquiring image data in more than one plane, an icon representing the location of an impacter, stylet, reamer driver, taps, drill, DBS electrodes, ME electrodes for recording, probe, or other instrument, introduced and advanced in the patient 14, may be superimposed in more than one view on display 36 allowing simulated bi-plane or even multi-plane views, including two and three-dimensional views.
Four-dimensional (4D) image information can be used with the navigation system 10 as well. For example, the user 42 can use a physiologic signal, which can include Heart Rate (measured with an EKG), Breath Rate (Breath Gating) and combine this data with image data 38 acquired during the phases of the physiologic signal to represent the anatomy of the patient 14 at various stages of the physiologic cycle. For example, with each heartbeat the brain pulses (and therefore moves). Images can be acquired to create a 4D map of the brain, onto which atlas data and representations of a device, such as a surgical instrument can be projected. This 4D data set can be matched and co-registered with the physiologic signal (e.g. EKG) to represent a compensated image within the system. The image data registered with the 4D information can show the brain (or anatomy of interest) moving during the cardiac or breath cycle. This movement can be displayed on the display 36 as the image data 38. Also, the gating techniques can be used to eliminate movement in the image displayed on the display device 36.
Likewise, other imaging modalities can be used to gather the 4D dataset to which pre-operative 2D and 3D data can be matched. One need not necessarily acquire multiple 2D or 3D images during the physiologic cycle of interest (breath or heart beat). Ultrasound imaging or other 4D imaging modalities can be used to create an image data that allows for a singular static pre-operative image to be matched via image-fusion techniques and/or matching algorithms that are non-linear to match the distortion of anatomy based on the movements during the physiologic cycle. The combination of a dynamic reference frame 44 and 4D registration techniques can help compensate for anatomic distortions during movements of the anatomy associated with normal physiologic processes.
With continuing reference to FIG. 1, the navigation system 10 can further include a tracking system, such as, but not limited to, an electromagnetic (EM) tracking system 46 or an optical tracking system 46′. Either or both can be used alone or together in the navigation system 10. Moreover, discussion of the EM tracking system 46 can be understood to relate to any appropriate tracking system. The optical tracking system 46′ can include the Stealthstation® Treatment Guidance System including the Treon® Navigation System and the Tria® Navigation System, both sold by Medtronic Navigation, Inc. Other tracking systems include acoustic, radiation, radar, infrared, etc.
The EM tracking system 46 includes a localizer, such as a coil array 48 and/or second coil array 50, a coil array controller 52, a navigation probe interface 54, a device 12 (e.g. catheter, needle, pointer probe, or instruments, as discussed herein) and the dynamic reference frame 44. An instrument tracking device 34a can also be associated with, such as fixed to, the instrument 12 or a guiding device for an instrument. The dynamic reference frame 44 can include a dynamic reference frame holder 56 and a removable tracking device 34b. Alternatively, the dynamic reference frame 44 can include the tracking device 34b that can be formed integrally or separately from the DRF holder 56.
Moreover, the DRF 44 can be provided as separate pieces and can be positioned at any appropriate position on the anatomy. For example, the tracking device 34b of the DRF can be fixed to the skin of the patient 14 with an adhesive. Also, the DRF 44 can be positioned near a leg, arm, etc. of the patient 14. Thus, the DRF 44 does not need to be provided with a head frame or require any specific base or holding portion.
The tracking devices 34, 34a, 34b or any tracking device as discussed herein, can include a sensor, a transmitter, or combinations thereof. Further, the tracking devices can be wired or wireless to provide a signal emitter or receiver within the navigation system. For example, the tracking device can include an electromagnetic coil to sense a field produced by the localizing array 48, 50 or reflectors that can reflect a signal to be received by the optical tracking system 46′. Nevertheless, one will understand that the tracking device can receive a signal, transmit a signal, or combinations thereof to provide information to the navigation system 10 to determine a location of the tracking device 34, 34a, 34b. The navigation system 10 can then determine a position of the instrument or tracking device to allow for navigation relative to the patient and patient space.
The coil arrays 48, 50 may also be supplemented or replaced with a mobile localizer. The mobile localizer may be one such as that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/941,782, filed Sep. 15, 2004, now U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0085720, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SURGICAL NAVIGATION”, herein incorporated by reference. As is understood the localizer array can transmit signals that are received by the tracking devices 34, 34a, 34b. The tracking devices 34, 34a, 34b can then transmit or receive signals based upon the transmitted or received signals from or to the array 48, 50.
Further included in the navigation system 10 may be an isolator circuit or assembly (not illustrated separately). The isolator circuit or assembly may be included in a transmission line to interrupt a line carrying a signal or a voltage to the navigation probe interface 54. Alternatively, the isolator circuit included in the isolator box may be included in the navigation probe interface 80, the device 12, the dynamic reference frame 44, the transmission lines coupling the devices, or any other appropriate location. The isolator assembly is operable to isolate any of the instruments or patient coincidence instruments or portions that are in contact with the patient should an undesirable electrical surge or voltage take place.
It should further be noted that the entire tracking system 46, 46′ or parts of the tracking system 46, 46′ may be incorporated into the imaging device 16, including the work station 28. Incorporating the tracking system 46, 46′ may provide an integrated imaging and tracking system. This can be particularly useful in creating a fiducial-less system. Moreover, fiducial marker-less systems can include a tracking device and a contour determining system, including those discussed herein. Any combination of these components may also be incorporated into the imaging system 16, which again can include a fluoroscopic C-arm imaging device or any other appropriate imaging device.
The EM tracking system 46 uses the coil arrays 48, 50 to create an electromagnetic field used for navigation. The coil arrays 48, 50 can include a plurality of coils that are each operable to generate distinct electromagnetic fields into the navigation region of the patient 14, which is sometimes referred to as patient space. Representative electromagnetic systems are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,820, entitled “Position Location System,” issued Jun. 22, 1999 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,939, entitled “Method and System for Navigating a Catheter Probe,” issued Jan. 14, 1997, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The coil array 48 is controlled or driven by the coil array controller 52. The coil array controller 52 drives each coil in the coil array 48 in a time division multiplex or a frequency division multiplex manner. In this regard, each coil may be driven separately at a distinct time or all of the coils may be driven simultaneously with each being driven by a different frequency.
Upon driving the coils in the coil array 48 with the coil array controller 52, electromagnetic fields are generated within the patient 14 in the area where the medical procedure is being performed, which is again sometimes referred to as patient space. The electromagnetic fields generated in the patient space induce currents in the tracking device 34, 34a, 34b positioned on or in the device 12, DRF 44, etc. These induced signals from the tracking devices 34, 34a, 34b are delivered to the navigation probe interface 54 and subsequently forwarded to the coil array controller 52. The navigation probe interface 54 can also include amplifiers, filters and buffers to directly interface with the tracking device 34b attached to the device 12. Alternatively, the tracking device 34b, or any other appropriate portion, may employ a wireless communications channel, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,341, entitled “Surgical Communication Power System,” issued Nov. 5, 2002, herein incorporated by reference, as opposed to being coupled directly to the navigation probe interface 54.
Various portions of the navigation system 10, such as the device 12, the dynamic reference frame 44, are equipped with at least one, and generally multiple, EM or other tracking devices 34a, 34b, that may also be referred to as localization sensors. The EM tracking devices 34a, 34b can include one or more coils that are operable with the EM localizer arrays 48, 50. An alternative tracking device may include an optical device, and may be used in addition to or in place of the electromagnetic tracking devices 34a, 34b. The optical tacking device may work with the optional optical tracking system 46′. One skilled in the art will understand, however, that any appropriate tracking device can be used in the navigation system 10. An additional representative alternative localization and tracking system is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,126, entitled “Catheter Location System and Method,” issued Nov. 9, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the localization system may be a hybrid system that includes components from various systems.
In brief, the EM tracking device 34a on the device 12 can be in a handle or inserter that interconnects with an attachment and may assist in placing an implant or in driving a member. The device 12 can include a graspable or manipulable portion at a proximal end and the tracking device 34b may be fixed near the manipulable portion of the device 12 or at a distal working end, as discussed herein. The tracking device 34a can include an electromagnetic tracking sensor to sense the electromagnetic field generated by the coil array 48, 50 that can induce a current in the electromagnetic device 34a. Alternatively, the tracking device 34a can be driven (i.e., like the coil array above) and the tracking array 48, 50 can receive a signal produced by the tracking device 34a.
The dynamic reference frame 44 may be fixed to the patient 14 adjacent to the region being navigated so that any movement of the patient 14 is detected as relative motion between the coil array 48, 50 and the dynamic reference frame 44. The dynamic reference frame 44 can be interconnected with the patient in any appropriate manner, including those discussed herein. Relative motion is forwarded to the coil array controller 52, which updates registration correlation and maintains accurate navigation, further discussed herein. The dynamic reference frame 44 may include any appropriate tracking device. Therefore, the dynamic reference frame 44 may also be EM, optical, acoustic, etc. If the dynamic reference frame 44 is electromagnetic it can be configured as a pair of orthogonally oriented coils, each having the same center or may be configured in any other non-coaxial or co-axial coil configurations.
Briefly, the navigation system 10 operates as follows. The navigation system 10 creates a translation map between all points in the image data generated from the imaging device 16 which can include external and internal portions, and the corresponding points in the patient's anatomy in patient space. After this map is established, whenever the tracked device 12 is used, the work station 36 in combination with the coil array controller 52 uses the translation map to identify the corresponding point on the image data or atlas model, which is displayed on display 36. This identification is known as navigation or localization. An icon representing the localized point or instruments is shown on the display 36 within several two-dimensional image planes, as well as on three and four dimensional images and models.
To enable navigation, the navigation system 10 must be able to detect both the position of the patient's anatomy and the position of the instrument 12 or an attachment member (e.g. tracking device 34a) attached to the instrument 12. Knowing the location of these two items allows the navigation system 10 to compute and display the position of the instrument 12 or any portion thereof in relation to the patient 14. The tracking system 46 is employed to track the instrument 12 and the anatomy of the patient 14 simultaneously.
The tracking system 46, if it is using an electromagnetic tracking assembly, essentially works by positioning the coil array 48, 50 adjacent to the patient 14 to generate a magnetic field, which can be low energy, and generally referred to as a navigation field. Because every point in the navigation field or patient space is associated with a unique field strength, the electromagnetic tracking system 46 can determine the position of the instrument 12 by measuring the field strength at the tracking device 34a location. The dynamic reference frame 44 is fixed to the patient 14 to identify the location of the patient in the navigation field. The electromagnetic tracking system 46 continuously computes or calculates the relative position of the dynamic reference frame 44 and the instrument 12 during localization and relates this spatial information to patient registration data to enable navigation of the device 12 within and/or relative to the patient 14. Navigation can include image guidance or imageless guidance.
Patient registration is the process of determining how to correlate the position of the instrument 12 relative to the patient 14 to the position on the diagnostic or image data. To register the patient 14, the physician or user 42 may select and store one or more particular points from the image data and then determine corresponding points on the patient's anatomy, such as with the pointer probe 12. The navigation system 10 analyzes the relationship between the two sets of points that are selected and computes a match, which correlates every point in the image data with its corresponding point on the patient's anatomy or the patient space.
The points that are selected to perform registration can be image fiducial points. The image fiducial points can be produced by a fiducial marker 58 or selected landmarks, such as anatomical landmarks. The landmarks or fiducial markers 58 are identifiable in the image data and identifiable and accessible on the patient 14. The anatomical landmarks can include individual or distinct points on the patient 14 or contours (e.g. three-dimensional contours) defined by the patient 14. The fiducial markers 58 can be artificial markers that are positioned on the patient 14. The artificial landmarks, such as the fiducial markers 58, can also form part of the dynamic reference frame 44, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,485, entitled “Registration of Human Anatomy Integrated for Electromagnetic Localization,” issued Apr. 30, 2002, herein incorporated by reference. Various fiducial marker-less systems, including those discussed herein, may not include the fiducial markers 58, or other artificial markers. The fiducial marker-less systems include a device or system to define in the physical space the landmark or fiducial points on the patient or contour on the patient. A fiducialless and marker-less system can include those that do not include artificial or separate fiducial markers that are attached to or positioned on the patient 14.
As discussed above, registration of the patient space or physical space to the image data or image space can require the correlation or matching of physical or virtual fiducial points and image fiducial points. The physical fiducial points can be the fiducial markers 60 or landmarks (e.g. anatomical landmarks) in the substantially fiducial marker-less systems.
The registration can require the determination of the position of physical fiducial points. The physical fiducial points can include the fiducial markers 58. The user 42 can touch the fiducial markers or devices 58 on the patient 14 or a tracking device can be associated with the fiducial markers 58 so that the tracking system 46, 46′ can determine the location of the fiducial markers 58 without a separate tracked device. The physical fiducial points can also include a determined contour (e.g. a physical space 3d contour) using various techniques, as discussed herein.
The image fiducial points in the image data 54 can also be determined. The user 42 can touch or locate the image fiducial points, either produced by imaging of the fiducial markers 48 or the landmarks. Also, various algorithms are generally known to determine the location of the image fiducial points. The image fiducial points can be produced in the image data by the fiducial markers 48, particular landmarks, or a contour (e.g. a 3D contour) of the patient 14 during acquisition of the image data.
Once the physical fiducial points and the image fiducial points have been identified, the image space and the physical space can be registered. A processor, such as a processor within the workstation 28, can determine registration of the patient space to the image space. The registration can be performed according to generally known mapping or translation techniques. The registration can allow a navigated procedure using the image data.
According to various embodiments, a fiducial marker-less system can use a soft tissue penetrating or bone position determining laser system 100, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The skin penetrating laser system 100 can include a laser generator 102 that can direct a laser beam 104 to reflect off a bone structure, such as the cranium or skull 60 by penetrating through soft tissue 106, including dermis, circulatory tissues, muscle, vasculature, and the like. Although the current discussion relates to a procedure near the cranium 60, a procedure can also occur near other anatomical portions of the patient 14. Thus, the laser beam 104 may be required to pass through more or less soft tissue than near the cranium 60. For example, a great amount or mass of muscle tissue may be present near a spinal column, femur, etc. One skilled in the art will understand that the amount and type of soft tissue to penetrate can also require the laser beam 104 to be of an appropriate power, wavelength, etc. that can differ depending upon the amount and type of soft tissue to penetrate.
The laser beam 104 can include an emission beam 104e and a reflection beam 104r. The emission beam 104e can impact or contact the bone structure, including the cranium 60, at a point or virtual physical fiducial point 108. The reflection beam 104r can then reflect, according to generally understood physical requirements, to a receiver, such as a receiver 110 associated with the laser device 102. The reflection occurs at a point or reflection point which can be the virtual physical fiducial point 108. The reflection point can be interpreted or determined to be the virtual physical fiducial point 108 for purposes of correlation or registration, as discussed further here.
A receiver 110 can receive the reflected beam 104r from the virtual physical fiducial point 108 and determine a distance of the virtual physical fiducial point 108 from the laser device 102. Determining a distance from the receiver to the virtual physical fiducial point 108 can be determined using various techniques. For example, a pulsed beam may be used and a time of transmission can be determined or a variance in phase can be used to determine distance traveled. Determining a distance with a laser beam, however, is generally understood by those skilled in the relevant art.
A position of the laser device 102 or the receiver 110 can be determined, according to various embodiments. For example, the position of the laser device 102 or the receiver 110 can be tracked with the tracking device 34a. The tracking device 34a can be tracked with the tracking system 46, as discussed above. This allows the navigation system 10 to determine the position of the virtual physical fiducial point 108 in the patient space.
The virtual physical fiducial point 108 can be manually or automatically correlated to a point in the image data 38. According to various embodiments, however, the laser device 102 can be moved to a plurality of positions relative to the patient 14 and the cranium 60. By moving the laser device 102 relative to the patient 14, a plurality of the virtual points 108 can be determined in the patient space. The laser device 102 can also be moved over relative to the patient 14 and a plurality of the physical fiducial points 108 can be determined while the laser device 102 is moved. Thus, one will understand, that the laser device 102 need not be moved to discrete points, but can be moved in a pattern relative to the patient 14 and the points can be collected while it is moved.
Once a selected number of virtual points 108 are created or determined the processor, such as in the workstation 28, can match a contour determined via the physical fiducial points 108 and a contour determined in the image data 54. As discussed above, various techniques are known to determine contours based on the determined physical fiducial points 108 or in the image data. Examples include, edge detection, region growing, etc. Also, the contours, as discussed throughout, can include 2D or 3D contours, depending upon the amount of points or location of points and the type of image data. Systems that can be used to obtain contour information or provide enough points to determine a contour in physical space, as discussed above, can also be referred to contour determining systems.
The contour of the patient 14 can be determined by determining the plurality of the fiducial points 108 on the patient 14 with the laser device 102. Various algorithms can also be used to determine a contour of the patient 14 with a plurality of the virtual physical fiducial points 108, prior to determining a match to contours in the image data. For example, the physical fiducial points 108 can be related to one another define a line or 3D contour of the patient 14 that can be correlated to a contour determined in the image data 38. One skilled in the art will understand that the various distinct points can also be used to perform the registration, thus the 3D contour as the fiducial points is merely exemplary.
The laser device 102 can be interconnected to a stand or manipulation arm 114 that can include one or more moveable joints 116. The moveable joints 116 can be robotically manipulated or controlled, such as with the workstation 28. Alternatively, the moveable joints 116 can be moved by a user, such as the user 42. A tracking device 34c can be used to determine the position of the laser device 102 in the physical space to compare or register the image data to the physical space. The position of the laser device 102 can also be determined via a position algorithm, if the stand mechanism 114 is robotically controlled or includes various movement or position determination devices, such as potentiometers, stepper motors, or the like.
The laser device 102, which can have the tracking device 34c associated therewith, can be the device 12. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the device 12 can be independently held by the user 42 and can be moved relative to the patient 14. Thus, the laser device 102 can also be held by the user 42, free of the stand 114, and moved relative to the patient 14 to determine a line, 3D contour, or any selected number of distinct physical fiducial points 108.
The laser device 102 can be any appropriate laser device. The laser device 102 can produce the beam 104 that is operable to substantially pass through soft tissue surrounding a substantially rigid structure, such as a bone structure including a cranium 60, and reflect off the rigid structure. The laser device 102 can emit any appropriate laser beam, such as one that includes a wave length of about 750 nanometers to about 810 nanometers.
The rigid structure of the bone, including the cranium 60, can be effectively used to register image space to the physical space. The structure of the bone rarely changes shape or configuration between the time of the acquisition of the image data and the determination of the virtual points 108, either during or immediately preceding a surgical procedure. The bone structure, therefore, can provide an appropriate structure for comparison between the physical space and the image space.
The physical fiducial points 108 can be located on the patient 14 according to various embodiments. For example, the patient 14, including the cranium 60, can be fixed in the physical space. Thus, the physical fiducial points 108 are fixed in physical space once they are determined. Also, a DRF, such as the DRF 44, can be interconnected with the patient 14. When the DRF 44 is attached, the patient 14 can move and the physical fiducial points 108 can still be related to one another within the physical space and the navigation system 10 because of the DRF 44 tracking the movement of the patient 14.
A receiver or sensor 110 can receive the reflected beam 104r to determine the position of the point 108. The processor, such as the processor on the workstation 28, can determine the distance between the laser device 102 or the tracking device 34c to determine the position of the virtual fiducial point 108. The determination of a distance based upon a reflected laser beam is well understood in the art.
As discussed above, matching or correlating of a contour in the physical space and a contour in the image space can be used to register the image space and the physical space. The physical space, including the patient space, can have a contour defined by one or more of the fiducial points 108. The contour can also be referred to as a fiducial point alone. This can allow the laser system 100 to act or perform a contour determination or act as a contour forming system. A contour can also be defined in the image data in the image space, using generally known techniques and algorithms that can be performed by the processor. Further, the contours from the image space can then be matched to the contours in the physical space to perform a registration of the image space to the physical space.
The registered image space to the physical space can then be used in a surgical navigation procedure, such as the placement of a micro-electrode or deep brain stimulation electrode in the cranium 60. As discussed above the various physical fiducial points 108 can be determined and, if desired, a contour can be determined from a plurality of the physical fiducial points 108. The contour or the plurality of the physical fiducial points can be used to match or correlate to the image space. The image data can then be used to navigate the selected procedure.
A registration can be performed without the fiducial markers 58 using the laser system 100. The laser system 100, however, is a contour determination system or fiducial marker-less registration system, according to various embodiments. Contour determination systems or fiducial marker-less registration systems can also include various tracked portions, as discussed herein.
According to various embodiments, with reference to FIG. 3, a flexible sheet or member 120 can include one or more fibers 122. The fibers 122 can include woven fibers, for illustration purposes only, that include longitudinal fibers 122a and latitudinal fibers 122b. Nevertheless, the fibers can be woven into any appropriate material, such as a sheet, a drape, and the like. Moreover, the member 120 can be sized with any appropriate dimensions, such as to cover a selected portion of the anatomy.
The fibers 122 of the member 120 can have a tracking device 124 formed around them or relative to them. According to various embodiments, the tracking device 124 can include a first coil member 126 and a second coil member 128. The two coil members 126, 128 can be substantially perpendicular to one another and be used with the tracking system 46 and can be similar to the tracking devices 34. The sheet 120 can include a plurality of the tracking devices 124 that can be positioned at selected points, such as about one millimeter apart, two millimeters apart, one centimeter apart, or any appropriate dimension. As discussed above, the tracking devices 124 can, according to various embodiments, sense a strength of a field, such as an electromagnetic field, produced by the localizer device 48. Therefore, the sheet 120 including the plurality of the tracking devices 124 can provide a plurality of tracked positions relative to whatever the sheet 120 is placed over. As discussed above, the tracking devices can be tracked relative to the patient 14.
It will be understood that the tracking devices 124 that can be associated with the sheet 120 can be any appropriate type of tracking device. For example, optical tracking devices, including active optical or passive optical members, can be used as tracking devices with the tracking system 46′. The active optical members, including light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be associated with the sheet 120. Similarly, passive optical members, including reflectors, can be associated with the sheet 120. The tracking devices 124 can either emit or reflect optical wavelengths to the optical tracking system 46′ and the position of the optical tracking devices can be tracked, as is generally understood in the art. Thus, one skilled in the art will understand, any appropriate tracking system can be used and any appropriate tracking device can be associated with the sheet.
The sheet 120, as mentioned briefly above, can be dimensioned to be positioned on the patient 14. For example the sheet 120 can cover an expanse and be placed to cover an exterior portion of the patient 14. The sheet 120 can also be provided to maintain a sterile field relative to the patient 14. The sheet 120 can, generally, include a top and bottom surface covering an expanse and a relatively thin edge. The sheet 120 can be substantially flexible to drape over and conform to a selected portion of the patient 14.
As discussed herein, the plurality of tracked points can provide information relating to the position of each of the tracking devices 124 on the patient 14. The information can be used for tracking the patient 14, determining the contour of the patient 14, registering image space to patient space, or the like.
The sheet 120 can be sized or dimensioned to cover any appropriate portion of the patient 14. For example, a large single sheet can be formed to cover a portion of the cranium 60 (FIG. 5). Also, a long narrow sheet can be formed to wrap around a selected anatomical portion. In any case, the plurality of the tracking devices 124 or selected tracking device can be used to provide position information at a plurality of points on the patient 14.
The plurality of the points can be physical fiducial points. The physical fiducial points can be similar to the physical fiducial points 108 and can be used alone or to define a physical space 3D contour. The physical space contour or fiducial point can be correlated to a 3D contour or image data fiducial point. Thus, providing the plurality of the tracking devices in the sheet to provide position information at a plurality of points can provide information similar to the physical fiducial points 108.
According to various embodiments, a 3D contour can be determined based upon the tracking devices associated with the sheet 120. The contour can be compared to and matched to a contour in the image data. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, the sheet 120 and the tracking devices can be used as fiducial points and can be imaged with the patient 14. Thus, the tracking devices, or portions associated therewith, can be imaged and produce image fiducial points to be correlated to physical space fiducial points.
According to various embodiments, a flexible member or sheet 140, with reference to FIG. 4, can be provided of a substantially continuous material. For example, the sheet 140 can be formed of a polymer or other substantially non-porous material. The sheet 140 can include the Steri-Drape® surgical drapes sold by 3M Company Corporation of St. Paul, Minn. The surgical drapes allow for maintaining a sterile field around a selected portion of the patient 14. The sheet 140, as mentioned briefly above, can be dimensioned to be positioned on the patient 14. For example the sheet 140 can cover an expanse and be placed to cover an exterior portion of the patient 14. The sheet 140 can also be provided to maintain a sterile field relative to the patient 14. The sheet 140 can, generally, include a top and bottom surface covering an expanse and a relatively thin edge. The sheet 140 can be substantially flexible to drape over and conform to a selected portion of the patient 14.
The sheet 140 can be pierced or cut for access to a particular location, such as a position on the cranium 60 of the patient 14. The sheet 140 can also include a flap 142 that can be moved or removed to gain access through a portal 144 to a selected region of the cranium 60.
The sheet 140 can include a tracking device 146 or a plurality of the tracking devices 146. The tracking devices 146 can be positioned in the sheet 140 in any appropriate manner. For example, the tracking devices 146 can be positioned within the sheet 140 in a substantially grid or aligned manner. The tracking devices 146 can be positioned with regular spacing from one another to provide for a plurality of trackable points or positions, similar to the coil pairs 124, 126 of the sheet 120.
The tracking devices 146 can also include optical tracking devices, as discussed above. The optical tracking devices can be active or passive tracking devices. The optical tracking devices can work with the optical tracking system 46′ to provide position information of the patient 14. Also, the sheet 140 can be placed on the patient 14 while image data is being acquired of the patient 14. Thus, the sheet 140 can also be used to produce image fiducial points, as discussed above.
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 and additional reference to FIG. 5, the exemplary sheet 140 can be draped over the patient 14, such as over the cranium 60. The sheets 120, 140, according to various embodiments can include a selected flexibility or stiffness. The sheets 120, 140, can be flexible enough to substantially conform to a surface contour of the patient 14. Also, the sheets 120, 140 can be light enough to be placed on the patient 14 without substantially deforming the soft tissue around the boney structure. Thus, the determined contour of the patient 14 with the sheets 120, 140 can be substantially similar to a contour of a surface of the patient 14 with no covering.
Also, as discussed above, the sheets 120, 140 can be used to maintain a sterility relative to the patient 14. The sheets 120, 140 can cover or define an expanse. The sheets 120, 140 can be provided to be draped over or conform to a selected portion, such as an exterior surface, of the patient 14
The tracking devices 146 associate with the sheet 140 can be flexible or of an appropriate dimension to be positioned over the cranium 60 in a substantially close manner. As discussed above, the sheet 140 can be substantially similar to surgical sterile sheets so that the sheet 140 can substantially match the outer contour of the dermis or skin of the patient 14 by being substantially in contact with the surface of the patient 14.
The sheet, such as the sheet 140 can also include various modular or openable portions 144. The open or flap portion 144 can allow for access to various portions of the anatomy of the patient 14 without removal or separately cutting through the sheet 140. The tracking devices 146 can be positioned near or around the flap portion 144 to allow for substantially precise determination location of an area around the flap portion 144. Further, the sheet 140 can be positioned to cover a selected portion of the anatomy or cling to a selected portion of the anatomy to precisely define or substantially precisely position the coils 124,126 or the tracking devices 146 at selected locations relative to the patient 14.
The sheets 140, 120 can also include a selected weight or mass that does not does substantially compress or deform the soft tissue of the patient 14. For example, a fiducial marker or trackable device can be interconnected with the patient 14 that deforms soft tissue surrounding bone of the patient 14. The deformation of the soft tissue with the tracking device or while positioning the tracking device can introduce certain inaccuracies into the navigation or tracking system 46. Thus, the sheets 120, 140 can be provided with an appropriate mass, density, mass evenness, and the like to substantially remove or eliminate the possibility of an unwanted or undesired deformation. Although a deformation can be accounted for in a tracking system or a navigation system 10, removing the possibility of such deformation can assist in the efficiency of the navigation system 10.
The sheets 120. 140 can also be formed to include a selected shape or 3D contour. For example, the sheets 120, 140 can be formed to include a shape that substantially matches a portion of the patient's 14 anatomy, including the cranium 60. Thus, the sheets 120, 140 can be efficiently positioned in a selected location. Also, the sheets 120, 140 can be preformed and flexible for a substantially custom or unique fit to the patient 14.
Further, the tracking devices 146 positioned within the sheet 140 can also then substantially contact the skin or be positioned relative to the skin to provide position information in concert with the tracking system 46. As discussed above, the tracking devices 146 can be tracked with the tracking system 46 to determine the position relative to the patient 14. The coils 124, 126 in the sheet 120 can be formed to contact the skin or surface of the patient 14 as well.
The tracking devices 146 can include any appropriate dimension, which can be substantially identical to a thickness of the sheet 140. Therefore, the tracking devices 146 can substantially contact the skin of the patient 14, relative to which the sheet 140 is positioned. In addition, the tracking devices 146 can include a selected dimension to position within the sheet 140 at a selected depth or orientation. Also, the coil pairs 124, 126 in the sheet 120 can substantially contact the surface on which the sheet 120 is positioned by the configuration of coils 124, 126 on the fibers 122. According to various embodiments, the coils 124, 126 or the tracking devices 146 can be configured in the respective sheets 120,140 to contact the skin of the patient 14 for selected accuracy.
The tracking devices 146 and the coil pairs 124, 126 can be wired, wireless, or any appropriate configuration to transfer information to the tracking system 46 to allow a determination of the location or position of the tracking devices 140 and coils 124, 126. The positioning of the plurality of tracking devices 140 relative to the patient 14 can allow for a plurality of data point or patient points to be tracked by the tracking system 46. The plurality of points can effectively define a contour or surface of the patient 14. The contour can be a 2D or 3D contour of the patient 14.
As discussed above, certain contour matching algorithms can be used to register patient space to image space. By tracking the plurality of the positions of the tracking devices 146 or the coils 124, 126 can provide the contour information that can be matched or registered to contours represented in the image data. Therefore, the sheets 120, 140 can be provided to allow for registration of the patient space to the image space. The sheets 140, 120 can also be provided for various purposes such as covering the patient, providing a sterile field in an operating room, or other purposes.
Thus, the sheets 120, 140 can be placed on the patient 14 and the tracking devices in the sheets can be tracked to determine one or more physical fiducial points. A plurality of the determined fiducial points can be used to define a contour of the patient 14. The contour of the patient 14 can then be matched to a contour that is determined in the image data, as discussed above. The matching of the contours can be used to register the image space to the physical space. The registered image data can be used in a navigated procedure.
As discussed above, the navigation system 10 can be used to navigate various instruments relative to the patient 14, such as a catheter, a lead (e.g. a DBS, or micro-electrode lead), or the like into the cranium 60. The various devices, including the laser system 100, the sheets 120, 140 and the like, can be used to provide information within the navigation system 10 to allow a determination of a registration between the image space and the patient space. Various other systems can also be used to perform a registration of image space to physical space without fiducial markers 58. For example, the Tracer™ sold by Medtronic Inc. can include an instrument that can be positioned at several points or drawn across a skin surface and tracked within the tracking system 46 to determine a contour of a skin surface. Similarly, the Fazer® Contour Laser System sold by Medtronic, Inc. can be used to determine or scan across a skin surface to determine a skin surface for registration. The determined skin surface can then be matched or used to register the image space to the patient space.
According to various embodiments, a contour determining device or system (e.g. the laser system 100, sheets 120, 140, the Fazer™ Contour Laser System, etc.) can be used to locate or determine various points on the patient 14. The points can be fiducial points that include a single point or a contour (i.e. 2D or 3D). Moreover, the various contour determining devices can be tracked with the tracking systems 46, 46′. The position of the contour determining devise can be processor or determined in a processor in the tracking system alone or in the works station alone 28, or combinations thereof. Also, the information collected with the tracking system 46, 46′ can be transferred to any appropriate processor for position determination. According to various embodiments, a separate processor or the same processor can also perform the registration of he image space to patient space and determine the position of the tracked instrument relative to the image data.
According to various embodiments, with reference to FIG. 6, a navigation system, such as a navigation system 10, can be used to perform a procedure according to various processes. A method of performing a registration and surgical procedure 150 is illustrated, which can use the navigation system 10. In the procedure 150, various and multiple registrations can occur via fiducial or fiducial marker-less systems, including those discussed above. The method 150 is described in relation to a selected procedure, such as a cranial or deep brain stimulation procedure, but can be used for any appropriate procedure on the anatomy. Therefore, the discussion herein relating to a cranial or deep brain stimulation procedure is merely exemplary.
Briefly, the method 150 can be used to perform a first registration of the image space to the physical space, perform a first procedure, perform a second registration, and perform a second procedure. The two separate registrations can be used to account for the differing accuracies that can be used in performing the two separate procedures. For example, a first procedure can be performed with a first registration accuracy and a second procedure can be performed with a second greater registration accuracy.
The method 150 starts at start block 152. At block 154 image data acquisition of the patient is performed block 154. The image data acquired of the patient can be any appropriate image data such as image data acquired with the imaging device 34. Although, any appropriate imaging device can be used such as a magnetic resonance imaging device, a computed tomography imaging device, an ultrasound imaging device, or any appropriate imaging device. The acquired image data can be acquired preceding a procedure or during a procedure. In addition, the image data acquired in block 154 can be acquired at any appropriate time. Further, the patient 14 can have fiducial points associated with the patient, such as the fiducial markers 58 or any other appropriate fiducial markers. Moreover, the image data acquired in block 154 can be registered to the patient space according to various techniques, including those discussed above, without the use of fiducial markers.
As discussed above, the patient 14 can have fiducial markers, such as the fiducial markers 58 associated therewith. The fiducial makers 90 can be any appropriate fiducial marker such as fiducial markers that can act both as image-able fiducial markers to create fiducial points in image data and fiducial markers that can be touched or found in physical space. For example, fiducial markers can include the markers sold by IZI Medical Products of Baltimore, Md. The fiducial markers can include a portion that can be imaged with a selected imaging process and can also be found in physical space. Finding the image data portion defining the fiducial marker and correlating it to the fiducial marker in physical space can allow for registration.
It will also be understood that including a fiducial marker with the patient 14 during imaging may not be required. For example, the Tracer® registration system, Fazer® Contour Laser, the skin penetrating laser 102, the sheets 120, 140, or the like can be associated or used to determine the contour of the patient 14 after the image data is acquired. As discussed above, various contour matching algorithms can be used to match or register the physical space of the patient 14 to the image data. Therefore, although fiducial markers can be associated with the patient 14, fiducial markers are not required for registration of a physical space to the image space and a fiducial marker-less registration can also be performed.
After the image data is acquired, or concurrently or prior thereto, the patient can be positioned for the procedure in block 156. A first dynamic reference frame including a tracking device 34d can be associated with the patient 14 in a substantially non-permanent or non-invasive manner. The dynamic reference frame including a tracking device 34d can be associated with and attached to the patient with a first holder 160. The first holder 160 can be an easily removable and non-invasive, such as the Fess Frame™ holding device sold by Medtronic, Inc. Generally the first holder 160 can be efficiently removed, at least in part due to the surface contact members or holding members 162, such as suction cups or anti-slip feet. The surface contact member 162 generally contacts a surface of the patient 14, such as an outer surface of the skin of the patient 14. The first holder 160 can be associated with the patient 14 in any appropriate manner, such as after positioning the patient 14 for a procedure and positioning the first holder 160 on the patient's cranium 60.
The course registration can include a selected accuracy, such as about +/−0.5 to about +/−3 millimeters, including about +/−1 to about +/−2 millimeters in navigational accuracy. The accuracy achieved of the registration with the first holding device 160 can be appropriate for identifying a planned position for a burrhole 164. As discussed herein, the planned position of the burr hole 164 can be identified relative to the patient 14 within a selected accuracy that can be less than the required accuracy for navigating a lead or device into the patient 14.
After the dynamic reference frame is associated with the patient in block 158, position information can be acquired of the patient in block 170. The position information acquired of the patient in block 170 can include the identification of locations of fiducial markers, such as the fiducial markers 58 on the patient 14. As discussed above, the identification of the location of the fiducial markers 58 on the patient 14 can be performed by tracking the device 12 and touching or associating it with one or more of the fiducial markers 58. The navigation system 10 can then register the patient space to the image space, as discussed above.
In addition, various fiducial marker-less registration techniques can be used, including those discussed above. For example, the Tracer® registration system and Fazer® Contour Laser can be used to identify contours of the patient 14 to allow for a contour matching and registration to the image space. In addition, the skin penetrating laser system 100 can be used to identify various virtual fiducial points 108 on the patient 14 to assist in the identification of various points and identify contours of the patient 14, again for registration. Further, the various drapes or sheets 120, 140 can include a plurality of the tracking devices or coils to provide information relating to positions or contours of the patient 14. Therefore, the patient space can be registered to the image space according to any appropriate technique including identifying contours of the patient 14 for registration to image data acquired of the patient in block 154.
Once position information of the patient is acquired in block 170, a first or course registration can occur in block 172. As discussed above, the registration using the acquired position information in block 170 and the first dynamic reference frame associated with the patient in block 158 can include a selected registration accuracy. The registration accuracy can be any appropriate accuracy such as about 1 millimeter or greater. The accuracy achieved with the first dynamic reference frame attached in block 158 can be used for various portions of the procedure, such as identifying the planned entry portal or burrhole location 164 on the patient 14. As is understood by one skilled in the art, the planned location of the entry portal 164 can be identified on the image data acquired in block 154. Once the image space is registered to the physical space, the planned position of the entry portal 164 can be transferred to the patient 14. This allows the determination of an appropriate position for the entry portal into the patient in block 174. The planned position for the entry portal can be marked on the patient in block 176. Due to the registration accuracy with the first dynamic reference frame position of the entry portal will include a similar accuracy.
The entry portal can include a selected accuracy or lack of accuracy for various reasons. For example, a navigation frame, such as the Nexframe® stereotactic system sold by Medtronic, Inc. can include a selected amount of navigational positioning or movement. Therefore, according to various embodiments, if the marking of the entry portal on the patient 14 is within a selected accuracy, the guiding device can be positioned to achieve an appropriate trajectory of an instrument into the patient 14. It will be understood that the guiding device need not be used in navigating an instrument.
After the planned position of the entry portal, as marked in block 176, the first dynamic reference frame may be optionally removed in block 178. It will be understood that the first dynamic reference frame can remain on the patient 14 during a complete procedure and removal of the first DRF is merely optional. Removal of the first DRF, however, can allow for easy or efficient access to various portions of the patient 14 by the user 60.
The entry portal can then be formed in the patient 14 in block 180. The entry portal 182 can be formed near or at the planned position 164. The entry portal 182 can be formed using any appropriate instruments, such as a generally known burrhole forming device to form at the entry portal 182 into the patient 14. After the entry portal is formed in the patient a guiding or alignment device 185 including a base 186 can be associated with the patient near the entry portal in block 184. The guiding device 185 can be any appropriate guiding device, including the NexFrame™ frame sold by Medtronic, Inc. Nevertheless, any appropriate guiding device can be used, such as a stereotactic head frame, including the Leksell® Stereotactic System head frame sold by the Elekta AB of Sweden. An instrument 187 can be guided with the guiding device 185. Alternatively, a guiding device need not be used and an instrument or appropriate device can be independently navigated into the patient 14 without a guide device.
A second dynamic reference frame 190 can be associated with the patient 14 or the guiding device 185 in block 188. The second dynamic reference frame 190 can be formed with the guiding device 186, affixed to the guiding device 186, or positioned in an appropriate manner. The second dynamic reference frame 190 can be integrally formed with the guiding device 186 or interconnected with the guiding device 186. For example, an EM tracking device can be associated or formed with a starburst connector to be connected to the guiding device. Starburst type connectors can include those disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/271,353, filed Oct. 15, 2002, now U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2003/0114752, incorporated herein by reference.
The second dynamic reference frame 190 can be substantially rigidly affixed to the patient 14 either directly or via the guiding device 186. As is understood, if the dynamic reference frame 190 is associated with the guiding device 186, the number of invasive passages or incisions into the patient 14 can be minimized. It will also be understood, that the second DRF 190 can be attached directly to the cranium 60 of the patient 14 rather than too the guide device 186. A bone engaging member can be used to mount the tracking device 34d directly to the bone of the cranium. Regardless, the second DRF 190 is generally invasively fixed to the patient 14.
Once the second dynamic reference frame 190 is fixedly associated with the patient 14, a second or fine registration can occur in block 192. The second registration performed in block 192 can use the same or different registration fiducial markers or a fiducial marker-less system, similar to the acquisition of position information in block 170. Then the registration of patient space to the image space in block 192 can include the acquisition of position information of the patient and registering to the image space.
The rigid association of the second DRF 190 with the patient 14, however, can maximize the accuracy of the registration. According to various embodiments, the accuracy of the second registration can be higher than the accuracy of the first registration by any appropriate amount. For example, the fine registration can be 1 time to 100 times more accurate, including 1 time to about 10 times more accurate. For example, the accuracy of the registration via the second DRF 190 can be less than about +/−1 millimeter. For example, the accuracy can be about +/−0.1 millimeters to about +/−0.9 millimeters. The accuracy of the fine registration can allow for substantially precise navigation or positioning of instruments or devices relative to the patient 14. For example, navigation of the guide device 186 can be substantially precise to allow the navigation of a selected instrument or therapeutic device 194. The accuracy of the registration allows for the accuracy of the navigation and positioning of various portions relative to the patient 14.
Once the second registration occurs using or having the appropriate accuracy, the procedure can be navigated in block 196. The navigation of the procedure in block 196 can be any appropriate navigation such as navigation of a deep brain stimulation electrode, a micro-electrode electrode for recording, an implant, a navigation of a therapy delivering device (e.g. catheter), or any appropriate instrument or procedure. The procedure that can then be completed in block 198, such as implanting a deep brain stimulation electrode and fixing it with a Stimloc® lead anchoring device sold by Medtronic, Inc. or Image-Guided Neurologics, of Florida.
Once the procedure is completed in block 198, a decision block whether a bilateral procedure is to be performed can occur in block 200. If YES is determined in block 202 the formation of an entry portal in block 180 can be performed again at a second location, such as at a bilateral location of the patient 14. If a bilateral procedure is not occurring, the result block NO 204 can be followed and the procedure can be ended in block 206. Ending the procedure can include various appropriate functions such as completing an implantation, closing the incision of the patient 14, or other appropriate steps. For example, after the implantation of the deep brain stimulation electrode, the stimulating device can be programmed according to any appropriate technique.
With reference to FIG. 8, the procedure discussed above can be performed on the patient 14 using appropriate navigable instruments and devices. It will also be understood that the appropriate procedure can include electrical recording, deep brain stimulation probe placement, etc. A localizer 210 can be integrated or positioned into a portion of a patient support 212, such as a headrest, a bed, or the like. The localizer 210 can be positioned into the patient support 212 at any appropriate location. For example, the localizer 210 can be positioned in a headrest portion 214 of the patient support 212. The localizer 210 can then be used to generate a field relative to the patient, such as encompassing all or part of the patient's head. This placement can assist in providing or forming a navigation field in the patient space defined by the patient 14. For example, placing the localizer 210 into the headrest can form a field encompassing the cranium or skull 60 of the patient 14 with a small volume localizer, low power system, etc. Also, the localizer 210 can be integrated into the patient support 212 to reduce additional portions or pieces placed in operating room devices that need to be manipulated by the user 42. Therefore, the localizer 210 can be provided and the patient 14 can be positioned upon the patient support 212 at any appropriate time. Exemplary positioning elements that include localizer coils are also disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/405,068, filed Apr. 1, 2003, now published as U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0199072, published on Oct. 7, 2004, entitled “INTEGRATED ELECTROMAGNETIC NAVIGATION AND PATIENT POSITIONING DEVICE,” incorporated herein by reference.
The localizer array 210 positioned within the patient support 212 can then be operated during a selected portion of a procedure. For example, the tracking system 46 can be used to operate the localizer array 210 to define a navigation field relative to the skull 60 of the patient 14 for various purposes, including those discussed herein. Integrating the localizer array 210 in the headrest removes a requirement of placing the localizer 210 near the skull 60 during the operative procedure, thereby eliminating a step of positioning a localizer. In addition, integrating the localizer array 210 into the headrest 214 can assist in minimizing movement of the localizer array 210 during a procedure.
The localizer array 210 can operate substantially similarly to the localizer array 48, 50 discussed above. An electromagnetic field can be generated to define a navigation area for navigating instruments and devices relative to the patient 14. Briefly, the localizer 210 can include one or more coils. Each of the coils can generate a navigation field, such as an electromagnetic field. In addition, each of the coils can include one or more coils, such as three mutually orthogonal coils. Thus, the localizer 210 can include nine total coils. Also, the localizer 210 can act as a receiver for fields generated by other coils. Thus, the localizer 210 can act as a generator or a receiver in the tracking system 42.
With additional reference to FIG. 9, the alignment system 185 can be positioned on the skull 60 of the patient 14. The alignment system 185 can include various portions, but generally includes the base 186 and a trajectory guide portion 232. The alignment device 185 can be substantially similar to that discussed above and be positioned relative to the burr hole 164.
In addition, the alignment device 185 can include various electromagnetic coils (herein, EM coils) for use with the tracking system 46. The alignment device 185 can include a first EM coil 234 that is fixed or positioned within the base 186. The base 186 can also optionally include a second EM coil 236. The trajectory portion 232 can further include a third EM coil 238. The EM coils 234, 236, 238 can be used for various purposes, as discussed further herein, including tracking the position of the base 186 and the trajectory guide 232. The EM coils can also be used as field generating coils for various reasons, such as guiding the instrument 187. Accordingly, the EM coils 234, 236, 238 can both generate a field and receive or sense a field generated by other coils, similar to the coils of the localizer 210. It will also be understood, that the coils of the system can be used in reverse of specifically described here. In other words, the first EM coil 234 can either sense a field generated by another localizer coil 210 or the first EM coil 234 can transmit a field to be sensed by the localizer coil 210. In either case, the position of the first EM coil 234 in the base 186 can be determined and this determination can be used for navigation of the base 186. Similar methods can be applied to navigating any other coils according to various embodiments.
In addition, reference to the coils 234, 236, 238 will be understood to include a single coil or more than one coil positioned relative to a second coil, such as orthogonally to one another. For example, each of the EM coils 234, 236, 238 can include three coils positioned orthogonally to one another.
The instrument 187 can also include a tracking sensor EM coil 240. The coil 240 on the instrument can be formed as one or more coils, as well. The instrument 187 can include one or members. For example, the instrument can include a guide tube in which another device, such as a deep brain stimulation probe or micro-electrode recorder, can be positioned. Thus, the instrument 187 can include a first portion that can be fixed in the trajectory portion 232 while another instrument portion moves within the tube. IN the alternative, the instrument 187 can be a single member. In the latter case, one or more EM coils can be positioned on both the tube and the instrument moveable within the tube. The multiple coils, on the instrument, base 186, or of the localizer 210 can allow for at least six-degree-of-freedom location determination.
The user 42 can position the alignment system 185 onto the patient 14 for a selected procedure. During positioning of the alignment device 185 onto the patient 14, the localizer array 210, within the patient support 212, can form a navigation field to assist in navigating the alignment device 185 onto the patient 14. Positioning the alignment device 185 onto the patient 14 can then be performed substantially precisely. The burr hole 164 can be formed before or after positioning the alignment device 185 on the patient 14 and navigating or guiding the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14 can assist in ensuring an appropriate location of the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14.
The alignment device 185 can be positioned on the patient 14 according to a plan or at predetermined location. As discussed above, the image data can be acquired of the patient 14 including the skull 60. The image data or any appropriate portion can be used to plan or predetermine the location for the alignment device 185. The navigation system 10 can, however, be used to navigate and track the position of the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14, as discussed further herein. The position of the alignment device 185 can be displayed on the display 36 relative to the image data 38, which can include an image of the skull 60.
The alignment device 185 can include any appropriate alignment device, such as the Nexframe® alignment device. Other appropriate alignment devices 185, however, can be positioned relative to the patient 14 to achieve a selected position of the trajectory guide 232 relative to the patient 14.
The trajectory guide 232, however, can be positioned precisely relative to the patient 14 in a more efficient manner when the alignment device 185 is positioned at a selected location relative to the patient 14. For example, the trajectory guide 232 may be allowed to moved only through a range of motion, such as 30-60 degrees. Therefore, the 30-60 degrees of motion provides limits to the amount of trajectory of the instrument 187 can achieve relative to the patient 14 from any one location of the alignment device. Therefore, the trajectory guide 232, having the selected range of movement, can be positioned relative to the patient 14 to ensure an appropriate trajectory can be formed with the instrument 187.
Therefore, the localizer array 210 can be used to position the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14. As discussed above, the localizer 210 can include one or more coils that can generate or sense a field. Thus, the various EM coils 234, 236, 238 on the alignment device 185 can act as tracking sensors, in concert with the localizer 210 during the positioning of the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14.
The localizer 210 can create a first navigation or tracking field, as discussed further herein and illustrated in FIG. 10. The position of the EM coils 234, 236, 238 can be determined with the tracking system 46 using the first navigation field. The determined position of the alignment device 185 can be illustrated on the display 28 as icon or graphical representation 185′. Thus, the EM coils 234, 236, 238 can be tracked or the location of the coils can be determined with the tracking system 46 for determining the location of the alignment device 185.
The alignment device 185 can be fixed to the patient 14 in any appropriate manner. For example, one or more bone screws can be used to fix the alignment device 185 to the patient. Once fixed to the patient at least a portion of the alignment device 185 is substantially immovable relative to the patient 14. For example, the base 186 is substantially fixed relative to the patient 14 while the trajectory guide portion 232 may be able to move relative to the patient 14, at least during a selected portion of the procedure. Therefore, at least the EM coil 234 and the optional EM coil 236 are substantially fixed relative to the patient 14 once the base 186 of the alignment device 185 is fixed to the patient 14. The EM coils 234, 236, once the base 186 is fixed to the patient 14, can substantially define a dynamic reference frame or fixed EM coil relative to the patient 14.
If two coils are provided on the base 186, such as the first coil 234, and the second coil 236, the known position of the first coil 234 relative to the second coil 236 can be used to determine integrity of the field formed for navigation, such as the field defined by the localizer array 210. The integrity can include ensuring that a known position of the coils is being determined. If the determined position is different than a known or previous position it may indicate that there is an error or distortion in the generated field, such as interference from another metal object. It can also indicate that the instrument or device has been altered or damaged. Thus, integrity of the instruments or devices used in a procedure and the fields generated in the procedure an be checked or confirmed.
As discussed above, in an EM tracking system, the field provided by the localizer array 210 can include an electromagnetic field, which is measured or sensed by the EM coils 234, 236. Therefore, if a known relative location of the EM coils 234, 236 is known, the measured distance of the first EM coil 234 relative to the second coil 236 can be used by the workstation 28 to ensure an integrity of the field formed by the localizer array. It will be further understood, that a known position of the EM coil 238 on the trajectory guide 232 can also be used relative to either of the EM coils 234, 236 to determine integrity of the EM field.
In addition, the EM coils 234, 236, which are substantially fixed to the patient 14 due to their integration into the base 186, can also form a field relative to the instrument 187 and the trajectory guide EM coil 238. The field generated by the coils 234, 236, 238 of the alignment device can generate a second navigation field, as discussed further herein and illustrated in FIG. 10. Therefore, the coils 234, 236 formed in the base 186 can also act as localizer coils, at least during a portion of a procedure relative to the patient 14. Because the EM coils 234, 236 are fixed relative to the patient 14, fields produced by the coils are also fixed relative to the patient 14. It will be understood, that the EM coils 234, 236 can be powered through any appropriate mechanism, such as a cable, a power signal, a power cell, or the like to produce a field that can be sensed with the coils 238, 240 on the trajectory guide 232 or the instrument 187, respectively.
During an operative procedure, the EM coil 240 on the instrument 187 can be used as a tracking sensor to determine the location of any portion of the instrument 187. In addition, the EM coil 238 on the trajectory guide 232 can be used to determine the trajectory or the position of the trajectory guide 232. It will be understood that the tracking sensors 240, 238 can be positioned at any appropriate location. For example, the tracking sensor 238 can be positioned substantially near or on an adapter 242 positioned in the trajectory guide 232.
The trajectory guide 232 can move relative to the base 186 via a track or slot 244, 246 defined by the trajectory guide 232. Thus, the trajectory guide 232 can be guided or navigated to a selected location or orientation relative to the burr hole 164 defined in the patient 14. The trajectory guide 232 can then be fixed in place via any appropriate mechanism, such as one or more locking screws 248, 250.
Once a trajectory is selected, the instrument 187 can be moved relative to the trajectory guide 232. Movement of the instrument 187 relative to the trajectory guide can be performed in any appropriate manner, such as via the user 42, the drive system, a robot, or any other appropriate mechanism. Appropriate drive mechanisms include the Nexdrive® driving and positioning device sold by Medtronic, Inc. having a place of business in Colorado, USA. Regardless, the tracking sensor 240 of the instrument 187 can be tracked with a navigation field that can be created by various EM coils, such as the coils of the localizer 210 or the coils 234, 236 provided in the base 186.
The coils 234, 236 of the base 186 can be formed in the base as substantially a single piece. For example, the base 186 can be molded of plastic or polymer and the coils 234, 236 can be molded into the base 186. In addition, or alternatively, the coils 234, 236 can be welded, fixedly adhered, or any other appropriate mechanism can be used for fixing the coils 234, 236 to the base 186. The coils 234, 236, however, can be substantially fixedly positioned relative to the base 186. Regardless, the coils 234, 236 can be positioned on or in the base substantially directly so that a separate connection mechanism is not necessary or provided. Fixedly providing the coils 234, 236, either molded into or formed with the base, 186 can eliminate inadvertent movement of the coils 234, 236, inappropriate adjustments of the coils 234, 236, or operative time in positioning the coils 234, 236 on the base 186. It can also assist in properly navigating or guiding the base 186 relative to the patient 14 and also allow for use of the coils 234, 236 as localizing emitters.
In addition, the third EM coil 238 can be substantially integrated into the trajectory guide 232. The trajectory guide 232 can also be formed as a polymer or plastic material and the coil 238 can be molded with the trajectory guide 232 during formation of the trajectory guide 232. The integration or co-forming of the coil 238 and the trajectory guide 232 can also reduce inadvertent movement, incorrect attachments, and other issues with providing a separate or distinct EM coil from the trajectory guide 232.
The additional coil 240 can also be integrated or formed with the instrument 187 as one piece or member. The coil 240 can be used to determine a position and orientation or only a depth of the instrument 187. For example, once the trajectory portion 232 is fixed in a position the instrument 187 may only be able to move axially. Thus, its trajectory is known and its position along the axis can be determined and illustrated on the display 28.
Therefore, the EM coils 234, 236, 238 can be formed with the alignment device 185 to allow for a substantially rigid and fixed position of the EM coils 234, 236, 238 of the alignment device 185. In addition, the alignment device 185, therefore, can be navigated with a different localizer, such as the localizer 210, and then further define the navigation field for navigating the instrument 187 relative to the patient 14. The coils of the base 186 can be used to provide a navigation field at least, in part, because the position of the base 186 is known relative to the patient 14 due to navigating the base 186 relative to the patient 14 with the localizer 210. Therefore, the tracking system 46 is used to determine the position of the base 186 of the alignment device 185 to allow the EM coils 234, 236 to be used as localizer coils for a portion of the procedure, such as navigating the instrument 187 relative to the patient 14. It will be understood, however, that the localizer 210 can also be used in combination with the coils 234, 236 of the base for positioning or tracking other coils, such as the coils 238, 240 in the trajectory guide 238 and the instrument 187, respectively.
One skilled in the art will understand that the processes and systems discussed above can be used in a surgical procedure. The processes and systems, however, are understood to not be limited to use during or with a surgical procedure. The systems and processes can be used to acquire information regarding inanimate objects, inform or build a database of information; plan a procedure; formulate teaching aids, etc. Registration of image space to physical space can be performed relative to any object in physical space, including a patient, an inanimate object, etc. Also, the registration can occur for any appropriate reason, which may or may not be a surgical procedure.
With reference to FIG. 10, and FIGS. 8-9, the alignment device 185 can be positioned relative to the patient 14 and the instrument 187 can be guided relative to the patient 14, according to a method 300. The method 300 can start in start block 302. A first navigation field or localizer field can then be generated in block 304. A first device, such as the alignment device 185, can be navigated relative to the patient 14 using the first navigation field in block 306. As discussed above, for example, in relation to FIG. 8, the first navigation field can be formed with the localizer system 210. The localizer system 210 can be positioned substantially near the skull 60 of the patient 14 for producing a field generally in the area of navigating the alignment device 185 relative to the patient 14.
Once the first device has been navigated with the first navigation field, the first navigation field can be ceased in block 308. For example, once the alignment device 185 is mounted relative to the patient 14, the first navigation field can be ceased. If further portions or procedures are required, however, a second navigation field can be generated in block 310. As discussed above, the generation of the second navigation field can be formed with the EM coils 234, 236 associated with the base 186 of the alignment device 185. Therefore, the second navigation field can be generated with coils that are separate from the coils that generate the first navigation field in block 304.
The generation of the second navigation field can also include lower power or volume for various purposes. For example, the second navigation field can be generated to substantially include only a volume or area in which the instrument 187 can or is planned to be guided with the alignment device 185. It will also be understood that the coils may work in reverse to the above. For example, a first coil can sense a second field encompassing at least the head of the patient where a second coil generates the second field. The first coil can be positioned in or on the patient support, such as in the headrest, and the second coil can be associated with the alignment device 185, such as with integrated into the base of the alignment device 185. Accordingly, the navigation system 10 can be used to determine the location of a tracking device or coil if it is either generating a field that is sensed or sensing a field generated by another coil.
Therefore, the instrument 187 can be navigated with the second navigation field in block 312. The instrument 187 can be navigated in block 312 for any appropriate procedure, such as movement of an instrument into the skull 60 of the patient 14. Exemplary procedures include placement of the DBS, fixation of the lead, micro-recording, or the like.
The procedure can then be completed in block 314. The completion of the procedure in block 314 can include any appropriate steps or procedures, such as closing an incision, mounting a lead, or the like. The procedure method can then end in block 316. Therefore, it will be understood, that the procedure can allow for navigation of two or more instruments with two or more navigation fields. Moreover, the second navigation field can be generated after ceasing the first navigation field. Therefore, two different devices, such as the alignment device 185 and the instrument 187, can be navigated relative to the single patient 14 using two different navigation fields generated at two different times and by two different coils.
In addition, the two fields can be generated for various purposes. For example, the first navigation field can be generated to encompass substantially only the skull 60 of the patient 14. This can help reduce possible interference, reduce power, etc. for generating the field. The second navigation field can then be generated substantially only to encompass an area for navigation of the instrument 187. This, again, can help reduce interference in the field, etc. Thus, both of the navigation fields can be generated for various purposes and to achieve selected results, such as reduced interference, high field integrity, and navigational accuracy.
Also, the coils as a part of the alignment device 185 can provide further efficiencies. It can assist in the flow of the procedure by reducing system components and steps for performing a procedure. This can also streamline the piece-parts of the navigation system 10. The navigation system 10 including coils on the alignment device 185 can be used to reduce components and workflow for a procedure using the navigation system 10, as discussed above.
The teachings herein are merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the teachings are intended to be within the scope of the teachings. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the teachings.
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Georgia Ballot Freedom Petition
2019 Legislative Tracker
Find Your State Legislator
Register to Vote in Georgia
State Party Platform
Basic Principles of Christian Civil Government
Howard Phillips
The Organization of State Government
Ask These Questions Before Voting
Do Christianity and Politics Mix?
George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclaimation
Christian Citizenship: A Gift from God
Are Votes on Third Parties Wasted?
On the Lordship of Christ and the Future of the CP-GA
The Constitution Party of Georgia Fights for Your Full Voting Rights
Posted by Garland Favorito 410pc on August 21, 2012 · Add your reaction
“The right to vote embraces not only a voter’s access to the ballot, but also his access to alternative viewpoints and positions presented on the ballot.”
We all may agree with the court ruling quoted above, but the fact is we live in a political and legal world dominated by two "major" parties which appear to be doing all they can to make it more difficult to secure the right to vote. The Constitution Party of Georgia is involved in a legal fight for your full right to vote, rights that have already been won in Tennessee and other states.
Politicians and bureaucrats, most of whom are members of said parties, don’t want to share or lose their power. And judges, beholden primarily to those parties, can and do at times block that right, often simply by dragging their feet.
In Georgia and Tennessee, the Constitution and Green parties joined forces to challenge those states’ ballot access laws. But both are hampered by the very people who are required by law to protect our rights – elected officials, bureaucrats and judges.
Georgia has what some consider the toughest ballot access laws in the U.S. To gain ballot access, the Constitution Party – and all other political parties without ballot access in Georgia – must gather the signatures of at least 1% of all registered voters in the state. That’s more than 50,000 signatures for the Presidential ballot. The percentages required for other races are even more restrictive.
Political parties seeking ballot access in Georgia must also pay all of the expenses related to gathering those signatures and getting their candidates on the ballot. On the other hand, taxpayers foot the bill for all elections involving Democrat and Republican candidates, whether or not they are members of those parties. That includes primaries, the general election and any necessary run-offs.
The Constitution Party of Georgia (CPGA) sued the State and its officials to gain ballot access and get Constitution Party of the United States (CP) Presidential Nominee Virgil Goode on the ballot for the November 2012 election. Among other issues, the CPGA argued the number of petition signatures the State requires to get a political party’s candidates on the ballot is unconstitutionally high.
Mike Raffuaf, one of the attorneys handling the CPGA case said, “There’s a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the outer limits [of the required number of petition signatures] were 1% of the actual voters. Georgia requires more than those outer limits. It requires 1% of registered voters, not 1% of actual voters.”
Federal District Judge Richard Story ruled against the CPGA, but on grounds which ignored the issues actually raised in the lawsuit as well as recent court rulings in our favor which have been issued in other states. CPGA attorneys immediately filed a motion to reconsider and are awaiting the court’s decision on that motion. Unfortunately, the judge does not have to adhere to a specific
timetable and could deny the CPGA access to the November ballot in Georgia simply by not issuing a timely ruling. And time is critical. Attorney Mike Raffuaf said, “The Presidential ballot locks up after the Democratic Convention [September 3-6, 2012] … so at least by then we’d need a ruling.”
The Constitution Party of Tennessee (CPTN) won its lawsuit, but discovered its fight was far from over. Darrell Castle, national Vice- Chairman of the CP and one of the attorneys representing the CPTN said, “It’s always been relatively easy to qualify as a candidate in Tennessee, but not as a party.” Until now, unless a candidate was
Democrat or Republican, no party affiliation was listed next to their name, effectively branding them an independent.
Castle said the judge ordered the Tennessee Legislature to change the law, but said “the changes made it worse.” So the CPTN sued again. This time, Castle said, the “judge was put off by what the Legislature did … and told the Legislature specifically what he wanted done,” ordering the state to list the party affiliation of each candidate on its ballot.
The State appealed and asked for a stay of the district court’s order. While the federal appeals court has not ruled on the lawsuit itself, it has ordered Tennessee election officials to comply with the lower court order and list party affiliations next to candidates’ names.
Despite that, Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins said he will not comply with the order until required to by state law, which will be at the end of August. Until then, candidates who have qualified to run but who don’t belong to one of the “major” parties will still not
have a party affiliation listed next to their name. It also means those candidates will not be invited to candidate forums or be asked to fill out the questionnaires typically sent to candidates by activist organizations, putting them at a disadvantage at election time.
Castle said they are preparing for various scenarios and “will consider suing again if they refuse [to comply with the court’s order]. The appellate judge was clear that the lower court’s order is in force until the appeal is ruled on.”
“One of the other things I’ve learned from this,” Castle said, “is how [the other political parties] will fight to keep any dissenting views from being heard.”
Restoring the Republic is one of the basic tenets of the Constitution Party of Georgia. Such a Restoration cannot take place unless politicians, bureaucrats and the courts themselves respect not only the rule of law but the spirit of the law. That will happen only when “We the People” demand it.
Legal actions are expensive and Georgia law requires taxpayers to pay to secure their own right to vote. Donations may be made
directly to the Constitution Party of Georgia or to VOTER-GA which is assisting the CPGA in its lawsuit. VOTER-GA donations are tax deductible and you may specify that your donation be used only for
CPGA legal fees.
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Home | Intervention Overview | Communication Skills for Equal Dignity
Communication Skills for Equal Dignity (CommunicationEQ)
Dennis Rivers, Director and Coordinator
On the sacredness of "I beg to disagree. I understand we see this differently." I am delighted to join hearts and minds with the extended HumanDHS collaborative community. I believe our shared work has deep implications both inside and outside of the university world. I say this because open dialogue, exploratory questioning and respectful disagreement are three of the most significant prerequisites of universities. At the present moment, culture at large on planet Earth appears to be moving in other directions: toward armed confrontations, coercive control and a trillion-dollar-a-year global arms race (both conventional and nuclear) which relies on the unquestioning silence and acquiescence of everyday citizens. None of these developments bode well for the future of universities. So, in my view, universities need to become much more persuasive advocates of open dialogue, a communication style based on equal dignity, both to offer help and direction to a world burdened with violence, fear and coercion, and also to keep alive the great tradition of universities, a tradition that has contributed so much to human life over the past thousand years. The Internet offers us many new possibilities to embody and present the life of compassionate reason. I look forward to working with you toward these noble ends.
Please see the CommunicationEQ mirror page on Dennis River's website!
Note from Dennis Rivers (August 5, 2005):
The best way to explain HumanDHS's Communication Skills for Equal Dignity Project is to begin with a story. For many years my colleague in anti-nuclear ruckus-raising, the late Wanda Michalenko, and I gave non-violence trainings for various peace and ecology groups in a large park in the center of Santa Barbara. Although we studied the literature and made careful preparations for our trainings, we often had the thought, "someday the experts from out of town are going to come and show us how to really do this." We gradually became aware that non-violence is not a finished body of knowledge that could be delivered to us by experts. We and our trainings were part of the evolution of non-violence, we had to prepare as best we could and then "make a path by walking" with our learning companions. For one thing, each person's journey toward a commitment to non-violence was unique. We could accompany, support and to some small degree evoke and shape that journey, but we also had to leave a lot of room for a person to find their own way, reach their own conclusions and make their own commitments.
In the Communication Skills for Equal Dignity Project we are, in a similar way, traveling into uncharted territory. As teachers, coaches, trainers, psychotherapists, social workers and developmental companions, we are not simply observers of human interaction, we are intimate advocates, helping people change the way they talk, listen, and think about themselves and others. But we have inherited tradition of social thought that divides our experience into facts and values, and this dominant tradition is not of much help to us as we strive to support the full development of the people we encounter. Full development and thwarted development are both facts. How is it that we choose to support the latter? I believe very deeply that we need a new paradigm in which fact-gatherers and values-advocates have a dialogue, each learning something from the other. We need a new paradigm of respectful intervention, a capacity to advocate on behalf of life. For example, around the world a lot of people humiliate one another, mistreat each other, and even shoot one another with guns. Why don't we just except these as facts of life? On what ground do we stand, when we advocate that people should resolve their arguments and differences in other ways? Part of our task is to articulate that ground more deeply and more completely. Because communication trainers, social workers, organizational development specialists, etc., have always been intervenors and agents of change, they are well situated to help expand our understanding of respectful intervention.
Our human capacity to destroy life is expanding at an exponential rate, as judged by the power of our weapons, the reach of our enterprises, and the number of species going extinct each year. The quality and wisdom of our advocacy on behalf of our own lives, the lives of other people, and the lives of other species, do not seem to me to be expanding in all. So we have what I would call a compassionate advocacy gap. To the degree that we have relied on universities to be a source of new responses to our predicament, I am afraid the universities have let us down, creating new technologies, such as nuclear weapons, but not creating a global culture of new conversations that would be appropriate for a world full of nuclear weapons. ("Uhhh, errr, that's not the responsibility of my department.") So, just as Wanda and I had eventually to stop waiting for the experts to come and show us the way, and had to create the best non-violence training we possibly could with the materials available at hand, I think researchers on human dignity and humiliation around the world need to spend some time each day dreaming new dreams. I look forward to exploring with you what new models, stories, biographies, bark paintings, ethnographic reports, mandalas, weavings, poems and songs, open up our horizon of new possibilities. (Please take a look at a recent mandala of mine: http://www.newconversations.net/pdf/twelve_circles.pdf) In an evolutionary sense, it does seem to me that we are being challenged by history to come up with a new advocacy of life, compassion and mutual-dignity-granting, that is as strong as our weapons of destruction and institutions of oppression. Certainly, no one can complain that this is a dull era in which to be a human being. We will make a path by walking together.
One focus of my work over the past decade has been the creation of an online free library of training materials. Along with putting my own communication skills workbook online, I was especially pleased when, several years ago, the Quaker peace activist, Ms. Gene Knudsen Hoffman, gave to the Library her lesson plans for the compassionate listening workshops she had been teaching for many years. The Online Library at www.NewConversations.NET, now distributes about 8,000 web documents a month about cooperative communication skills, compassionate listening, conflict resolution and non-violence to visitors from approximately 120 countries. About a thousand of those copies are of Gene Knudsen Hoffman's lesson plans and essays. Scholar/practitioners working in these areas are invited to join in this cooperative effort by contributing books, monographs, training materials and essays to be made available free of charge in PDF format. (It is hard to organize for equal dignity when some people have books and others do not. Free libraries on the Internet are far from an ideal response to this problem, because not everyone has access to a computer with a connection to the Internet, but at least free libraries on the web are the start of a response.)
For this global, shared library, I am especially interested in training materials, although training materials occupy perhaps the very lowest rung on the academic totem pole. What I have discovered in my own work as a trainer is that there seem to be two deep pragmatics at work in human conversations: a logic of explanation, and a logic of facilitation. The logic of explanation points toward the past, and explains events that have already happened. The logic of facilitation points for the future, and arranges for people to take new actions. The logic of facilitation assumes that people are active agents, causing events to take place. The logic of explanation, in identifying causes of events, often casts us as the passive recipients of those causal influences. This leads to a kind of knowledge that one worker in the field of child malnutrition called TBU (true but useless)[1]; tracing causal links often tells us nothing about where the openings for change are in a situation. The logic of facilitation suggests that if you want to find out about a particular process, dignity granting for example, try to enact that process yourself and try to help others do it, even if your ideas about the process are only of a preliminary sort. My colleague Barnett Pearce frequently tells a story about Thor Heyerdal, the Norwegian explorer. After Heyerdal proved that you could go from South America to Easter Island on a raft, by constructing a raft of reeds and making the trip, he took up the issue of the great monoliths on Easter Island. Scholars had puzzled for decades about how the great monoliths on Easter Island had been constructed. Hyerdhal did something no one before him had done: he asked the Easter Islanders to build a monolith so that he could see how it was done. And he did see just that! I want to add here that I am not advocating that we abandon our quest for causal understanding. All my training materials have been heavily informed by the best psychological and communication research I could find. But their goal is not to prove a point, their goal is to help a person take new action. I invite everyone doing training work in the areas of tolerance, cooperative problem-solving, communication skills, and conflict resolution, to share their materials more broadly. By sharing our facilitation work with the world, we can enlarge the circle of what is possible.
Please e-mail me at rivers@newconversations.net
1. Read about Jerry and Monique Sternin's work in Vietnam at http://pf.fastcompany.com/magazine/41/sternin.htm
Communication Skills for Equal Dignity - Books and Essays by Dennis Rivers
Please note that the entire HumanDHS website is maintained by volunteers, since its inception in 2003, and this is mainly done by Evelin Lindner. Until 2012, she usually pasted interesting news into this Links section. From July 2012 until 2017, she tagged interesting information on delicious.com. From 2017 onward, you see Evelin's personal list of interesting web links on Twitter: Follow @evelinlindner
The System Improvement Process
SIP was developed to solve any difficult large-scale social problem. This includes the "excessive humiliation problem." Systems Engineer Jack Harich invites all researchers to study SIP (in a personal message, 15th January 2013).
Global Voices is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring you reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media. Global Voices seeks to aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online - shining light on places and people other media often ignore. We work to develop tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices, everywhere, to be heard. Millions of people are blogging, podcasting, and uploading photos, videos, and information across the globe, but unless you know where to look, it can be difficult to find respected and credible voices. Our international team of volunteer authors and part-time editors are active participants in the blogospheres they write about on Global Voices. Global Voices is incorporated in the Netherlands as Stichting Global Voices, a nonprofit foundation. We do not have an office, but work as a virtual community across multiple time zones, meeting in person only when the opportunity arises (usually during our Summits). We rely on grants, sponsorships, editorial commissions, and donations to cover our costs. Our Projects Global Voices is translated into more than 30 languages by volunteer translators, who have formed the Lingua project. Additionally, Global Voices has an Advocacy website and network to help people speak out online in places where their voices are censored. We also have an outreach project called Rising Voices to help marginalized communities use citizen media to be heard, with an emphasis on the developing world. Read more.
Youku is a video hosting service based in People's Republic of China.
'$100 laptop' to Sell to Public
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop".
The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6994957.stm and on http://www.xogiving.org/.
Mobile System Promises Free Calls
A new way of making calls directly between phones, for free, is being trialled by a Swedish company. It is hoping to dramatically improve communications in the developing world. Swedish company TerraNet has developed the idea using peer-to-peer technology that enables users to speak on its handsets without the need for a mobile phone base station. The technology is designed for remote areas of the countryside or desert where base stations are unfeasible. Projects backed by TerraNet recently launched in Tanzania and Ecuador...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6987784.stm.
Americans Embrace Politics Online
Americans are increasingly using the internet as their primary source of political news, a study has found. The report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project also found that more people are contributing to political debate via their own blogs. While it stops short of claiming the net has politicised Americans, the report sees a growing online influence on how people think about civic issues. The prevalence of broadband in US homes is one reason for the growth. Nearly half of US homes now have a broadband connection and the internet is playing an increasing role in daily lives... Increasingly Americans are turning to international online news sources to get a perspective on how domestic political life is played out on the wider stage. "The BBC News website is among the most popular," said Mr Rainie...
One Laptop Per Child Project
$100 laptop project launches 2007
The first batch of computers built for the One Laptop Per Child project could reach users by July this year. The scheme is hoping to put low-cost computers into the hands of people in developing countries. Ultimately the project's backers hope the machines could sell for as little as $100 (£55). The first countries to sign up to buying the machine include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Thailand. The so-called XO machine is being pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte, who launched the project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab in 2004. Test machines are expected to reach children in February as the project builds towards a more formal launch.
An Ecology of Devotion: A Personal Exploration of Reverence for Life
In EarthLight Magazine, Issue 49, Summer 2003 (revised February, 2004).
You can access this article also on Dennis website.
Please see also the CommunicationEQ mirror page on Dennis River's website!
Taking the War Out of Our Words: The Art of Powerful Non-Defensive Communication
Sharon Ellison, 2003, Berkeley, CA: Bay Tree Publishing.
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About Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DigniFunding | 2003 – 2019 Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
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Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917). The French artist Auguste Rodin had a profound influence on 20th-century sculpture. His works are distinguished by their stunning strength and realism. Rodin refused to ignore the negative aspects of humanity, and his works confront distress and moral weakness as well as passion and beauty.
Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin was born on Nov. 12, 1840, in Paris. At the age of 14 he entered the Petite Ecole, a school of decorative arts in Paris. He applied three times to study at the renowned Ecole des Beaux-Arts but was rejected each time. In 1858 he began to do decorative stonework in order to make his living. Four years later the death of his sister Marie so traumatized Rodin that he entered a sacred order.
The father superior of the order recognized Rodin's talents and encouraged him to pursue his art. In 1864 Rodin met a seamstress named Rose Beuret. She became his life companion and was the model for many of his works. That year Rodin submitted his Man with a Broken Nose to the Paris Salon. It was rejected but later accepted under the title Portrait of a Roman . Rodin traveled in 1875 to Italy, where the works of Michelangelo made a strong impression on him. The trip inspired his sculpture The Age of Bronze , which was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1877. It caused a scandal because the critics could not believe that Rodin had not used a casting of a live model in creating so realistic a work.
The controversy brought Rodin more fame than praise might have. In 1880 he was commissioned to create a bronze door for the future Museum of Decorative Arts. Although the work was unfinished at the time of his death, it provided the basis for some of Rodin's most influential and powerful work. In 1884 he was commissioned to create a monument that became The Burghers of Calais . His statues St. John the Baptist Preaching , Eve , The Age of Bronze , and The Thinker are world famous. Rodin died on Nov. 17, 1917, and was buried at Meudon.
When Rodin was 76 years old he gave the French government the entire collection of his own works and other art objects he had acquired. They occupy the Hotel Biron in Paris as the Musee Rodin and are still placed as Rodin set them.
The Burghers of Calais
1884-86 (30 Kb); Bronze, 82 1/2 x 95 x 78 in; Rodin Museum, Philadelphia
1886 (100 Kb); Bronze, 87 x 51 x 55 cm; Musee Rodin, Paris
Iris, Messenger of the Gods
1890 (10 Kb); Bronze, 37 1/2 x 34 1/4 x 15 3/4 in; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
1880-1917 (260 Kb); Bronze, 18 x 12 ft; Rodin Museum, Philadelphia
View of Fugit Amor on The Gates of Hell
1880-1917 (270 Kb)
How Rodin Achieved Unity and Drama
Rodin gives St-Pierre determination and poise. He holds the key to the city, and around his neck is the rope, or halter, prescribed by the conquerors. A companion, with his head buried in his hands, is on the right. These two men exemplify the greatest contrast of feeling in the group. By placing them together Rodin achieves dramatic power. Observe too that this use of contrasting emotion is also strongly evident in the central group and to a lesser extent even in the two figures on the left.
To organize, or compose, six different figures into a single unified work of art, Rodin groups them into three pairs, each pair differing from the other and yet tied to the others in rhythmic movement. The spaces between the figures are also varied. This is what sculpture tries to achieve, for sculpture deals essentially with the purposeful relationships of volumes in space.
By looking at the details we see Rodin's ability to convey feeling through facial expression and through hands. He cuts the hollows of the face deeply to assure strong shadows, and his textured surfaces catch the subtle variations of light and heighten the sense of life and movement. This irregular surface is a departure from the cold, impersonal smoothness of the classical tradition. Together with a profound sense of power and drama, it had a tremendous influence on the sculptors of Rodin's time and helped to determine the trend of modern sculpture .
Photographs by Mark Harden and Carol Gerten-Jackson.
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For Hindu Political Empowerment, in and of the US
Read all the news and updates relevant to our organization
Hindu Congress of AmericaNewsAnalysisA Brief Introduction to Hinduism
February 24, 2017 No Comments By Shourie Bannai Analysis, Education, News Dr.Arvind Sharma, Hindu Congress of America, Hinduism, Religion, Sanatana Dharama, Tradition
A Brief Introduction to Hinduism
I – INTRODUCTION
Hinduism, a religious tradition of Indian origin, comprising the beliefs and practices of Hindus. The word Hindu is derived from the river Sindhu, or Indus. Hindu was primarily a geographical term that referred to India or to a region of India (near the Sindhu) as long ago as the 6th century BC. The word Hinduism is an English word of more recent origin. Hinduism entered the English language in the early 19th century to describe the beliefs and practices of those residents of India who had not converted to Islam or Christianity and did not practice Judaism or Zoroastrianism.
In the case of most religions, beliefs and practices come first, and those who subscribe to them are acknowledged as followers. In the case of the Hindu tradition, however, the acknowledgment of Hindus came first, and their beliefs and practices constitute the contents of the religion. Hindus themselves prefer to use the Sanskrit term sanātana dharma for their religious tradition. Sanātana dharma is often translated into English as “eternal tradition” or “eternal religion” but the translation of dharma as “tradition” or “religion” gives an extremely limited, even mistaken, sense of the word. Dharma has many meanings in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hindu scripture, including “moral order,” “duty,” and “right action.”
The Hindu tradition encourages Hindus to seek spiritual and moral truth wherever it might be found, while acknowledging that no creed can contain such truth in its fullness and that each individual must realize this truth through his or her own systematic effort. Our experience, our reason, and our dialogue with others—especially with enlightened individuals—provide various means of testing our understanding of spiritual and moral truth. And Hindu scripture, based on the insights of Hindu sages and seers, serves primarily as a guidebook. But ultimately truth comes to us through direct consciousness of the divine or the ultimate reality. In other religions this ultimate reality is known as God. Hindus refer to it by many names, but the most common name is Brahman.
In many religions truth is delivered or revealed from a divine source and enters the world through a single agent: for example, Abraham in Judaism, Jesus in Christianity, and Muhammad in Islam. These truths are then recorded in scriptures that serve as a source of knowledge of divine wisdom: the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. In the Hindu tradition, by contrast, there is no single revelation or orthodoxy (established doctrine) by which people may achieve knowledge of the divine or lead a life backed by religious law. The Hindu tradition acknowledges that there are many paths by which people may seek and experience religious understanding and direction. It also claims that every individual has the potential to achieve enlightenment.
The Hindu community today is found primarily in India and neighboring Nepal, and in Bali in the Indonesian archipelago. Substantial Hindu communities are present in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mauritius, Fiji, the West Indies, East Africa, and South Africa. Scattered Hindu communities are found in most parts of the Western world. Hindus today number nearly 900 million, including about 20 million who live outside India, making them the third largest religious community in the world, after Christians and Muslims.
Since ancient times, Hindu thought has transcended geographical boundaries and influenced religious and philosophical ideas throughout the world. Persian, ancient Greek, and ancient Roman thought may well have been influenced by Hinduism. Three other religions that originated in India are closely related to Hinduism: Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. In the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer read both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and based much of his thinking on them. In the United States, 19th-century writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau drew on Hinduism and its scriptures in developing their philosophy of transcendentalism. More recently, civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., studied the teachings of Hindu leader Mohandas Gandhi on nonviolent protest. In the sphere of popular culture, rock musician George Harrison embraced Hinduism during the 1960s, and some members of the United States counterculture explored Hinduism and Buddhism, as did the Beat poets (Beat Generation). Millions of Westerners today practice meditation or yoga to achieve relief from stress or physical fitness, indicating Western receptiveness to Hindu practices.
II – WHAT IS HINDUISM?
An encyclopedia article should have a definition at the outset, but this requirement presents unique difficulties in the case of Hinduism. This difficulty arises from Hinduism’s universal worldview and its willingness to accept and celebrate diverse philosophies, deities, symbols, and practices. A religion that emphasizes similarities and shared characteristics rather than differences has a difficult time setting itself apart—unless this very quality is considered its defining feature.
This is not to say that there are no beliefs and practices that may be identified as Hindu, but rather that the Hindu tradition has concerned itself largely with the human situation rather than
the Hindu situation. Instead of basing its identity on separating Hindu from non-Hindu or believer from nonbeliever, Hinduism has sought to recognize principles and practices that would lead any
individual to become a better human being and understand and live in harmony with dharma.
The distinction of dharma from the Western sense of religion is crucial to understanding Hindu religious identity. To the extent that Hinduism carries with it the Western meaning of being a religion the words distort Indian reality. In the West a religion is understood to be conclusive—that is, it is the one and only true religion. Second, a religion is generally exclusionary—that is, those who do not follow it are excluded from salvation. Finally, a religion is separative—that is, to belong to it, one must not belong to another. Dharma, however, does not necessarily imply any of these. Having made this point, this article will bow to convention and use the expression Hinduism.
A – The Dharmic Tradition
Dharma is an all-important concept for Hindus. In addition to tradition and moral order, it also signifies the path of knowledge and correct action. Because of Hinduism’s emphasis on living in accordance with dharma, anyone who is striving for spiritual knowledge and seeking the right course of ethical action is, in the broadest sense, a follower of sanātana dharma.
Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism share with Hinduism the concept of dharma along with other key concepts, and the four religions may be said to belong to the dharmic tradition. At one level Hinduism can refer to the beliefs or practices of followers of any of the dharmic traditions. The word Hinduism retains this sense in some usages in the Indian Constitution of 1950. In the field of religious studies, however, Hinduism is used in a narrower sense to distinguish it from the other religions of Indian origin.
A Hindu is thus identified by a dual exclusion. A Hindu is someone who does not subscribe to a religion of non-Indian origin, and who does not claim to belong exclusively to another religion of Indian origin—Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism. This effort at definition produces a rather artificial distinction between Hinduism and other dharmic traditions, which stems from an attempt to limit a system that sees itself as universal to an identity that is strictly religious. In many ways, labeling the other dharmic traditions as non-Hindu has a basis that derives more from politics than from philosophy. Indeed, greater differences of belief and practices lie within the broad family labeled as Hinduism than distinguish Hinduism from other dharmic systems.
Indian historian Irfan Habib makes this point when he quotes an early Persian source that Hindus are those who have been debating with each other within a common framework for centuries. If they recognize another as somebody whom they can either support or oppose intelligibly, then both are Hindus. Despite the fact that Jains reject many Hindu beliefs, Jains and Hindus can still debate and thus Jains are Hindus. But such discourse does not take place between Hindus and Muslims because they do not share any basic terms.
B – Sanātana Dharma
Evidence from inscriptions indicates that Hindus had begun to use the word dharma for their religion by the 7th century. After other religions of Indian origin also began to use this term, Hindus then adopted the expression sanātana dharma to distinguish their dharma from others. The word sanātana, meaning immemorial as well as eternal, emphasized the unbroken continuity of the Hindu tradition in contrast to the other dharmas. The Buddhist, Jaina, and Sikh dharmas possess distinct starting points, whereas Hinduism has no historical founder.
The Hindu tradition might be said to begin in the 4th century BC when the growth and separation of Buddhism and Jainism provided it with a distinctive sense of identity as sanātana dharma. Some scholars prefer to date its beginnings to about 1500 BC, the period when its earliest sacred texts originated, although recent evidence suggests these texts may be even older. Certain beliefs and practices that can clearly be identified as Hindu—such as the worship of sacred trees and the mother goddess—go back to a culture known as Harappan, which flourished around 3000 BC. Other Hindu practices are even older. For example, belief in the religious significance of the new and full moon can be traced to the distant proto-Australoid period, before 3000 BC. It is with good reason that Hinduism perceives itself as sanātana dharma or a cumulative tradition. Its origins are shrouded in the mist of antiquity, and it has continued without a break.
C – A Comprehensive and Universal Tradition
The Hindu tradition aims at comprehensiveness so far as religious beliefs and practices are concerned. First, it wishes to make the riches of Hinduism available to the Hindu and to any genuine seeker of truth and knowledge. But it does not limit Hindus to their tradition. Instead, it encourages them to explore all avenues that would lead to a realization of the divine, and it provides a system with many paths for such realization.
Second, in the manner of science, Hinduism is constantly experimenting with and assimilating new ideas. Also like science, it is far less concerned with the origin or history of ideas than with their truth as demonstrated through direct experience. Hinduism’s openness to new ideas, teachers, and practices, and its desire for universality rather than exclusivity, set it apart from religions that distinguish their followers by their belief in particular historical events, people, or revelations.
Two events in the life of Mohandas Gandhi exemplify aspects of the Hindu tradition. First, Gandhi entitled his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth (1929). In doing so, he was practicing the Hindu willingness to experiment continually as a means of discovering truth and to record the results of such experiments. Although Gandhi was seeking spiritual truth, he approached it in the spirit of science. Second, when asked, “What is your religion?” in 1936, Gandhi answered, “My religion is Hinduism, which for me is the Religion of humanity and includes the best of all religions known to me.” Saintly figures such as Gandhi have periodically renewed Hinduism throughout its history and kept it abreast of the times. Because Hinduism has no central orthodoxy, and no belief in the need for one, renewal of its tradition has invariably come from sages in every age who base their knowledge on experience of the divine.
III – HINDU TEACHINGS: WHAT DO HINDUS BELIEVE?
Because defining Hinduism is so difficult and because we have called it the sum of the belief and practices of Hindus, it is best to approach Hinduism through its teachings.
Within Hinduism there are various schools of thought, which Hindu scholars have systematized in different ways. All of these schools have enriched Hinduism with their individual emphases: Nyāya on rigorous logic, Vaiseshika on atoms and the structure of matter, Sānkhya on numbers and categories, Yoga on meditation techniques, Mīmāmsā on the analysis of sacred texts, and Vedānta on the nature and experience of spirituality. Their teachings are usually summarized in texts called sūtras or aphorisms. These sūtras can be memorized easily and recited as a means of gaining spiritual focus.
A – Brahman: The Ultimate Reality
Various schools have contributed to Hindu thought, each school with a different emphasis. The school known as Vedānta has been the standard form of intellectual Hinduism. According to Vedānta, the highest aim of existence is the realization of the identity or union of the individual’s innermost self (ātman) with the ultimate reality. Although Vedānta states that this ultimate reality is beyond name, the word Brahman is used to refer to it.
Whether this ultimate reality is itself ultimately without distinguishing attributes (nirguna) or with personal attributes (saguna) has been a subject of extensive debate among Hindu scholars. To be ultimate Brahman must transcend (exist above and beyond) all limiting attributes, such as name, gender, form, and features. But how can the human mind, with its limitations, conceive of this transcendent reality? Human comprehension requires a more personal reality, with attributes.
Saguna Brahman is also called Ishvara, a name best translated as “Lord.” A quotation attributed to 8th-century Hindu scholar Shankara illustrates the subtlety of these ideas: “Ishvara, forgive these three sins of mine: that although you are everywhere I have gone on a pilgrimage, although you are beyond the mind I have tried to think of you; and although you are ineffable [indescribable] I offer this hymn in praise of you.”
B – Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva: Aspects of Brahman
Saguna Brahman—that is, Brahman with attributes—generally takes the form of one of three main Hindu deities: Brahmā, Vishnu, or Shiva. These personified forms of Brahman correspond to three stages in the cycle of the universe. Brahmā corresponds to the creative spirit from which the universe arises. Vishnu corresponds to the force of order that sustains the universe. Shiva corresponds to the force that brings a cycle to an end—destruction acting as a prelude to transformation, leaving pure consciousness from which the universe is reborn after destruction. Other forms of Ishvara widely worshiped by Hindus are Shakti, the female aspect of divinity, and Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity associated with the removal of obstacles. Brahman also may choose to take birth in a knowable form, or avatar (incarnation), to uphold dharma and restore balance to the world. Krishna, a well-known avatar of Vishnu, appears at times to save the world. Rāma, another well-known avatar of Vishnu, is the subject of the Hindu epic Rāmāyana (Way of Rāma). Whether nirguna or saguna, Brahman represents the ultimate reality (sat), ultimate consciousness (sit), and ultimate bliss (ānanda).
Vishnu has ten major avatars, which are described in Hindu texts called the Purānas. These incarnations and their Hindu names are: fish (matsya), tortoise (kūrma), boar (varāha), man lion (narasimha), dwarf (vāmana), axe-wielding human (Parashurāma), ideal person (Rāma of the Rāmāyana), all-attractive perfect person (Krishna), the enlightened (Buddha), and a future incarnation (Kalkī). The majority of Hindus choose a personal deity, a saguna form of Brahman with whom they can feel a direct personal connection. Devotion to this deity can take a number of forms, including prayer, ceremonial worship, chanting of the deity’s name, and pilgrimage to sites sacred to the deity.
C – Brahmānda: The Universe
The relationship of the universe, which Hindus call brahmānda, to the ultimate reality poses a deep philosophical problem: Whereas Brahman represents a permanent reality, the universe is constantly changing. The universe is also eternal, but it is eternally changing, whereas Brahman is eternal in another sense in that it is beyond change. According to Vedānta, Brahman alone is real. Such reality as the universe possesses is derived from Brahman, just as the light of the Moon really belongs to the Sun.
All of creation arises from Brahman, according to Hindu teaching. Brahman is both the efficient cause of the universe (creator) as well as the material cause (substance of which the universe is created). For this reason, all of creation is divine and deserving of our respect.
Time in the Hindu universe moves in endlessly recurring cycles, much like the motion of a wheel. The duration of the various phases of the universe’s existence are calculated in units of mindboggling astronomical duration organized around such terms as yugas, mahāyugas, manvantaras, and kalpas.
D – Ātman: The Innermost Self
We as individuals are also a part of this changing universe. Our bodies are constantly undergoing change, while our minds, formed of thoughts and feelings, are also in a state of flux. According to Vedānta, however, our self consists of more than mind and body. At its core lies the unchanging ātman, our innermost, transcendental self, as opposed to the material self (our body, thoughts, and feelings) that is part of the universe. The ātman is our true self. But we lose sight of it because of our passionate involvement with our material self and its search for happiness in this universe. The universe can never provide perfect and permanent happiness, however, because it, like our material self, is in a state of constant flux. We attain true happiness only through an awareness of our ātman and the discovery of its true relationship with Brahman. By achieving awareness of our ātman and its unity with Brahman, we attain not only happiness, but also moksha, or liberation. But liberation from what? At one level, the liberation is from unhappiness, but the answer provided by Vedānta Hinduism goes deeper: Moksha is liberation from a chain of lives.
E – Samsāra: The Chain of Lives
We normally think of ourselves as coming into being when we are born of our parents and as perishing when we die. According to Hinduism, however, this current life is merely one link in a chain of lives that extends far into the past and projects far into the future. The point of origin of this chain cannot be determined. The process of our involvement in the universe—the chain of births and deaths—is called samsāra.
Samsāra is caused by a lack of knowledge of our true self and our resultant desire for fulfillment outside ourselves. We continue to embody ourselves, or be reborn, in this infinite and eternal universe as a result of these unfulfilled desires. The chain of births lets us resume the pursuit. The law that governs samsāra is called karma. Each birth and death we undergo is determined by the balance sheet of our karma—that is, in accordance with the actions performed and the dispositions acquired in the past.
F – Karma: Action and Its Consequences
Karma is a crucial Hindu concept. According to the doctrine of karma, our present condition in life is the consequence of the actions of our previous lives. The choices we have made in the past directly affect our condition in this life, and the choices we make today and thereafter will have consequences for our future lives in samsāra. An understanding of this interconnection, according to Hindu teachings, can lead an individual toward right choices, deeds, thoughts, and desires, without the need for an external set of commandments.
The principle of karma provides the basic framework for Hindu ethics. The word karma is sometimes translated into English as “destiny,” but karma does not imply the absence of free will or freedom of action that destiny does. Under the doctrine of karma, the ability to make choices remains with the individual.
We are subject to the “law” of karma just as our physical movements on earth are subject to the law of gravitation. But just as the law of gravitation does not take away our freedom to move about, the doctrine of karma does not leave us unfree to act. It merely describes the moral law under which we function, just as the law of gravitation is a physical law governing our being.
When we cause pain or injury, we add to the karmic debt we carry into our future lives. When we give to others in a genuine way, we lighten our karmic load. In the Bhagavad-Gītā, an important Hindu text, Krishna states that the best way to be free of debt is by selfless action, or by dedicating every action as an offering to Krishna himself. In addition, human beings can purify themselves of karmic debt through different yogas (disciplines), kriyās (purification processes), and bhakti (devotions).
G – Purushārthas: Goals of Human Life
Hinduism takes a comprehensive view of our human condition and has classified all the things we seek in the world and beyond into four broad categories: kāma, artha, dharma, and moksha. Kāma includes the pleasure of the senses, both aesthetic (refined artistic) pleasures and sensual and sexual pleasure. Artha includes the pursuit of material well-being, wealth, and power. Dharma includes our striving for righteousness and virtue. Moksha describes our desire for liberation from the chain of lives.
The first three goals pertain to the world we know, whereas moksha involves freedom from the world and from desires for kāma, artha, and dharma. Attaining moksha is an extraordinary goal, which only some people specifically seek. In preparing for it, the prior pursuit of dharma can be a great help. Dharma, in the sense of duty or desire to do right, occupies a central role in regulating artha and kāma and promoting moksha. On account of dharma’s centrality, the goals of human life are often listed in the following order: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha.
Hinduism accepts all four purushārthas as valid goals of human endeavor. It does not look down upon kāma or artha, as indicated by the Kāmasūtra, a work on sexuality from about the 4th century AD, and by the Arthashāstra. The latter text by Kautilya, a minister to a king of the 4th century BC, discusses how a king should wield political and economic power.
However, the ultimate aim of human life is moksha, liberation from sorrow and desire and realization of the union with the Ultimate Reality. In our future lives we may not always enter the world in human form. Thus, Hindus consider that birth as a human being is a unique and valuable opportunity for seeking moksha, an opportunity that should not be wasted. To guide us along the way, the system of Vedānta and the yogas provide a good road map for the journey.
H – Jīva: The Individual
Our personality has a strong influence on the goal we seek. According to one Hindu scheme a human being consists of not one but three bodies. There is the gross physical body; a subtle body of thought and feelings; and an even subtler body, known as the causal body, where our primal ignorance of our true nature is located, along with the knowledge of that ignorance. The physical body disintegrates after our death; only the subtle and causal bodies travel from one life to the next.
Another Hindu system envisions the human being as consisting of five layers or sheaths, called koshas, that cover up the true self or ātman. Beginning with the outermost, these layers are constituted by food or the physical body (annamaya), energy (prānamaya), mind (manomaya), consciousness (vijñānamaya), and bliss (ānandamaya). Identification with one or more of these koshas—for example, imagining, “I am my physical body”—limits people and prevents knowledge of their true nature.
Other Hindu concepts of personality employ other schemes. One popular concept visualizes a person’s dormant energy residing at the bottom of the spine like a coiled serpent (kundalinī). Upon awakening, it confers liberation when it reaches the head after piercing nodal points, called chakras, along the spine. Hinduism offers spiritual and physical exercises for awakening and liberating all these aspects of the personality.
I – Yogas: Paths to Brahman
How do we proceed if we wish to rise toward Brahman? Hindu thought takes the personality of the seeker as the starting point. It divides human personalities into types dominated by physicality, activity, emotionality, or intellectuality. The composition of our personality intuitively predisposes us to a type of yoga—that is, a path we might follow to achieve union with Brahman. Although many people associate the word yoga with a physical discipline, in its original Hindu meaning yoga refers to any technique that unites the seeker with the ultimate reality.
While physical fitness buffs may seek such a union by practicing hatha yoga, people with different personality traits have other choices. For the action-oriented person there is karma yoga, the yoga of action, which calls for a life of selfless deeds and actions appropriate to the person’s station in life. For the person of feeling, bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, calls for unconditional love for a personal divinity. For the person of thought, jñāna yoga, the yoga of knowledge, calls for spiritual and physical discipline intended to bring direct insight into ultimate reality. The yogas do not represent tightly sealed compartments, merely convenient classifications. A well-balanced personality might well employ all four. These yogas are sometimes called mārgas (paths), suggesting that the same destination can be approached by more than one route, and indeed by more than one mode of travel.
J – Varna: Social Organization
The individual stands in relationship not only to Brahman but also to the society in which he or she lives. Two Hindu concepts—varna and āshrama—address this social dimension of human existence. Every society distinguishes among occupations on the basis of power, wealth, education, or other factors. Hindu thought has long recognized four major occupational groupings. In the first group
are priests, teachers, scholars, and others who represent knowledge and spirituality. People in this group are called brāhmanas, or brahmans. Those in the second group, called ksatriyas, are represented by kings, warriors, government bureaucrats, and others who represent power. Those in the third group, called vaishyas, are represented by farmers, traders, merchants, and other skilled workers. Those in the fourth group, called shūdras, are represented by unskilled workers. A group sometimes known as untouchables has at times constituted a subcategory within the shūdra class, sometimes referred to as a fifth group.
Hindu thinkers visualized these groups as constituting the four limbs of society conceived as a body. This hierarchical system, with brahmans as the first category and shūdras as the last, is known as the varna system. The system also indicates the different roles and responsibilities of each group within society and the relationship of the groups within a harmonious whole. The varna system was never intended as a permanent assignment of hereditary roles, and it once possessed considerable flexibility even though people tended to inherit the family profession, as in many other traditional societies.
The process of establishing the varna system was completed by the 4th century BC. By that time Hindu social organization accommodated thousands of subgroups called jātis, which were based upon marriage and other associations as well as on occupational specialization in crafts. Hindu law books from the 4th century BC onward bear witness to the blending of the varna and jāti systems.
In this process each jāti became loosely linked with a varna. Yet the standing of jātis altered with changes in wealth, education, and political power. Over time, especially during the long period of Islamic rule, the groupings hardened into what became known as the caste system. The British census in the late 19th century helped formalize this system by mapping each jāti to a specific
varna.
K – Āshrama: Stages of Life
Much as the varna system provides the organizing principle of Hindu society, the āshrama system provides the organizing principle of an individual’s life. According to the āshrama system, human life is divided into four stages, each succeeding the other. Āshrama provides a road map for the journey through these stages and provides a clear sense of purpose for each stage, including old age. Hindus consider the last stage of life highly meaningful. Āshrama also addresses the four goals that constitute a fulfilling life: dharma, artha, kāma, and moksha.
The first stage is the life of a celibate student, a time when an individual acquires the values of dharma—that is, preparation and training for leading a proper life. It is followed by that of the
householder, during which the individual seeks artha and kāma by marrying, working, and raising a family as an active member of society. During this second stage, Hindu householders are expected to carry out their responsibilities in accordance with dharma and free themselves of debts owed to the gods, the sages, and their ancestors.
After the years of enjoyment and responsibility, the third stage of life begins. Around age 50, when the children are grown, the individual gradually begins to give up acquisitions and worldly ties and to take up spiritual contemplation in preparation for the next stage. The fourth and final stage involves renunciation of the world to seek liberation in sublime isolation. Renunciation allows the individual to be free of external responsibilities and to concentrate on an inner search. The life of the sannyāsi (renunciant) focuses on achieving realization of the innermost self (ātman) and union with the divine (moksha).
The āshrama system recognizes the division between active participation in life (pravrtti) and ascetic withdrawal from life (nivrtti). Although this division has applied to all Hindus, regardless of gender or caste, men of the three higher varnas (brahmans, ksatriyas, and vaishyas) have been more likely to enact it through the āshrama system. Some Hindus choose to devote their entire lives to the quest for moksha. They become renunciants and are free from the obligations of varna and āshrama. Such people are called sannyāsis. A sannyāsi who joins a monastic order takes the title swami.
In addition to the duties belonging to each stage of life, Hinduism also emphasizes duties belonging to all human beings, especially cultivation of truth and nonviolence. Many Hindus choose not to eat meat because of their cultivation of nonviolence.
IV – HINDU RITUALS: WHAT DO HINDUS DO?
Hindus consider all of creation worthy of worship, and thus religious activity in Hinduism takes many forms. Rituals may be performed by the individual, the family, the village, the community or region; at home or in a temple; and frequently or infrequently. The prevalence and persistence of Hindu ritual may well provide the stabilizing factor in a tradition that is so flexible in doctrine. Ritual might even be considered the glue that holds Hindus and Hinduism together.
Many rites and observances that Hindus practice daily have come down from ancient times. Others grew up around the lives and teachings of Hindu saints and sages. While details of rituals may differ from region to region and jāti to jāti, their meaning and central practices have remained consistent over vast distances of time and space.
Virtually all rituals in Hinduism possess multiple meanings, including symbolic interpretations. Even the way Hindus regularly greet each other may be regarded as symbolically bowing to the
divine. The Hindu greeting involves pressing the palms of the hands together, which symbolizes the meeting of two people; placing the hands over the heart where Brahman dwells, indicating that one meets the self in the other; bowing the head in recognition of this meeting; and saying namaste, a Sanskrit word that means “I bow to you” and signifies “I bow to the divine in you.”
Bindi, the red dot that many Hindu women wear on the forehead, is an auspicious mark and symbol of good fortune. Once worn only by married women, bindi can be seen today on girls and women of all ages. Its location, over a chakra (energy point), is intended to help focus concentration during meditation.
A – Categories of Ritual
The school of Hindu philosophy called Mimamsa, which is specially concerned with ritual, divides all religious activities in Hinduism into three types: (1) actions that are performed daily, called nitya; (2) actions performed on specific occasions, called naimittika; and (3) actions performed voluntarily according to personal desire, called kāmya.
Hindus fulfill all three religious activities—nitya, naimittika, and kāmya—through three types of ritual. These rituals are yajña, (involving a sacrificial fire); pūjā (devotional offerings, usually flowers); and dhyāna (meditation). Yajñas are performed on major occasions, such as marriage and housewarming, when sacred substances are offered into the sacrificial fire. Pūjā may be performed publicly or privately. Public pūjā, usually performed in a temple, consists of anointing a statue of a deity and offering flowers, incense, and carefully prepared food to the deity. Chanting and devotional singing follow, accompanied by the waving of a small, camphor-burning lamp that illuminates the image of the deity. Most ceremonies have clearly marked opportunities for dhyāna, or meditation.
B – Household Worship
Hindu religious activities also can be divided into those that take place at home and those that take place in public. Many rituals are performed at home, either by individual family members or by the head of the household. Some of these household rituals involve a deity or a sacred fire; other rituals commemorate important passages in life.
B1 – Pūjā: Devotion
Many Hindus worship daily the deity they have personally chosen. This personal deity is known as the ishta-devatā. Household pūjā usually consists of worshiping the ishta-devatā with prayer and offerings of food, accompanied by chanting and the waving of a lamp or light. The offering of food acknowledges that all food has a divine source. After the offering, the food is ready to be shared by the worshipers. Household pūjā generally takes place in front of an image or statue of the ishta-devatā, which may be set up as a domestic shrine. Hindus who are more deeply involved in ritual may also tend a domestic fire.
Pūjā possesses a markedly personal character and is more often performed privately by individuals and families than publicly at temples. The private nature of pūjā may arise from the extremely personal relationship that Hinduism nurtures with the divinity, as parent, friend, or other supportive person. It also could have evolved from Hindu historical experience under foreign occupation, during which expression of Hindu identity in public was frowned upon and even dangerous.
B2 – Samskāras: Sacraments to Mark Passages
Sacraments called samskāras punctuate the life cycle of the individual and have greater religious significance than pūjā. A standard list cites 16 samskāras, but in other sources samskāras range in number from a maximum of about 40 to a minimum of 2, marriage and death. The number varies with varna and gender.
The samskāras cluster in the early phases of life, including the prenatal phase. Four samskāras occur between birth and the beginning of studies at about age five. At birth a simple ceremony welcomes and blesses the newborn. The naming of the child, a significant event, occurs shortly after birth. Then come the taking of the first solid food and the first ritual shaving of the head. When the child is ready to study the Vedas (sacred Hindu scriptures), the major samskāra of upanayana occurs. In the course of it, the child receives a sacred thread and chants a mantra whispered into the child’s ear: “Let us meditate on the glorious splendor of enlivening Sun-god. May he inspire our minds.” In early times, a Hindu boy traditionally moved to the home of a guru (teacher) to study the Vedas after the upanayana samskāra. After completing study of the Vedas, the student shaved the hair and was ready for marriage.
A Hindu wedding consists of ceremonies performed over several days, culminating in the joining of the bride and groom. As part of the marriage samskāra, a knot is tied to join the bride’s and the groom’s garments, after which they walk around a sacred fire seven times. The sacred fire servesas a witness to the vows exchanged between the bride and the bridegroom. They then take seven steps together, symbolizing friendship and emphasizing the idea of companionship in marriage. To strengthen the union, the bride and groom place their right hands on each other’s heart; the groom then recites a prayer from the Vedas, “I give you my heart. May our minds be as one.” At the end of this ritual the pair become man and wife. Additional rites before and after the main Hindu marriage ritual vary from region to region.
The sacrament of death calls for cremation (burning of the dead body), at the end of which the ashes are collected and deposited, usually by the side of or in a river. For ten days after cremation, family members offer rice balls to the person who has departed. This offering provides a good example of the persistence of ritual in Hindu tradition: The rice symbolizes growth and is meant to provide the person with a body in which to dwell in the world of the ancestors. The alternative, while waiting for the next birth, is the less pleasant prospect of wandering in the world of ghosts. These actions are required only of the Hindu householder and do not apply to the renunciate.
B3 – Other Domestic Rituals
Some Hindu rituals are performed to obtain a specific reward, according to instructions in the Vedas. Such rewards include securing a suitable life partner, conceiving a child, or attaining wealth, as well as warding off negative outcomes.
C – Communal Worship
Household religious activities involve the family or an individual member of the family. Other Hindu religious activities involve a larger community. A cluster of families may have a shrine where they worship periodically. Beyond the family and the cluster of families lies the village. At the village level, worship of the favored deity of the village dominates. From the village level, worship moves to public rituals, which may be performed at temples and other sacred sites or at sacred times.
C1 – Temple Worship
Rituals performed at temples, like household rituals, may be described as those that take place daily, nitya; those performed on specific occasions, naimitikka; and those performed voluntarily, kāmya. Hindu temples are dedicated to a deity or several deities who are believed to preside over the temple. Hindus visit temples to worship the temple deity or to worship another deity of their choosing by means of these three types of rituals. As at household shrines, they worship sculptures or painted images of the presiding deity and make offerings. Basic rituals performed daily at most Hindu temples include rousing the deity from sleep at dawn, making the deity available for worship and offerings by visitors at midday, and putting the deity to bed at dusk. At some temples, the additional rituals of bathing and feeding the deity take place between dawn and midday. These rituals express the personal nature of Hindu love of and devotion to their deities.
Naimittika at temples is an occasion for carrying about the image of the temple deity. For example, a festival at the temple of Jagannātha in the town of Puri celebrates the god Jagannātha’s annual visit to his birthplace, the temple site, in his chariot. More than 4,000 celebrants pull the god’s wooden chariot, which stands about 14 m (45 ft) high. The English word juggernaut comes from Jagannātha. Public processions and festivals at the temples of Rāma and Krishna mark the birthdays of these avatars of Vishnu.
Kāmya pūjā is typically performed at temples to gain a specific end. A visitor to a temple might request the performance of pūjā, or daily prayers, at the temple and make a donation for that purpose.
C2 – Sacred Sites
Hindus consider the entire Earth, as well as the Indian land mass known as mother India (Bhārata Mātā), to be sacred. This view once found expression in such practices as visiting the four corners
of India as represented by the pilgrimage sites of Badrinath to the north, Puri to the east, Rameshvaram to the south, and Dwarka to the west. Hindus make pilgrimages to sacred sites in the hope of cleansing themselves of sins and lessening their karmic debt. Certain parts of India are held in special veneration. For example, Hindu tradition regards seven cities as holy: Ayodhyā (the birthplace of Rāma); Mathurā (where Krishna grew up); Haridwār (where the Ganges River widens onto a plain); Kāsī (sacred to Shiva); Kāñcī (associated with the Hindu philosopher Shankara); Avanti or Ujjain (site of the temple of Mahākāla); and Puri (associated with the later life of Krishna).
Other sacred Hindu locations involve rivers and events in Hindu epics. Particular regions also have their own sacred locations. Certain sites in India are sacred because of their association with the Great Goddess, Devi, who takes many forms. In the form of Devi Satī, according to legend, her dismembered body parts fell on 51 locations that became sacred to worshipers of Shakti (the female aspect of the divine). The Jvālā Mukhī Temple near Jullundur, for example, is said to represent her tongue. Worshipers visit the Kāmākshya Temple in Assam to partake of her cosmic energy.
C3 – Sacred Times
Religious festivals dot the Hindu calendar. A number of them commemorate events in the great Sanskrit epic Rāmāyana (Way of Rāma) or in the life of Krishna. The timing of these festivals is related to the movements of the Sun and the Moon.
An important festival known as the Dassera marks the victory of Prince Rāma over the demon king Rāvana in a struggle between good and evil that is related in the Rāmāyana. Dassera takes place in September or October and is followed by Diwāli (also known as Deepvali), the festival of lights. Diwāli commemorates events that restored truth and light in early times: the victorious return of
Rāma with his bride Sītā to Ayodhyā in the north and the victory of Krishna over the monster Narakāsura in the south.
The festival of Holi celebrates the arrival of spring in February or March. During this festival people spray each other with colored powders and colored water, forget the cares of winter, and rejoice in the onset of spring. A popular family festival, Raksābandhana, occurs in July or August and renews the bonds of affection between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie lucky threads around the wrists of brothers and are rewarded with gifts. Other important festivals are Shiva-ratri, the night sacred to Shiva when worshipers recite prayers to be freed of sins, and Ganesha-Chaturthi, dedicated to the elephant god Ganesha, when worshipers recite prayers to remove obstacles in their lives. Shivaratri falls in the winter months, and Ganesha-Cahturthi in August or September. Among the major regional festivals are the Dolāyātrā, a spring festival in the eastern state of Orissa; Pongal, a winter festival in southern India; and Onam, a harvest festival in the southwestern state of Kerala.
C4 – Satsanga: Fellowship
A popular form of participation in religious life is the satsanga, which literally means keeping company with sat (truth and goodness). The satsanga may consist of Hindus who gather for discussions of Hindu scripture or of a circle of devotees who have formed around a saintly figure. A saint (“sant” in Sanskrit) in Hinduism in someone who has realized the truth and attained recognition from the community for doing so. Other forms of worship that occur at satsangas are chanting or singing, especially devotional songs called bhajans. On religious occasions the chanting the om sound is considered particularly holy.
C5 – Om: Sacred Symbol and Sacred Sound
The sacred syllable om or aum functions at many levels. Hindus chant it as a means of meditating on the ultimate reality and connecting with the innermost self (ātman) and Brahman. At one level, om possesses a vibrational aspect apart from its conceptual significance. If pronounced correctly, its vibrations resonate through the body and penetrate the ātman. At another level, the three sounds that constitute the syllable—a, u, and m—have been associated with the states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, states to which all life can be reduced. Thus, by repeating the syllable the chanter passes through all three states. Other associations of the three sounds are with the three states of the cosmos—manifestation, maintenance, and dissolution—and with the three aspects of Ishvara who preside over these cosmic states: Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva. Om thus functions at a practical level as a mantra and at a cosmic level as signifying the trinity.
C6 – Guru: Teacher
Spiritual authority in Hinduism flows from enlightened sages called gurus. The guru is someone who has attained realization and acts as a guide for other human beings. He or she guides the individual seeker of truth and self-realization to the appropriate deity, practice, or yoga within Hinduism. The disciple’s goal is to transcend the need for a guru through direct experience of the divine and self-awareness. Having a guide is considered critical for traversing the complexities of spiritual practice and self-discovery. The guru thus constitutes an important center of spiritual activity in Hinduism. Numerous Hindu hymns express adoration for the guru.
V – SACRED LITERATURE: WHAT DO HINDUS READ?
Although Hindu tradition maintains that the ultimate reality lies beyond all scriptures, it is equally convinced that the scriptures help people orient their minds and lives towards Brahman. This attitude has given rise to a body of sacred literature so vast that by one calculation it would take 70 lifetimes of devoted study to read all of it.
A – The Vedas
The four Vedas constitute the most important body of sacred Hindu literature, at least in theory. Other sacred literature, especially the Hindu epics, may be more popular with readers, but the Vedas, written in the ancient Sanskrit language, are the oldest and most respected scriptures. They are separately titled the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sāma-Veda, and Atharva-Veda, and collectively referred to as the Veda.
Each of the Vedas can be divided into four types of texts, which are roughly chronological in order: mantra or samhitā, brāhmana, āranyaka, and upanishad. The mantra or samhitā portion largely
consists of hymns addressed to the various deities. The brāhmana texts gather the authoritative utterances of brahmans (those with knowledge of Brahman, the ultimate reality) and describe the
rituals, chiefly sacrificial offerings, in which the hymns are employed. The third section consists of āranyakas, or forest texts, presumably composed by sages who sought seclusion in the forests. The last section consists of the Upanishads, philosophical texts that have an air of mystery and secrecy about them.
Scholars have suggested that the four types of texts represent four different stages in the spiritual evolution of the Aryans, the peoples of the Vedas. During the earliest stage in their religious life, the Aryans may have recited simple hymns of praise for the divinities they felt dwelt around them. In the next stage ritual evolved out of the early worship and became increasingly elaborate, until people were driven to ask what it was all about. Sages then retired to the forests to reflect on the meaning of sacrifice and the person who makes the sacrifice. This reflection opened the floodgates of philosophical speculation found in the Upanishads.
Hindus traditionally have viewed the four types of texts as dating from the same period but serving different purposes. The first three texts deal with the realm of action and are concerned with dharma, artha, and kāma, whereas the last text concerns knowledge of the self and moksha. In this view, following dharma while experiencing the ups and downs of life produces a devout and mature mind that is then able to fully grasp what the Upanishads have to say.
The Upanishads are also called Vedānta (meaning “end of the Vedas”) because they represent the final essence of the Vedas. The Vedānta marks the culmination as well as the conclusion of the Vedas, although the Vedic canon was never formally closed.
B – Shruti and Smriti: Eternal Truth and Tradition
Hindu scriptures can be classified into two types: shruti and smriti. Shruti, meaning “heard,” may be thought of as revelation or eternal truth, whereas smriti, meaning “remembered,” is comparable to tradition. By distinguishing that which is eternally true from that which holds true for a specific time and culture, the categories of shruti and smriti enable Hindus to reform outdated practices while remaining faithful to Hinduism’s essence. Where there is a conflict between the two, shruti takes precedence over smriti. The Vedas constitute shruti, whereas there are many different smriti texts.
The Vedas correspond, among the Hindus, to the Bible among Christians and the Qur’an among Muslims. However, unlike the revealed texts of Christianity and Islam, whose source is considered to be God speaking through the son or the prophet, the Vedas have no author. According to Vedānta, shruti is revelation without a revealer. Because in Hinduism the universe is without beginning or end, the Vedas appear along with creation at the beginning of each cycle of time. Then Brahmā, who presides over the remanifestation of the universe, recites the Vedas and sages hear them anew. These divinely heard scriptures are then transmitted orally from master to disciple.
The Vedas as also called shruti because they are divinely “heard” by the sages at the beginning of a cycle; and also because they are transmitted orally from master to disciple thus once again justifying the meaning of shruti as audition.
The word smriti is applied to a vast category of literature in Hinduism. Unlike shruti, Sanskrit scripture without an author, smriti is considered to have an author and may even be written in one of the regional languages of India.
One category of smriti consists of more than 20 law books that lay down in detail the rules to follow in life, especially the rules that pertain to varna (social order) and āshrama (stages of life). Another category includes texts called Purānas, which deal with the lives of the gods and celestial beings. There are 18 Purānas, and they can be classified according to which of the three gods of the Hindu trinity they focus on—Brahmā, Vishnu, or Shiva. The most famous of these is the Bhāgavata Purāna, which deals with the life of Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, in the pastoral surroundings of Vrndāvana. A third category of smriti consists of two texts of legendary history: the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata. These are the two well-known epics of Hinduism. Scholars believe the Rāmāyana assumed its present form between 300 BC and AD 200, while the Mahābhārata evolved over a period extending from about 400 BC to about AD 400.
C – The Epics
C1 – Rāmāyana
The Rāmāyana of Vālmīki consists of about 24,000 verses and describes the life of Prince Rāma, an incarnation of Vishnu. The author, Vālmīki, according to later tradition, belonged to the shūdra varna and made his living by robbing travelers. After an encounter with the sage Narada, Vālmīki turned his life around and became a poet and scholar. Classical Hinduism recognizes him as a brahman and as India’s first poet. Rāma and his wife Sītā embody virtue and righteousness, and their lives demonstrate dharma in various spheres of activity. Their life stories contain lessons for Hindus on ideal behavior in various roles, such as son, brother, wife, king, and married couple. Rāma’s reign ushers in a golden age, and the expression Rāma-rajya (rule of Rāma) describes the best of times in which the divine presence rules on Earth.
C2 – Mahābhārata
The Mahābhārata, an epic story of 100,000 verses, is attributed to a sage named Vyāsa and considered to be the longest poem in the world. It traces the descendants of two sets of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāndavas, whose disputes eventually lead to the Mahābhārata war. Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, is central to the story. Like the Rāmāyana, the Mahābhārata addresses many questions related to dharma and the actions of individuals and society. These discourses have provided inspiration for Hindus in many areas of life.
C3 – Bhagavad-Gītā
One part of the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad-Gītā, functions virtually as a text on its own in Hinduism. On the eve of the Mahābhārata war, the hero Arjuna suddenly develops a disinclination to fight. Arjuna’s decision leads to a prolonged dialogue with Krishna during which Krishna tries to resolve Arjuna’s moral and metaphysical dilemmas in 700 verses. The way in which Krishna seeks to guide Arjuna has endeared the text to the Hindus as a guide to their faith.
In the Bhagavad-Gītā Hinduism comes closest to possessing a universal scripture. Since the Gupta period (AD 320 to 550; see Gupta Dynasty) it has inspired a stream of commentaries, summaries, and translations, all of which attest to its wide popularity. The process shows no signs of letting up. The Bhagavad-Gītā’s doctrine of svadharma (understanding one’s own role and responsibility) implies a cosmic mirroring of the essential nature of reality (Brahman) in the reality of the individual’s essential nature (ātman). This implication has proved spiritually intriguing for practitioner, believer, and scholar alike.
The Mahābhārata and the Bhagavad-Gītā carry meaning on multiple levels. In one interpretation, the Pāndavas and Kauravas represent the forces of good and evil that exist within each person, and the contest between them represents the perpetual battle between these tendencies. The Bhagavad-Gītā describes the techniques and paths by which the individual can attain realization of the Ultimate Reality with Krishna as the guide. As part of the Mahābhārata, the Bhagavad-Gītā technically falls in the category of smriti rather than shruti. However, it virtual enjoys the status of shruti by representing the words of the divinity, incarnated as Krishna and addressed to human beings through Arjuna.
D – Tantric Literature
Tantra represents another vast body of Hindu literature. After centuries of neglect, it has gradually begun to receive fuller recognition. The word tantra has two meanings. In one sense it refers to sacred literature which appeared from the 5th century onward and focused not only on Vishnu and Shiva, but also on the cults of earlier deities: Ganapati (another name for the elephant-headed god, Ganesha), Kumāra (a son of Brahmā), Sūrya (sun) and Shakti (the goddess). The second sense restricts tantra to texts that deal with the worship of Shakti.
After the Gupta age ended in the 6th century the Tantric tradition heavily influenced Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. If elite or intellectual Hinduism is Vedic in nature, then mainstream
Hinduism is Tantric in orientation. Some accounts consider both traditions equally revelatory. Tantric literature largely eliminates caste distinctions in terms of religious practices. It also holds women in high regard. It thus provides a useful corrective to the negative stereotypes of Hinduism as patriarchal (male-controlled). Although smriti literature can be described as male oriented, Tantric literature is female oriented.
Consider these statements from Tantric literature. The Gautamīya Tantra clearly states that tantra is open to women and members of all castes. The Mahānirvāna Tantra requires a man to fast for a day for talking rudely to a woman. The Kubjikāmata Tantra states that all houses of women should be worshipped as holy shrines. In the Shakta model of Hinduism, which focuses worship on the Great Goddess, all women are regarded as gurus and may initiate others by reading out the mantra from an authoritative text. Men have no authority to do so. In addition, the Devi (goddess) is worshiped in her own right, rather than in relation to a male god.
Hindu gods are regularly displayed with their female counterparts. When they are invoked together, the female partner is named first, as in Sītā-Rma and Rādhā-Krishna. In the case of Shiva and Shakti the relationship gets so close that they are represented as inhabiting a single body in the Ardhanrīshvara (Lord-who-is-half-female) form. Tantra at times involves the balancing of these two aspects—Shiva (representing consciousness) and Shakti (representing energy)—in a manner reminiscent of yin and yang in Daoism.
E – Literature in Regional Languages
Most Hindus first encounter Hinduism through their regional languages, despite the special significance of Sanskrit. Almost every regional language in India has produced its own version of the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata, sharing in the religious admiration given to the original versions. Deservedly famous translations of the Rāmāyana include one in the Tamil language by the 9th-century Hindu scholar Kamban and one in Hindi and by the 16th-century poet and saint Tulsīdās. A wave of literature in Tamil appeared in the 7th to 9th centuries as the result of a surge of devotion of Vishnu and Shiva. Most of the influential works of modern Hinduism were originally composed in English. Masters who have realized Brahman continually renew the Hindu tradition and express themselves in a language appropriate to their time and place.
The utilization of these various bodies of literature provides insight into how Hinduism tries to sanctify what it touches. Thus the title of Veda came to be conferred on any worthwhile body of knowledge, including writings on architecture, on music, and even on military science. Highly esteemed sacred texts that came after the Vedas have come to be described as the fifth Veda.
VI – HISTORY OF HINDUISM
Hinduism does not attach the same religious significance to historical events that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do. Some have compared Hinduism’s indifference to the history of a religious idea or practice to a scientist’s indifference to the history of science. What is of value to both is the idea or practice as such.
The history of Hinduism thus becomes a history of its quest to incorporate the various developments it has encountered or generated, rather than a history of conquest of or triumph over these historical developments. The contrast is apparent in the Biblical injunction to believe in one God who is the only God and the Vedic perception that “Truth is one, sages call it variously.”
Considerable controversy remains over Hinduism’s historical origins. At one time scholars believed that the arrival of the Aryan people in India about 1500 BC represented a critical moment in the history of Hinduism. The Aryans replaced the earlier Harappan culture in the Indus valley, and they are the people described in the Vedas, the earliest sacred literature of Hinduism. Although linguistic evidence tends to support the notion of an Aryan migration, most scholars now believe this view awaits confirmation by archaeology, especially because it has been challenged by the discovery of extensive sites in northwestern and western India. So far there is no clear-cut answer to the key question: Did Hinduism as described in the Vedas originate in India or did it arise as a result of migrations from outside? What is clear is that the Hinduism of the Vedas goes back at least to 1200 BC in India and perhaps much earlier.
A – Vedic Hinduism
The beginnings of Vedic Hinduism, no later than 1200 BC, trace back to the Rig-Veda, which contains hymns of praise to various deities called devas. Agni (deva of fire) and Indra (king of devas and deva of the atmosphere, storms, rain, and battle) were prominent, judging by the number of hymns addressed to them. Fire was the deity of the domestic hearth as well as of public ritual. The Rig-Veda calls the deity “smoke-bannered” as it carries the offering made into it toward the gods. Indra was a martial leader in the Rig-Veda who carried his followers to victory in battle and also battled drought as a rain-god. An entire book of the Rig-Veda is devoted to soma, a plant whose juice produced ecstatic experiences. It is already clear in the Rig-Veda that all these devas were aspects of one underlying reality.
By the 4th century BC Vedic Hinduism had appeared in virtually all of India and had assimilated and absorbed various local religious beliefs and practices. The resulting mixture is what we refer to
comprehensively as Vedic Hinduism.
B – Classical Hinduism
The period from the 3rd century BC to the late 7th century AD is known as classical Hinduism. Even as Vedic Hinduism flourished throughout India, various aspects of its world-view had come under
challenge by the 6th century BC. This challenge came from Upanishadic thinkers and from the rise of new sects including the Jains and the Buddhists. The Upanishadic thinkers considered themselves in the line of descent from Vedic seers, while the followers of Buddhism and Jainism tended to question Vedic authority, although they retained many concepts from the Vedas. All were concerned about release from eternal rebirth and generally agreed that release was obtained
not by sacrifice but by meditation and contemplation.
Buddhism and Jainism gradually gained strength in India during the centuries just before and just after the beginning of the first millennium. Buddhism benefited in the 3rd century BC from the patronage extended to it by King Ashoka, who ruled almost all of India. Jainism similarly benefited from royal patrons. By the start of the Gupta period, which lasted from about AD 320 to 550, Hinduism resurged, having integrated a variety of Buddhist and Jain beliefs and practices. These included the doctrine of ahimsā (nonviolence) and an emphasis on vegetarianism. The Gupta period is celebrated as a glorious epoch of classical Hindu culture.
During this classical Gupta period, Hindu thought and its systematization flourished. By then many shāstras (classical works) of Hindu philosophy had been compiled. These shāstras include the Arthashāstra (principles of statecraft), Nayashāstra (aesthetics of performing arts), poetry and dramatic works by writers such as Kālidāsa and Bhavabhūti, grammars by Pānini and Patañjali, works on human sexuality such as the Kāmasūtra, and the medical compendia of Charak and Susruta. In addition, the major epics—the Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata—received their present form. Also during this period, rules were developed for representations of the deities and for building structures to house these statues and images.
C – Medieval Hinduism
As a vigorous and multifaceted Hinduism unfolded in India during the 7th century, a new religion made its appearance in Arabia: Islam. Within a century, Islam’s dominions extended from Spain to Sind (now part of Pakistan). By the 10th and 11th centuries the followers of Islam consolidated their hold on northwestern India. By 1200 Islamic rule was established in the city of Delhi in northern India, and it then spread in two waves over nearly the whole of India. The first wave of expansion occurred under the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled from 1206 to 1526. During the second wave, under the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), Islamic rule achieved its maximum extension.
This encounter between Hinduism and Islam lasted more than 800 years. During most of this time, Islam had the upper hand politically, a fact that had enormous consequences for Hinduism and that presented challenges for both Hinduism and Islam which continue to this day. Islam’s military victories outside India were followed by the conversion of the masses to Islam, with the possible exceptions of Spain and the Balkans. In India, however, Islam succeeded in converting barely a quarter of the population to Islam by 1900. Although Hinduism had successfully incorporated all previous invaders and political conquerors within the Hindu religious system—from the Persians in 6th century BC to the Huns in the 6th century AD—its powers of assimilation failed in the face of Islam.
One response of Hinduism to the presence of Islam was political. It included the emergence of the Hindu Vijayanagar kingdom, which held power in southern India from about 1336 to 1565, and the Hindu Marāthā state in western India during the 17th and 18th centuries. The rise of Sikhism and the Sikh Empire (1767-1846) in the Punjab can also be considered part of this response. Willing to use violence in self-defense, Sikhs took a militant stance toward the conquerors.
The Islamic presence evoked a paradoxical Hindu religious response that blended hostile rejection and active emulation. Mainstream Hinduism retreated into a defensive position under the protective cover of orthodoxy (conformity to rule), judging by the number of Hindu religious codes produced during this period. At the theological level, however, Hinduism witnessed the rise and flowering of the bhakti (devotion) movement. This movement of ecstatic devotion to Vishnu or Shiva had gained a firm foothold in the south by the 9th century, and it swept over the rest of the country by the 17th century. Devotion to the divine (bhakti), rather than knowledge of the divine (jñana), became the dominant form of Hinduism, perhaps reflecting the historical circumstances. Bhakti poetry expressed love for the divine, often in the forms of Krishna and Rāma. Among the mystical bhakti poets were Chaitanya, Tulsīdas, Mīrābāī, and Kabīr.
The bhakti movement also provided a point of contact with a mystical movement in Islam known as Sufism. Sufis were religious figures known for their piety and love of God. As they carried out their work in India, the two traditions of Hinduism and Islam came together in their love of God.This coming together, however, never crossed over from communion to union, but the rise ofSikhism points to a possible crossover. Sikhism rejects image worship and ritualism in keeping with Islam, while retaining many aspects of the Hindu world-view.
D – Modern Hinduism
Following the decline of the Mughal Empire during the late 17th century, the British gradually succeeded in establishing themselves as the paramount power in India during the next century.The process began with a British victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, followed by the defeat of the Marathas in 1818. British victory over the Sikhs in 1846 completed the process. By this time the British had made two decisions of far-reaching importance for the future of Hinduism: to allow Christian missionaries to operate within the British dominions, in 1813; and to introduce English as the language of public instruction, in 1835. These decisions forced Hinduism to confront Christianity and Western modernity. At the same time, the Western world was exposed to Hindu scriptures translated into European languages.
D1 – Movements for Reform
One response to the encounter with Europe was reform. The Bengali scholar Ram Mohan Roy set the tone for reform in the early 19th century. Roy campaigned against medieval or regional Hindu practices that were objectionable in the modern world. He advocated allowing widows to remarry and abolition of the relatively rare practice of sati (self-immolation of a wife after her husband’s death; see suttee). In 1828 Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma) to spread his ideas.
Another movement kept India from moving too far toward imitation of the modern Christian West. The movement was named after Ramakrishna, a Hindu spiritual leader who served as a priest at the Dakshineshwar Temple in the city of Kolkata (Calcutta). His reputation as a mystic drew many to him, including Swami Vivekānanda, who founded the Ramakrishna movement after Ramakrishna’s death in 1886. Vivekānanda, a representative Hindu product of India’s new Englishlanguage education system, became a devotee of Ramakrishna and renounced the world after the priest’s death. His message was a return to the timeless wisdom of the Vedas. As an unknown swami, he turned up uninvited at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893 to present Ramakrishna’s teachings. He won instant celebrity and was hailed as a hero in India for his vigorous advocacy of Hinduism. In 1895 he founded the Vedānta Society in New York City to promote Hindu ideas.
Vivekānanda primarily used English in his work of reforming Hinduism and stressing the inclusive aspects of Hindu spirituality over ritual and rules. Another reform-minded leader of the 19th century, Dayānanda Sarasvati, used Hindi in responding to the challenges of Christianity and modernity. Sarasvati founded the Arya Samaj, a movement also dedicated to modernizing Hindu practices and asserting the universality of the Hindu tradition. These movements helped revitalize Hinduism.
Another issue that engaged Hindu reformers was the plight of the lowest social class, the panchama jātis who are also known as untouchables. Local movements, such as one led by Sri Narayana Guru in Kerala, were most successful at reform. Narayana, who was born in 1856, believed that education and greater self-esteem, rather than confrontation and blame, would elevate the untouchables. He established temples where all castes could pray together.
D2 – India’s Struggle for Independence
The rise of Indian nationalism in the 20th century further contributed to Hindu self-awakening. In the work of Indian philosopher and statesman Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the Hindu tradition found intellectual expression; in the work of Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, Hinduism found humanist expression; and in the life of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, Hinduism found political and social expression. Another important figure in the development of Hindu nationalism was Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Ghose promoted revolutionary activism early in his life but later withdrew to an ashram, practiced yoga, and influenced his followers through his writings.
Gandhi’s innovative use of nonviolence and civil disobedience on a massive scale under the name of satyagraha made traditional Hindu values relevant to India’s political struggle against British rule. By linking the elevation of the untouchables with the struggle, Gandhi added social justice to his campaign. By raising social awareness within the Hindu tradition and by lifting that tradition to a new level of political awareness, Gandhi provided modern Hinduism with its defining features. These features took firm root in a century of reformist effort and half a century of political struggle against the British. Although the movement led by Gandhi succeeded in winning independence for India in 1947, it failed to prevent the partition of the Indian subcontinent on a religious basis. The partition of the subcontinent between a primarily Hindu India and a primarily Muslim Pakistan was to have profound consequences for contemporary Hinduism.
Once the movement against British rule gained strength, the relationship between India’s Muslim minority and its Hindu majority became an issue. The movement led by Gandhi aimed at a state based on mutual accommodation, and it was able to subdue those elements within Hinduism that sought to assert Hindu political identity at the expense of Muslim political identity. The partition of India in 1947 weakened the forces of accommodation. After partition India created a secular state in keeping with Hindu principles, whereas Pakistan created a religious state in keeping with Islamic principles. Continuing political tension between Pakistan and India, especially over Kashmīr, further eroded hopes for peaceful accommodation.
D3 – Hindu Nationalism
A vision of Hindu nationalism known as Hindutva gained force before and after partition. Hindutva took its name from the title of a book published in 1923 by revolutionary theorist V. D. Savarkar, which advocated a militarily strong Hindu India. The Hindu majority was also alienated by a perception that Hindu political parties courted Muslim voters as the swing vote in tight elections.
A movement to reclaim the presumed birthplace of Rāma in the city of Ayodhyā in northern India became the lightning rod of Hindu grievances. Hindus alleged that Mughal rulers had constructed a mosque in 1528 over a Hindu temple that had once marked the site. The demolition of this mosque in 1992 by a Hindu mob contrasts strongly with the nonviolent struggle led by Gandhi against the British, and represents one aspect of Hinduism’s coming to terms with its past. Hindu political ideas served as a model for state formation in much of southeast Asia during ancient times. But the succeeding period of foreign rule over India, which lasted about 1,000 years, has made Hindus particularly sensitive to the charge of political failure in facing Islam and Christianity. How Hindu culture will overcome this sensitivity remains to be seen. Christian evangelization among Hindus and consequent conversions to Christianity have provoked controversy and promoted a need for Hindu self definition.
D4 – Contemporary Challenges
The modern age, like every age, poses challenges for humanity and for the various religions that engage humanity. The aim of Hinduism has always been to enlighten rather than to convert. The Hindu world-view of pluralism and respect for multiple paths points to one model for reconciliation of religious conflicts, without calling for conversion to any one creed and with each religion maintaining its unique identity and practices.
Arvind Sharma
This article was borrowed from www.sankrant.org.
Shourie Bannai
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Our Shared Values Statement
Our Community School
Howitt Primary Community School is committed to serving its community and surrounding areas. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of the United Kingdom and understand the crucial role our school plays in promoting these values.
Democracy is an important value at our school.
Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. Elections of members are voted for in a traditional way. The council meetings allow children to debate topics of interest and express their views. Our children exercise their democratic rights by suggesting and /or creating activities for our school based fundraising events.
Children have an annual questionnaire with which they are able to put forward their views about school. The School Councillors play an active role in our whole school vision.
The importance of Laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout school day.
School rules and expectations are clear and fair. Pupils are always helped to distinguish right from wrong, in the classroom, during assemblies, in the playground and outside in our community. Children are encouraged to respect the law and we enjoy visits from the Police, Fire Service and the NSPCC who help us to reinforce this message. Our spiral PSHE curriculum helps promote these laws too. The behaviour and Anti-Bullying policies set a zero tolerance baseline for any form of aggression, abuse or violence. This extends to pupils, staff, parents, carers and all stakeholders.
Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Pupils have key roles and responsibilities in school e.g Peer Buddies, Peer Mentors, Sports and Digital Leaders. Children are able to show independence in their learning and to think for themselves. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms, for example through online safety and PSHE lessons.
Our RE curriculum provides a broad and balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures. We have a growing number of children from the wider community and actively use a variety of resources to promote their learning and integration into school and community life.
Children are encouraged to understand and respect their own identity and to be proud of who they are. Our school gives pupils the opportunity to discuss and respect differences between people, such as differences in faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and also family situations. Children welcome visitors and visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.
All members of our school community treat each other with respect irrespective of their race, faith, gender or disability. Our whole school ethos embeds mutual respect in combination with our PSHE spiral curriculum. Mutual respect is a value learnt from an early age at our school and is re-emphasised in our peer buddy system. Children learn about topics linked to our British Values e.g Remembrance, Harvest and values for life.
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Ricardo expertise helps Amsterdam new North-South metro line into service
Bron: Ricardo Rail
Amsterdam's new 11km North-South metro line - which will operate as 'Line 52' - formally commenced operation across the city on 22 July 2018.
The line provides a new link from the Amsterdam Zuid (South) interchange to the central districts, and then on to the city's northern reaches across the River IJ. Around 6kms of its 9.8km route will be underground, with end-to-end journey times of around 16 minutes and peak time headways of 4 mins.
Ricardo has been providing technical support for the project since 2009, with its teams of rolling stock and infrastructure experts working across various stages of the route's development, from infrastructure and traction power supply through to replacement of aspects of the metro vehicles' safety systems with automatic train control - specifically communications-based train control (CBTC).
'We are very proud to have played such an extensive role in this important new metro line,' commented Maarten Spaargaren, consulting director at Ricardo's Utrecht Technical Centre. 'Our involvement in such a major infrastructure project demonstrates our extensive technical expertise of rolling stock and rail infrastructure, and their many complex interactions. Ricardo is one of very few organizations with the scale and capability to support such technically challenging work across multiple domains.'
Multi-discipline expertise, from train control to maintenance
Ricardo seconded specialists to support the CBTC aspects of the project. This spanned the development of the specifications for the new automatic system through to tender evaluation, inspection and, ultimately, the implementation of CBTC in the vehicles.
Ricardo advised in the field of design and inspection relating to the implementation of CBTC into the existing vehicle fleet that will transfer to the new line, as well as expertise regarding verification and validation activities, and in the standard tests of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS).
The team provided technical contract management of the traction power supply dossiers including reviews of the design documentation, advising the city authorities on any deviations, supervising factory-based tests and inspecting the traction power supply installations.
The opening of Line 52 increases length of Amsterdam's metro system to approximately 80km (50 miles). Should plans for any further expansion of the route emerge, Ricardo's teams will be ready to contribute the experience and insight gained from this challenging but thoroughly rewarding project.
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Über ISP
Profil des ISP
Postsowjetischer Raum
Institut für Sicherheit
AlleBelarusChinaEuropäische UnionGeorgienMoldovaPostsowjetischer RaumRusslandUkraineUSA
Geopolitical honeymoon in Moldova’s foreign policy: how sustainable is it?
Belarus Muddling through Geopolitical Uncertainties
The Gavrilov Crisis
Ukraine between Elections
Start Analysen Frozen conflicts and de facto states in post-Soviet space
Frozen conflicts and de facto states in post-Soviet space
Alexander Dubowy, wissenschaftlicher Direktor des Instituts für Sicherheitspolitik (ISP)
The breakup of the Soviet Union did not follow the borders formed during the Soviet period in all cases. In the 1990ies a number of newly independent states, including Russian Federation, have faced severe challenges in the form of separatist movements and even ethno-political conflicts; as a result “de facto entities emerged that have received only partial international recognition or no recognition at all”[1].
The so-called frozen conflicts in the post-Soviet space differ strongly from each other and should not be put in one basket. The term “frozen conflicts” came into use in the 1990ies to refer to conflicts which occurred on the periphery of the former Soviet Union following its collapse and were difficult or even impossible to settle. According to William Hill these conflicts were “never really frozen, as their nature, dynamics, and prospects changed over time”[2].
Due to William Hill it is almost impossible to speak of a clear Russian or Western position or even a strategy at any point in time for all of the frozen conflicts and de facto entities.[3] If at all the central element of the Western approach to these conflicts has been the recognition of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union within their official borders as independent states and to support the principle of territorial integrity.[4] Moscow in comparison as Alexander Gushchin rightly notes did never have a single approach to conflicts.[5] Russian policy toward de facto states is rather pragmatic, realistic and quite cynical, and is not guided by doctrinal guidelines. Moreover, the dynamics of relations between Moscow and the de facto states are not linear, and Moscow’s ability to influence de facto states is often limited.[6]
Russia is and will remain, at least in the next decade, the main stakeholder, the dominant strategic actor in the post-Soviet space. According to Nikolay Silaev this is not due to a deliberate policy, but is simply the result of “overall economic, political and military power”[7]. According to Sergey Markedonov Russia will play the key role in determining the configuration of the post-Soviet space “regardless of whether its position grows stronger or weaker”[8]. Because of that none of the post-Soviet conflicts can be resolved peacefully and sustainably without Russian engagement. It should be also mentioned that the mother states are quite rightly criticizing Moscow’s post-imperial ambitions in the post-Soviet space but for their part some of these states often lead an openly imperial policy towards ethnic minorities and de facto states.
Despite the annexation of Crimea and Russian military involvement in Donbass conflict Moscow experience since mid 1990ies has shown that “its tasks in the post-Soviet space can be implemented more effectively in a stable environment”[9]. Lastly as Nikolay Silaev states “Russia is well aware that overall it is weaker than the collective West, and only in exceptional cases can it resort to unilateral action, while hoping at the same time for a swift return to multilateral talks on dispute settlement thereafter”[10].
The conflicts in the post-Soviet space are the result of the Soviet legacy in the first row. They evolved due to protracted territorial disputes, identity problems, metropolitan narratives, complex historical narratives and conflicts of historical memories. Because of that, it would be limiting to reduce the formation of de facto states exclusively to the desire of Russia to secure for itself a geopolitical influence in the post-Soviet space or Western wishes to contain Moscow. According to Sergey Markedonov the question of frozen conflicts and de facto statehood is in the first row about “the inability of the new state elites to pursue national construction without conflicts and in the interests of various ethnic groups and regions”[11] and not about the interference of Washington, Brussels or Moscow.
In all cases, there were objective reasons for the conflicts and the formation of the de facto statehood. Most of these reasons are dating back to the Soviet, and even to the pre-Soviet period. Already in Soviet times, some of these conflicts were in a sort of a sleeping state, periodically manifesting themselves in various forms.[12] This sleeping state quickly transferred into an active phase with the growth of nationalism in the years of Perestroika. In the words of Yuri Slezkine, a Russian-born American ethnologist, the USSR was created by nationalists, and it was destroyed by nationalists.[13]
As Sergey Markedonov aptly put it:
The main subjects in the USSR were not citizens, but rather socialist nations. In fact, the Soviet state identified ethnic groups as the key subjects of politics and state law. The priorities were the rights of nations and not of individuals. […] In practice, this created the perception of collective (ethnic) property of this or that ethnic entity (in its highest phase, national entity) of a territory designated as a national republic, an autonomy within a national republic and even ethnically constructed areas. Renunciation of individual rights in favour of collective rights created the prerequisites for the emergence of ethno-national movements for self-determination of future independent states and the emergence of hotbeds of conflict and unrecognized republics.[14]
As it is for today the statehood of the de facto states is in most cases fully-fledged and their interests cannot be ignored in the conflict resolution process. Over the last years de facto states developed themselves to functioning institutions, although in some cases these institutions seem to be quite peculiar.[15] The positions and interests of the societies of de facto states must be taken into account. Without the acceptance of this facts conflict resolution is hardly possible.
It should also be remembered that for some de facto states the issue of full reintegration is actually not on their agenda. The societies and the elites of these countries are not seriously considering the possibility of reintegration and do not want to lose their de facto statehood, despite all the difficulties of the unrecognized status. So in some cases of conflict resolution a guided final separation would probably be the only viable option. Thomas de Waal rightly notes that this final separation process should be managed by international community taking humanitarian factors into account.[16]
The conflict resolution should be based on the principles of inclusiveness and reintegration of people, not just territories. That’s why one of the priorities should be the establishment of dialogue formats between civil societies of de facto states and civil societies of their mother countries. The involvement of civil societies brings more legitimacy to the process and the hope for a more durable peace. But, in this context we should consider the following problem: In societies with an incomplete process of nation-building, in societies with splitted identities, civil society is not always part of the solution of problems, but often part of the problem itself. A civil society, which in theory should confront nationalist manifestations and be interested in a dialogue, is often itself a carrier of ethnic nationalism and prevents dialogue attempts. The solution to this problem, however, requires a sustainable generational shift.
Today, none of the conflicts associated with the formation of the de facto states in the post-Soviet space has a quick solution. Even the probably least problematic conflict, the conflict in Transnistria, is far from being resolved. Although since 1992 there has been no relapses into violence and the parties to the conflict cooperate on a wide range of issues.[17]
According to Sergey Markedonov and Aleksandr Gushchin the most likely scenario for the next years is a dynamic status quo, in which conflicts are neither resolved nor completely frozen.[18] The main danger of the dynamic status quo is that the increasing number of incidents may sooner or later lead to an escalation.[19] Nevertheless, a sharp change in the regional status quo is unlikely, especially for those conflicts which have a very significant degree of freezing. From today’s point of view maintaining the dynamic status quo while strengthening the peace process is probably the best option.
Last but not least, the most problematic point is the geopolitical context of the post-Soviet conflicts. The resolution of conflicts and the future status of de facto states are closely linked to the geopolitical and geo-economic problems between Russia and the West. Different mutually exclusive narratives and self-perceptions are pushing Russia and the West into a vicious circle if talking about interaction in the post-Soviet area. Quite too often Russia sees itself only as an neutral arbiter, while the West sees Russia as part of the problem and vice versa.[20] But after the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis Russia seems to regard the Western involvement in the post-Soviet space as a zero-sum game, turning towards “traditional territorial imperative”[21]; although historically this was not always the case.[22]
Despite the fact that all conflicts are primarily a consequence of the collapse of imperial space, the impossibility of resolving them is a symptom of a deep crisis of the European security system. We should not hope for substantial progress in resolving conflicts without a significant rapprochement between Russia and the West and profound changes in the European security architecture. Today, such a prospect seems rather distant, especially in a situation where the existing world order is crumbling, and the world is moving towards a period of confrontational disorder. As for now, all we can seriously expect is a period of a new world dis-order, confrontational multipolarity and “Great Disharmony of New Regional Powers”.[23]
None of the conflicts in the post-Soviet space has a rapid solution. Even more, the annexation of Crimea and the Donbass crisis demonstrated that the disintegration process of the former Soviet Union has been fully completed in formal legal terms. But, from the historical point of view, the legal dissolution triggered “the formation of new state entities and political nations, a process that still continues”[24]. In the next decade, we will rather face the appearance of new conflicts in the post-imperial space of the post-Soviet area than a resolution of existing ones; since the “process of exiting from the imperial status is always long and painful”[25].
Against this background the first step towards conflict resolution in the post-Soviet space would be for both the West and Russia the acceptance of political realities, the admission of mutual and in some cases divergent geopolitical and geoeconomical interests and of the simple fact that there is no and cannot be total neutrality in resolving conflicts in the post-Soviet space. As for the mother states and de facto entities there is a great need of working out flexible approaches involving OSCE and UNO, encouraging public diplomacy as well as putting the population and its rights above the territorial claims.
However, the process of disintegration of the Soviet Union will be protracted if the national elites of the newly independent states do not become independent political actors pursuing the interests of their peoples and stop exploiting the contradictions between the West and Russia to suit their interests.[26] So hoping for the things getting better, one still should not forget an old Radio Yerevan joke. Once Radio Yerevan was asked: When will it be better? And the answer was: It has been already better.
[1] Markedonov Sergey, Goodbye Post-Soviet Space?, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 343-350, p. 343
[2] Hill William H., The Thawing of Russia’s Frozen Conflicts, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 10-13, p. 10, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019
[3] cp.: Hill William H., The Thawing of Russia’s Frozen Conflicts, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 10-13, p. 10, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019
[5] cp.: Gushin Aleksandr, Dankov Artem, Markedonov Sergey, Rekeda Sergey, Konflikty na postsovetskom prostranstve: perspektivy uregulirovaniya i rol’ Rossii, Working Paper, Russian International Affairs Council, 36, 2016
[7] Silaev Nikolay, Resolving the conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 4-9, p. 6, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019
[8] Markedonov Sergey , Goodbye Post-Soviet Space?, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 343-349, p. 348
[10] Silaev Nikolay, Resolving the conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 4-9, p. 7, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019
[11] Markedonov Sergey, Goodbye Post-Soviet Space?, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 343-350, p. 349
[13] cp.: Slezkine Yuri, The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism; Slavic Review. 1994. Vol. 53. No. 2. pp. 414–452. p. 416
[15] cp.: Gushin Aleksandr, Dankov Artem, Markedonov Sergey, Rekeda Sergey, Konflikty na postsovetskom prostranstve: perspektivy uregulirovaniya i rol’ Rossii, Working Paper, Russian International Affairs Council, 36, 2016; Zemelnie spory, opasnoe delo, https://zonakz.net/2018/11/27/zemelnye-spory-opasnoe-delo/, 18.02.2019
[16] de Waal Thomas, Uncertain territory. The strange life and curious sustainability of de facto states http://neweasterneurope.eu/2018/04/26/uncertain-territory-strange-life-curious-sustainability-de-facto-states/, 18.02.2019
[17] cp.: Silaev Nikolay, Resolving the conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 4-9, p. 8, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019; Markedonov Sergey, Gushchin Aleksandr, Transnistria: Dilemmas of Peaceful Settlement, Russian Internation Affairs Council (RIAC), July 14, 2016, http://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/pridnestrove-dilemmy-mirnogo-uregulirovaniya/, 18.02.2019
[18] cp.: Gushin Aleksandr, Dankov Artem, Markedonov Sergey, Rekeda Sergey, Konflikty na postsovetskom prostranstve: perspektivy uregulirovaniya i rol’ Rossii, Working Paper, Russian International Affairs Council, 36, 2016, p. 42
[20] cp.: Silaev Nikolay, Resolving the conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 4-9, p. 9, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019
[21] Trenin Dmitri, Russia and CIS Countires: the Relations Getting Mature, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 9-17, p. 17
[22] cp.: Silaev Nikolay, Resolving the conflicts in the post-Soviet space, in: Frozen Conflicts in the post-Soviet Space, Russia Direct Brief | 23 | August 2015, pp. 4-9, p. 6, https://russia-direct.org/catalog/product/russia-direct-brief-frozen-conflicts-post-soviet-space, 18.02.2019; Trenin Dmitri, Russia and CIS Countires: the Relations Getting Mature, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 9-17, p. 13
[23] Dubowy Alexander, The New World Disorder. A Long Way Back From the End of History, https://eng.globalaffairs.ru/book/The-New-World-Disorder-19715, 18.02.2019
[25] Trenin Dmitri, Russia and CIS Countires: the Relations Getting Mature, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 9-17, p. 9
[26] cp.: Markedonov Sergey, Goodbye Post-Soviet Space?, in: Evolution of Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. Moscow: NPMP RIAC, 2017 pp. 343-349, p. 349
Alexander Dubowy
Denis Cenusa, Researcher at the Institute for Political Sciences, Giessen University in Germany; Associated expert at the economic think-tank Expert-Grup, from Moldova The Moldovan ruling...
Yauheni Preiherman, Director of the Minsk Dialogue Council on International Relations In two recent years leading Western media and think tanks have written about Belarus,...
Tornike Sharashenidze, Professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, non-resident senior fellow of the Partnership for Social Initiatives (PSI) Just about a week ago...
Mykola Kapitonenko, Associate Professor, Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine Outcome of presidential elections in Ukraine came as a huge surprise....
Georgia at a Glance
Tornike Sharashenidze, Professor at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, non-resident senior fellow of the Partnership for Social Initiatives (PSI) Georgia, a country once...
© 2018 Institut für Sicherheitspolitik
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Panama Papers and the Paralyzed Public
Close to 800,000 French citizens lost much if not all of their monetary wealth including a reported 15,000 single women in the Panama scandal. 510 politicians had pocketed bribes to keep the matter out of the public eye. Many were indicted. Of the few who went to trial for admitted corruption, all were acquitted save one minister for city development who committed suicide. After the press broke the scandal, there were allegations that the leak of information to the public was part of some deeper anti-Semitic agenda as some of the middle-men were dodgy Jewish financiers. When all was said and done, corrupt politicians involved in covering up the deception pocketed over half the total 1.8 billion Francs that were stolen from the public. And nothing changed. This was 123 years ago and the event was the bankruptcy of the Panama Canal Company. The public outcry led to lasting reform and the people all got the justice that for so long had been denied them. Oops! No. In fact, this evisceration of public investment led to the distressed acquisition of the Panama Canal by the United States for about $40 million dollars and the permanent loss of economic assets by the French public.
When the report of the leaked 80 gigabits of records of Mossack Fonseca was published in February 2015 (a year before the public learned of the “Panama Papers” scandal) in Süddeutsche Zeitung the scope of corruption of public officials and corporations was not fully understood. The next 2.6 terabytes of data – ultimately uploaded to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington D.C. – were reviewed revealing the records of nearly 10% of all offshore companies with land holdings in Britain. Edward Snowden referred to the Panama Papers as the “biggest leak in the history of journalism,” knowing full well he’s holding onto the even bigger leak about other corporate activities that will make tax evasion and asset hiding child’s play. And by this, I’m not referring to the SZ comment that, “what’s coming next,” may include a lot more information about Americans and American corporations. What I’m referring to is the massive number of U.S. corporations that have used their commercial access around the world for corrupt and clandestine purposes referenced in Hank Crumpton’s The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service.
What do the Panama Paper’s tell us about ourselves? What is the significance of the Panama Papers in the larger context of the economic system in which we operate? What does it say about our political leadership to realize those who are setting public policy see their own policies as so odious that they need to evade their own rules?
The Panama Papers evidence, above all else, that the illusion of the dominant economic framework of our time is a rigged game. While I’ve been a long-standing critic of the immoral worldview that was promulgated by the Judeo-Christian contrivance of human “dominion” over everything – these papers genuinely indict those who perceive beneficence in the “unseen hand” in the market place. The unseen hand is connected to the public’s pocket and has been picking it for longer than anyone wants to admit. The hypnosis under which most of the general public operate – that finance and politics are beyond the remit of the pedestrian brain – is as much to indict as the actors that prey on this apathetic social meme. And it’s rather important to note that the ICIJ did not release all of the records. In other words, editorial decisions about who to vilify and who to shield were part and parcel of the “greatest leak” to date. In short, even those who are allegedly at the vanguard of disclosure are still holding onto the illusion that someone somewhere needs to be the “bad guy” and someone else is “not”. Like so many disclosures before, the paternalistic determination of what the “public needs to know” supports the very information arbitrage that keeps those in power in power and those without power impotent against the certainty that corruption marches on unabated.
The Panama Papers conveniently demonstrate the genius of the British Empire. In the First Article of the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812, the groundwork for revenue shifting and base erosion (the OECD’s term for tax evasion) was laid in subtle most favored nations concessions ratified by the United States, His Britannic Majesty and the Dey of the Regency of Algiers. In the agreement to an inviolable, universal peace – a lofty sounding concession – the ability for the Empire to preserve its banking and asset shielding status was solidified. And while the United States – having recently gained independence from Great Britain – was going to turn into an industrial juggernaut compared to its former colonial master, Great Britain, its laws, its concessions to aristocracy, and its financial institutions was going to have the last laugh repatriating the wealth from the very lands it had “lost”. In short, the brash American experiment failed before it even had a generation under its belt and the Panama Papers are just the tip of the iceberg when we see how much the British Empire controls or holds in terms of global assets.
I have encountered, over the past month, a stream of humanity who have all lamented their incapacity to “do something” about the certainty that they have that the economic house of cards is about to collapse in a manner far worse than the GFC in 2007-08. From the “consciousness-minded” to the mercantile industrialist to the entrepreneur, the sense that the game is rigged is universal but equally universal is the perception that there’s not a damn thing that you can do about it. This is not the case. But like most other systemic failures, when massive “leaks” are released, it’s important to look at what else is moving in the shadows while the focus is on the “leaks”. For example, during the week that the world was focused on the Panama Papers, no one seemed to focus on the 2016 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers issued by the White House. In this document, the Obama Administration addresses the motivations behind the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement signed in February 2016 in Auckland. So while we’re talking about tax shelters, we’re explicitly working to install tax policies that favor U.S. trade advantage for the estimated $131 billion per year from our trading partners in the Pacific, “because we know that when the playing field is level, our workers and businesses can compete – and win – in the global economy.” Cool thing is that when level means “flowing in favor of the U.S.” the winning is a bit easier. Create enough noise in the Atlantic and Caribbean and no one will look in the Pacific!
So what’s it going to be? 123 years from now, will this bluster in the Caribbean be yet another in the long line of humanity being robbed, feeling like it’s incapable of responding, and then being primed to be robbed again? Is this another time when we acquiesce to the establishment and our notion that corruption is a necessary evil? Are we unwilling to call out the violations of social dignity because somewhere we know we’d do it ourselves if we had the resources and the power to do so? Or are we ready to play on a different playing field – one that doesn’t require leveling because all the contours and sand traps are known to all the players? Are we willing to use models that are not based on corrupt incumbencies and be courageous enough to face a world in which our “salaries”, “assets” and our “economic status” do not define us but our productive engagement and social utility does?
Posted by David Martin at 8:50 PM
Abundance Manifesto – What’s Mine?
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Home > New York News > Bigmouthmedia teams up with Sport Relief again
Bigmouthmedia teams up with Sport Relief again
Leading Full Search Agency, bigmouthmedia to optimise the Sport Relief 06 website
Bigmouthmedia, the leading full search agency, has been selected to drive search engine traffic to, and increase brand awareness of, Comic Relief's site in the run-up to Sport Relief 2006 in July.
The focal part of this year's Sport Relief event will be the Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile, the largest event of its kind in Europe. A major, integrated, two-month marketing and media campaign will kick off in May and culminate in 15 national, and up to 200 local, Sainsbury's Sport Relief Mile events on July 15. Sport Relief enjoys exceptional brand awareness (92% prompted after two campaigns) and is unique in its inclusive nature.
It's the third time that bigmouthmedia have been involved in Sport Relief, having previously implemented search engine optimisation and supported the marketing campaigns for Sport Relief 2002 and Sport Relief 2004. The SR '04 campaign resulted in more than 60 million hits to sportrelief.com. Bigmouthmedia are also the Search Marketing partner for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day campaigns.
For Sport Relief 2006, bigmouthmedia will implement a widespread Organic SEO campaign to drive partners and participants to the Sport Relief site in the run-up to the event.
Speaking about the 2005 Red Nose Day Search Marketing campaign, Martin Gill from Comic Relief said "The success is down to the efforts of the bigmouthmedia team and we hugely appreciate all that they did for us. Where would we be without those guys (and girls of course!!!) Well - certainly not at the top of every search engine across the board".
Notes to Editor:
• Bigmouthmedia is a leading Full Search Marketing agency, working with major brands including MTV, Sony Ericsson, Barclays, National Express, Tesco and Early Learning Centre.
• The company offers Organic search marketing as well as Paid Search (PPC) Management services. It has full multilingual capabilities and is active in over 20 languages.
• The 38-strong agency has offices in Edinburgh, London and New York and is headed up by CEO and founding director Steve Leach.
• For the inaugural Sport Relief Mile in 2004, 81,000 people ran, walked or hopped the Mile, raising £16 million.
• In July 2004, the Sport Relief campaign incorporated 14 national and 128 local events, gained £3 million worth of media coverage and involved 253 celebrities (including Princes William and Harry, Sir Steve Redgrave, Keira Knightley, David and Victoria Beckham, Rachel Stevens and the England Football Team).
• Since its launch in 2002, Sport Relief has raised over £30million
• The money raised from Sport Relief will go to help vulnerable people leading tough lives here at home in the UK, and in the poorest countries in the world.
Back to New York News
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NATHAN, WOLF BEN ABRAHAM:
By: Isidore Singer, Meyer Kayserling
German Biblical exegete and theologian; born at Dessau July 8, 1751; died there Sept. 6, 1784. He wrote a commentary on the Book of Job entitled "Pesher Dabar" (Berlin, 1777), which was highly praised and recommended for its clearness and lucidity by Moses Mendelssohn and Naphtali H. Wessely. But his "Grundsätze der Jüdischen Religion, aus den Heiligen Büchern, dem Talmud und den Vorzüglichsten Rabbinen" (Dessau, 1782), a reader for the young, in which he presented the divergent opinions of the Rabbis, drew upon him the anger of his coreligionists, the direct cause being his "complaints against the Jewish nation" in the preface. He therefore changed and reprinted the "unfortunate preface," as Mendelssohn termed it, and made a formal apology. The German pedagogues Basedow and Salzmann warmly defended him, but Mendelssohn, who could do nothing for him, admonished him not to let his "praiseworthy zeal for a good cause degenerate into quarrelsomeness."
Ha-Meassef, 1785, pp. 43 et seq.;
M. Mendelssohn, Gesammelte Schrifen, v. 602 et seq.;
Roest, Cat. Rosenthal. Bibl. p. 210;
Supplement, p. 489.
S. M. K.
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About Chennai:
SR Tours and Travels takes you to the Chennai, formerly known as Madras is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the fifth most populous city in India. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai city had a population of 4.34 million in the 2001 census within the area administered by the Corporation of Chennai and an extended Metropolitan Population of 6.5 million. The urban agglomeration of metropolitan Chennai has an estimated population over 8.2 million people.
Chennai's SR Tours and Travels economy has a broad industrial base in the car, computer, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is India's second largest exporter of software, information technology (IT) and information-technology-enabled services (ITES). A major chunk of India's car manufacturing industry is based in and around the city.Chennai Zone contributes 39 per cent of the State's GDP. Chennai accounts for 60 per cent of the country's automotive exports.
Chennai SR Tours and Travels is an important centre for Carnatic Music and hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season, which includes performances by hundreds of artists. The city has a vibrant theatre scene and is an important centre for the Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form. The Tamil film industry, one of the largest film industries in India, is based in the city; the soundtracks of the films dominate its music scene.
Chennai is the largest city in Tamil Nadu and is located on the southeastern coast of India. The city was formerly known as Madras and was established by the British. They developed it into a significant urban center and naval base. Around 20th century, Chennai became an important administrative headquarter and the capital of Madras Presidency. The growth and expansion of British Empire led to development of the city. It has been endowed with the rich heritage of art and culture.You can visit the city called Chennai in culture and art by travels called SR Tours and Travels
It is for this reason that Chennai is also called as the 'Gateway to South India'. The city been blessed with the wealth of arts and literature. It is famous for its various cultural events, showcasing the performing arts such as Dance, Music and Drama at its best. Tamil literature is very rich in content and preaches ancient morals and values. Chennai is also popular for the glitz and glamour of Kollywood, the 'Tamil film industry'. Many Tamil films have won acclaim in the international film festivals and have brought fame to India. Have a visit to chennai by SR Tours and Travels
Today, the city has gone through a tremendous change and is developing rapidly. There are a number of industries here such as automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The Automobile industry in Madras is one of the leading industries in the country. It is also the second largest exporter of Information Technology, after Bangalore. Apart from this, the city is a leading player in the fields of education and sports. There are a number of reputed educational institutions and stadiums here which mark the significance of the two in Chennai.
The city of Chennai is also well connected to all the major cities in Tamil Nadu and other neighboring states through an excellent road network.
Tourist Attractions by SR Tours and Travels
Parthsarthy Temple, Kapaleeshwar Temple, Santhome Cathedral, Fort St. George, Marina Beach, National Art Gallery, Snake Park, The Theosophical Society, Kalakshetra. You can view this by visiting the place called Chennai through SR Tours and Travels
Chennai Hub invites you on a Chennai Tourists called SR Tours and Travels and also called the Gateway to the South, Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the fourth largest metropolis in India and the hub of South India. On your Chennai Tour you can explore the beaches, historic churches and monuments of Chennai, like Fort St George on the Coromandel Coast. Enjoy the South Indian flavor of Chennai Tours with Chennai Hub.
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Book Bus Tickets from Chennai to
Vita, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Hubli, Davanagere, Nippani, Bangalore, Sangli, Jayshingpur, Miraj, Tasgoan
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Coast Guard, Navy complete joint OMSI patrol in Pacific Ocean
Published: Friday, 11 May 2018 02:55
U.S. Coast Guard 14th District Hawaii and the Pacific
HONOLULU — The Coast Guard and Navy completed a 24-day joint mission in the Western and Central Pacific under the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative to combat transnational crimes, enforce fisheries laws and enhance regional security, Wednesday.
A Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment from Tactical Law Enforcement Team Pacific embarked USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and conducted 12 fisheries enforcement boardings with the assistance of the ship’s visit, board, search and seizure team and law enforcement shipriders from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
All boardings were conducted in the exclusive economic zones; eight were in Federated States of Micronesia and four in Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Coast Guard teams and Pacific Island Nation shipriders routinely conduct combined boardings within the host country's exclusive economic zones to protect the ocean and the living marine resources within.
Boarding teams conducted inspections of the vessels to ensure compliance with individual nation’s laws and regulations and conservation management measures.
“The goal of combined efforts by the Navy and Coast Guard through the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative mission is to combat transnational crime threats, including narco-trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” Lt. Cmdr. Kenji Awamura, district response enforcement operations planner at Coast Guard 14th District. “In keeping with USS Michael Murphy’s motto, OMSI 'Leads the Fight' in combating these activities. IUU fishing undermines efforts to conserve and manage global fish stocks and negatively impacts economies of Oceania States. In partnership with Australia, New Zealand, France, and the Pacific Island nations, OMSI promotes economic and environmental stability throughout Oceania.”
Partnership between the Coast Guard and Navy supports OMSI, a Secretary of Defense program to use Department of Defense assets transiting the Pacific region to build maritime domain awareness, ultimately supporting the Coast Guard's maritime law enforcement operations in Oceania.
“I am proud to say that the crew performed superbly across all mission areas as well as being tremendous ambassadors afloat and ashore for the United States throughout our deployment,” said Cmdr. Kevin Louis, commanding officer of USS Michael Murphy.
The Coast Guard is responsible for patrolling the waters around the numerous islands belonging to the United States throughout the region. Each of these islands has territorial waters stretching out to 12 nautical miles from shore. Beyond that, stretching out to 200 nautical miles is an exclusive economic zone, an area defined by international law that allows each nation exclusive rights to the exploration and use of the marine resources within.
Oceania contains 43 percent, or approximately 1.3 million square miles, of United States' EEZs.
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Media companies manage their assets
Judith Lamont, Ph.D.
This article appears in the issue May 2004 [Volume 13, Issue 5]
By Judith Lamont, KMWorld senior writer
For nearly a decade, WGBH, the Boston affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)), had been monitoring the increasing use of digital media in the broadcasting industry. WGBH produces about a third of PBS' prime-time lineup and companion online content. Anticipating the need to manage digital assets as part of its operations, as well as their potential value to the organization, WGBH began to prepare for both the organizational and technical aspects of such a change.
One of the station's goals was to develop a single digital asset management (DAM) repository that would serve the entire enterprise. By coordinating across different departments, WGBH hoped to consolidate its media assets and reduce duplication of effort. However, a strongly entrepreneurial culture and an emphasis on creativity mandated a degree of autonomy for each group.
"We did a lot of functional analysis based on interviews with user groups," says Dave MacCarn, chief technologist and asset management architect at WGBH. "We began to look at the information we needed to store for our digital media," he says, "and explore whether we could get everyone to agree on a common set of metadata."
By the late 1990s, the IT department began to look at specific software tools that might meet the organization's needs. The department tested many software packages and launched a number of pilot initiatives. About three years ago, WGBH formalized its initiative to create a digital library, and selected TEAMS from Artesia, which offered the best combination of features for the station's needs.
WGBH can now digitize and store newly created video in the Artesia TEAMS system, and content can be readily searched, retrieved and disseminated. That will provide a much quicker turnaround for identifying video segments that are needed for productions. WGBH is not attempting to digitize the 300,000 hours of material in its archive, because of the high cost, but is digitizing segments as they are needed for current projects. The system also allows the station to track its analog assets such as tapes and photos—a need that is similar to a corporation's need for records management of paper documents along with its electronic documents.
External impact
In addition to aiding production within WGBH, the availability of a searchable digital repository is dramatically improving the efficiency of distribution to outside organizations. Film footage, images and text developed by WGBH are available for licensing and can be used in documentaries, exhibits, ads and publications. The digital library can be searched by publishers and producers for content ranging from nature shots to Julia Child's cooking shows.
WGBH took a broad view of its DAM initiative, so the impact of its exploration will extend beyond the organization. "When we designed the infrastructure," says MacCarn, "we wanted to create one that could be used by other rich media organizations. A flexible architecture would provide a system that was more valuable to our partners because it would accommodate the elements they had in place." Last fall, WGBH teamed with Sun Microsystems to open a Sun iForce Solution Center where other companies could experiment with a DAM system. WGBH is also leading an effort to develop a standard set of metadata for media that can be used across the public broadcasting system .
Ensuring adoption
Overall, the system has been well-received by users, although "change management has been a huge issue," says Amy Rantanen, director of IT and asset management systems at WGBH. Some people realized that their processes were too manual, she observes, and were eager to make use of a DAM system, or were receptive because they could see the potential revenue stream associated with digital distribution. Nevertheless, some users and executives were concerned that the upfront work required for tagging, controlled vocabularies and other administrative requirements would interfere with creativity. "It's an educational process," adds Rantanen, "encouraging people to adopt the new system because in the long run it will be beneficial and easier to use."
HBO's application
Artesia helps companies manage and treat their content as a true business asset, according to Scott Bowen, president and COO of Artesia. "Our application centers around the asset and its attributes," says Bowen. "Each asset has its own life cycle, including a workflow and a history of when and where the asset was used."
One of Artesia's clients is HBO, which has several hundred thousand promotional elements under management including photography, short form video and audio clips. "One essential reason for HBO's implementation was to provide a streamlined workflow for media assets that includes involvement from the legal department so that the digital rights perspective is covered," Bowen says. Contracts with performers may have specific requirements about how publicity is presented, so images need to be cleared for each use.
Extensis, an established company in the digital asset management market, caters to the needs of creative staff with its Portfolio product. Used by more than a million professionals, Portfolio competes on both ease of use and price.
"The projected boom in the DAM market never took place because many of the available products were difficult to use, expensive and did not reflect the workflow of creative professionals," says Kevin Hurst, VP of marketing.
MTV Networks is one of Portfolio's largest users, with well over a million files occupying multiple terabytes of storage space. The content managed by Portfolio includes assets used for video, Web, and print creation and distribution.
"Creative workflow is different from workflow associated with business processes such as compliance," Hurst points out. For example, moving assets into a Portfolio repository (referred to as a catalog) and automatically assigning metadata in batch mode are designed to be easy for graphic artists. Users of Adobe Photoshop can drag and drop images from the Portfolio catalog without leaving their application. Newly introduced Portfolio 7 also allows the metadata to be embedded into the asset file rather than being stored in a separate database. The metadata can be viewed from within other applications, such as Photoshop. Users who are working on a file can see such information as the original creator of the image, or the expiration date for digital rights to an asset.
The move to a digital world has changed more than the media itself—it is also changing the way media companies operate. "When Warner or Discovery shoots a film now, they are also shooting for the DVD and the electronic games associated with the film," says Joshua Duhl, research director of content management and rich media at IDC. The same digitized segments can be used for ads promoting the film or selling related merchandise. "Companies go downstream and find out who wants to use the video, and then upstream to do the shoots," Duhl adds. That shift has forced a degree of collaboration that was not present before, something of a cultural change for the industry.
Potential uses
Scott Bowen, president and COO of Artesia, describes five key areas for digital asset management:
Production asset management—centered on asset reuse during the creation side of media, typically for companies that produce and sell media content.
Brand asset management—marketing department and ad agency use of DAM for ensuring consistent and up-to-date branding through multiple channels.
Distribution asset management—takes finished digital content inventory and makes it available to its downstream point of consumption, including print, broadcast and online through integration with a Web content management or portal product.
Knowledge asset management—digital library collects a mixed set of content (documents, images and video) and rich metadata to provide a seamless environment for analysis.
Learning asset management—-a specific case of knowledge asset management, housing courseware and components that can be repurposed for a variety of training projects.
Judith Lamont is a research analyst with Zentek Corp., e-mail jlamont@sprintmail.com.
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Ivan Vasiliev as Freddie Mercury
Jack Devant 31/01/2017 Contemporary, Neoclassical
Ivan Vasiliev as Freddie Mercury. Bonus track for Ivan Vasiliev “10 Years on the Stage” Gala Concert. Shot in 16.1.2017 in the Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg, Russia.
See all galleries from Ivan Vasiliev 10 Years on Stage Gala
Ivan Vasiliev (Иван Васильев) is a Principal with with the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company. He was born in Vladivostok, Russia. He studied at the Dnepropetrovsk Ballet School in Ukraine and later at the Belorussian State Choreographic College in Minsk, graduating in 2006 (class of Alexander Kolyadenko). Vasiliev danced Basil in Don Quixote and Ali in Le Corsaire with the Belorus National Ballet while still a student at the College. In 2006, he was invited to join Bolshoi Ballet as a soloist, making his debut with the company, at the age of 17, as Basil in Don Quixote. He was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in May 2010. In December 2011, he joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company.
Photo by Jack Devant ballet photography © with kind permission of the Mikhailovsky Theatre and Ivan Vasiliev, special thanks to Darina Timofeeva.
Freddie Mercury Ivan Vasiliev Ivan Vasiliev Gala 2017
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Singer Pat Kelly is dead 2:00 pm
US senators press Facebook on 'trust' in hearing on digital currency 1:43 pm
Commissioner urges cops to observe JCF rules and regulations 1:31 pm
Church council calls for non-partisan dialogue to address crime 1:11 pm
Sixth accused in Uchence Wilson Gang trial freed 12:30 pm
Oilfield wastewater may trigger earthquakes for decades — research 12:00 pm
Pelicans lose Davis, but cool red-hot Thunder
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Julius Randle finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans overcame another triple double from Russell Westbrook to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 131-122 on Thursday.
The victory could prove costly for the Pelicans as all-star Anthony Davis left the game with a shoulder injury at the end of the first half.
The disgruntled Davis, who has requested a trade, did not return and it was unknown whether the injury would keep him out of the NBA all-star game on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Davis finished with 14 points in 15 minutes of playing time.
Randle also added three clutch baskets in the final minute and teammate Jrue Holiday scored 32 points for the Pelicans, who have lost eight of their last 12 games as the league now heads into the annual mid-season all-star break.
“Man, we had to be up for this one, the last one before the break,” said Holiday. “We came out and fought hard against a great team with Paul George and Russell Westbrook.”
Westbrook continued his eye-popping performances, extending his league record with an 11th straight triple-double as he finished with 44 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
It was the 12th time in Westbrook's career in which he scored at least 40 points in a triple-double. That puts him in a tie for second place with Houston's James Harden for the most 40-point triple-doubles in NBA history.
However, Westbrook missed badly on a poorly executed three-point attempt with Oklahoma City behind by five points late in Thursday's game. The Pelicans took possession of the ball and cruised from there.
On Monday, Westbrook's triple-double against Portland extended his streak to 10 games, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's mark of nine straight set in 1968.
“I have so much room for improvement, just for me personally, because I know how good I can be and how much I can bring to the game and to help this team be successful,” he said. “So I'm very, very optimistic.”
George added 28 points, and Nerlens Noel tallied 22 for the Thunder, who had won four straight and 11 of 12.
E'Twaun Moore scored 15 points and Jahlil Okafor had 12 as New Orleans bounced back from having its lowest point totals of the season in its two most recent games — a 99-90 loss at Memphis on Saturday and a 118-88 blowout loss to Orlando on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Dennis Smith scored 19 points as the hapless New York Knicks ended their 18-game losing streak with a 106-91 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
“It has been a long time since we got a win. We had to lock down,” said Smith.
The streak set a franchise record for consecutive losses in a season and this was their first win since January 4 when they beat the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.
Also, the Orlando Magic snapped a 13-game losing streak to Charlotte by beating the Hornets 127-89 behind 21 points from Terrence Ross.
Saints lead Jaguars going into Game Two of semi-finals
Jumpball Basketball Programme celebrates 25 Years
NBA – Despite the many high-profile trades, no clear favourite for title
WBA Elite League semis tip off
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$215M U.S. Steel project provides spark for Alabama steel industry
More stories in Manufacturing
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – United States Steel Corp.’s plans to invest $215 million to install a technologically advanced electric arc furnace at Fairfield Works is expected to provide a boost to Alabama’s steelmaking industry in its historic home.
U.S. Steel had initiated construction of the EAF at its Tubular Operations in Fairfield in March 2015 but suspended construction in December 2015 due to unfavorable market conditions.
The project’s revival means the addition of 150 jobs at the Jefferson County facility. The company said the EAF will have an annual capacity of 1.6 million tons.
“This puts Birmingham back on the map in the steel industry, which is a backbone of our region,” said Mark Brown, vice president of Business Retention and Expansion at the Birmingham Business Alliance. “The sustainable technology that will be used in the EAF will solidify Birmingham’s future in the industry for years to come.
U.S. Steel has been making steel in Birmingham for more than a century. (Image: BBA)
“U.S. Steel’s investment will have a monumental impact and will drive future growth for our region,” he added.
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt cited improved market conditions, President Trump’s strong trade actions, support from the United Steelworkers and incentives from the State of Alabama and the Jefferson County Commission as reasons for the project’s revival.
“This investment is an important step to improve our cost structure and positions our tubular business to win over the long-term,” Burritt said. “We are committed to investing in the sustainable steel technology required to be a value-added tubular solutions provider for our customers.”
AIDT SUPPORT
AIDT, the state’s primary workforce development agency, agreed to provide recruitment, pre-employment training and certain post-employment training support for the expected 150 new employees at U.S. Steel’s Fairfield Works. The AIDT commitment is estimated at nearly $1.4 million, according to data from the Alabama Department of Commerce.
The BBA said U.S. Steel currently employs 750 in Fairfield and expects to add the 150 new jobs by 2020, bringing the total employee count to 900.
The project will provide a lift to employment in Alabama’s steelmaking industry. Primary metals manufacturing jobs in Alabama stood at around 23,000 in October 1997. Today, the figure is just over 17,000, after adding 3,000 jobs since mid-2009.
In Birmingham, primary manufacturing employment is around 5,500, up slightly since late 2016 but down over the long term, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
U.S. Steel has been making steel in Birmingham for over 100 years. Construction on the EAF is expected to begin immediately, the company said, and the furnace is expected to produce steel rounds by late 2020, according to the BBA.
Amazon kicks off construction of first Alabama fulfillment center
BESSEMER, Alabama -- Internet retail giant Amazon officially kicked off a construction project today for a technologically advanced fulfillment center in Bessemer...
Birmingham’s Shipt to create 881 jobs in major expansion
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey joined executives of Shipt, the same-day delivery marketplace, and local officials today to announce that the...
Tags: Birmingham Business Alliance, primary metals manufacturing
Kemira investing $70 million to expand Alabama operation, creating 20 jobs
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If climate change is a national security threat, we should address the burning of too many fossil fuels.
Reese Kato / Ka Leo O Hawai‘i
Climate change isn’t a national security threat
Military and climate change don’t mix
Jeff Kim, Staff Writer
The Charlie Hebdo shooting, the Tunisian beach resort shooting and the San Bernardino shootings; 2015 was a year that could not escape the word “terrorism” with at least 21 recorded acts committed throughout the world. However, the event that gained the most global attention and inspired thousands of people to change their Facebook profiles in solidarity, is indisputably the Nov. 13 Paris attacks.
What do the Paris attacks have to do with climate change? They perpetuated the concept that climate change is a national security problem. During the Nov. 14 Democratic debates, Bernie Sanders famously stated that “climate change is directly related to growth of terrorism.” He’s right. To frame it in such a light, however, is dangerous.
Wrong people for the job
“When you frame climate change as a security threat, the military will want to respond. And the way they will respond may have very little to do with stopping the spread of climate change,” said Joshua Busby, author of the Council on Foreign Relations 2007 report.
This was illustrated in September 2015 when President Barack Obama called for an investment in more icebreakers, large ships that break-up ice, for the Coast Guard in the Arctic. It’s no secret the Arctic is a highly resource rich area that “the world economy, to some extent, is dependent on,” according to Russia Today. This includes not only an estimated 90 billion barrels worth of oil but also 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas.
However, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, icebreakers play a role in further melting glacial ice. Investing in more icebreakers for the Coast Guard fulfills the Department of Defense’s (DoD) function of “being in the right place, at the right time, with the right qualities and capacities to protect our national resources,” but this does little to solve our climate change problems. With climate change framed as a national security threat, it is appropriate for the DoD to respond by appropriating more resources to address the impending scarcity that unmitigated climate will produce.
If climate change is a national security threat, the best way to address that threat is by addressing the problem at its cause: burning too many fossil fuels and farming too much livestock. It’s only logical then, that the most direct solution would be to develop the infrastructure and technology that would allow our economy to transition out to fossil fuels and develop sustainable farming practices. However, by the US engaging in resource warfare as a solution to climate change, we are not only putting international diplomacy at risk but are also treating the symptoms of the problem, not the causes.
In response to addressing climate change in relation to the growth of terrorism, we have spent $7.6 trillion on military and homeland security since Sept. 11, 2001. In 2015, military spending accounted for 54 percent of the Federal Budget, with 3 percent spent on energy and the environment. We have not been spending enough money on addressing climate change from a direct approach and need to start there first.
The Paris attacks perpetuated the concept that climate change is a national security problem.
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Marseille decided to open its Cours, the locals’ favourite road in the 17th century. The Cours was later named Belsunce in memory of the Marseille bishop who won fame during the Great Plague of 1720.
On the left side stands the Arc de Triomphe on Place d’Aix which was built in 1825 by the architect Michel-Robert Penchaud
On the right hand side lies Cours Saint-Louis with its 18 cast iron florist pavilions of which only one remains; from 1847 to 1968 their colourful stalls delighted passersby and The Alcazar’s performers were always sure to buy a lucky rose before taking to the stage.
On the right you’ll see the Fontaine Castellane on the Porte d’Aix-Obélisque road, one of the longest perspectives in Europe.
The Alcazar
Théâtre de l’Alcazar on 44 Cours Belsunce made way for the new BMVR (regional public library) in 2004. But in 1636 it was home to the Institut des Prêtres du Saint-Sacrement under the patronage of Saint Hommebon. The priests fled after the French Revolution and an inn opened in its place: Auberge Neuve.
In 1857 the café concert opened in the heart of Marseille when port trade was at its peak. For over a century, the Alcazar embodied the Marseille theatre scene from the Roaring Twenties’ operettas to the blossoming show business in the 50s and 60s. Stars such as Fernandel, Tino Rossi, Maurice Chevalier, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens and Johnny Hallyday performed here.
In 1966 it closed down and the library was opened by President Jacques Chirac in 2004.
The BMVR, designed by architects Adrien Fainsilber and Didier Rougeon, covers 18,000m² and has almost a million documents (books, periodicals, videos, CDs). The Alcazar also has precious resources (Medieval manuscripts, a collection of early printed books). It regularly hosts exhibitions and cultural events.
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The Moonhouse Expedition is about placing a house on the Moon by way of many other places.
The Expedition is a community effort and the achievements of the Expedition is a direct reflection of the collected capabilities of those involved.
The Expedition gathers hands-on experience and knowledge with the difficulties associated with the ultimate expedition to the moon by placing houses on increasingly challenging locations.
In addition to gather directly applicable knowlege for the Moon Mission the Expedition hopes to attain the secondary objectives of channelling the will of many people to participate and of bringing greater presence of the House on the Moon in the world.
How can the average person contribute meeting the above challenges. It is not practical or possible for everyone to carry a house to the summit of Mount Everest or to find a stowaway ticket to Mars. We will let you in on a sectret, it not practical to more than a very small number of individuals. What is practical for more people, is to make it worth the while for those few to make the extra effort. By showing interest and telling the world that you think the cause is worth the effort the case is built for meeting the goals and, in the end, for placing the House on the Moon.
A three stage rocket to the Moon
Moon rockets commonly have three three individual rocket stages. Somewhat simplified, the first stage, with boosters, lifts the rocket off the ground, the second kicks provides the speed for entering into orbit and the third overcomes the shackles of earth gravity and sends the payload towards its deep space destination.
The Expedition employs a similar three stage approach to meeting the challenges.
The first step is to conceptualise, to describe the idea of challenge in words and images, making it real in the minds of people, to get the challenge off the ground.
The second step is the intermediate, a real world challenge that is possible to meet for many but still a challenge in it self and a remaining accomplishment. In orbit if you will.
The third step is reaching the final goal. It is is made possible by the two earlier steps and reaches for the fulfillment of the challenge and breaking free into deep space.
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peasantry
n. the class of peasants
the great unwashed, hoi polloi, people, mass, masses, multitude
n. the common people generally; "separate the warriors from the mass"; "power to the people"
ragtag, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rabble
n. disparaging terms for the common people
English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.[4][5] Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Britain that would later take their name, England, both names ultimately deriving from the Anglia peninsula in the Baltic Sea. It is closely related to the Frisian languages, but its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse (a North Germanic language), as well as by Latin and French.[6]
English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England and was a period in which the language was influenced by French.[7] Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London, the printing of the King James Bibleand the start of the Great Vowel Shift.[8]
Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, Modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media, and spurred by the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation and law.[9]
English is the third most spoken native language in the world, after Standard Chinese and Spanish.[10] It is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia.[11] It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union and many other world and regional international organisations. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch. English has a vast vocabulary, though counting how many words any language has is impossible.[12][13] English speakers are called "Anglophones".
Modern English grammar is the result of a gradual change from a typical Indo-European dependent marking pattern with a rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection, a fairly fixed SVO word order and a complex syntax.[14] Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses, aspect and mood, as well as passive constructions, interrogatives and some negation. Despite noticeable variation among the accents and dialects of English used in different countries and regions—in terms of phonetics and phonology, and sometimes also vocabulary, grammar and spelling—English-speakers from around the world are able to communicate with one another with relative ease.
Anglic languages
Anglo-Frisian languages
Anglic and
North Sea Germanic languagesAnglo-Frisian and
Low German/Low Saxon
West Germanic languages
North Sea Germanic and
Phylogenetic tree showing the historical relations between the languages of the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages
English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages.[15] Old Englishoriginated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the coast of the North Sea, whose languages are now known as the Anglo-Frisian subgroup within West Germanic. As such, the modern Frisian languages are the closest living relatives of Modern English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic (North Sea Germanic) languages, though this grouping remains debated.[16] Old English evolved into Middle English, which in turn evolved into Modern English.[17] Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other Anglic languages, including Scots[18] and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy (Yola) dialects of Ireland.[19]
Like Icelandic and Faroese, the development of English on the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and has since undergone substantial evolution. English is thus not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, differing in vocabulary, syntax, and phonology, although some, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages.[20]
Unlike Icelandic or Faroese, the long history of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and Norman French, left a profound mark of their own on the language, such that English shares substantial vocabulary and grammar similarities with many languages outside its linguistic clades, while also being unintelligible with any of those languages. Some scholars have even argued that English can be considered a mixed language or a creole—a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis. Although the high degree of influence from these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language.[21][22]
English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German, and Swedish.[23] These shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic. Some shared features of Germanic languages include the use of modal verbs, the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws. English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization).[24]
English sing, sang, sung; Dutch zingen, zong, gezongen; German singen, sang, gesungen (strong verb)
English laugh, laughed; Dutch and German lachen, lachte (weak verb)
English foot, Dutch voet, German Fuß, Norwegian and Swedish fot (initial /f/ derived from Proto-Indo-European *p through Grimm's law)
(Compare Latin pes, stem ped-; Modern Greek πόδι pódi; Russian под pod; Sanskrit पद् pád)
English cheese, Frisian tsiis (ch and ts from palatalisation); German Käse and Dutch kaas (k without palatalisation)
Proto-Germanic to Old English
The opening to the Old English epic poem Beowulf, handwritten in half-uncial script:
Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...
"Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon (c. 550–1066 CE). Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. In the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britainas the Roman economy and administration collapsed. By the seventh century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain, replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409 CE): Common Brittonic, a Celtic language, and Latin, brought to Britain by the Roman occupation.[25][26][27] England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc) are named after the Angles.[28]
Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon.[29] Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the ninth century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety.[30] The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn, is written in Northumbrian.[31] Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a runic script.[32] By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms. It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ and thorn ⟨þ⟩, and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ð⟩, and ash ⟨æ⟩.[32][33]
Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for 21st-century English speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German, and its closest relative is Old Frisian. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms, and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns (he, him, his) and a few verb endings (I have, he has), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings.[34][35][36]
The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 CE shows examples of case endings (nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and a verb ending (present plural):
Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest
Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅
fox-nom.pl have-prs.pl hole-acc.pl and heaven-gen.sg bird-nom.pl nest-acc.pl
"Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"[37]
Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, … Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting.
Although, from the beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, … Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing.
John of Trevisa, ca. 1385[38]
In the period from the 8th to the 12th century, Old English gradually transformed through language contact into Middle English. Middle English is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1200–1450.
First, the waves of Norse colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse, a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the Northeastern varieties of Old English spoken in the Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English. However the centre of norsified English seems to have been in the Midlands around Lindsey, and after 920 CE when Lindsey was reincorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, Norse features spread from there into English varieties that had not been in intense contact with Norse speakers. Some elements of Norse influence that persist in all English varieties today are the pronouns beginning with th-(they, them, their) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- (hie, him, hera).[39]
With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now norsified Old English language was subject to contact with the Old Norman language, a Romance languageclosely related to Modern French. The Norman language in England eventually developed into Anglo-Norman. Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking Anglo-Saxon, the influence of Norman consisted of introducing a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains.[40] Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative case was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to describing possession. The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms,[41] and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible.[42] By the Wycliffe Bible of the 1380s, the passage Matthew 8:20 was written
Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis[43]
Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present.
By the 12th century Middle English was fully developed, integrating both Norse and Norman features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer.
Graphic representation of the Great Vowel Shift, showing how the pronunciation of the long vowels gradually shifted, with the high vowels i: and u: breaking into diphthongs and the lower vowels each shifting their pronunciation up one level
The next period in the history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation.
The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift, meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised, and close vowels were broken into diphthongs. For example, the word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages.[44][45]
English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during the reign of Henry V. Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents, and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard, developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands. In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English.[46] Literature from the Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I. Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight, gnat, and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent the distinct characteristics of Early Modern English.[47]
In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says:
The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests[37]
This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with Subject-Verb-Object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and the introduction of loanwords from French (ayre) and word replacements (bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol).
Spread of Modern English
By the late 18th century, the British Empire had facilitated the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication.[48][9] As England continued to form new colonies, these, in turn, became independent and developed their own norms for how to speak and write the language. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australasia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others.[49][50][51] In the 20th century the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC[52] and other broadcasters, significantly accelerated the spread of the language across the planet.[53][54] By the 21st century, English was more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been.[55]
A major feature in the early development of Modern English was the codification of explicit norms for standard usage, and their dissemination through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language which introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language in an effort to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent from the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of the prestige varieties among the middle classes.[56]
In terms of grammatical evolution, Modern English has now reached a stage where the loss of case is almost complete (case is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him, she and her, who and whom), and where SVO word-order is mostly fixed.[56] Some changes, such as the use of do-support have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it was only used in question constructions where it was not obligatory.[57] Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing, appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer). British English is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the US as a world power. [58][59][60]
Geographical distribution
Percentage of English native speakers.
Percentage of English speakers by country.
As of 2016, 400 million people spoke English as their first language, and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language.[61] English is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin and Spanish.[10] However, when combining native and non-native speakers it may, depending on the estimate used, be the most commonly spoken language in the world.[55][62][63][64] English is spoken by communities on every continent and on oceanic islands in all the major oceans.[65]
The countries in which English is spoken can be grouped into different categories by how English is used in each country. The "inner circle"[66] countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms of English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world.
Three circles of English-speaking countries
Braj Kachru distinguishes countries where English is spoken with a three circles model.[66] In his model, the "inner circle" countries are countries with large communities of native speakers of English, "outer circle" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and "expanding circle" countries are countries where many learners learn English as a foreign language. Kachru bases his model on the history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time.[67]
Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English.
Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where a significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million),[68] the United Kingdom (60 million),[69][70][71] Canada (19 million),[72] Australia (at least 17 million),[73] South Africa (4.8 million),[74]Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million).[75] In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages or new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces.[76] The inner-circle countries provide the base from which English spreads to other countries in the world.[67]
Estimates of the number of English speakers who are second language and foreign-language speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1,000 million depending on how proficiency is defined.[11] Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.[62] In Kachru's three-circles model, the "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines,[77] Jamaica,[78] India, Pakistan, Singapore,[79] and Nigeria[80][81] with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and where English is routinely used for school instruction and official interactions with the government.[82]
Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to a more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English in the process of growing up through day by day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by speakers who are not native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners.[76] Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in the inner-circle countries,[76] and they may have grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries.[76]
In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as a foreign language make up the "expanding circle".[83] The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time.[82] For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it,[84] and thus English is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language.[85]
Many users of English in the expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use English.[86] Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties.[87] Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in the world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries.[88]
Pie chart showing the percentage of native English speakers living in "inner circle" English-speaking countries. Native speakers are now substantially outnumbered worldwide by second-language speakers of English (not counted in this chart).
US (64.3%)
UK (16.7%)
Canada (5.3%)
Australia (4.7%)
South Africa (1.3%)
Ireland (1.1%)
New Zealand (1%)
Other (5.6%)
Pluricentric English
English is a pluricentric language, which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language.[89][90][91][92] But English is not a divided language,[93] despite a long-standing joke originally attributed to George Bernard Shaw that the United Kingdom and the United States are "two countries separated by a common language".[94] Spoken English, for example English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are also established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents,[95] but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English. The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by the consensus of educated English-speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation.[96]
American listeners generally readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world.[97] Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers.[98]
The settlement history of the English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.[99] The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers,[100][68] although English has been given official status by only 30 of the 50 state governments of the US.[101][102]
English as a global language
English has ceased to be an "English language" in the sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English.[103][104] Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons.[105] Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries.[106]
As decolonisation proceeded throughout the British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies.[50][51][107] For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India.[108] English is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK.[109] However English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India.[110][111] David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world,[112] but the number of English speakers in India is very uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India.[113]
Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca,[53][114] is also regarded as the first world language.[115][116] English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy.[116] English is, by international treaty, the basis for the required controlled natural languages[117]Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring[118] and aviation.[119] English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field.[120] It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919.[121] By the time of the foundation of the United Nations at the end of World War II, English had become pre-eminent [122] and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations.[123] It is one of six official languages of the United Nations.[124] Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee, specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation.
Many regional international organisations such as the European Free Trade Association, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),[54] and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of the Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations.[125]
Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language.[53][54] In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than the UK, Ireland and Malta). In a 2012 official Eurobarometer poll, 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents.[126]
A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine[127] and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995.[128]
Specialised subsets of English arise spontaneously in international communities, for example, among international business people, as an auxiliary language. This has led some scholars to develop the study of English as an auxiliary language. Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words with highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English.
The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into the vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death,[129] and to claims of linguistic imperialism,[130] and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives.[131]
Although some scholars mention a possibility of future divergence of English dialects into mutually unintelligible languages, most think a more likely outcome is that English will continue to function as a koineisedlanguage in which the standard form unifies speakers from around the world.[132] English is used as the language for wider communication in countries around the world.[133] Thus English has grown in worldwide use much more than any constructed language proposed as an international auxiliary language, including Esperanto.[134][135]
The phonetics and phonology of the English language differ from one dialect to another, usually without interfering with mutual communication. Phonological variation affects the inventory of phonemes (i.e. speech sounds that distinguish meaning), and phonetic variation consists in differences in pronunciation of the phonemes. [136] This overview mainly describes the standard pronunciations of the United Kingdom and the United States: Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). (See § Dialects, accents, and varieties, below.)
The phonetic symbols used below are from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).[137][138][139]
Most English dialects share the same 24 consonant phonemes. The consonant inventory shown below is valid for Californian American English,[140] and for RP.[141]
Consonant phonemes
m n ŋ
p b t d tʃ dʒ k ɡ
Fricative
f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
Approximant
l ɹ* j w
* Conventionally transcribed /r/.
In the table, when obstruents (stops, affricates, and fricatives) appear in pairs, such as /p b/, /tʃ dʒ/, and /s z/, the first is fortis (strong) and the second is lenis (weak). Fortis obstruents, such as /p tʃ s/ are pronounced with more muscular tension and breath force than lenis consonants, such as /b dʒ z/, and are always voiceless. Lenis consonants are partly voiced at the beginning and end of utterances, and fully voiced between vowels. Fortis stops such as /p/ have additional articulatory or acoustic features in most dialects: they are aspirated [pʰ] when they occur alone at the beginning of a stressed syllable, often unaspirated in other cases, and often unreleased [p̚] or pre-glottalised [ʔp] at the end of a syllable. In a single-syllable word, a vowel before a fortis stop is shortened: thus nip has a noticeably shorter vowel (phonetically, but not phonemically) than nib [nɪˑb̥](see below).[142]
lenis stops: bin [b̥ɪˑn], about [əˈbaʊt], nib [nɪˑb̥]
fortis stops: pin [pʰɪn]; spin [spɪn]; happy [ˈhæpi]; nip [nɪp̚] or [nɪʔp]
In RP, the lateral approximant /l/, has two main allophones (pronunciation variants): the clear or plain [l], as in light, and the dark or velarised [ɫ], as in full.[143] GA has dark l in most cases.[144]
clear l: RP light [laɪt]
dark l: RP and GA full [fʊɫ], GA light [ɫaɪt]
All sonorants (liquids /l, r/ and nasals /m, n, ŋ/) devoice when following a voiceless obstruent, and they are syllabic when following a consonant at the end of a word.[145]
voiceless sonorants: clay [kl̥eɪ̯]; snow RP [sn̥əʊ̯], GA [sn̥oʊ̯]
syllabic sonorants: paddle [ˈpad.l̩], button [ˈbʌt.n̩]
The pronunciation of vowels varies a great deal between dialects and is one of the most detectable aspects of a speaker's accent. The table below lists the vowel phonemes in Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), with examples of words in which they occur from lexical sets compiled by linguists. The vowels are represented with symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet; those given for RP are standard in British dictionaries and other publications.[146]
Monophthongs
iː i need
ɪ bid
e ɛ bed
æ back
ɑː ɑ bra
ɒ box
ɔ, ɑ cloth
ɔː paw
uː u food
ʊ good
ʌ but
ɜː ɜr bird
ə comma
Closing diphthongs
eɪ bay
əʊ oʊ road
aɪ cry
aʊ cow
ɔɪ boy
Centering diphthongs
ɪə ɪɹ peer
eə ɛɹ pair
ʊə ʊɹ poor
In RP, vowel length is phonemic; long vowels are marked with a triangular colon ⟨ː⟩ in the table above, such as the vowel of need [niːd] as opposed to bid [bɪd]. In GA, vowel length is non-distinctive.
In both RP and GA, vowels are phonetically shortened before fortis consonants in the same syllable, like /t tʃ f/, but not before lenis consonants like /d dʒ v/ or in open syllables: thus, the vowels of rich [rɪtʃ], neat [nit], and safe [seɪ̯f] are noticeably shorter than the vowels of ridge [rɪˑdʒ], need [niˑd], and save [seˑɪ̯v], and the vowel of light [laɪ̯t] is shorter than that of lie [laˑɪ̯]. Because lenis consonants are frequently voiceless at the end of a syllable, vowel length is an important cue as to whether the following consonant is lenis or fortis.[147]
The vowel /ə/ only occurs in unstressed syllables and is closer in quality when followed by a morpheme-internal consonant and opener when morpheme-final or prevocalic.[148][149] Some dialects do not contrast /ɪ/ and /ə/in unstressed positions, so that rabbit and abbot rhyme and Lenin and Lennon are homophonous, a dialect feature called weak vowel merger.[150] GA /ɜr/ and /ər/ are realised as an r-coloured vowel [ɚ], as in further[ˈfɚðɚ] (phonemically /ˈfɜrðər/, which in RP is realised as [ˈfəːðə] (phonemically /ˈfɜːðə/).[151]
Phonotactics
An English syllable includes a syllable nucleus consisting of a vowel sound. Syllable onset and coda (start and end) are optional. A syllable can start with up to three consonant sounds, as in sprint /sprɪnt/, and end with up to four, as in texts /teksts/. This gives an English syllable the following structure, (CCC)V(CCCC) where C represents a consonant and V a vowel; the word strengths /strɛŋkθs/ is thus an example of the most complex syllable possible in English. The consonants that may appear together in onsets or codas are restricted, as is the order in which they may appear. Onsets can only have four types of consonant clusters: a stop and approximant, as in play; a voiceless fricative and approximant, as in fly or sly; s and a voiceless stop, as in stay; and s, a voiceless stop, and an approximant, as in string.[152] Clusters of nasal and stop are only allowed in codas. Clusters of obstruents always agree invoicing, and clusters of sibilants and of plosives with the same point of articulation are prohibited. Furthermore, several consonants have limited distributions: /h/ can only occur in syllable-initial position, and /ŋ/ only in syllable-final position.[153]
Stress, rhythm and intonation
Stress plays an important role in English. Certain syllables are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently reduced while vowels in stressed syllables are not.[154] Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as can, have weak and strong forms depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.
Stress in English is phonemic, and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word contract is stressed on the first syllable (/ˈkɒntrækt/ KON-trakt) when used as a noun, but on the last syllable (/kənˈtrækt/ kən-TRAKT) for most meanings (for example, "reduce in size") when used as a verb.[155][156][157] Here stress is connected to vowel reduction: in the noun "contract" the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel /ɒ/, but in the verb "contract" the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to /ə/. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. a burnout (/ˈbɜːrnaʊt/) versus to burn out (/ˈbɜːrn ˈaʊt/), and a hotdog (/ˈhɒtdɒɡ/) versus a hot dog (/ˈhɒt ˈdɒɡ/).[158]
In terms of rhythm, English is generally described as a stress-timed language, meaning that the amount of time between stressed syllables tends to be equal. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer, but unstressed syllables (syllables between stresses) are shortened. Vowels in unstressed syllables are shortened as well, and vowel shortening causes changes in vowel quality: vowel reduction.
Regional variation
showVarieties of Standard English and their features[159]
Dialects and low vowels
Lexical set
Sound change
/ɔː/ /ɔ/ or /ɑ/ /ɑ/ cot–caught merger
/ɒ/ lot–cloth split
/ɑ/ father–bother merger
/ɑː/
/æ/ /æ/ trap–bath split
/æ/
Varieties of English vary the most in pronunciation of vowels. The best known national varieties used as standards for education in non English-speaking countries are British (BrE) and American (AmE). Countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa have their own standard varieties which are less often used as standards for education internationally. Some differences between the various dialects are shown in the table "Varieties of Standard English and their features".[159]
English has undergone many historical sound changes, some of them affecting all varieties, and others affecting only a few. Most standard varieties are affected by the Great Vowel Shift, which changed the pronunciation of long vowels, but a few dialects have slightly different results. In North America, a number of chain shifts such as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and Canadian Shift have produced very different vowel landscapes in some regional accents.
Some dialects have fewer or more consonant phonemes and phones than the standard varieties. Some conservative varieties like Scottish English have a voiceless [ʍ] sound in whine that contrasts with the voiced [w] in wine, but most other dialects pronounce both words with voiced [w], a dialect feature called wine–whine merger. The unvoiced velar fricative sound /x/ is found in Scottish English, which distinguishes loch /lɔx/ from lock /lɔk/. Accents like Cockney with "h-dropping" lack the glottal fricative /h/, and dialects with th-stopping and th-fronting like African American Vernacular and Estuary English do not have the dental fricatives /θ, ð/, but replace them with dental or alveolar stops /t, d/ or labiodental fricatives /f, v/.[160][161] Other changes affecting the phonology of local varieties are processes such as yod-dropping, yod-coalescence, and reduction of consonant clusters.
General American and Received Pronunciation vary in their pronunciation of historical /r/ after a vowel at the end of a syllable (in the syllable coda). GA is a rhotic dialect, meaning that it pronounces /r/ at the end of a syllable, but RP is non-rhotic, meaning that it loses /r/ in that position. English dialects are classified as rhotic or non-rhotic depending on whether they elide /r/ like RP or keep it like GA.[162]
There is complex dialectal variation in words with the open front and open back vowels /æ ɑː ɒ ɔː/. These four vowels are only distinguished in RP, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In GA, these vowels merge to three /æ ɑ ɔ/,[163] and in Canadian English, they merge to two /æ ɑ/.[164] In addition, the words that have each vowel vary by dialect. The table "Dialects and open vowels" shows this variation with lexical sets in which these sounds occur.
As is typical of an Indo-European language, English follows accusative morphosyntactic alignment. Unlike other Indo-European languages though, English has largely abandoned the inflectional case system in favor of analytic constructions. Only the personal pronouns retain morphological case more strongly than any other word class. English distinguishes at least seven major word classes: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners (including articles), prepositions, and conjunctions. Some analyses add pronouns as a class separate from nouns, and subdivide conjunctions into subordinators and coordinators, and add the class of interjections.[165] English also has a rich set of auxiliary verbs, such as have and do, expressing the categories of mood and aspect. Questions are marked by do-support, wh-movement (fronting of question words beginning with wh-) and word order inversion with some verbs.
Some traits typical of Germanic languages persist in English, such as the distinction between irregularly inflected strong stems inflected through ablaut (i.e. changing the vowel of the stem, as in the pairs speak/spoke and foot/feet) and weak stems inflected through affixation (such as love/loved, hand/hands). Vestiges of the case and gender system are found in the pronoun system (he/him, who/whom) and in the inflection of the copula verb to be.
The seven word classes are exemplified in this sample sentence:[166]
The chairman of the committee and the loquacious politician clashed violently when the meeting started.
Det. Noun Prep. Det. Noun Conj. Det. Adj. Noun Verb Advb. Conj. Det. Noun Verb
Nouns and noun phrases
English nouns are only inflected for number and possession. New nouns can be formed through derivation or compounding. They are semantically divided into proper nouns (names) and common nouns. Common nouns are in turn divided into concrete and abstract nouns, and grammatically into count nouns and mass nouns.[167]
Most count nouns are inflected for plural number through the use of the plural suffix -s, but a few nouns have irregular plural forms. Mass nouns can only be pluralised through the use of a count noun classifier, e.g. one loaf of bread, two loaves of bread.[168]
Regular plural formation:
Singular: cat, dog
Plural: cats, dogs
Irregular plural formation:
Singular: man, woman, foot, fish, ox, knife, mouse
Plural: men, women, feet, fish, oxen, knives, mice
Possession can be expressed either by the possessive enclitic -s (also traditionally called a genitive suffix), or by the preposition of. Historically the -s possessive has been used for animate nouns, whereas the ofpossessive has been reserved for inanimate nouns. Today this distinction is less clear, and many speakers use -s also with inanimates. Orthographically the possessive -s is separated from the noun root with an apostrophe.
Possessive constructions:
With -s: The woman's husband's child
With of: The child of the husband of the woman
Nouns can form noun phrases (NPs) where they are the syntactic head of the words that depend on them such as determiners, quantifiers, conjunctions or adjectives.[169] Noun phrases can be short, such as the man, composed only of a determiner and a noun. They can also include modifiers such as adjectives (e.g. red, tall, all) and specifiers such as determiners (e.g. the, that). But they can also tie together several nouns into a single long NP, using conjunctions such as and, or prepositions such as with, e.g. the tall man with the long red trousers and his skinny wife with the spectacles (this NP uses conjunctions, prepositions, specifiers, and modifiers). Regardless of length, an NP functions as a syntactic unit. For example, the possessive enclitic can, in cases which do not lead to ambiguity, follow the entire noun phrase, as in The President of India's wife, where the enclitic follows India and not President.
The class of determiners is used to specify the noun they precede in terms of definiteness, where the marks a definite noun and a or an an indefinite one. A definite noun is assumed by the speaker to be already known by the interlocutor, whereas an indefinite noun is not specified as being previously known. Quantifiers, which include one, many, some and all, are used to specify the noun in terms of quantity or number. The noun must agree with the number of the determiner, e.g. one man (sg.) but all men (pl.). Determiners are the first constituents in a noun phrase.[170]
Adjectives modify a noun by providing additional information about their referents. In English, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and after determiners.[171] In Modern English, adjectives are not inflected, and they do not agree in form with the noun they modify, as adjectives in most other Indo-European languages do. For example, in the phrases the slender boy, and many slender girls, the adjective slender does not change form to agree with either the number or gender of the noun.
Some adjectives are inflected for degree of comparison, with the positive degree unmarked, the suffix -er marking the comparative, and -est marking the superlative: a small boy, the boy is smaller than the girl, that boy is the smallest. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as good, better, and best. Other adjectives have comparatives formed by periphrastic constructions, with the adverb more marking the comparative, and most marking the superlative: happier or more happy, the happiest or most happy.[172] There is some variation among speakers regarding which adjectives use inflected or periphrastic comparison, and some studies have shown a tendency for the periphrastic forms to become more common at the expense of the inflected form.[173]
Pronouns, case, and person
English pronouns conserve many traits of case and gender inflection. The personal pronouns retain a difference between subjective and objective case in most persons (I/me, he/him, she/her, we/us, they/them) as well as a gender and animateness distinction in the third person singular (distinguishing he/she/it). The subjective case corresponds to the Old English nominative case, and the objective case is used both in the sense of the previous accusative case (in the role of patient, or direct object of a transitive verb), and in the sense of the Old English dative case (in the role of a recipient or indirect object of a transitive verb).[174][175] Subjective case is used when the pronoun is the subject of a finite clause, and otherwise, the objective case is used.[176] While grammarians such as Henry Sweet[177] and Otto Jespersen[178] noted that the English cases did not correspond to the traditional Latin based system, some contemporary grammars, for example Huddleston & Pullum (2002), retain traditional labels for the cases, calling them nominative and accusative cases respectively.
Possessive pronouns exist in dependent and independent forms; the dependent form functions as a determiner specifying a noun (as in my chair), while the independent form can stand alone as if it were a noun (e.g. the chair is mine).[179] The English system of grammatical person no longer has a distinction between formal and informal pronouns of address (the old 2nd person singular familiar pronoun thou acquired a pejorative or inferior tinge of meaning and was abandoned), and the forms for 2nd person plural and singular are identical except in the reflexive form. Some dialects have introduced innovative 2nd person plural pronouns such as y'all found in Southern American English and African American (Vernacular) English or youse and ye found in Irish English.
English personal pronouns
Subjective case
Objective case
Dependent possessive
Independent possessive
Reflexive
1st p. sg.
I me my mine myself
2nd p. sg.
you you your yours yourself
3rd p. sg.
he/she/it him/her/it his/her/its his/hers/its himself/herself/itself
1st p. pl.
we us our ours ourselves
2nd p. pl.
you you your yours yourselves
3rd p. pl
they them their theirs themselves
Pronouns are used to refer to entities deictically or anaphorically. A deictic pronoun points to some person or object by identifying it relative to the speech situation—for example, the pronoun I identifies the speaker, and the pronoun you, the addressee. Anaphorical pronouns such as that refer back to an entity already mentioned or assumed by the speaker to be known by the audience, for example in the sentence I already told you that. The reflexive pronouns are used when the oblique argument is identical to the subject of a phrase (e.g. "he sent it to himself" or "she braced herself for impact").[180]
Prepositional phrases (PP) are phrases composed of a preposition and one or more nouns, e.g. with the dog, for my friend, to school, in England. Prepositions have a wide range of uses in English. They are used to describe movement, place, and other relations between different entities, but they also have many syntactic uses such as introducing complement clauses and oblique arguments of verbs. For example, in the phrase I gave it to him, the preposition to marks the recipient, or Indirect Object of the verb to give. Traditionally words were only considered prepositions if they governed the case of the noun they preceded, for example causing the pronouns to use the objective rather than subjective form, "with her", "to me", "for us". But some contemporary grammars such as that of Huddleston & Pullum (2002:598–600) no longer consider government of case to be the defining feature of the class of prepositions, rather defining prepositions as words that can function as the heads of prepositional phrases.
Verbs and verb phrases
English verbs are inflected for tense and aspect and marked for agreement with third person singular subject. Only the copula verb to be is still inflected for agreement with the plural and first and second person subjects.[172] Auxiliary verbs such as have and be are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form complex tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.[181][182]
Most verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third person singular present, and a preterite (past) form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund-participle and a past participle.[183] The copula verb to be is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first person present tense form is am, the third person singular form is and the form are is used second person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is been and its gerund-participle is being.
English inflectional forms
Inflection
Plain present
3rd person sg.
takes loves
took loved
Plain (infinitive)
Gerund–participle
taking loving
taken loved
Tense, aspect and mood
English has two primary tenses, past (preterit) and non-past. The preterit is inflected by using the preterit form of the verb, which for the regular verbs includes the suffix -ed, and for the strong verbs either the suffix -t or a change in the stem vowel. The non-past form is unmarked except in the third person singular, which takes the suffix -s.[181]
I run I ran
Second person
You run You ran
John runs John ran
English does not have a morphologised future tense.[184] Futurity of action is expressed periphrastically with one of the auxiliary verbs will or shall.[185] Many varieties also use a near future constructed with the phrasal verb be going to.[186]
I will run
You will run
John will run
Further aspectual distinctions are encoded by the use of auxiliary verbs, primarily have and be, which encode the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense (I have run vs. I was running), and compound tenses such as preterite perfect (I had been running) and present perfect (I have been running).[187]
For the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as can, may, will, shall and the past tense forms could, might, would, should. There is also a subjunctive and an imperative mood, both based on the plain form of the verb (i.e. without the third person singular -s), and which is used in subordinate clauses (e.g. subjunctive: It is important that he run every day; imperative Run!).[185]
An infinitive form, that uses the plain form of the verb and the preposition to, is used for verbal clauses that are syntactically subordinate to a finite verbal clause. Finite verbal clauses are those that are formed around a verb in the present or preterit form. In clauses with auxiliary verbs, they are the finite verbs and the main verb is treated as a subordinate clause. For example, he has to go where only the auxiliary verb have is inflected for time and the main verb to go is in the infinitive, or in a complement clause such as I saw him leave, where the main verb is to see which is in a preterite form, and leave is in the infinitive.
English also makes frequent use of constructions traditionally called phrasal verbs, verb phrases that are made up of a verb root and a preposition or particle which follows the verb. The phrase then functions as a single predicate. In terms of intonation the preposition is fused to the verb, but in writing it is written as a separate word. Examples of phrasal verbs are to get up, to ask out, to back up, to give up, to get together, to hang out, to put up with, etc. The phrasal verb frequently has a highly idiomatic meaning that is more specialised and restricted than what can be simply extrapolated from the combination of verb and preposition complement (e.g. lay off meaning terminate someone's employment).[188] In spite of the idiomatic meaning, some grammarians, including Huddleston & Pullum (2002:274), do not consider this type of construction to form a syntactic constituent and hence refrain from using the term "phrasal verb". Instead, they consider the construction simply to be a verb with a prepositional phrase as its syntactic complement, i.e. he woke up in the morning and he ran up in the mountains are syntactically equivalent.
The function of adverbs is to modify the action or event described by the verb by providing additional information about the manner in which it occurs. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives with the suffix -ly, but not all, and many speakers tend to omit the suffix in the most commonly used adverbs. For example, in the phrase the woman walked quickly the adverb quickly derived from the adjective quick describes the woman's way of walking. Some commonly used adjectives have irregular adverbial forms, such as good which has the adverbial form well.
In the English sentence The cat sat on the mat, the subject is the cat (a NP), the verb is sat, and on the mat is a prepositional phrase (composed of an NP the mat, and headed by the preposition on). The tree describes the structure of the sentence.
Modern English syntax language is moderately analytic.[189] It has developed features such as modal verbs and word order as resources for conveying meaning. Auxiliary verbsmark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the passive voice and progressive aspect.
Basic constituent order
English word order has moved from the Germanic verb-second (V2) word order to being almost exclusively subject–verb–object (SVO).[190] The combination of SVO order and use of auxiliary verbs often creates clusters of two or more verbs at the centre of the sentence, such as he had hoped to try to open it.
In most sentences, English only marks grammatical relations through word order.[191] The subject constituent precedes the verb and the object constituent follows it. The example below demonstrates how the grammatical roles of each constituent is marked only by the position relative to the verb:
The dog bites the man
S V O
The man bites the dog
An exception is found in sentences where one of the constituents is a pronoun, in which case it is doubly marked, both by word order and by case inflection, where the subject pronoun precedes the verb and takes the subjective case form, and the object pronoun follows the verb and takes the objective case form. The example below demonstrates this double marking in a sentence where both object and subject is represented with a third person singular masculine pronoun:
He hit him
Indirect objects (IO) of ditransitive verbs can be placed either as the first object in a double object construction (S V IO O), such as I gave Jane the book or in a prepositional phrase, such as I gave the book to Jane [192]
Clause syntax
In English a sentence may be composed of one or more clauses, that may, in turn, be composed of one or more phrases (e.g. Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases). A clause is built around a verb and includes its constituents, such as any NPs and PPs. Within a sentence, one clause is always the main clause (or matrix clause) whereas other clauses are subordinate to it. Subordinate clauses may function as arguments of the verb in the main clause. For example, in the phrase I think (that) you are lying, the main clause is headed by the verb think, the subject is I, but the object of the phrase is the subordinate clause (that) you are lying. The subordinating conjunction that shows that the clause that follows is a subordinate clause, but it is often omitted.[193] Relative clauses are clauses that function as a modifier or specifier to some constituent in the main clause: For example, in the sentence I saw the letter that you received today, the relative clause that you received today specifies the meaning of the word letter, the object of the main clause. Relative clauses can be introduced by the pronouns who, whose, whom and which as well as by that (which can also be omitted.)[194] In contrast to many other Germanic languages there is no major differences between word order in main and subordinate clauses.[195]
Auxiliary verb constructions
English syntax relies on auxiliary verbs for many functions including the expression of tense, aspect, and mood. Auxiliary verbs form main clauses, and the main verbs function as heads of a subordinate clause of the auxiliary verb. For example, in the sentence the dog did not find its bone, the clause find its bone is the complement of the negated verb did not. Subject–auxiliary inversion is used in many constructions, including focus, negation, and interrogative constructions.
The verb do can be used as an auxiliary even in simple declarative sentences, where it usually serves to add emphasis, as in "I did shut the fridge." However, in the negated and inverted clauses referred to above, it is used because the rules of English syntax permit these constructions only when an auxiliary is present. Modern English does not allow the addition of the negating adverb not to an ordinary finite lexical verb, as in *I know not—it can only be added to an auxiliary (or copular) verb, hence if there is no other auxiliary present when negation is required, the auxiliary do is used, to produce a form like I do not (don't) know. The same applies in clauses requiring inversion, including most questions—inversion must involve the subject and an auxiliary verb, so it is not possible to say *Know you him?; grammatical rules require Do you know him?[196]
Negation is done with the adverb not, which precedes the main verb and follows an auxiliary verb. A contracted form of not -n't can be used as an enclitic attaching to auxiliary verbs and to the copula verb to be. Just as with questions, many negative constructions require the negation to occur with do-support, thus in Modern English I don't know him is the correct answer to the question Do you know him?, but not *I know him not, although this construction may be found in older English.[197]
Passive constructions also use auxiliary verbs. A passive construction rephrases an active construction in such a way that the object of the active phrase becomes the subject of the passive phrase, and the subject of the active phrase is either omitted or demoted to a role as an oblique argument introduced in a prepositional phrase. They are formed by using the past participle either with the auxiliary verb to be or to get, although not all varieties of English allow the use of passives with get. For example, putting the sentence she sees him into the passive becomes he is seen (by her), or he gets seen (by her).[198]
Both yes–no questions and wh-questions in English are mostly formed using subject–auxiliary inversion (Am I going tomorrow?, Where can we eat?), which may require do-support (Do you like her?, Where did he go?). In most cases, interrogative words (wh-words; e.g. what, who, where, when, why, how) appear in a fronted position. For example, in the question What did you see?, the word what appears as the first constituent despite being the grammatical object of the sentence. (When the wh-word is the subject or forms part of the subject, no inversion occurs: Who saw the cat?.) Prepositional phrases can also be fronted when they are the question's theme, e.g. To whose house did you go last night?. The personal interrogative pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun to still show inflection for case, with the variant whom serving as the objective case form, although this form may be going out of use in many contexts.[199]
Discourse level syntax
While English is a subject-prominent language, at the discourse level it tends to use a topic-comment structure, where the known information (topic) precedes the new information (comment). Because of the strict SVO syntax, the topic of a sentence generally has to be the grammatical subject of the sentence. In cases where the topic is not the grammatical subject of the sentence, frequently the topic is promoted to subject position through syntactic means. One way of doing this is through a passive construction, the girl was stung by the bee. Another way is through a cleft sentence where the main clause is demoted to be a complement clause of a copula sentence with a dummy subject such as it or there, e.g. it was the girl that the bee stung, there was a girl who was stung by a bee.[200] Dummy subjects are also used in constructions where there is no grammatical subject such as with impersonal verbs (e.g., it is raining) or in existential clauses (there are many cars on the street). Through the use of these complex sentence constructions with informationally vacuous subjects, English is able to maintain both a topic-comment sentence structure and a SVO syntax.
Focus constructions emphasise a particular piece of new or salient information within a sentence, generally through allocating the main sentence level stress on the focal constituent. For example, the girl was stung by a bee (emphasising it was a bee and not, for example, a wasp that stung her), or The girl was stung by a bee (contrasting with another possibility, for example that it was the boy).[201] Topic and focus can also be established through syntactic dislocation, either preposing or postposing the item to be focused on relative to the main clause. For example, That girl over there, she was stung by a bee, emphasises the girl by preposition, but a similar effect could be achieved by postposition, she was stung by a bee, that girl over there, where reference to the girl is established as an "afterthought".[202]
Cohesion between sentences is achieved through the use of deictic pronouns as anaphora (e.g. that is exactly what I mean where that refers to some fact known to both interlocutors, or then used to locate the time of a narrated event relative to the time of a previously narrated event).[203] Discourse markers such as oh, so or well, also signal the progression of ideas between sentences and help to create cohesion. Discourse markers are often the first constituents in sentences. Discourse markers are also used for stance taking in which speakers position themselves in a specific attitude towards what is being said, for example, no way is that true! (the idiomatic marker no way! expressing disbelief), or boy! I'm hungry (the marker boy expressing emphasis). While discourse markers are particularly characteristic of informal and spoken registers of English, they are also used in written and formal registers.[204]
English is a rich language in terms of vocabulary, containing more synonyms than any other language.[130] There are words which appear on the surface to mean exactly the same thing but which, in fact, have slightly different shades of meaning and must be chosen appropriately if a speaker wants to convey precisely the message intended. It is generally stated that English has around 170,000 words, or 220,000 if obsolete words are counted; this estimate is based on the last full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1989.[205] Over half of these words are nouns, a quarter adjectives, and a seventh verbs. There is one count that puts the English vocabulary at about 1 million words—but that count presumably includes words such as Latin species names, scientific terminology, botanical terms, prefixed and suffixed words, jargon, foreign words of extremely limited English use, and technical acronyms.[13]
Due to its status as an international language, English adopts foreign words quickly, and borrows vocabulary from many other sources. Early studies of English vocabulary by lexicographers, the scholars who formally study vocabulary, compile dictionaries, or both, were impeded by a lack of comprehensive data on actual vocabulary in use from good-quality linguistic corpora,[206] collections of actual written texts and spoken passages. Many statements published before the end of the 20th century about the growth of English vocabulary over time, the dates of first use of various words in English, and the sources of English vocabulary will have to be corrected as new computerised analysis of linguistic corpus data becomes available.[13][207]
Word formation processes
English forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion,[208] using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding,[13][207] producing compound words such as babysitter or ice cream or homesick.[208] A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (-hood, -ness, -ing, -ility) to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of Latin or Greek origin).
Formation of new words, called neologisms, based on Greek and/or Latin roots (for example television or optometry) is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the "international scientific vocabulary" (ISV) when compiling Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961). Another active word-formation process in English is acronyms,[209] words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases (e.g. NATO, laser).
Source languages of English vocabulary[6][210]
English, besides forming new words from existing words and their roots, also borrows words from other languages. This adoption of words from other languages is commonplace in many world languages, but English has been especially open to borrowing of foreign words throughout the last 1,000 years.[211] The most commonly used words in English are West Germanic.[212] The words in English learned first by children as they learn to speak, particularly the grammatical words that dominate the word count of both spoken and written texts, are mainly the Germanic words inherited from the earliest periods of the development of Old English.[13]
But one of the consequences of long language contact between French and English in all stages of their development is that the vocabulary of English has a very high percentage of "Latinate" words (derived from French, especially, and also from Latin and other Romance languages). French words from various periods of the development of French now make up one-third of the vocabulary of English.[213] Words of Old Norse origin have entered the English language primarily from the contact between Old Norse and Old English during colonisation of eastern and northern England. Many of these words are part of English core vocabulary, such as egg and knife.[214]
English has also borrowed many words directly from Latin, the ancestor of the Romance languages, during all stages of its development.[207][13] Many of these words had earlier been borrowed into Latin from Greek. Latin or Greek are still highly productive sources of stems used to form vocabulary of subjects learned in higher education such as the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics.[215] English continues to gain new loanwords and calques ("loan translations") from languages all over the world, and words from languages other than the ancestral Anglo-Saxon language make up about 60% of the vocabulary of English.[216]
English has formal and informal speech registers; informal registers, including child-directed speech, tend to be made up predominantly of words of Anglo-Saxon origin, while the percentage of vocabulary that is of Latinate origin is higher in legal, scientific, and academic texts.[217][218]
English loanwords and calques in other languages
English has a strong influence on the vocabulary of other languages.[213][219] The influence of English comes from such factors as opinion leaders in other countries knowing the English language, the role of English as a world lingua franca, and the large number of books and films that are translated from English into other languages.[220] That pervasive use of English leads to a conclusion in many places that English is an especially suitable language for expressing new ideas or describing new technologies. Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages.[221] Some languages, such as Chinese, write words borrowed from English mostly as calques, while others, such as Japanese, readily take in English loanwords written in sound-indicating script.[222] Dubbed films and television programmes are an especially fruitful source of English influence on languages in Europe.[222]
Writing system
Since the ninth century, English has been written in a Latin alphabet (also called Roman alphabet). Earlier Old English texts in Anglo-Saxon runes are only short inscriptions. The great majority of literary works in Old English that survive to today are written in the Roman alphabet.[32] The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters of the Latin script: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z (which also have capitalforms: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).
The spelling system, or orthography, of English is multi-layered, with elements of French, Latin, and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system.[223] Further complications have arisen through sound changeswith which the orthography has not kept pace.[44] Compared to European languages for which official organisations have promoted spelling reforms, English has spelling that is a less consistent indicator of pronunciation, and standard spellings of words that are more difficult to guess from knowing how a word is pronounced.[224] There are also systematic spelling differences between British and American English. These situations have prompted proposals for spelling reform in English.[225]
Although letters and speech sounds do not have a one-to-one correspondence in standard English spelling, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetic changes in derived words, and word accent are reliable for most English words.[226] Moreover, standard English spelling shows etymological relationships between related words that would be obscured by a closer correspondence between pronunciation and spelling, for example the words photograph, photography, and photographic,[226] or the words electricity and electrical. While few scholars agree with Chomsky and Halle (1968) that conventional English orthography is "near-optimal",[223] there is a rationale for current English spelling patterns.[227] The standard orthography of English is the most widely used writing system in the world.[228] Standard English spelling is based on a graphomorphemic segmentation of words into written clues of what meaningful units make up each word.[229]
Readers of English can generally rely on the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation to be fairly regular for letters or digraphs used to spell consonant sounds. The letters b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y, z represent, respectively, the phonemes /b, d, f, h, dʒ, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, j, z/. The letters c and g normally represent /k/ and /ɡ/, but there is also a soft c pronounced /s/, and a soft g pronounced /dʒ/. The differences in the pronunciations of the letters c and g are often signalled by the following letters in standard English spelling. Digraphs used to represent phonemes and phoneme sequences include ch for /tʃ/, sh for /ʃ/, thfor /θ/ or /ð/, ng for /ŋ/, qu for /kw/, and ph for /f/ in Greek-derived words. The single letter x is generally pronounced as /z/ in word-initial position and as /ks/ otherwise. There are exceptions to these generalisations, often the result of loanwords being spelled according to the spelling patterns of their languages of origin[226] or proposals by pedantic scholars in the early period of Modern English to mistakenly follow the spelling patterns of Latin for English words of Germanic origin.[230]
For the vowel sounds of the English language, however, correspondences between spelling and pronunciation are more irregular. There are many more vowel phonemes in English than there are single vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, w, y). As a result, some "long vowels" are often indicated by combinations of letters (like the oa in boat, the ow in how, and the ay in stay), or the historically based silent e (as in note and cake).[227]
The consequence of this complex orthographic history is that learning to read can be challenging in English. It can take longer for school pupils to become independently fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including Italian, Spanish, and German.[231] Nonetheless, there is an advantage for learners of English reading in learning the specific sound-symbol regularities that occur in the standard English spellings of commonly used words.[226] Such instruction greatly reduces the risk of children experiencing reading difficulties in English.[232][233] Making primary school teachers more aware of the primacy of morpheme representation in English may help learners learn more efficiently to read and write English.[234]
English writing also includes a system of punctuation marks that is similar to those used in most alphabetic languages around the world. The purpose of punctuation is to mark meaningful grammatical relationships in sentences to aid readers in understanding a text and to indicate features important for reading a text aloud.[235]
Dialects, accents, and varieties
Dialectologists identify many English dialects, which usually refer to regional varieties that differ from each other in terms of patterns of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The pronunciation of particular areas distinguishes dialects as separate regional accents. The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into the two extremely general categories of British English (BrE) and North American English(NAE).[236] There also exists a third common major grouping of English varieties: Southern Hemisphere English, the most prominent being Australian and New Zealand English.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Map showing the main dialect regions in the UK and Ireland
As the place where English first evolved, the British Isles, and particularly England, are home to the most diverse dialects. Within the United Kingdom, the Received Pronunciation(RP), an educated dialect of South East England, is traditionally used as the broadcast standard and is considered the most prestigious of the British dialects. The spread of RP (also known as BBC English) through the media has caused many traditional dialects of rural England to recede, as youths adopt the traits of the prestige variety instead of traits from local dialects. At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to disappear.[237]
Nonetheless this attrition has mostly affected dialectal variation in grammar and vocabulary, and in fact, only 3 percent of the English population actually speak RP, the remainder speaking regional accents and dialects with varying degrees of RP influence.[238] There is also variability within RP, particularly along class lines between Upper and Middle-class RP speakers and between native RP speakers and speakers who adopt RP later in life.[239] Within Britain, there is also considerable variation along lines of social class, and some traits though exceedingly common are considered "non-standard" and are associated with lower class speakers and identities. An example of this is H-dropping, which was historically a feature of lower-class London English, particularly Cockney, and can now be heard in the local accents of most parts of England—yet it remains largely absent in broadcasting and among the upper crust of British society.[240]
English in England can be divided into four major dialect regions, Southwest English, South East English, Midlands English, and Northern English. Within each of these regions several local subdialects exist: Within the Northern region, there is a division between the Yorkshire dialects, and the Geordie dialect spoken in Northumbria around Newcastle, and the Lancashire dialects with local urban dialects in Liverpool (Scouse) and Manchester (Mancunian). Having been the centre of Danish occupation during the Viking Invasions, Northern English dialects, particularly the Yorkshire dialect, retain Norse features not found in other English varieties.[241]
Since the 15th century, southeastern England varieties centred around London, which has been the centre from which dialectal innovations have spread to other dialects. In London, the Cockney dialect was traditionally used by the lower classes, and it was long a socially stigmatised variety. The spread of Cockney features across the south-east led the media to talk of Estuary English as a new dialect, but the notion was criticised by many linguists on the grounds that London had influencing neighbouring regions throughout history.[242][243][244] Traits that have spread from London in recent decades include the use of intrusive R (drawing is pronounced drawring /ˈdrɔːrɪŋ/), t-glottalisation (Potter is pronounced with a glottal stop as Po'er /poʔʌ/), and the pronunciation of th- as /f/ (thanks pronounced fanks) or /v/ (bother pronounced bover). [245]
Scots is today considered a separate language from English, but it has its origins in early Northern Middle English[246] and developed and changed during its history with influence from other sources, particularly Scots Gaelic and Old Norse. Scots itself has a number of regional dialects. And in addition to Scots, Scottish English are the varieties of Standard English spoken in Scotland, most varieties are Northern English accents, with some influence from Scots.[247]
In Ireland, various forms of English have been spoken since the Norman invasions of the 11th century. In County Wexford, in the area surrounding Dublin, two extinct dialects known as Forth and Bargy and Fingallian developed as offshoots from Early Middle English, and were spoken until the 19th century. Modern Irish English, however, has its roots in English colonisation in the 17th century. Today Irish English is divided into Ulster English, the Northern Ireland dialect with strong influence from Scots, as well as various dialects of the Republic of Ireland. Like Scottish and most North American accents, almost all Irish accents preserve the rhoticity which has been lost in the dialects influenced by RP.[19][248]
Rhoticity dominates in North American English. The Atlas of North American English found over 50% non-rhoticity, though, in at least one local white speaker in each U.S. metropolitan area designated here by a red dot. Non-rhotic African American Vernacular English pronunciations may be found among African Americans regardless of location.
North American English is fairly homogeneous compared to British English. Today, American accent variation is often increasing at the regional level and decreasing at the very local level,[249] though most Americans still speak within a phonological continuum of similar accents,[250] known collectively as General American (GA), with differences hardly noticed even among Americans themselves (such as Midland and Western American English).[251][252][253] In most American and Canadian English dialects, rhoticity (or r-fulness) is dominant, with non-rhoticity (r-dropping) becoming associated with lower prestige and social class especially after World War II; this contrasts with the situation in England, where non-rhoticity has become the standard.[254]
Separate from GA are American dialects with clearly distinct sound systems, historically including Southern American English, English of the coastal Northeast (famously including Eastern New England English and New York City English), and African American Vernacular English, all of which are historically non-rhotic. Canadian English, except for the Atlantic provinces and perhaps Quebec, may be classified under GA as well, but it often shows the raising of the vowels /aɪ/ and /aʊ/before voiceless consonants, as well as distinct norms for written and pronunciation standards.[255]
In Southern American English, the most populous American "accent group" outside of GA,[256] rhoticity now strongly prevails, replacing the region's historical non-rhotic prestige.[257][258][259] Southern accents are colloquially described as a "drawl" or "twang,"[260] being recognised most readily by the Southern Vowel Shift initiated by glide-deleting in the /aɪ/ vowel (e.g. pronouncing spy almost like spa), the "Southern breaking" of several front pure vowels into a gliding vowel or even two syllables (e.g. pronouncing the word "press" almost like "pray-us"),[261] the pin–pen merger, and other distinctive phonological, grammatical, and lexical features, many of which are actually recent developments of the 19th century or later.[262]
Today spoken primarily by working- and middle-class African Americans, African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) is also largely non-rhotic and likely originated among enslaved Africans and African Americans influenced primarily by the non-rhotic, non-standard older Southern dialects. A minority of linguists,[263] contrarily, propose that AAVE mostly traces back to African languages spoken by the slaves who had to develop a pidgin or Creole English to communicate with slaves of other ethnic and linguistic origins.[264] AAVE's important commonalities with Southern accents suggests it developed into a highly coherent and homogeneous variety in the 19th or early 20th century. AAVE is commonly stigmatised in North America as a form of "broken" or "uneducated" English, as are white Southern accents, but linguists today recognise both as fully developed varieties of English with their own norms shared by a large speech community.[265][266]
Since 1788, English has been spoken in Oceania, and Australian English has developed as a first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, its standard accent being General Australian. The English of neighbouring New Zealand has to a lesser degree become an influential standard variety of the language.[267] Australian and New Zealand English are each other's closest relatives with few differentiating characteristics, followed by South African English and the English of southeastern England, all of which have similarly non-rhotic accents, aside from some accents in the South Island of New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand English stand out for their innovative vowels: many short vowels are fronted or raised, whereas many long vowels have diphthongised. Australian English also has a contrast between long and short vowels, not found in most other varieties. Australian English grammar aligns closely to British and American English; like American English, collective plural subjects take on a singular verb (as in the government is rather than are).[268][269] New Zealand English uses front vowels that are often even higher than in Australian English.[270][271][272]
Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia
English is spoken widely in South Africa and is an official or co-official language in several countries. In South Africa, English has been spoken since 1820, co-existing with Afrikaans and various African languages such as the Khoe and Bantu languages. Today about 9 percent of the South African population speak South African English (SAE) as a first language. SAE is a non-rhotic variety, which tends to follow RP as a norm. It is alone among non-rhotic varieties in lacking intrusive r. There are different L2 varieties that differ based on the native language of the speakers.[273] Most phonological differences from RP are in the vowels.[274] Consonant differences include the tendency to pronounce /p, t, t͡ʃ, k/ without aspiration (e.g. pin pronounced [pɪn] rather than as [pʰɪn] as in most other varieties), while r is often pronounced as a flap [ɾ] instead of as the more common fricative.[275]
Nigerian English is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria.[276] It is based on British English, but in recent years, because of influence from the United States, some words of American English origin have made it into Nigerian English. Additionally, some new words and collocations have emerged from the language, which come from the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. senior wife). Over 150 million population of Nigerians speak English.[277]
Several varieties of English are also spoken in the Caribbean Islands that were colonial possessions of Britain, including Jamaica, and the Leeward and Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Belize. Each of these areas are home both to a local variety of English and a local English based creole, combining English and African languages. The most prominent varieties are Jamaican English and Jamaican Creole. In Central America, English based creoles are spoken in on the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Panama.[278] Locals are often fluent both in the local English variety and the local creole languages and code-switching between them is frequent, indeed another way to conceptualise the relationship between Creole and Standard varieties is to see a spectrum of social registers with the Creole forms serving as "basilect" and the more RP-like forms serving as the "acrolect", the most formal register.[279]
Most Caribbean varieties are based on British English and consequently, most are non-rhotic, except for formal styles of Jamaican English which are often rhotic. Jamaican English differs from RP in its vowel inventory, which has a distinction between long and short vowels rather than tense and lax vowels as in Standard English. The diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ are monophthongs [eː] and [oː] or even the reverse diphthongs [ie] and [uo](e.g. bay and boat pronounced [bʲeː] and [bʷoːt]). Often word-final consonant clusters are simplified so that "child" is pronounced [t͡ʃail] and "wind" [win].[280][281][282]
As a historical legacy, Indian English tends to take RP as its ideal, and how well this ideal is realised in an individual's speech reflects class distinctions among Indian English speakers. Indian English accents are marked by the pronunciation of phonemes such as /t/ and /d/ (often pronounced with retroflex articulation as [ʈ] and [ɖ]) and the replacement of /θ/ and /ð/ with dentals [t̪] and [d̪]. Sometimes Indian English speakers may also use spelling based pronunciations where the silent ⟨h⟩ found in words such as ghost is pronounced as an Indian voiced aspirated stop [ɡʱ].[283]
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Smith, Jeremy J. (2 April 2009). Old English: a linguistic introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86677-4.
Statistics Canada (22 August 2014). "Population by mother tongue and age groups (total), 2011 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories". Retrieved 25 March 2015.
Statistics New Zealand (April 2014). "2013 QuickStats About Culture and Identity" (PDF). p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
Lehohla, Pali, ed. (2012). "Population by first language spoken and province" (PDF). Census 2011: Census in Brief (PDF). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-621-41388-5. Report No. 03‑01‑41. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2015.
Svartvik, Jan; Leech, Geoffrey (12 December 2006). English – One Tongue, Many Voices. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-1830-7. Retrieved 5 March 2015. Lay summary (16 March 2015).
Swan, M. (2006). "English in the Present Day (Since ca. 1900)". In Brown, Keith. Encyclopedia of language & linguistics. Elsevier. pp. 149–156. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/05058-6. ISBN 978-0-08-044299-0. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Lay summary (6 February 2015). – via ScienceDirect (Subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries.)
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Giulio Magnanini, Director of the Opéra de Nice choir
After studying music at the Ottorino Respighi school of music in Imperia, Giulio Magnanini completed his training as a pianist at the Niccolo’ Paganini conservatory in Genoa, and as choirmaster and head of composition at the Giuseppe Verdi conservatory in Turin. He began his career as a lead singer and choirmaster in a number of productions (The Marriage of Figaro, Cavalleria Rusticana, etc.).
From 1991 to 2003, he headed up the 'Cantores Bormani' choir in Imperia. He was hired by the Opéra de Nice in October 1994 as an assistant to the choirmaster Dante Ghersi, followed by Jean Laforge. He created his first ever production for the Opéra de Nice in July 1996, La Traviata, showcased as part of the 'Musiques au Cœur' festival in Antibes. He has overseen the Opéra de Nice choir since May 1997. Under his direction, the choir regularly excels in a variety of pieces produced in different seasons. His most recent successes include productions of Parsifal, Boris Godunov, La damnation de Faust, Norma at the Salle Pleyel alongside Edita Gruberova during a Parisian tour for which he received excellent reviews in the specialised press.
Since his appointment, he has worked to modernise the Opéra de Nice choir's repertoire, including a number of 'a cappella' pieces and contemporary works as part of the Opéra de Nice's symphonic seasons. Since July 2000, the Opéra de Nice choir has been regularly invited to perform at the prestigious Chorégies d’Orange.
Giulio Magnanini even took over directorship of all of the Chorégies choirs for a production of Carmen directed by Master Chung. For the 2006 edition, he headed up the Festival's choirs for a surprising version of Lucia di Lammermoor alongside Rolando Villazon and Patricia Ciofi, and returned in August 2010, with the Festival's management team entrusting him with the task of preparing the entire choir for Charles Gounod'sMireille.
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Language Socialization in Bilingual and Multilingual Societies Edited by: Robert Bayley, Sandra Schecter
Bilingual Education & Bilingualism
Language Socialization in Bilingual and Multilingual Societies is a multidisciplinary, multinational collection of essays that explore language socialization from very early childhood through adulthood, not only in oftenstudied communities in Canada and the United States, but also in Australia, Bolivia, Egypt, India and Slovakia. The global perspective gained by the inclusion of studies of communities representing every inhabited continent provides readers with an indication of the richness of the field as well as a guide for future work. The book includes chapters focusing on language socialization at different stages of the lifespan – at home and in schools, communities and workplaces. Authors focus on well-known communities, such as Mexican-Americans in the United States and Francophones in Canada, as well as on communities that are less familiar to many readers, such as the Aymara in Bolivia, the Inuit in northern Québec and minority Hungarians in Slovakia. The breadth and theoretical sophistication of this volume make it a suitable text for upper-division and graduate courses in bilingualism, language education and sociolinguistics.
Robert Bayley is Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he specializes in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. He is co-author of Sociolinguistic Variation in American Sign Language (Gallaudet UP, 2001) and Language as Cultural Practice (Erlbaum, 2002).
Sandra R. Schecter is Associate Professor of Education and Women’s Studies at York University in Toronto, where she teaches courses in language pedagogy, communication and research methods. An ethnolinguist, she is co-author of Language as Cultural Practice (Erlbaum, 2002) and co-editor of On Becoming a Language Educator (Erlbaum, 1997).
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Al Jazeera archived on Wednesday March 16, 2016 at 7:56 p.m. UTC
That was 10:56 p.m. local time in Doha. Citations.
"Al Jazeera homepage at March 16, 2016, 7:56 p.m. UTC." PastPages. 16 March 2016. Web. 16 July 2019. <http://www.pastpages.org/screenshot/2822592/>
Al Jazeera homepage at March 16, 2016, 7:56 p.m. UTC. (2016, March 16). PastPages. Retrieved from http://www.pastpages.org/screenshot/2822592/
"Al Jazeera homepage at March 16, 2016, 7:56 p.m. UTC." PastPages. Last modified March 16, 2016, http://www.pastpages.org/screenshot/2822592/.
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["412","1552","1553"]
Homepage // Investors // Governance // Board of Directors
PolyOne Corporation’s board of directors is comprised of individuals of substantial accomplishment with demonstrated leadership capabilities. Each of our directors also has the following personal characteristics, which are required attributes for all board members: high ethical standards, integrity, judgment and an ability to devote sufficient time to the affairs of our Company. Our board members are:
Robert M. Patterson
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of PolyOne since May 2016. Mr. Patterson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of PolyOne from May 2014 until May 2016, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from March 2012 until May 2014, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from January 2011 until March 2012, and as PolyOne’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from May 2008 until January 2011. Prior to joining PolyOne, Mr. Patterson served in leadership roles at Novelis, Inc., an aluminum rolled products manufacturer, and SPX Corporation, a multi-industry manufacturer and developer, after starting his career at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Robert E. Abernathy
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halyard Health, Inc., a medical technology company that focuses on eliminating pain, speeding recovery, and preventing infection for healthcare providers and patients worldwide. Mr. Abernathy served as Chief Executive Officer of Halyard Health from its spinoff from Kimberly-Clark in October 2014 until his retirement in June 2017, during which time he also served as Chairman. He continued as Chairman until September 2017. Prior to that, he worked for Kimberly-Clark, a global personal care products company. He joined Kimberly-Clark in 1982 and served in numerous roles of increasing responsibility, including President, Global Healthcare from June 2014 until October 2014 and Executive Vice President, from November 2013 to June 2014.
Richard H. Fearon
Lead Director of our Board since May 14, 2015. Chief Financial and Planning Officer of Eaton, a global manufacturing company since April 2002 and Vice Chairman since January 2009. Mr. Fearon is responsible for the accounting, control, corporate development, information systems, internal audit, investor relations, strategic planning, tax and treasury functions of Eaton. Prior to Eaton, Mr. Fearon worked at several large diversified companies, including Transamerica Corporation, NatSteel Limited and The Walt Disney Company. He also serves on the boards of The Playhouse Square Foundation, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Manufacturers Alliance, a trade organization of leading manufacturing companies.
Gregory J. Goff
Executive Vice Chairman of Marathon Petroleum Corporation, a leading, integrated, downstream energy company, since October 2018. Prior to joining Marathon, Mr. Goff served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Andeavor from 2010 to 2018, and as Chairman from December 2014 to 2018, of Andeavor (formerly Tesoro Corporation), a leading company in the independent refining and marketing business. He also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Andeavor Logistics LP (formerly Tesoro Logistics LP), a NYSE-listed master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops crude oil and refined products and logistics assets, from April 2011 to 2018. Prior to joining Tesoro in 2010, Mr. Goff worked for ConocoPhillips Corporation, an integrated energy company, where he held a number of senior leadership positions, most recently Senior Vice President Commercial from 2008 to 2010.
William R. Jellison
Retired Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Stryker Corporation, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. Mr. Jellison served in this capacity from 2013 to 2016. Prior to joining Stryker, Mr. Jellison served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dentsply International, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products, from 1998 to 2013, except for a roughly two-year period of time between 2002 and 2005 when he was a Senior Vice President with full P&L responsibilities for some of Dentsply’s operating divisions located in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Mr. Jellison began his career with the Donnelly Corporation, a publicly traded international automotive parts supplier, where he served in several senior leadership roles, advancing to Vice President of Finance.
Sandra Beach Lin
Retired President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Calisolar, Inc. (now Silicor Materials Inc.), a solar silicon company, from August 2010 to 2011. She was Executive Vice President, then Corporate Executive Vice President, at Celanese Corporation, a global hybrid chemical company, from 2007 to 2010. Prior to Celanese, Ms. Beach Lin held global senior executive positions at Avery Dennison Corporation, Alcoa and Honeywell International.
Kim Ann Mink
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Innophos Holdings, Inc., a leading international producer of performance-critical and nutritional functional ingredients, with applications in food, health and industrial specialties markets, since 2015. Prior to joining Innophos, Dr. Mink served as Business President of Elastomers, Electrical and Telecommunications at the Dow Chemical Company, a specialty chemicals provider, from September 2012 to December 2015. She joined Dow in April 2009 as Global General Manager, Performance Materials and President and Chief Executive Officer of ANGUS Chemical Co. (then a fully-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical). Prior to joining Dow, she was Corporate Vice President and Global General Manager, Ion Exchange Resins at the Rohm and Haas Company (now a fully-owned subsidiary of Dow), where she spent more than 20 years serving in numerous senior roles with increasing responsibilities.
Kerry J. Preete
Retired Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer for Monsanto Company, a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality, since 2010. Mr. Preete was Monsanto Company’s President, Global Crop Protection Division from 2009 to 2010 and Vice President, International Commercial Business from 2008 to 2009. From 1985 to 2008, Mr. Preete served in various roles of increasing responsibility at Monsanto.
William A. Wulfsohn
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Global Holdings Inc., a global leader in providing specialty chemical solutions to customers in a wide range of customer and industrial markets, since January 2015. He was also Non-Executive Chairman of Valvoline Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Ashland Global Holdings and a leading worldwide producer and distributer of premium-branded automotive, commercial and industrial lubricants and automotive chemicals, from September 2016 until September 2017. He did not stand for re-election to the Valvoline Board and ceased serving as a director at the end of January 2018. From July 2010 until December 2014, Mr. Wulfsohn was President and Chief Executive Officer of Carpenter Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of stainless steel, titanium and other specialty metals and engineered products, and was a director of Carpenter from April 2009 until December 2014.
Current Committee Membership
= Member =Chairperson
Patricia Verduin
Management directors
Financial Fundamentals
Reporting & SEC Filings
Consensus Earnings Estimates
PolyOne Company Officers
Collaboration. Innovation. Excellence. Read about our 2018 performance.
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After being formed in 2006 and achieving first respectable successes in 2008, Phi have since released their critically acclaimed album “Years Of Breathing” and consequently toured the stages of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania. By means of their brand new album “Now The Waves Of Sound Remain”, the power trio now presents the fascinating result of the artistic vision that the band likes to call “double bottom”.
Markus Bratusa – vocals, guitars, programming; Arthur Darnhofer-Demár – bass, vocals; Gabe Cresnar – drums
The album opens with “Buy Your Piece Of Love” a four minute track in which the band are mixing slow art-rock parts with up-tempo rock refrains with heavy guitar walls. To be honest, this kind of music is not my cup of tea (too much rock orientated for me). In the second eight minute track “Welcome Tomorrow” the band has more time to build a song with more diversity. It is a piece with a slow brooding atmosphere and includes passionate vocals and interesting guitar sounds.
The next piece “Tune In Zone Out” has again an up-tempo opening. The guitar sound of the refrain has some Rush influences. “Maybe Sometime Else Then” is a very nice track in which all the elements of the music of Phi are coming nice together. For me so far the best track. “Revolution By Design” is again a short track in a rock vein, the drum parts of this composition are very nice. “Behind A Veil Of Snow” is full of strange guitar sounds. The short (under the three minutes) The “Liquid Hourglass” has some beautiful vocal harmonies and a surprisingly ending.
Then it is time for the title track of the album. With more then ten minutes “Now The Waves Of Sound Remain” is also the longest track of the album. The track opens with acoustic guitars and a nice vocal part. You can find a mix of melodic guitar solos and heavy and experimental rhythm guitar parts in this diverse composition. The band has now my full attention. For me this long track is the highlight of this album. Maybe because the track is the most art- and progressive rock orientated composition of this album. The last song is called “This Last Favour”. After a slow opening the song develops into a more guitar orientated piece of rock. Like in the most short tracks of the album the band is mixing parts of art-rock with heavy and up-tempo rock parts.
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this second album of the Austrian formation Phi. The album has two faces and the band is trying to mix those two faces in every song. Guitar orientated rock parts are mixed with parts that are more art- and progressive rock orientated. For me the long tracks of the album are the most interesting because they have more diversity (the more art- and progressive rock side of the music). But I am aware that this is about a personal taste of mine. “Now The Waves Of Sound Remain” is a good album of a bunch of talented guys. And also very important, the album sounds great. I would recommend this album to the people who are more into guitar orientated rock music and are open minded to a power trio that experiments with new art-rock elements in their music.
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'Fake news' Word of the Year for 2017
Last Updated : 02 Nov 2017 08:25:40 PM IST
File Photo: Donald Trump
The Collins English Dictionary has called the term "fake news", frequently used by US President Donald Trump, as 2017's Word of the Year due to its "ubiquitous presence", the media reported on Thursday.
The Dictionary's lexicographers, who monitor the 4.5 billion-word Collins corpus, said that usage of the term had increased by 365 per cent since 2016, reports the Guardian.
The phrase, often capitalised, is frequently a feature of Trump's rhetoric; in the last few days alone he has tweeted of how "the Fake News is working overtime" in relation to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.
Trump has used the term frequently, and claimed last week to have invented it - "the media is really, the word, one of the greatest of all (the) terms I've come up with, is ‘fake'... I guess other people have used it perhaps over the years, but I've never noticed it," he told an interviewer. This etymology was disputed by the dictionary.
Collins said that "fake news" started being used in the noughties on US television to describe "false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting".
Its usage has climbed since 2015, according to the dictionary, and really took off this year, with its ubiquity to be acknowledged with a place in the next print edition of the Collins Dictionary.
A number of other words related to politics and current affairs were also in its list of the words of the year, the Guardian reported.
"Echo chamber", defined as "an environment, especially on a social media site, in which any statement of opinion is likely to be greeted with approval because it will only be read or heard by people who hold similar views", has seen a "steady increase" in usage over the last five years , while "antifa" saw its usage rise by almost 7,000 per cent following violent clashes between anti-fascist protesters and the far right, particularly in the US.
Corbynmania, up by 310 per cent, was also on the list: Collins said the term for "fervent enthusiasm" for UK's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn "first emerged in 2015 and after a dip last year made a striking comeback in 2017 as the Labour leader impressed on the campaign trail".
"Much of this year's list is definitely politically charged, but with a new president in the US and a snap election in the UK, it is perhaps no surprise that politics continues to electrify the language," said Collins's head of language content, Helen Newstead.
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'Weeping out of fear of Allah illuminates the heart and shields against returning to the sin.'
Ibid. no. 2016
Library » Anecdotes for Reflection » Chapter 2: Beneficence
Chapter 2: Beneficence
Allah, the Wise, has said:
إنَّ اللهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا وَ الَّذِينَ هُم مُحسِنُونَ
"Surely Allah is with those who guard (against evil) and those who do good (to others)." [16]
Imam 'Ali (a.s.) has stated:
عاَتِب اَخاَكَ بِالإِحساَنِ اِلَيهِ
"Admonish your brother (in faith) by exhibiting kindness towards him." [17]
Short Explanation
Allah loves the person who possesses the attribute of beneficence. Just as Allah has exhibited kindness towards us, it is essential for us to exhibit a greater beneficence towards others.
Even if a person has wronged us, we should respond with kindness and not repay evil with evil, as this would only add fuel to the fire and cause an increase in malice and enmity.
The conduct of Divine personalities was such that if they were greeted, they would return the greeting in a better and more complete manner and if goodness was done to them, they would repay it, augmented and amplified.
Those who do goodness and exhibit beneficence towards others, attract the hearts of the people, while their deeds hurt Shaytan.
It should be noted that those who do good do not devalue or spoil their kind deeds by placing any kind of obligation (upon the person towards whom kindness is exhibited).
1 – Imam Husain’s (a.s.) Kindness to the Camel-Driver
Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said:
"A man was trailing a woman when she was busy circling the Ka’bah. The woman was raising her hands in prayer when the man placed his hand upon her arm; at that moment God glued his hand to the women’s arm.
People thronged to witness this strange happening in such great numbers that all movement was hindered. A person was sent to the Emir of Makkah to inform him of the incident. He gathered all the scholars around him and together they tried to settle on a suitable resolution to the problem. Many ordinary people also assembled, interested to know the sentence that would be pronounced for this crime.
As they all stood perplexed over the issue, the Emir finally said, "Is there anyone from the family of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) here?"
Those around him said, "Yes! Husain Ibn 'A'li (a.s.) is here."
That night, the Emir ordered the Imam (a.s.) to be brought before him. He sought to know the ruling for this incident from the Imam (a.s.).
First, the Imam (a.s.) turned towards the Ka’bah and raised his hands. He stood in this position for a while, after which he supplicated. Then, approaching the man the Imam separated his glued hand from the arm of the woman by the power of his Imamate.
The Emir asked the Imam (a.s.), "O’ Husain (a.s.)! Should I not punish him?"
"No," replied the Imam (a.s.).
The author says: This was the kindness which the Imam (a.s.) had exhibited towards the camel-driver, but it was the same person who repaid this act of kindness by cutting off the Imam’s hands in order to snatch his (a.s.) belt, in the darkness of the night of 11th Muharram.[18]
2 – Abu Ayyub Ansaari
Abu Ayyub Ansaari was one of the distinguished companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). When the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) migrated from Makkah to Madinah, all the tribes of Madinah requested him to stay with them, but he said:
"The place where I stay shall depend on where my camel sits down."
When the procession reached a place near the houses of Bani Maalik Ibn Najjar, which later came to house the door of the Prophet’s mosque, the camel sat down to rest. But a short while later it stood up again and began to walk, only to return and rest at the place where it had previously rested.
The people began approaching the Holy Prophet (s.a.w), and inviting him to be their guest. Seeing this, Abu Ayyub immediately lifted the Holy Prophet’s (s.a.w.) saddlebag from the camel’s back and carried it into his own house.
When the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) noticed that the saddlebag was missing, he inquired, "What has happened to the saddle-bag?"
Those around him informed him that Abu Ayyub had taken it into his own house.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) remarked: "A person should alwaysaccompany his luggage," and then proceeded into Abu Ayyub’s house and stayed there till the time when the houses around the mosque were constructed.
Initially, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) was accommodated in a room on the ground floor, whereas Abu Ayyub occupied the top storey, but later, he requested:
"O’ Messenger of Allah! It is unbecoming that you stay below, while we occupy the top storey; it would be more appropriate if you were to move to the top."
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) agreed and asked for his things to be moved to the top.
Abu Ayyub was in the ranks of Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) and participated in battles like Badr and Uhud, fighting against the enemies of Islam and putting on a scintillating exhibition of valour and courage.
One night, on the way back home after victory in the battle of Khaibar, Abu Ayyub stayed awake the entire night, guarding the tent of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.).
When morning dawned, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) inquired: "Who is out there?"
"It’s me, Abu Ayyub," came the reply.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) twice said, "May Allah exhibit mercy upon you!"
Thus, Abu Ayyub, through the kindness he showed to the Prophet, both with his money and his soul, became the beneficiary of this supplication of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.). [19]
3 - Recompense for the Poems
One Nawroz day, Mansur Dawaaniqi, the Abbasid Caliph who took over the caliphate after his brother Abu al-A’bbas Saffaah, ordered Imam Musa Kadhim (a.s.) to present himself in the gathering of the Eid of Nawroz. This was so that the people could come and greet him and offer their gifts to him, which he should accept.
The Imam (a.s.) told Mansur, "Nawroz is the customary Eid of the Iranians and nothing has been said about it in Islam."
To which Mansur replied, "This act is politically motivated and is intended to keep my soldiers happy. I place you under the oath of the Great God that you accept my request and present yourself at that gathering."
The Imam (a.s.) agreed and arrived at the assembly. The army generals, nobles and the common masses arrived in his august presence, greeted him, and presented their gifts to him.
In the meantime, Mansur had ordered one of his slaves to position himself near the Imam (a.s.) and maintain a record of the money and gifts presented to him. The last person who had come to meet the Imam (a.s.) was an old man, who said to him:
"O’ Son of the Messenger of Allah! I am an impoverished person and lack the money to present you with gifts, but my gift for you today are three verses of elegy, which my grandfather had composed for your grandfather, Husain Ibn A'li(a.s.)."
Having said this, he then recited the verses.[20]
The Imam (a.s.) responded appreciatively, saying, "I have accepted your gift," after which he prayed for the man.
Then, turning to the slave, he instructed, "Go to Mansur, inform him of these gifts and ask him what has to be done about them?"
The slave did as he was told and upon returning, said to the Imam (a.s.):
"The Caliph has said: I have given them to you (Imam Musa Kadhim) as gifts. Spend them as you desire."
The Imam (a.s.) told the old man, "Take these riches and gifts, for I am giving them all to you as gifts." [21]
4 - Yusuf (a.s.) and his Brothers
Years after the incident when the brothers of Yusuf (a.s.) had deceptively taken him outside the city, beaten him and flung him into the well thereby forcing their father into perpetual weeping and anguish over his loss, the brothers heard that Yusuf had become the king of Misr. They and their father went to meet him.
The very first sentence which Yusuf uttered upon seeing them, was: And He was indeed kind to me when He took me out of the prison. [22]
Apparently, it was out of courtesy that Yusuf desisted from mentioning the troubles he had experienced; first being flung into the well, then his subsequent slavery and then unpleasant incidents, which he had to endure due to the acts of his brothers. He did not wish to revive those bitter memories, which would cause them to experience mortification and embarrassment.
He then added, "It was Shaitan who incited my brothers to commit those inappropriate deeds towards me, hurling me into the well and separating me from my father; however, the Glorious God exhibited kindness towards me in that he made those very acts a means for granting eminence and reverence to our family!"
Attributing the unjust acts of his brothers to Shaytan and regarding him as the prime culprit for the crimes of his brothers, was another example of Yusuf’s (a.s.) magnanimity. He thus shielded them from embarrassment and left them with an opportunity to apologize for their deeds.
"There shall be no reproof against you, (from) this day.[23] You can rest assured with respect to me, for I have forgiven you and chosen to disregard all that has happened previously, and on behalf of God too, I can give you this good news and seek from Him that Allah may forgive you and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful. [24]
"Surely he who guards (against evil) and is patient (is rewarded)[25]for surely Allah does not waste the reward of those who do good." [26]
Author’s note: The lesson, which Hadhrat Yusuf (a.s.) taught everyone, was that of exhibiting kindness and beneficence in response to evil behaviour, and hopefully, we too can conduct ourselves in the same manner with respect to our brethren-in-faith, Inshaallah.
[16] Holy Qur'an, ch. Al-Nahl (16), vs. 128.
[17] Nahjul Balaghah (Faidh al-Islam), pg. 1165.
[18] Raahnama-e-Sa’adat, vol. 1, pg. 36; Shajarah-e-Tuba, pg. 422.
[19] Payghambar Wa Yaraan, vol. 1, pg. 20-27; Bihaar al-Anwaar, vol. 6, pg. 554.
[20]عَجِبتُ لِمَصقُولٍ عَلاَكَ فرِندُهُ يَوْم الْهياَجِ عَلاَکَ غُباَر
[21] Muntahal Aa’maal, vol. 2, pg. 187.
[22] Holy Qur’an, ch. Yusuf (12), vs. 100.
[23] Holy Qur’an, ch. Yusuf (12), vs. 92.
[24] Ibid, vs. 92.
[25] Ibid, vs. 90 مَن يَتَّقِ وَ يَصبر فإنَّ اللهَ لاَ يُضِيعُ اَجرَ الْمُحسِنِين
[26] Taareekh-e-Anbiya, pg. 334-347.
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A look inside the Storehouse Pantry
01Cover
02In this edition
03Peer navigators
04A look inside the Storehouse Pantry
05“Now I look forward to going to work”
06Repairs policy update
07Access all areas
08Getting along with your neighbours
09Meeting housing need through new build
10Your first point of contact
11Donate it, sell it or recycle it
12Bolton’s biggest packed lunch scheme gets rolling
13Litter picking groups
Every Thursday at 1.30pm, the Storehouse Pantry at Johnson Fold opens its doors to the local community. All morning, volunteers have been busy stocking shelves with fresh produce donated from supermarkets, shops and schools.
For a membership fee of £2.50 a week, customers can fill their shopping baskets with fruit and vegetables, meat, tinned foods and household essentials.
It sounds like a food bank but it isn’t. The pantry has been set up to help anyone on a tight budget, even if they’re not eligible for food bank vouchers. And, during their visit, tenants can use a range of other services based at the pantry. Advice on managing money, healthy eating and getting into work are just some of the support services available.
There’s a distinctly different vibe going on here too. The pantry is a friendly, welcoming hub where neighbours can meet for a chat over a cup of tea.
A community-run service
Lisa Bradley, community development officer, says the pantry has become an important part of community life. “The pantry is a perfect example of a service that’s run by the local community for the community. Since opening its doors in November 2015, the pantry has provided food to hundreds of families. But, more than that, it’s become a place where residents can come together to talk about their lives.
“We focus on creating a relaxed atmosphere, where people don’t feel stigmatised, and where they feel comfortable enough to ask for help with other problems such as debt, managing their home, relationship problems and mental health. The pantry also runs cooking sessions where adults and children can try out new recipes.”
The pantry’s success is down to the hard-working staff and volunteers from each of the partner organisations who set it up – Urban Outreach (a local charity), St Peter’s Parish and Bolton at Home – as well as local tenants.
“Urban Outreach has been instrumental in securing commitments from local retailers, big and small,” says Lisa. “We’ve just started working with Marks & Spencer, which is pretty exciting as it’s really extended the choice of foods we have available – we’ve had prawn rings on the shelves recently.
“We look for healthy foods and always make sure there’s a good selection of fruit and vegetables on offer, which are often overlooked by families trying to make their money go further.”
Lisa goes on to praise the volunteers: “We have around 30 volunteers who run the pantry and greet visitors each week. Most of them are Bolton at Home tenants and, while we make sure they have the relevant training and support to do the job, in return they tell us about the satisfaction they get from helping other people. They’re truly dedicated to the project and, without them, we wouldn’t be able to offer the service.”
The Johnson Fold Storehouse Pantry is based at The Hope Centre, St Andrew’s Church, Tattersall Avenue, and is open every Thursday 1.30-3.30pm.
Another pantry is situated in our New Bury UCAN Centre at 53-55 George Street, Farnworth, and is open every Thursday, 10am-12pm.
To find out more about joining a Storehouse Pantry, or to become a volunteer working in one, contact Lisa Bradley on 01204 329568 or at lisa.bradley@boltonathome.org.uk
If you have a story to share, please email news@boltonathome.org.uk
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Extreme makeover-- Paramount edition: Tarting up a tattered theater
By laura parsons
The night before glittering diamonds and tailor-made tuxedos flooded the lobby of the Paramount and less than 24 hours before Tony Bennett crooned, "I left my heart in San Francisco," under the theater's newly restored chandeliers, a gold brocade couch occupied center stage. It was 11pm. Workmen milled about taking care of last-minute details, as Paramount executive director Chad Hershner and board members Alison Dickie and Michael Gaffney stood mulling how to transport the sofa to an upstairs lounge.
Exhausted, the three plopped down on the cushions and stared out across the empty theater. "We found ourselves just sitting there for an hour, just looking at it from the stage," Dickie recalled. "It was a sea of gold."
Hershner added, "It's going to be one of those times that we'll look back on 15 years from now and say, 'Remember when we sat on the couch and spent an hour and a half just enjoying the surroundings."
Fifteen years past, that "sea of gold" was more like a brackish puddle. Crumbled plaster littered the interior of the long-dark theater. Moths gnawed its carpets, and mildew crept across its seats. Like an heiress turned cart-pushing bag lady, the once-grand Paramount was down-and-out and destined for the wrecking ball when a group of concerned citizens rallied to its rescue.
For nearly a decade and a half, local arts and architecture fans devoted time and energy (and money!) to restoring the Paramount to its original grandeur. And when the construction crew at last removed the bandage-like plywood barrier from the front of the theater in mid-December, revealing the theater's renewed opulence, it was the final chapter in a riches-to-rags-to-riches story worthy of the stage.
Although the Paramount's re-opening gala on December 15 dazzled, with a red carpet stretching onto the mall and searchlight beams crisscrossing the sky, it lacked the eight "aerial bombs" that shot from the roof when the Paramount first opened its doors on November 25, 1931. At the time, "A line, with people three and four abreast, was extended down the block to Second Street East, and around the square to the postoffice," reported The Daily Progress in its November 27, 1931 edition.
Those lucky enough to make it into the theater that night enjoyed the "thrilling football drama Touchdown" along with the musical stylings of a Wurlitzer-playing musician named "Brownie." According to the Progress, "The popular impression of the playhouse was that it is a place of charming design, harmonious varicolored lights and luxurious seats."
In creating the state-of-the-art theater (it was even air-conditioned!), the Chicago architectural firm Rapp & Rapp opted to ignore the then-current rage for art deco and instead created something distinctively Virginian. Octagonal in shape, the Paramount was an ode to Thomas Jefferson, with two colossal colonial-era murals painted on silk and plaster molding budding with dogwood blossoms. Less admirable was its separate entrance on Third St. for African-Americans, who ascended a staircase to segregated seating in the balcony.
Although forgotten today, Touchdown played for the Paramount's first three months. The shows that followed during the next decades were a mix of movies and live shows. A midnight fire in January 1934 severely damaged the stage, forcing the theater to cancel the next day's acrobatic performance by "Alexander's Variety Wonders." Later that year, police charged a Paramount fan dancer named Corinne Reynolds with indecency, alleging she was baring all behind her feathers. A judge dismissed the case, however, when Reynolds produced her near-nude costume bits in court.
Sandy DeKay, Hershner's assistant and the Paramount's unofficial historian, noted the Paramount was also involved in community affairs from the outset. "During the '30s and the Great Depression," she said, "the management would hold movie events, free of charge to the organizers, in order to raise money or goods for such worthy causes as feeding and clothing local children."
During World War II, the Paramount held events to encourage people to donate blood and buy war bonds. DeKay said one old-timer even told her that someone drew the faces of Hitler, Stalin, and Tojo above the men's urinals in the theater.
The Dark Years
But the Paramount's good times stopped rolling in the late 1960s and early 70s. As businesses moved out to new-fangled malls like Barracks Road, Charlottesville's downtown became desolate. Adding insult to injury, the already decrepit Paramount caught fire again in March 1974. The minor blaze caused only $1,000 damage, but it marked the end of an era.
The families of the Paramount's original owners, Hollis Rinehart and P.H. Faulconer, sued current tenants ABC Southeastern Theaters, Inc. for allowing the Paramount to fall into disrepair while ABC built a new movie theater on Hydraulic Road (the Terrace Triple, which, ironically, now sits abandoned– see "Recent Passed," The Hook, April 14, 2004). While the case was in court, the Paramount shut its doors for good June 30, 1974. The last picture show? A "blacksploitation" film entitled Thomasine and Bushrod.
Although Charlottesville made a valiant attempt in 1976 to revitalize downtown by bricking over Main Street to create a pedestrian mall– an initial bust despite its now booming popularity– the Paramount remained shuttered as dust settled on its once-grand remains. In 1981, the owners proposed razing the building to make way for an underground parking garage, and the city gave them the go-ahead. Fortunately, the demolition was delayed. A few years later, a UVA professor proposed turning the old theater into a jazz hall of fame, but that plan, too, fizzled.
In 1986, Charles Knight penned an editorial for The Daily Progress's "Your Right to Say It" page. "I once stood inside the Paramount Theater building– and it is an old dump– but I imagine it as it was in its heyday, and how it could be again," he wrote. Knight's opinion piece brought several letters of agreement, including one from Sandy DeKay.
The following year, developer Tom Hickman bought the theater with an eye to transforming it into a restaurant, a nightclub, or possibly condominiums. At the same time, Patricia Kluge hinted she wanted to acquire the Paramount to house the fledgling Virginia Film Festival, known then as "A Virginia Homecoming." The Festival went forward, but the theater stalled.
By 1989 Hickman had come to consider the Paramount an albatross that could only be removed from his neck through demolition. Recognizing the Paramount's days were numbered, a group of concerned citizens banded together to try to buy the Paramount and approached Hickman about a stay of execution. He issued a deadline for an initial deposit on the theater. The group failed to meet it. But perhaps influenced by a 1990 City Office for Economic Development report that cited the Paramount's restoration as a key to downtown revitalization, Hickman relented and offered an extension.
In 1992, the newly formed nonprofit The Paramount Theater, Inc. assumed ownership of the dilapidated theater and began the enormous task of raising funds for its makeover. An early pronouncement that the theater would operate in the black by hosting shows 200 nights a year brought scathing attacks by business-savvy critics. The final 2004/2005 schedule has 34 shows over six months, nine of which have already sold out, says community relations director Kristen Gleason. To keep the theater in the black, Gleason says 75 percent of the theater's operating budget will come from ticket sales, and the other 25 percent from donations.
When Sheldon Anderson, current president of the Paramount's board of directors, joined the Paramount in 1993, the theater's estimated restoration cost was pegged at $1.6 million.
"At the time I thought, 'Oh my, that's more than we'll ever be able to raise,'" Anderson recalls. Longtime board member Ethel deNeveu said her daughter Kate, now a student at UVA, used to sell lemonade and donate the proceeds to the theater.
The coffers gradually filled, however slowly, and in 2000, the Paramount's board hired executive director Chad Hershner, who had recently raised $17.3 million for the restoration of The Strand Center for the Performing Arts in York, Pa. When Hershner arrived in Charlottesville, the theater's renovation estimate had already escalated to $6.6 million
But Hershner came bursting with ambition and contagious enthusiasm, and he conducted several focus groups to examine the Paramount's potential. With his encouragement, the Paramount plan changed from merely saving the building to transforming it into a first-rate performance venue and community center. The additional cost? A cool $7.8 million.
Undeterred, the Paramount began a capital campaign dubbed "Setting the Stage." Donors began to step up to the plate, with several contributing over a million dollars apiece. Reflecting on her six-year involvement with the theater, major contributor Janice Aron summed up a common attitude, "It's not just money, honestly. It's momentum and energy and optimism– and board members' painting the bathrooms [of the Paramount's temporary Water Street office]."
Finally, in March 2002, a mound of dirt was heaped onto the Downtown Mall in front of the theater so board members could dig in their shovels, symbolically breaking ground for construction to begin. David Nobles, the project supervisor for Nielson Construction, had gotten his first look at the theater three months earlier, and his first reaction was "What have they done to me?"
Nevertheless, Nielson set up the building to be monitored, installing seismographs, conducting stress tests in nearby buildings, and reinforcing supports to prepare for the first major undertaking: digging a new basement to house dressing rooms and other facilities. A short time later, the Paramount's dusty silk murals no longer flanked the theater's seats and stage; instead they hung above a deep dirt pit.
Even as construction progressed, delays and ever-expanding plans (more money meant more possibilities) pushed the Paramount's anticipated opening date from late 2002 to mid-2003 to sometime during 2004.
A few snags also tangled the works. Besides being inconvenienced by reduced parking along Market Street and Third Street, businesses complained about lack of access and other construction-related problems. The nastiest incident involved concrete seeping into an old city sewer line that ran beneath the Mall. The hardening muck caused waste to back up in several Main Street basements. Eventually City workers had to dig up the Mall itself to resolve the issue.
The Pace Quickens
Determined to open the theater by the end of 2004, the Paramount began to ramp up its preparations in September. In addition to hiring five part-time employees, the theater's full-time staff grew from three to nine. Donald Leffert moved to Charlottesville from Joplin, Missouri, to become the theater's production manager and technical ace. When asked what his reaction was when he first saw the Paramount's still-raw interior, he admitted, "It was actually, 'Is this thing going to be ready?'"
Leffert joined a crew of carpenters and electricians to pull together the technical aspects of the theater. He pointed out the biggest hurdle was "the unknown." "It's always a little nerve-wracking whether if you flip the switch, it all comes on," he explained.
He was surprised and grateful that night after night the construction workers voluntarily stayed up with him as he tested and adjusted equipment, just in case he needed their help. "I'm really kind of proud to have been working with those guys on it," he said.
Another new hire was Alex Caines, who took over as the Paramount's affable house manager. Having grown up going to New York's Radio City Music Hall (his first show was Dumbo), Caines said for 14 years he walked by the Paramount every day, thinking, "Wow, I can't wait to see that open." He began volunteering for the Paramount during the past four years, and in October he left his job as concierge at the Omni to join the theater's fulltime staff. "It was a birthday present to me," he said smiling.
In addition to making sure all the physical areas of the Paramount are up to snuff (to walk with Caines through the theater is to tour someone's trophy house– he's proud of the 12 handicap-accessible aisles, proud of the 22-stall women's restroom, proud of the diaper-changing area in the men's room), Caines took on the daunting task of coordinating the volunteer ushers and ticket-takers. For the opening night gala he recruited people he'd worked with in the past, but he said, "My phone just kept ringing." Hundreds of people wanted to get involved.
Meanwhile, as time wound down to the December 15 D-day (D, in this case, standing for "Debut"), workmen chiseled the words "Box Office" in granite over the door of the new three-story annex, applied gold leaf to the theater's ornamental molding, carefully hung the newly restored chandeliers from the ceiling, installed the new gold cut-velvet seats, laid carpet, built the bar in the Founders Lounge, installed the showers in the dressing rooms, framed walnut doors, and completed other numerous tasks. Supervisor David Nobles said, "Sixty or 70 of us worked 30-some days straight."
Despite putting in 10- to 12-hour days under the pressure of a ticking clock, carpenter David Walta was impressed by how well everyone cooperated on the project. "I've had a fun time," he reflected. "Everybody got along. This has been real nice."
A Literal Run-Through
During the final seven days leading up to the Paramount's grand re-opening, community relations director Kristen Gleason buzzed about getting programs ready, dealing with press requests, taking ticket orders, and answering questions from the public. "Gosh, there's been so much going on," she said after the opening, " I don't know what I was doing." Board member Michael Gaffney sighed, "I tell you the last week I don't think I got more than four hours of sleep." And Alex Caines discovered "that if I can just run fast enough, I can get it done."
There were moments of doubt mixed in with moments of satisfaction. Executive director Chad Hershner's heart skipped a beat when the City's Building Code inspector announced, "You have a code situation in your bathroom." Hershner replied, "Oh my God, what?" And the inspector pointed out, "You realize you have way more toilets than you need in your bathroom." Hershner sighed with relief
Among the highpoints of the week were the removal of the plywood barrier that had long hidden the theater from public view and the lighting of the marquee. According to Caines, the workmen just stepped back and said, "Wow."
To thank the construction crew for their dedicated long hours, the Paramount hosted a pre-grand-re-opening show, featuring the Canadian Brass, just for workmen's families on December 10. Caines said, "I saw them take their wives and kids around and say, "I did that.'"
At 5:30pm on December 15, less than three hours before Tony Bennett took the stage, staff members were still trying to hang the chandeliers in the Paramount's new ballroom. But an hour later, when the theater's doors re-opened for the first time in 40 years, the be-furred and be-jeweled guests walking the red carpet from the tented outdoor coat check into the theater were oblivious to any last-minute problems.
In the green-and-gold carpeted lobby, waiters serenely carried trays of white wine and shrimp skewers amid what looked like a Charlottesville casting call for Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Chamber of Commerce president Tim Hubert joked, "I was waiting for someone to say, 'Who are you wearing?' "
The prolonged anticipation of the Paramount's unveiling seemed to make the occasion that much sweeter for those whose tenacious belief in the theater's potential had finally been vindicated. Smiles and laughs sparkled as much as the diamonds in the house. "It's very, very overwhelming," said Janice Aron, looking lovingly at both the lobby and its occupants. "Don't you feel that?"
Savoring the moment, no one was eager to rush to his or her seat. "We must have flashed the lights three times," the Paramount's Gleason recalled. "People were just so happy to be there." Once inside the auditorium, guests stood and turned around, their heads tilted back, taking in the meticulously restored murals and the elaborate details of the ceiling.
Finally, people sat, and Hershner, decked out in a gold brocade vest and bow tie, boomed, "Welcome to your Paramount Theater!" Following a song-and-dance number by three buxom blondes– who some mistook for drag queens (Charlottesville is progressive, after all)– the obligatory thanking of the major donors, the City, the County, the workers, the staff and volunteers, a ribbon cutting, a commemorative-plaque giving (albeit from Tiffany's) and a few scripted-yet-spontaneous words from local celebrities, the lights went down and Tony Bennett's incomparable voice filled the Paramount's restored auditorium.
Bennett spun and danced. He sang "Fly Me to the Moon" un-amplified to demonstrate his delight in the theater's acoustics. His band wowed. The appreciative audience responded with standing ovation after standing ovation.
And then the night was over.
But it was just the beginning of the Paramount's revival celebration.
The Weekend Lineup
Two nights later, people lined up outside the Paramount, as opera diva Denyce Graves finished her on-stage rehearsal at 7:15pm, delaying the theater's opening at 7:30pm. But no one complained, and Graves thrilled the capacity crowd by performing without a microphone. Graves was apparently so taken with the Paramount that following her concert, she remarked to Hershner that she'd like to pack the theater in her suitcase and carry it with her around the world.
The next day the line for the Saturday matinee screening of The Wizard of Oz was reminiscent of the Paramount's opening night in 1931, snaking around the block onto Second Street. It was the same scene all over again for the evening presentation of Casablanca. The movies, at a quarter a pop, provided the first chance for many to see the inside of the Paramount.
But for Charlottesville natives Maxine and Henry Buron and Nancy and Oran Oakey, their Saturday trip to the Paramount was like visiting a long-lost friend. Oran Oakey had worked as a Paramount usher in 1943, and Maxine Buron recalled, "I saw Gone With the Wind here I don't know how many times." Although they agree the restored Paramount has more green whereas the original Paramount had more red, the four are thrilled with the renovation. "I thought it was going down," said Oran Oakey. "I'm glad it didn't."
Leslie and Eric Scholz sat with their 5-year-old daughter Isabel and 8-year-old son Sam in the balcony for The Wizard of Oz. "I thought it was stunning," Leslie said, remarking on the Paramount's interior. "And it's great to have a new place to go!" Isabel Scholz offered a more concise review. How was the movie? "Good." How was the theater? "Good." How were the flying monkeys? "Good."
For sisters Daniella and Tenese Benton, ages 14 and 13, who attended the matinee with their grandmother, Delores Wildy, and cousin Devyn Wildy, it was their first viewing of both the movie and the theater. "It was really nice," said Daniella. "She can't wait to come back and try out for the Amateur Hour," added Delores, referring to the Showtime at the Apollo performance scheduled for May 6.
The final show of the Paramount's debut weekend was the nostalgic song-and-dance revue In the Mood, which played to yet another sold-out house on Sunday, December 19.
As In the Mood's 1940s-era songs lilted in the background (a state-of-the-art sound system carries sound from the stage throughout the theater), Chad Hershner, Alison Dickie, and Michael Gaffney took a well-deserved time-out in the Paramount's upstairs Founders Lounge. "Fabulous!" was Hershner's one-word summary for how the weekend came off. "People have just been so appreciative. People have said everything just seemed to be flawless."
Relieved to have gotten through the Paramount's re-opening without a hitch, the three sat joking together on the same gold brocade sofa they occupied the previous Tuesday night. Suddenly they grew quiet, intent on listening. Dickey whispered, "Do you hear that?" In the Mood had just finished its final song, and applause from the auditorium was thundering through the theater. Three exhausted but delighted smiles spread across their faces. The Paramount lived.
Nielson Construction crews went to work in March 2002, both digging a new basement and adding extra height to the theater structure.
Construction and planning delays pushed opening day from 2002, to 2003 and finally late 2004.
Carpenter Mike Walta was among those putting in 10 and 12-hour days as opening night approached.
House manager Alex Caines gives proud house tours of the new building including the first celebrity signatures on the backstage corridor by the dressing rooms.
December 15: the Paramount top donors are the official cut-ups.
Opening night is black and white and gold all over.
Song and dance numbers warmed up the audience waiting for Tony.
"Welcome to your Paramount Theater!" Chad Hershner's opening line
The stars come out tonight: Hershner greets locals Sissy Spacek, Howie Long and John Grisham on stage
Tony Bennett gave top billing to the new theater's acoustics.
After seeing Casablanca, Charlottesville natives Maxine and Henry Buron recalled old memories (like repeated Gone With the Wind viewings.)
The Scholzes made Saturday's 25-cent showing of The Wizard of Oz a family outing.
Teenage sisters Daniella and Tenese Benton, plus grandmother Delores and cousin Devyn Wildy, were all smiles after the Paramount's first afternoon movie matinee. More film showings are promised but not yet scheduled.
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Redwood Primary School is a culturally diverse school situated on the outskirts of Derby City.
At Redwood we recognise that the DfE have recently reinforced the need:
“To create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The Government set out its definition of British Values in the 2011 prevent strategy, and these values were reiterated in 2014. At Redwood these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways. We keep an up to date audit of all such teaching and learning opportunities.
At the beginning of each year, children at Redwood decide upon their class rules and the rights and responsibilities expected with these. All children contribute to the drawing up of these class rules. The children also affirm the school’s expectations and every child and member of staff take responsibility for instilling these values into the school community. Through our SHINE values, the children and staff actively engage with each other to create harmonious learning environments and everyone is responsible for this.
At Redwood, children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council that meets regularly (monthly). The council is elected by peers and children in years 2 to 6 have an opportunity to prepare reasons as to why they should be elected to be on the school council. Class council meetings feed into the school council meetings. Minutes from school council meetings are reported back to class council meetings.
Children complete an annual questionnaire and they are able to put forward their views about the school. Achievement leaders question children concerning certain aspects of the curriculum, for example; girls and their views regarding mathematics.
At Redwood, the importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout the school day, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies.
Pupils are taught from an early age the rules of school through our SHINE values. They are taught the reasons and values behind laws and rules, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves, and the consequences when laws are broken. Through our whole school approach, we enable children to develop the language and strategies to solve conflict and to right wrongs. Visits from authorities, such as the Police (children in Year 6) and the Fire Service (children in years 2 and 6) reinforce this.
At Redwood, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supporting environment. As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make informed choices, through a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms. They are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our PSHE and e-Safety lessons.
Whether it is through choice of learning challenge, of how they record, of participation in our extra-curricular clubs and opportunities’, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Respect and responsibility are key aspects that are at the heart of school life at Redwood. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. The close, positive relationships at Redwood are valued and we see this as being a key to enabling all children to access their learning. Assemblies regularly cover the theme of ‘respect’ and pupils have been part of discussions related to what this means and how we show it. All members of the school community treat each other with respect. Our ‘Golden Book’ assemblies celebrate children’s achievements throughout school.
Redwood is at the heart of a culturally diverse area of Derby City and we celebrate this. Assemblies celebrate different festivals such as Harvest, Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah and Christmas. RE lessons focus upon all religions and children are encouraged to understand the beliefs and values of different faiths. We also take into account the views of non-believers and children understand that this aspect of faith is as important. Children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.
Our rich cultural and social diversity is used to nurture children and gain positive experiences from their fellow peers.
At Redwood, we will actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.
British Values - A Guide for Parents.pdf
Fundamental values in the Early Years
EYFS statement on British values.pdf
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NCS helps young people in North West to get ahead
As National Citizen Service (NCS) kicks off its 2013programme, independent research confirms that it is giving young people the skills and confidence to get ahead
Nationally, nine out of 10 participants believe National Citizen Service has given them the chance to develop skills that will be useful in the future, while nearly three-quarters felt more self-assured about getting a job according to an independent report published today. Last year over 4,500 in the North West took part in NCS and contributed more than 80,000 hours to developing and delivering social action projects in the community.
One young person who took part was Rebecca Brunskill from Liverpool.
Rebecca, 17, credits the programme with increasing her self-confidence and ambition, giving her the courage to stand for the UK Youth Parliament, and providing her with the incentive to volunteer with a local charity.
She began the NCS course in July 2012, attending a residential activity course in Conway followed by a week at Edge Hill University and a week spent developing and delivering a social action in the community where she and her team put on a family fun day at a youth centre in Croxteth.
Rebecca says,
“NCS has given me so much confidence. I was always the person who never spoke up in class, who was really quiet, but since doing this I have stood for the UK Youth Parliament and been elected as the representative for Liverpool, something I would never have dared to do before.
“I really enjoyed NCS. On the first week I was with a lot of people I didn’t know and I had never done anything like rafting or kayaking in my life. I didn’t even like being near water – but because we were together we all learned to get on with it and put our trust in our team members. The community work was also brilliant, and since NCS I have been inspired to do more.
“Afterwards we were put in touch with charities looking for volunteers, and I started working with a community climbing club, On this Roc, helping organise climbing wall activities for visually impaired children and adults. I undertook some training on how to use the ropes and harnesses and now work with them on a regular basis.
“I have just finished year 12 at school and, if I do well in my AS levels, I want to go on to University to study Business Management. I would recommend NCS to anybody.
“NCS has given me so much confidence. I like to compare it to a seed – you plant it, and it grows and everything comes together.”
The report by NatCen Social Research, a leading social research institute, has revealed significant impacts in the second year of NCS – the flagship government-backed programme – particularly around the skills that young people need to get ahead in work and life: teamwork, communication and leadership.
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, commented:
“Two things really please us about this research. The first is that rapid NCS growth is not coming at the cost of quality. The second is that the very positive impacts on young people appear to stick over time. This gives us the confidence to press ahead with really ambitious expansion plans. Young people love NCS because of the chance to make new friends, learn valuable skills and do something very positive for their community. We want every 16-year-old to have this opportunity.”
The findings show that NCS is giving 16-and 17-year olds the chance to hone their entrepreneurial skills, with an 18% uplift in the number of young people who said that they felt confident about leading a team thanks to NCS. This is compared with only a 1% increase in the group of young people questioned as part of the study who had not taken part in NCS.
86% stated that following the programme they felt comfortable with teamwork; and 79% that they were confident in meeting new people. NCS participants also reported that they were more prepared for the increasingly diverse workplaces of the future. 95% believed that they had a chance to know people they wouldn’t mix with, and this was shown to be instrumental in increasing confidence in relation to teamwork and communication.
The programme is helping young people to express their ideas more clearly and put forward their creative suggestions, with over 7/10 stating they now felt better about doing this, compared with over 5/10 at the start of the programme.
The new research also includes longitudinal analysis of 2011 participants, which shows that participants’ perceptions of the impact of NCS one year after the start of the programme were very positive. 9/10 agreed that NCS had ‘given them a better understanding of what life is like for people who are different to me’, with a similar proportion agreeing they had developed skills that ‘have been useful for me in my study, work or training.’
An independent organisation, is being created to support the expansion of the Government programme. Stephen Greene, Chair of the NCS Trust, commented:
“It’s great news to hear that NCS is receiving such a positive response from the very people this programme was created for. Building young people’s confidence, prospects and motivation for education and employment is what NCS delivers. For many 16-and 17-year-olds, NCS gives them the tools, skills and belief to unlock their potential while making a positive impact in their schools, colleges and communities.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 1st, 2013 at 10:54 am and is filed under Business, Education, Government, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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ARTICLE I
SECTION 1 – Name
The name of the Consortium is The Renaissance Group.
SECTION 2 – Location
The principal office of the Consortium shall be located at such place, as the Board of Governors shall from time to time designate. The Consortium may maintain additional offices at such other places as the Board of Governors may designate.
ARTICLE II
SECTION 1 – Power of Board
The affairs of the Consortium shall be managed by the Board of Governors.
SECTION 2 – Number of Officers
The number of officers of the Consortium shall be three (3), President, President Elect and Past President.
SECTION 3 – Election and Term of Governors
The Board of Governors shall consist of seventeen (17) voting members, consisting of fifteen (15) elected voting member, plus (1) Dean of Education from the host institution, and (1) Past President. An institution shall have no more than two (2) elected voting members on the Board of Governors.
The voting members will be elected by and from the general membership for three (3) year terms. The voting membership of the Board will include three (3) presidents, three (3) provosts/vice presidents for academic affairs, three (3) deans of education, three (3) deans of arts and sciences, and three (3) members elected at large.
The Dean of Education from the institution hosting TRG shall automatically be a voting member of the Board of Governors and shall not count as one of the three (3) elected Deans of Education.
The Past President shall automatically be a voting member of the Board of Governors and shall not count as one of the three (3) elected Presidents.
Board of Governors members who have been elected may stand for one (1) additional full term as a member of the Board of Governors without re-election with the approval of the majority of the Board of Governors.
In the event of a change of duties and/or at the time of retirement from duties at the member institution, a Board of Governors member who has been elected may complete their full term as a voting member of the Board of Governors.
Members who are promoted to interim positions shall be permitted to continue as a Board of Governor member in the position to which they were originally elected for the duration of their interim appointment. If at the end of the interim appointment the member does not return to their original position, the Board position shall be declared vacant and shall be filled as provided in Section 4.
SECTION 4 – Vacancies
Any vacancy occurring on the Board of Governors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Board of Governors. Governors elected to fill vacancies shall be elected for the unexpired term of their predecessors, and shall remain in office until their successors are elected and certified.
SECTION 5 – Emeriti Governors
In recognition for their service and contributions to TRG, any Governor having completed one full term on the Board of Governors, may upon nomination and approval by a simple majority of currently elected members of the Board of Governors be granted Emeriti Governor status. Emeriti Governors may attend and participate in all Board of Governors meetings, as well as all TRG events, but may not vote as a member of the board.
SECTION 6 – Removal of Governors
A governor may be removed with or without cause at any time by an affirmative vote of a majority of the governors then in office, provided that such action is taken at a called meeting of the Board of Governors.
SECTION 7 – Resignations
Except as otherwise required by law, any Governor of the Consortium may resign at any time by giving written notice to the President of the Consortium. Such resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, and unless otherwise specified therein, no acceptance of such resignation shall be necessary to make it effective.
SECTION 8 – Quorum of Governors and Action by the Board
A simple majority of the number of governors in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Emeriti Governors shall not be counted to determine a quorum. Except as otherwise provided by these Bylaws, the act of a majority of the Governors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board.
SECTION 9 – Meetings of the Board
Meetings of the Board of Governors, regular or special, may be held at such place and upon a two-week notice to members of the Board of Governors. Governors may agree to meet via conference call, teleconferencing, or other electronic means.
SECTION 10 – Actions of the Board
Any action required or permitted to be taken by the Board of Governors may be taken without a meeting provided a majority of the Board of Governors agree to the action. The resolution and the written consent thereto by the Governors shall be filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Governors. Any or all Governors may participate in a meeting of the Board of Governors or a committee of the Board of Governors by means of conference telephone, or by any means of communications by which all persons participating in the meeting are able to communicate with one another, and such participation shall constitute presence in person at the meeting.
ARTICLE III
SECTION 1 – Committees; Authority
The Board of Governors by resolution adopted by a majority of the Governors in office may designate and appoint one or more committees, each of which shall consist of two or more Governors, which shall have and exercise the authority of the Board of Governors of the Consortium. Other committees not having and exercising the authority of the Board of Governors in the management of the Consortium may be designated and appointed by a resolution adopted by a majority of the Governors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present.
The designation and appointment of any such committee and the delegation thereto of authority shall not operate to relieve the Board of Governors or any individual Governor of any responsibility imposed upon it or him/her by law.
ARTICLE IV
SECTION 1 – Officers
The Board of Governors shall elect by simple majority of Governors in attendance, a President Elect at their annual spring meeting. The President Elect shall be selected from among the presidents serving on the Board of Governors. The President Elect shall take office on July 1 of the year in which they were elected and assume the position of President on July 1 of the following year.
The current President shall automatically assume the position of Past President when replaced by the President Elect.
The Past President may continue to serve beyond his elected board term until replaced.
SECTION 2 – Term of Office and Removal
Officers shall hold office for the term of one (1) year for which they are elected and until their successor has been elected and certified. Unless otherwise provided by resolution of the Board of Governors, all officers shall be elected or appointed at the spring meeting of the Board.
Any officer may be removed by the Board of Governors whenever in its judgment the best interest of the Consortium will be served.
SECTION 3 – Powers and Duties of Officers
Subject to the control of the Board of Governors, all officers as between themselves and the Consortium shall have such authority and perform such duties in the management of the property and affairs of the Consortium as may be provided in these Bylaws or by resolution of the Board of Governors.
SECTION 4 – President
The President shall serve as the chief executive officer of the Consortium, preside at all meetings of the Board of Governors, and, subject to the supervision of the Board of Governors, shall perform all duties customary to that office and shall supervise and control all of the affairs of the Consortium in accordance with policies and directives approved by the Board of Governors.
SECTION 5 – President Elect
In the absence of the President or in the event of his/her inability or refusal to act, the President Elect shall perform the duties of the President, and, when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions of the President. The President Elect shall perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Governors may from time to time prescribe by standing or special resolution, or as the President may from time to time provide, subject to the powers and the supervision of the Board of Governors.
SECTION 6 – Agents and Employees
The Board of Governors, or by their authority the President, may appoint agents and employees who shall have such authority and perform such duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors may remove any agent or employee at any time with or without cause. Removal without cause shall be without prejudice to such person’s contract rights, if any, and the appointment of such person shall not itself create contract rights.
SECTION 7 – Reimbursement of Expenses
The Consortium may reimburse expenses in reasonable amounts to Board members, agents and employees for services rendered; such amounts are to be fixed by a majority of the entire Board of Governors.
SECTION 8 – Executive Director
The Board of Governors may appoint an Executive Director. Terms of the Executive Director’s compensation, employment and evaluation will be determined by the Board.
The Executive Director, by authorization of The Board of Governors, shall be authorized to sign checks, drafts, or other orders for payment of money; to sign acceptances, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness; to enter into contracts; or to execute and deliver other documents and instruments on behalf of the Consortium. The Executive Director shall provide a bond or security for the faithful performance of his/her duties as the Board of Governors may require, for which he/she shall be reimbursed.
SECTION 9 – Executive Assistant
The Board of Governors may appoint an Executive Assistant. Terms of the Executive Assistant’s compensation, employment and evaluation will be determined by the Board.
The Executive Assistant shall be responsible for the keeping of an accurate record of the proceedings of all meetings of the Board of Governors, shall give or cause to be given all notices in accordance with these Bylaws or as required by law, and, in general, shall perform all duties customary to the office of Executive Assistant.
The Executive Assistant shall have the custody of, and be responsible for, all funds and securities of the Consortium. He/she shall keep or cause to be kept complete and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements of the Consortium, and shall deposit all monies and other valuable property of the Consortium in the name and to the credit of the Consortium in such banks or depositories as the Board of Governors may designate.
Whenever required by the Board of Governors, the Executive Assistant shall render a statement of accounts. He/she shall at all reasonable times exhibit the books and accounts to any officer or Governor of the Consortium, and shall perform all duties incident to the office of Executive Assistant, subject to the supervision of the Board of Governors, and such other duties as shall from time to time be assigned by the Board of Governors.
The Executive Assistant shall provide a bond or security for the faithful performance of his/her duties as the Board of Governors may require, for which he/she shall be reimbursed.
SECTION 1 – Institutional Membership
Membership shall consist of institutions of higher education and other educational organizations that support the purposes and action agenda described in the Bylaws. Members may be added whereby institutions have completed the application process and are approved by a majority vote of the members of the Board of Governors. Official representatives of member institutions shall be entitled to attend all official meetings, participate in business sessions, vote on matters being decided by poll, receive regular Consortium publications and enjoy other rights and privileges accorded institutional representatives. Others may participate by invitation, but are not eligible for voting privileges.
SECTION 2 – Membership Fees
Membership fees shall be payable to The Renaissance Group and shall be sent to the principal office of the Consortium. The fee is to be recommended and approved by the Board of Governors. Should an institution decide to withdraw after paying fees, no reimbursement will be made.
A member institution which has not paid its membership dues by January 1 of the membership year will not be eligible to participate in Consortium grants and projects.
A member institution which has not paid its dues for two (2) consecutive fiscal years will be removed from the membership roles.
SECTION 3 –Emeriti Governor Fees
Emeriti Governors shall not have to pay annual dues. Emeriti Governors’ conference registration fees shall be waived. Emeriti Governors shall be charged a fee equal to the cost of attending any reception and banquet meals supplied at each conference
SECTION 1 – Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the Consortium shall be July 1 through June 30.
SECTION 2 – Books and Records to be Kept
The Consortium shall keep at its principal office correct and complete books and records of account and minutes of the proceedings of the Board of Governors, the general meetings of the Consortium, and any committee having any of the authority of the Board of Governors.
SECTION 3 – Amendment of Articles and Bylaws
The Constitution and Bylaws may be adopted, amended or repealed by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Governing Board members.
The general membership will be informed of any changes to the Constitution and Bylaws.
Revised: August 10, 2012 and September 30, 2012
Approved: September 30, 2012
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EARTH'S MOST PROMINENT RAINFALL FEATURE CREEPING NORTHWARD
Etiquetas: Climatology
The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issue of Nature Geoscience.
If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile (1.4 kilometers) a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator -- even those that currently enjoy abundant rainfall -- may be drier within decades and starved of freshwater by midcentury or sooner. The prospect of additional warming because of greenhouse gases means that situation could happen even sooner.
The findings suggest "that increasing greenhouse gases could potentially shift the primary band of precipitation in the tropics with profound implications for the societies and economies that depend on it," the article says.
"We're talking about the most prominent rainfall feature on the planet, one that many people depend on as the source of their freshwater because there is no groundwater to speak of where they live," says Julian Sachs, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Washington and lead author of the paper. "In addition many other people who live in the tropics but farther afield from the Pacific could be affected because this band of rain shapes atmospheric circulation patterns throughout the world."
The band of rainfall happens at what is called the intertropical convergence zone. There, just north of the equator, trade winds from the northern and southern hemispheres collide at the same time heat pours into the atmosphere from the tropical sun. Rain clouds 30,000 feet thick in places proceed to dump as much as 13 feet (4 meters) of rain a year in some places. The band stretching across the Pacific is generally between 3 degrees and 10 degrees north of the equator depending on the time of year. It has recently been hypothesized that the intertropical convergence zone does not reside in the southern hemisphere for reasons having to do with the distribution of land masses and locations of major mountain ranges in the world, particularly the Andes mountains, that have not changed for millions of years.
The new article presents surprising evidence that the intertropical convergence zone hugged the equator some 3 ½ centuries ago during Earth's little ice age, which lasted from 1400 to 1850.
The authors analyzed the record of rainfall in lake and lagoon sediments from four Pacific islands at or near the equator.
One of the islands they studied, Washington Island, is about 5 degrees north of the equator. Today it is at the southern edge of the intertropical convergence zone and receives nearly 10 feet (2.9 meters) of rain a year. But cores reveal a very different Washington Island in the past: It was arid, especially during the little ice age.
Among other things, the scientists looked for evidence in sediment cores of salt-tolerant microbes. On Washington Island they found that evidence in 400- to 1,000-year-old sediment underlying what is now a freshwater lake. Such organisms could only have thrived if rainfall was much reduced from today's high levels on the island. Additional evidence for changes in rainfall were provided by ratios of hydrogen isotopes of material in the sediments that can only be explained by large changes in precipitation.
Sediment cores from Palau, which lies about 7 degrees north of the equator and in the heart of the modern convergence zone, also revealed arid conditions during the little ice age.
In contrast, the researchers present evidence that the Galapagos Islands, today an arid place on the equator in the Eastern Pacific, had a wet climate during the little ice age.
They write, "The observations of dry climates on Washington Island and Palau and a wet climate in the Galapagos between about 1420-1560/1640 provide strong evidence for an intertropical convergence zone located perennially south of Washington Island (5 degrees north) during that time and perhaps until the end of the eighteenth century."
If the zone at that time experienced seasonal variations of 7 degrees latitude, as it does today, then during some seasons it would have extended southward to at least the equator, Sachs says. This has been inferred previously from studies of the intertropical convergence zone on or near the continents, but the new data from the Pacific Ocean region is clearer because the feature is so easy to identify there.
The remarkable southward shift in the location of the intertropical convergence zone during the little ice age cannot be explained by changes in the distribution of continents and mountain ranges because they were in the same places in the little ice age as they are now. Instead, the co-authors point out that the Earth received less solar radiation during the little ice age, about 0.1 percent less than today, and speculate that may have caused the zone to hover closer to the equator until solar radiation picked back up.
"If the intertropical convergence zone was 550 kilometers, or 5 degrees, south of its present position as recently as 1630, it must have migrated north at an average rate of 1.4 kilometers -- just less than a mile -- a year," Sachs says. "Were that rate to continue, the intertropical convergence zone will be 126 kilometers -- or more than 75 miles -- north of its current position by the latter part of this century."
(Photo: University of Washington)
STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT: MOTHS BENEFIT MORE FROM FLEXIBLE WINGS THAN RIGID
Etiquetas: Zoology
Most scientists who create models trying to understand the mechanics and aerodynamics of insect flight have assumed that insect wings are relatively rigid as they flap.
New University of Washington research using high-speed digital imaging shows that, at least for some insects, wings that flex and deform, something like what happens to a heavy beach towel when you snap it to get rid of the sand, are the best for staying aloft.
"The evidence indicates that flexible wings are producing profoundly different air flows than stiff wings, and those flows appear to be more beneficial for generating lift," said Andrew Mountcastle, a UW doctoral student in biology.
He used particle image velocimetry, a technique commonly used to determine flow velocities in fluids, to study how air flows over the wings of Manduca sexta, or tobacco hawkmoths. The method combined laser light and high-speed digital video to model air flow.
A hawkmoth's wings are controlled by muscles on the insect's body and have no internal muscles of their own. The bulk of the wing is something like fabric stretched back from a stiff leading edge, fabric that is elastic and bends from inertia as the wing accelerates or decelerates through each stroke.
To test the wings' function, they were attached to mechanical "flappers" that moved back and forth 25 times a second, the same frequency at which the moths flap their wings, with the focus on how the wings deformed with each motion reversal. While the machine placed the wings at the same dominant angle as in normal moth flight, it could only approximate natural motion in one axis of rotation, compared with the three axes controlled in actual moth flight.
For the research, wings were removed from moths and tested in the mechanical "flapper" immediately, while they maintained most of their natural elasticity. After that the wings were allowed to dry for 12 to 24 hours and covered with enough spray paint to restore their original mass, then the wings were tested again in their more rigid state. The high-speed video, when viewed in slow motion, provided graphic detail of how the wings deformed as they flapped.
"That gave us two profoundly different deformations when we flapped the wings at natural wing-beat frequencies," Mountcastle said.
The "fresh," or flexible, wings had a mean deformation of 1.6 millimeters (about 64-thousandths of an inch) for each of five motion reversals, while the dry, stiff wings had a mean deformation of 1.15 millimeters (about 46-thousandths of an inch). By comparison, a freely hovering moth had a mean deformation of 1.52 millimeters (about 61-thousandths of an inch).
"Our results show that the flexible wings are doing a better job of generating lift-favorable momentum than are the stiff wings. They also are inducing airflow with greater overall velocity, which suggests the production of greater force for flight," Mountcastle said.
He is the lead author of a paper on the work, published in May in the journal Experiments in Fluids. Co-author is Thomas Daniel, a UW biology professor. The work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation and the Joan and Richard Komen Endowed Chair.
"As a biologist, I am interested in the evolutionary implications of what we see here. To understand the selective pressures that have acted on wings through their evolution, we have to understand the functional implication of wing forms and their material properties," Mountcastle said.
He noted that insect wings have a wide variety of shapes and functions, and trying to understand how such diversity came about "is a really interesting biological question."
"There also is interest in developing tiny insect-like flapping robots, and certainly these results are relevant to that field," he said.
(Photo: Armin Hinterwirth/UW)
PRINTABLE BATTERIES
Etiquetas: Engineering
In the past, it was necessary to race to the bank for every money transfer and every bank statement. Today, bank transactions can be easily carried out at home. Now where is that piece of paper again with the TAN numbers? In the future you can spare yourself the search for the number. Simply touch your EC card and a small integrated display shows the TAN number to be used. Just type in the number and off you go. This is made possible by a printable battery that can be produced cost-effectively on a large scale.
It was developed by a research team led by Prof. Dr. Reinhard Baumann of the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS in Chemnitz together with colleagues from TU Chemnitz and Menippos GmbH. "Our goal is to be able to mass produce the batteries at a price of single digit cent range each," states Dr. Andreas Willert, group manager at ENAS.
The characteristics of the battery differ significantly from those of conventional batteries. The printable version weighs less than one gram on the scales, is not even one millimeter thick and can therefore be integrated into bank cards, for example. The battery contains no mercury and is in this respect environmentally friendly. Its voltage is 1.5 V, which lies within the normal range. By placing several batteries in a row, voltages of 3 V, 4.5 V and 6 V can also be achieved. The new type of battery is composed of different layers: a zinc anode and a manganese cathode, among others. Zinc and manganese react with one another and produce electricity. However, the anode and the cathode layer dissipate gradually during this chemical process. Therefore, the battery is suitable for applications which have a limited life span or a limited power requirement, for instance greeting cards.
The batteries are printed using a silk-screen printing method similar to that used for t-shirts and signs. A kind of rubber lip presses the printing paste through a screen onto the substrate. A template covers the areas that are not to be printed on. Through this process it is possible to apply comparatively large quantities of printing paste, and the individual layers are slightly thicker than a hair. The researchers have already produced the batteries on a laboratory scale. At the end of this year, the first products could possibly be finished.
(Photo: Fraunhofer ENAS)
EARTH'S MOST PROMINENT RAINFALL FEATURE CREEPING N...
STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT: MOTHS BENEFIT MORE FR...
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Artist Susan Daboll was born in South Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1952, and grew up in Niantic, Connecticut. After studying printmaking at Syracuse University, she moved to New York, where she graduated from the International Center for Photography/New York University Master’s program. For more than a decade, she taught photography at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.
While running her own printing studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Daboll began experimenting with mural-size images and techniques. In the early ‘90’s, she earned acclaim for large-scale black and white photographs of the female form that investigated its place in sexuality, mythology, and religion. A 1995 Yaddo residency resulted in a radical change of direction, when she began using color film to explore nature and the man-made landscape.
Daboll’s work borrows from sources ranging from Italian Baroque painting to the Luminist movement, an offshoot of the Hudson River School, to Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism. On a trip to Greece in 1998, Daboll met P.C. Dimitracopoulos, and began dividing her time between the Cycladic island of Paros and Brooklyn. Immersion in Greek culture had a profound effect, prompting her to start drawing again and to seriously take up the study of painting. Consequently, painting has been her primary medium for the last seven years.
Daboll’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Pfizer, and AT&T.
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Thomas Family Dentistry, PC
Frequently asked questions: dental fillings
Are dental amalgams safe? Is it possible to have an allergic reaction to amalgam? Is it true that dental amalgams have been banned in other countries? Is there a filling material that matches tooth color? If my tooth doesn't hurt and my filling is still in place, why would the filling need to be replaced? Read this interesting and informative discussion from the American Dental Association.
FDA consumer update: dental amalgams
The Food and Drug Administration and other organizations of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) continue to investigate the safety of amalgams used in dental restorations (fillings). However, no valid scientific evidence has shown that amalgams cause harm to patients with dental restorations, except in rare cases of allergic reactions.
ATSDR - public health statements: mercury
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers some scientific background on mercury (contained within silver-colored fillings), and whether it believes the substance presents any health hazards.
Analysis reveals significant drop in children's tooth decay
Children have significantly less tooth decay in their primary (baby) and permanent teeth today than they did in the early 1970s, according to the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). The analysis reveals that among children between the ages of six and 18 years, the percentage of decayed permanent teeth decreased by 57.2 percent over a 20-year period. In addition, children between the ages of two and 10 years experienced a drop of nearly 40 percent in diseased or decayed primary teeth.
Alternative Materials
Advances in modern dental materials and techniques increasingly offer new ways to create more pleasing, natural-looking smiles. Researchers are continuing their often decades-long work developing esthetic materials, such as ceramic and plastic compounds that mimic the appearance of natural teeth. As a result, dentists and patients today have several choices when it comes to selecting materials used to repair missing, worn, damaged or decayed teeth.
The advent of these new materials has not eliminated the usefulness of more traditional dental restoratives, which include gold, base metal alloys and dental amalgam. The strength and durability of traditional dental materials continue to make them useful for situations where restored teeth must withstand extreme forces that result from chewing, such as in the back of the mouth.
Alternatives to amalgam, such as cast gold restorations, porcelain, and composite resins are more expensive. Gold and porcelain restorations take longer to make and can require two appointments. Composite resins, or white fillings, are esthetically appealing, but require a longer time to place.
Here's a look at some of the more common kinds of alternatives to silver amalgam:
Composite fillings - Composite fillings are a mixture of acrylic resin and finely ground glasslike particles that produce a tooth-colored restoration. Composite fillings provide good durability and resistance to fracture in small-to-mid size restorations that need to withstand moderate chewing pressure. Less tooth structure is removed when the dentist prepares the tooth, and this may result in a smaller filling than that of an amalgam. Composites can also be "bonded" or adhesively held in a cavity, often allowing the dentist to make a more conservative repair to the tooth. In teeth where chewing loads are high, composite fillings are less resistant to wear than silver amalgams. It also takes longer to place a composite filling.
Ionomers - Glass ionomers are tooth-colored materials made of a mixture of acrylic acids and fine glass powders that are used to fill cavities, particularly those on the root surfaces of teeth. Glass ionomers can release a small amount of fluoride that help patients who are at high risk for decay. Glass ionomers are primarily used as small fillings in areas that need not withstand heavy chewing pressure. Because they have a low resistance to fracture, glass ionomers are mostly used in small non-load bearing fillings (those between the teeth) or on the roots of teeth. Resin ionomers also are made from glass filler with acrylic acids and acrylic resin. They also are used for non-load bearing fillings (between the teeth) and they have low to moderate resistance to fracture. Ionomers experience high wear when placed on chewing surfaces. Both glass and resin ionomers mimic natural tooth color but lack the natural translucency of enamel. Both types are well tolerated by patients with only rare occurrences of allergic response.
Porcelain (ceramic) dental materials - All-porcelain (ceramic) dental materials include porcelain, ceramic or glasslike fillings and crowns. They are used as inlays, onlays, crowns and aesthetic veneers. A veneer is a very thin shell of porcelain that can replace or cover part of the enamel of the tooth. All-porcelain (ceramic) restorations are particularly desirable because their color and translucency mimic natural tooth enamel. All-porcelain restorations require a minimum of two visits and possibly more. The restorations are prone to fracture when placed under tension or on impact. Their strength depends on an adequate thickness of porcelain and the ability to be bonded to the underlying tooth. They are highly resistant to wear but the porcelain can quickly wear opposing teeth if the porcelain surface becomes rough.
Research has shown that almost everybody has a 95 percent chance of eventually experiencing cavities in the pits and grooves of their teeth.
Sealants were developed in the 1950s and first became available commercially in the early 1970s. The first sealant was accepted by the American Dental Association Council on Dental Therapeutics in 1972. Sealants work by filling in the crevasses on the chewing surfaces of the teeth. This shuts out food particles that could get caught in the teeth, causing cavities. The application is fast and comfortable and can effectively protect teeth for many years. In fact, research has shown that sealants actually stop cavities when placed on top of a slightly decayed tooth by sealing off the supply of nutrients to the bacteria that causes a cavity.
Sealants act as a barrier to prevent bacteria and food from collecting and sitting on the grooves and pits of teeth. Sealants are best suited for permanent first molars, which erupt around the age of 6, and second molars, which erupt around the age of 12.
Sealants are most effective when applied as soon as the tooth has fully come in. Because of this, children derive the greatest benefit from sealants because of the newness of their teeth. Research has shown that more than 65% of all cavities occur in the narrow pits and grooves of a child`s newly erupted teeth because of trapped food particles and bacteria.
Sealant application involves cleaning the surface of the tooth and rinsing the surface to remove all traces of the cleaning agent. An etching solution or gel is applied to the enamel surface of the tooth, including the pits and grooves. After 15 seconds, the solution is thoroughly rinsed away with water. After the site is dried, the sealant material is applied and allowed to harden by using a special curing light.
Sealants normally last about five years. Sealants should always be examined at the child`s regular checkup. Sealants are extremely effective in preventing decay in the chewing surfaces of the back teeth.
Insurance coverage for sealant procedures is increasing, but still minimal. Many dentists expect this trend to change as insurers become more convinced that sealants can help reduce future dental expenses and protect the teeth from more aggressive forms of treatment.
Impacted/Wisdom Teeth
Your Rights as a Patient
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7 Most Popular Rock Bands of All Time!
18- May2017
Music has been a soulful companion of humans since time immemorial. We might have different choices, different tastes but we are all connected to some kind of music or the other. Rock music is one such genre which has attracted billions of people around the world. Many rock bands have come and gone, but there are a few who became immortal in the form of their albums, their music and their charm. Presenting some of the most popular bands of all time:
By EMI. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Well, you don’t have to apply your brain too much to guess the most famous rock band the world has ever seen. This band of talented Englishmen was formed in 1960.
By Happybeatle2 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Another bunch of pumped youngsters spread the euphoria of heavy metal during the 70s. Led Zeppelin was formed when 4 very talented people, namely Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham came together. Need quick money? Turn to Quick Cash Loans Online.
The huge stardom of The Beatles was followed by the aura of The Rolling Stones and they ruled the world for around 30 years. The band underwent a lot of internal changes, with one member replacing the other, but it didn’t affect its popularity.
By Capitol Records (Billboard, page 25, 30 October 1971) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This band added new dimensions to rock music by adding some progressive touch to it. Their lyrics often had a lot of depth and the music was catchy, which made the world fall for this band.
Flickr/ klem@s
This Irish band rocked the music arena during the 80s. It was formed in 1976 in Dublin and had some very talented people in it. Their live performances attracted huge audiences flocking to their venues.
By gonzalo de armas (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
70s was a period when a lot of rock bands came into existence and made great impact. Queen was among the most successful of the lot. Their hard rock and heavy metal music became immensely popular and they enjoyed huge popularity.
By Warner Bros. Records (Billboard, page 9, 5 December 1970) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This Californian rock band was formed in 1965. Its music generally consisted of a fusion of various elements from different music styles. It gradually became a renowned band in the world and won many awards.
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A Day of Remembrance and Friendship
In the morning, Martien and Jolanda drove us to Anita’s home in the town of
Vught. We also met Anita and her mom, Sjan in Africa in 2016. It was the first time all six of us were reunited since Africa. Sjan, Anita and her son Matts visited us in Canada last year.
We met Johan, Anita’s husband, Anita’s daughter Robin and beautiful granddaughter Maeve. We first had coffee and a delicious dessert called Bossche Bols which is a Dutch pastry treat filled with whipped cream and covered with chocolate which is a specialty from the area.
Anita took us to a grocery store so that I could pick up my favourite cheese, licorice droppes and Milka bars.
After a delicious lunch of kroket (another Dutch specialty), Sjan, Anita, John and I visited Camp Vught which was a work camp run by the Nazis during WW2 for political prisoners, Jews and anyone else the Nazis disliked. It was also the only concentration camp in the Netherlands as prisoners were also killed here although not on the scale of the other concentration camps.
Here are some of the facts that I learned on this visit to the camp:
In May 1940, the Dutch surrendered within five days after the Nazis bombed Rotterdam.
Replica of the original camp
The camp was 1 km long by 400 m wide. The only original building left from the war is the crematorium
At the time, people in the town didn’t know it was a camp. It was built at this location because it was isolated but also not too far from a train station and roads. Prisoners had to walk 1 1/2 hours from train to camp. The camp opened in January 1943 . Over 32,000 prisoners went through this camp; many were women & children.
Prisoners were given a number instead of their names in an attempt to take away their identities. All of the adults had their whole bodies shaved and had to wear striped uniforms. Children were not shaved and kept their own clothes.
The colour of the triangle on the uniform indicated what type of prisoner they were; criminal, gay, political, Jew or gypsy.
There were no windows on the barracks because the prison wasn’t ready when prisoners came. It was a very cold winter that year.
Children over four years old had to stay in their own barrack. People over sixteen stayed with the other adults.
This was a working camp. Amongst other things, they made light bulbs for the Phillips company. They worked 6 days a week from 5am until 6 or 7pm but did not work on Sunday.
Prisoners were punished by being whipped with a stick 25 times. Often, prisoners were forced to whip each other.
A barrack elder had to take care of the 250 prisoners in each barrack.
For meals they were rationed one cup of coffee for breakfast, soup made from dirty water for lunch (there was no clean water) and dinner was bread.
Mattresses and pillows were burlap filled with a bit of straw. It was better to sleep on the top bunk because the straw fell down on the bunks below. The barracks were never quiet because people were sick; many throwing up.
There were builders in the camp. Prisoners would write notes for their family which the builders would smuggle out.
1800 children were taken away to the Sobibor extermination camp in Germany where almost all died. If the children were sick and could not work they were taken away. The train ride took three days without food or drinks. When they arrived at Sobibor, they were taken to the gas chambers. There is a monument with the names of 1,248 children that were taken from the Vught Camp to their deaths in Sobibor.
There is still the cutting table in the crematorium where bodies were cut up into smaller pieces. If a person died of hunger or beating, the official cause of death was said to be heart problems.
Once one of the prisoners complained about the conditions in the camp. As punishment, they put 74 women in a small cell only 10’x10’ from January 15-16,1944. The walls were painted with a poison that burnt the skin if touched. There were 72 square tiles (each tile was 12 inches by 12 inches each) on the floor and 74 women. After two days when they opened the doors, ten women had died.
Outside there is a common grave where the ashes of the 750 people that died in this camp are buried. The rest of the prisoners were shipped to Germany to die.
When the war ended, there were 329 prisoners left in the prison; the guards shot and killed them all before the Allies arrived.
The youngest to die in this camp was 2 months old; the oldest was 94.
So dreadfully horrible.
In somber moods, we left the concentration camp and went to the nearby city of Den Bosch.
The painter, Heronimus Bosch came from this area (his paintings included “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and “Ship of Fools” to name a few). I was delighted by this pig statue created in the style of his paintings.
We went into the beautiful St Jans Cathedral (built in 1200). There were ancient graves inlaid into the floors and the St Mary’s chapel was so peaceful with its flickering candles.
We actually found a few stores that carried Mephistos but not the dressy ones that I was looking for.
The buildings and centre square with a statue of Bosch were lovely.
It was funny to see a Hudson’s Bay store here.
We stopped for a coffee and headed back to Anita’s place where Johan had prepared a delicious meal. We chatted and laughed till it was time for bed.
Posted by Kimberly at 5:18 AM
Labels: Bosch, Camp Vught, Concentration camp
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Tom Lowry – Leader in a Thousand, by Bill Francis
Described as the greatest character (and also possibly the richest) in New Zealand cricket history, Tom Lowry remains a seminal figure in the development of our national summer sport. This big raw-boned cricketer was our first test captain, led the first two touring teams to England and managed the third.
Before representing New Zealand he captained Cambridge University, played for Somerset and toured his home country with an MCC side.
Outside cricket he became an air force pilot at the end of the World War I, ran one of the best sheep stations and horse studs in New Zealand, and was a leading racing figure.
Prominent broadcasting leader Bill Francis, in his fifth book, captures the uniqueness of Tom Lowry in this fascinating biography.
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Getting Lost
Stories and Travel Info
Posts for Miao
Top Places To Visit In Khonsa
Best Destinations - Amanda - June 2, 2015
Being on the eastern most tip of India, Khonsa, the beautiful hill station, receives the first rays of the sun in the morning in this part of the world. Not only does sun showers its first rays on the land, various forms of nature too seem to enjoy being present in Khonsa. This town in Tirap Valley is surrounded by the majestic Himalayan ranges; streams, deep gorges, dense forests and snow-clad hills add to the spectacular beauty of the place. Khonsa is a great place for trekking. The culture of the land is colorful too. Apart from the tribes to whom the place is native, Khonsa has warmly embraced people from neighboring states and hence it has a diverse culture. If you tour Khonsa, you will be content to stay put in the place exploring the beauty of the hill station. To get a feel of the land and the nearby tourist destinations, visit the following best places to visit in and around Khonsa.
Khonsa Museum
Khonsa Museum gives you an insight into the culture and lifestyle of the people of Khonsa. Traditional artefacts reflect the tribal lifestyle. Swords and other weapons are on display here. Apart from that, the museum houses handlooms and artefacts collections that represent the culture of various parts of India.
District Museum
District Museum was established in the year 1956. Artefacts representing the tribes of the land are on display here. The museum remains open from Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.
Kheti And Lajo Village
Kheti and Lajo are two villages in Khonsa that symbolize the culture and traditions of the bygone era. The dormitories of these villages present for view human skulls that were collected from headhunting days. It reflects the past and leads simple life content with having the basic needs fulfilled.
Namdapha National Park
If you are looking for some tourist destination around Khonsa, you will be happy to land in Namdapha National Park, which is 166 km away from Khonsa. The park owns the unique record of housing four big cats varieties namely tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard. Declared as National Park and tiger reserve in the year 1983, Namdapha National Park awe inspires you with its stunning range of altitudes that vary from 200 meters to 4500 meters. The 1985.23 sq. kms of the land is rich in flora and fauna. Some of the wild life you could spot here other than the big cats includes Himalayan black bear and elephant.
Miao
Yet another tourist destination around Khonsa is Miao, which is located 154 km away from Khonsa. Miao is the gateway to the renowned Namdapha National Park. The scenic Miao has a museum and a mini zoo. While you are here, you could visit Tibetan refugees settlement camp where you could find some of the best woolen carpets woven in beautiful colors and designs.
If the aim of your tour is to unwind and explore nature, you will find Khonsa a perfect holiday destination. The place does not have many attractions in the form of tourist spots but the place has every attraction that a nature lover would seek. If you are looking to feast your eyes with spectacular views, you will love every morning you wake up in this part of the world. Khonsa offers a serene atmosphere and makes you feel oneness with nature in the most perfect way.
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Home > Lifestyle > Literature > GRR Martin to skip Comic Con to finish next 'GOT' book
GRR Martin to skip Comic Con to finish next 'GOT' book
The Hawk | 19 March 2015 7:40 AM GMT
Los Angeles: "Game of Thrones" author GRR Martin is skipping the World Fantasy Convention and Comic-Con fan event this year to focus on finishing "The Winds of Winter". The writer has been a regular in the HBO show's Comic-Con panel while his publisher Random House typically has a party at the event but Martin has excused himself this time, reported Entertainment Weekly. The season 5 of 'Game of Thrones' premieres April 12. "I have too much to do. Too many things on my plate. Son of Kong foremost amongst them," Martin wrote on his blog. "Son of Kong" is the pet term the author uses to describe "The Winds of Winter". The author, however, teased fans that he may change his mind if he finishes the book before time. "Should I complete and deliver Winds of Winter before these cons roll round, I reserve the right to change my mind," he joked. It looks like the author is nearing the end of his sixth "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel as the first of these fan events is only four months away. His last book, 2011's "A Dance with Dragons", was originally supposed to end deeper into his saga. The final planned book is titled "A Dream of Spring". PTI
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Born : 15 April 1997 ( 22 )
Maisie Williams is an English actress.
She made her professional acting debut as Arya Stark of Winterfell in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones in 2011, for which she won the EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, the Portal Award for Best Supporting Actress – Television and Best Young Actor, and the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor. In 2016, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Williams has also had a recurring role in Doctor Who as Ashildr in 2015. She made her feature film debut in the mystery The Falling (2014), for which she won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Young Performer of the Year. RANKED5
Posted by Dave W at 2:00 pm Tagged with: Doctor Who, Maisie Williams
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Ed News
November 18, 2013 by Cameron Maynard
Overview of Dallas schools
Historically, Dallas has been viewed as a Southern city big on spending, fashion, and oil. While Dallas certainly helped cultivate this image with its economic expansion in the 1980s, it has, conversely, cultivated an impression that Dallas is a homogeneous city less concerned than, say, the Northeast when it comes to cultural aspects and intellectual pursuits. But his stereotype is changing rapidly.
Dallas may never fully extricate itself from the “Texas way of life” persona, but with one of the top 10 city populations in the United States, it has become a major economic, social, and political player on the national stage. When you couple this with the outlying suburbs and exurbs that seem to stretch as far north as Oklahoma and as far west as Fort Worth (ask someone at the airport where they are from, and when they answer “Dallas,” press them further about specifics, and inevitably they will say “Plano,” “Flower Mound,” or “Mesquite”), the Dallas metropolitan area becomes one of the most populated areas in the United States. And with an influx of new citizens every year, the variety of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic groups is continuously changing. From 2011 to 2012 the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington corridor (larger than the Dallas Metropolitan area, but comparable with New York-Newark-Jersey City; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim) grew more than any other metropolitan area in the top 25, outside of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, according to the North Texas Commission.
But when one looks at Dallas, upon closer inspection, they should also see a vibrant educational backdrop that has actually flourished, even with its struggles of shaking the old stereotypes.
Starting at the top, Dallas is home to Southern Methodist University, a private institution that itself has fallen prey to the overarching assumptions and stereotypes of Dallas. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), more than half of the undergraduates that attend SMU are from out-of-state, and nearly 80% receive some sort of financial aid. While the sticker price for an education at SMU is certainly high, the academics have improved over the last decade and the overall offering of academic resources has been bolstered by the introduction of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Currently, only 34% of the student population is self-identified as an ethnic minority, but this number has increases nearly ten percent since 2008. The transformation of SMU from a fallen “golden age of football” to a high-achieving and welcoming academic environment is a work in progress, and it certainly seems to have entered a new phase of education focused on a new image of loftier academics within a wider-ranging community.
When one looks at the schools beneath the collegiate ranks, it becomes apparent that the greater Dallas area offers a wide variety of secondary-education options, ranging from Magnet to Charter, Public to Private. Dallas boasts two public schools that have each been ranked #1 among all high schools in the nation over the last three years and continue to be in the top 5 – The School for the Talented and Gifted (U.S. News and World Report) and the School of Science and Engineering Magnet (Newsweek and the Washington Post) – as well as the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School which was selected as one of the top 15 schools of 2013 in the U.S. News, and top 5 in the Washington Post.
While the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has certainly faced socioeconomic challenges over the last decade with its large network of 230 schools serving more than 157 thousand students, offering three schools that are continuously ranked in the top 15 is quite an accomplishment. Other highly regarded public schools across the Dallas area include: Booker T. Washington (a performing and visual arts school); Woodrow Wilson (one of the few schools that offers the International Bachelorette program); Highland Park High School (17th ranked by U.S. News amongst public schools in Texas), and a plethora of growing charter and magnet schools.
Outside of Dallas public education is the highly competitive private school arena. Since the early 1900s, Dallas has been home to both The Hockaday School (all girls) and St. Mark’s School of Texas (all boys). These schools were the only two in the Dallas area with more than 12 National Merit Semi-Finalists over the last calendar school year. And with endowments toping $100 million each, Hockaday and St. Mark’s are two of the wealthier private schools across the nation. Each boasts low student-to-faculty ratios, large campuses, and students claiming a diversified ethnic makeup hovering around 40%.
Other well-regarded private schools in the Dallas area include: the Greenhill School, Cistercian Abbey and Preparatory School, Trinity Christian Academy, Jesuit College Preparatory of Dallas, and the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, all of which produced seven or more National Merit Semi-Finalist in the past year. Dallas is also home to the Dallas International School, the only school offering both an International Bachelorette program and the French Bachelorette program. While all of these schools have certainly displayed high achievement academically, the average yearly tuition of all private schools researched by General Academic sits just under $19,000 a year – a high sum even for the best educations.
However, when cost is subtracted, these schools offer students a wide variety benefits: alumni networks, endowment dollars per student; athletic programs, International Bachelorette and Advanced Placement classes offered; school history or percentage of students accepted to Ivy League schools. Dallas also offers a number of highly regarded “Special Needs” schools, six schools that provide single-sex education, and five Catholic schools.
Dallas certainly has a certain persona amongst major cities in the U.S., either real or imagined, and it will continue to be a center for commerce as the city and State of Texas adapt to socioeconomic and political shifts, but a key takeaway, especially in Dallas, is that the educational market is robust and strong, and if the last decade is any indicator, it is only getting stronger.
Tags: dallas schools
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dbsrgbseg says:
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Są gwałtownie obojętne także gdyby tak rzeczone
potrafię namówić – sztywne. W 4 splotach na 5 zgoła zaciekawione ustrzeżeniem akcentuj do zgromadzonego dobrobytu.
Leadership Coaching says:
Thhe text in your post seem to be runninmg off the scrwen in Firefox.
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The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem solved soon. Maany thanks
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Ethnomusicology Pioneer Mantle Hood
Mantle Hood, 87, a professor, author and scholar who pioneered an interdisciplinary field that blends the studies of musicology and anthropology, died July 31 at his home in Ellicott City. He had Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Hood helped establish a framework for the field known as ethnomusicology, which is the comprehensive study of music, musicians, their instruments and the complex human intricacies behind the production of music.
After studying the music and culture of Indonesia in the 1950s, Dr. Hood became an internationally recognized authority on the musical traditions of the islands of Java and Bali, with their orchestras of bronze kettles, bamboo xylophones, drums and cymbals.
He went on to create an ethnomusicology program and institute at his alma mater, the University of California at Los Angeles, and became an influential member of the Society for Ethnomusicology. In 1980, after taking time off from academia, he started another program, this one at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
A major focus of his teachings was the study of music through performance, challenging his students to learn not only from scholarly research but also by playing instruments.
Dr. Hood, who taught at UMBC until his retirement in 1996, was the author of "The Ethnomusicologist" (1971), "The Evolution of Javanese Gamelan" (1984) and nearly 100 chapters for other books.
He was an editor of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and taught courses as a visiting professor at Yale, Harvard and Indiana universities.
Dr. Hood, who was born in Springfield, Ill., wrote pulp fiction in his youth and served in the Army in Europe during World War II.
He graduated from UCLA in 1951 and received a master's degree in music from there the next year. He received a doctorate in music from the University of Amsterdam.
His marriage to Shirley Hood ended in divorce. In 1963, he married the former Hazel Chung, a professional dancer with whom Dr. Hood collaborated in his research.
In addition to his wife, of Ellicott City, survivors include one son from his first marriage, Marlowe Hood of Paris; three sons from his second marriage, Maiyo J. Hood of Shanghai, Mitro A. Hood of Baltimore and Made M. Hood of Melbourne, Australia; and three grandchildren.
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No Max 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Waterfront Choose More Options Any Access Canal Frontage Lake Name
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Sun 07/21 07/21
618 Stratford Drive
5 Bed | 3 Bath | 2,730 Sq Ft
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1236 Prospect Street
Wed 07/17 07/17
1300 E Monroe Road
Tecumseh, MI 49286
5429 Village Road
3198 Thistle Court
3443 Oak Park Drive
17800 W Pleasant Lake Road
Manchester, MI 48158
346 Huntington Drive
9920 White Tail
Tue 07/16 07/16
403 Baker Crossing
Dexter, MI 48130
5209 Doral Court
Sat 07/20 07/20
4141 Woodland Drive
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Filter by: All All genres CrimeDramaMysteryRomanceThriller movies where Josh Hartnett starred in:
Wicker Park (2004)
Passion never dies.
Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller,
Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Matthew Lillard, Diane Kruger, Christopher Cousins,
Pearl Harbor (2001)
It takes a moment to change history. It takes love to change lives.
Action, Drama, Romance, War,
Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, William Lee Scott, Greg Zola,
Rangers Lead the Way.
Drama, History, Thriller, War,
Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner,
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Love Sex Passion Fear Obsession
Drama, Romance,
James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Michael Paré,
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
One man is about to do the unthinkable. No sex. Whatsoever. For... 40 Days and 40 Nights
Comedy, Romance, Drama,
Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, Paulo Costanzo, Adam Trese, Emmanuelle Vaugier,
The Black Dahlia (2006)
Inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history.
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller,
Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner,
They're Coming!
Horror, Thriller,
Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior,
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Your Numbers up, February 06
Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller,
Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley,
The Faculty (1998)
Six students are about to find out their teachers really are from another planet.
Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller,
Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy,
O (2001)
Everything Comes Full Circle...
Drama, Romance, Thriller,
Mekhi Phifer, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett, Andrew Keegan, Julia Stiles,
I Come with the Rain (2009)
Can you find the path to Redemption ?
Thriller,
Josh Hartnett, Tran Nu Yên-Khê, Byung-hun Lee, Takuya Kimura, Shawn Yue,
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Or Instagram
Own Art
Emily Smith-Polyblank
Emily studied Fine Art at Farnham College of Art and before that did a pre-foundation at Maidstone College of Art.
Emily's main form of work has been using woodcut and lino printing. The wood grain has a lovely natural texture of its own, which can control the images and also adds to them. Inspiration comes from her surroundings - her mother owns a smallholding with lots of animals in the countryside on the North Downs of Kent which is where she grew up. Due to both her parents being artists, she was encouraged at an early age to sketch from life.
Emily now works from her father's old studio. He studied at the Royal Academy and was an excellent portrait and landscape painter until his early death in 1988.
In the past, she has exhibited her work successfully, both locally and elsewhere: Mall Galleries, Chaple Gallery, Devon and also at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions.
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Business And Work Crossword Puzzles
Business and Work Word Search Puzzles
Business And Work Crosswords
To view or print a Business And Work crossword puzzle click on its title.
Instructions / Description
Sample Puzzle Hints
Library Items associated with the library the person who writes the books. children's books with more illustrations. most popular item checked out each year. where to return your materials . books made easier to read . Big
Firefighting Equipment Tackle the burning issues and complete the crossword below Suitable extinguisher for tackling wood, paper and textile fires (5). Suitable extinguisher for tackling electrical fires (6, 7). A fire will go out if there is no more fuel, heat or ... (6). Easily set on fire (9). Suitable extinguisher for tackling flammable liquid fires (4). Big
World of Work an organization that represents people who do a particular job (two words - leave no gap). a very strong feeling about a subject. a situation in which a company employs another organization to do some of its work, rather than using its own employees to do it. a line of machines and workers in a factory that a product moves along while it is being built or produced (two words - leave no gap). someone who has a lot of knowledge, or skill in a particular subject. Big
Slogans The best a man can get. This is how you ____. I'm lovin' it. Tastes so good, cats ask for it by name. The king of beers. Hard
Medical Specialists Diagnoses & treats eye defects, injuries & diseases . Diagnoses & treats disorders & diseases of the internal structures of the body. Diagnoses & treats heart diseases. Diagnoses & treats diseases & disorders of the nervous system . Diagnoses & treats cancers & tumors. Hard
Health Insurance Also known as Obama Care. A person who helps in identifying or preventing or treating illness or disability. (abbreviation). A formal request to an insurance company asking for a payment.. A portion of a claim, generally paid at the time of service.. The most a person will pay in medical bills for a year. (abbreviation). Big
Economics Total revenue minus total cost.. Products are made by traditions. An economy in which the producers of a product decides the price and quantity.. The value of every thing a seller must give up to produce a good.. Goods found in nature to boots a country's economy.. Big
Sports Marketing block of time when the largest number of viewers are watching TV. shared history, beliefs, customs and traditions of a group of people. the governing authority of the Olympics. satisfying the needs of several generations of a family. theft of copyrighted material. Hard
Work Values finding new ways to do things. being able to direct and influence others. having an important position. working in a job that requires risks. deciding how to do my work. Big
Industrialization Invented the airplane. Became rich by selling steel. This integration is when a company owns all parts of production. Group of people who fight for workers rights. People who oppose all forms of government . Big
Nursing Skills a device that measures the amount of volume of air inhaled . a reduced amount of oxygen in the blood . artificial opening created in the large intestine and brought to the surface of the abdomen for evacuating the bowels. production of excessive amounts of urine. method used for IM injections. Big
Beginners Economics Based on Economics Vocabulary Item we would like to have but is not necessary for survival. What is given up to choose another option. Nation's GDP divided by its population. Economic system where the buyers and sellers make the economic decisions. A region where a group of countries agree to reduce or eliminate tariffs. Hard
Quick Books a synonym for earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and is also referred to as 'operating profit' or 'recurring profit.' . reduce or extinguish (a debt) by money regularly put aside.. an entry recording an amount owed, listed on the left-hand side or column of an account.. cash on hand or an asset that can be readily converted to cash. the ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future.. Big
Lab Skills Alternate feeding method through the GI system. A Stage IV pressure injury is characterized by a full-______ loss of tissue. It is necessary to ______ an insulin pen before administering. Assess residual during continuous feedings every ________ hours. A commonly used isotonic solution. Big
Business Studies A financial gain. an exclusive owner of a business who keeps all the profits after tax. an item of property owned by a person or company. Owners who are personally liable for all debts. Someone who invests in a business but plays no part in running it. Big
Communication on the Job the person who starts the communication process. . understanding what you hear. . an informal written message. . the senders mind, which forms a mental image of the message being sent. . the art of using good manners in any situation.. Big
Parts of a Business Letter Includes opening of the letter, followed by receiver's title and last name.. Directly precedes sender's signature. . Size of font usually used in letter.. The top margin on a business letter is set to this.. Font usually used when writing a business letter.. Big
Quickbooks an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.. an arrangement under which sums of money spent in the course of business by an employee are later reimbursed by their employer.. a valuable person or thing . the direct costs attributable to the production of the goods sold by a company.. the state of being legally responsible for something . Very Difficult
Types of Engineering come up with solutions to technical problems such as fertilizers, fuel and other chemical issues. concerned with manufacturing development and how things work or run. deals with computer software. deals with complex processes or systems, help elimate waste of time, money or energy. deals with farm power and machinery. Big
Marketing Management FOB. Entity that sells goods or commodities in small quantities directly to consumers. Information _ is the third step in research process.. _ is normally being associate with quality.. _ condition will determine international pricing.. Very Difficult
Excel Terminology A horizontal group of cells. Is a file containing related worksheets.. A rectangular grouping of two or more cells.. Located directly below the ribbon and is used to enter or edit cell contents.. Tell the user what sheets of workbook are available.. Big
Sports Marketing Chapter 4 Vocabulary block of time when the largest number of viewers are watching TV. shared history, beliefs, customs and traditions of a group of people. the governing authority of the Olympics. satisfying the needs of several generations of a family. theft of copyrighted material. Hard
Teacher extracurricular classes that vary during the week. who is taught. core subject involving reading and writing. ability to suppress annoyance when confronted with delay. teachers create these as a way to write what they are doing today. Big
Economy All the decisions are made by business. An area of production. The lack of having. The amount of money on goods of a country in a given year. Any accets used in the production of good and/or services. Big
Important Terms In Economics Fill in the crossword. Do not leave empty squares if there should be a space Maximizing the potential of the resources. A good that you produce. Making the maximum with what you have. A good given by nature. This occurs when resources are limited, whereas needs and wants are unlimited, so there are not enough resources. Big
Advertising Owing to the Great Depression of 1929, the expenditures in advertising plummeted. This led advertising agencies to shift their focus to _____.. The term _______ means coordinating a firm's messages from a variety of sources.. Economic, political,religious, or social viewpoints that advertising may attempt to sell.. _____ is a type of marketing used to slow down the demand for certain products, such as energy-consuming goods.. An instrument or communications vehicle that carries or helps transfer a message from the sender to the receiver.. Very Difficult
Business Aims and Objectives Likely target a business will hope to achieve?. Type of stakeholder that works for the business?. Short term goal?. Type of stakeholder that is outside a business?. Long term target?. Easy
Biomedical Science Careers nutrition specialist. researches and experiments with the process of chemicals. examines patients. test blood and plasma. develop new medicines to fight disease. Big
Forklift Operation Driver safety awareness A Reversing must. Should never touch the ground. Unnecessary tyre wear. Where to go if you can't see where your going. Human hazard. Adult
Engineering Psychology To become an engineering psychologist, a person generally should go to ____ school.. The field of ____ psychology originated in the area of experimental psychology.. The majority of engineering psychologists are employed in the ___ sector. . Engineering psychology focuses on improving and adapting technology and ____.. A starting ____ for an engineering psychologist is about $48,000 per year.. Big
How Work Is Changing Complete the puzzle by printing the word in ALL capital letters. Two words no space, no hyphens. using outside resources and/or people to do tasks traditionally done within a company or country. a work history of one or mor jobs in the same or related fields of interest. all the world's economies and how they are linked. the need for workers and the kinds of work available to them. work that people do for pay. Big
International Trade a payment by a country to its exporters, enabling them to sell their products abroad at a lower price than at home. an agreement among countries to remove the barriers to trade among themselves . a good or service purchased from from a seller in another country. a restriction on the amount of a specific good that can enter the country from abroad. the value of one nations currency stated in terms of the value of another nations currency . Big
Teach For America not sharp (used of a knife or other blade). marked by a ready flow of speech. a state of extreme confusion and disorder. an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale. the feeling of patient humbleness. Big
Manufacturing Asking people their opinion about the product. The money left over after when all the bills are paid. Company that purchases a large number of products then sells to smaller businesses . A company that sells to the consumers . The provider of the materials used for manufacturing goods . Big
Medical Assisting National certifying body. In 1955, national organiztion that professionalized medical assisting. High school biology teacher who formed the first formal training program. Original area of competency. Performance of delegated duties consistent with the MA's education, training, and experience. Big
International Finance Where you purchase your finished goods from. The first Chen grandchild. What runs but doesn't get anywhere. Something the company owns and has a life of more than one year. Who checks your financial statements each year. Hard
Career Investigations A lifelong journey as a person works to meet their earning, learning and living goals. . A specific duty, role, or function.. Work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole.. An academic title awarded by a college or university as an indication of the completion of a course of study that generally takes four or more years to complete.. Actively engaged in setting goals for personal living, earning a living, a life-long learning and establishing a plan for reaching these personal goals.. Big
Contract Law a contract involving mutual promises (each party is both promisor and promisee). In contract law, a proposal made in response to an original offer modifying its terms, but which has the legal effect of rejecting it.. referring to anything in which both parties have reciprocal rights, understanding, or agreement.. A___ is a communication that gives the listener the power to conclude a contract. A rule of contract law that says if an offer is made in such a manner that it would be reasonable to assume that another person would accept the offer by placing a letter or other writing in the mail.. Hard
Business Organizations Complete Puzzle Below income received from the sale of goods and/or services . share of ownership in a corporation that entitles the buyer to a certain part of the future profits and assets of the corporation. extra supply of the items used in a business, such as raw materials or goods for sale . business that two or more individuals own and operate . all items to which a business or household holds legal claim. Hard
Nursing 1 a __________ moves equipment, furniture, patients, etc. around the hospital.. a doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the heart.. a person who is trained to do medical work, especially in an emergency, but who is not a doctor or nurse.. a surgeon ___________ operations.. the person or group of people you are most closely related to.. Big
Film Set This person shoots the scenes.. The actors that are not the stars of the film but who have an important part have a..... The person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the film. The person who has the most important part stars in the .... The start of a take is signalled with a .... Big
Customer Service To do something by offering them one's services or resources. Good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence . Customers appreciate consistent (blank) to their open cases . Take one for the. Someone who has won first place in a competition . Big
Chores Clean on Saturdays. Tidy up. Every Saturday. Type of Cleaning, end of month. Trash out. Easy
Safety in the Workplace Crossword If you see something unsafe in the workplace, who do you report it to?. How many wet floor signs are there?. What is one of the most common on the job injuries?. Another Common job injury?. Another Common on the job injury?. Big
California Civil Litigation portion of the pleading containing the relief sought. the ability to sue or defend in court. authority of a superior court over cases where the amount in controversy is less than $25,000. fees shared by attorneys. a law firm's bank account that holds all moneys received by attorney on behalf of clients, including money for attorney fees and costs not yet earned.. Hard
Business Law A rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what is right, and prohibiting what is wrong. Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Discretionary review by a higher court. Criminal intent or mental fault. Liability for the negligent conduct of a defendant requires that his conduct in fact caused harm to the plaintiff. Hard
Hair Stylist Complete the crossword below Used to reduce hair thickness, to create special texturizing effects, or to blend layered hair.. A piece of electrical equipment that you heat up and move through sections of your hair to make it straight.. Is a small tube that is rolled into a person's hair in order to curl it.. A solution sprayed onto a person's hair to keep it in place.. For smoothing and styling the hair. . Big
The Internet and World Wide Web terms about the Internet and the World Wide Web provides high-speed internet connections through cable television network. business that provides individuals and companies access to the internet free or for a fee. digital representation of nontext information such as drawing, chart, or photograph. prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. transmission of the messages and files via a computer network. Big
Types Of Engineers devise, build and create cutting edge products. construction. make leisure watercrafts. machines to design plastic. flameable gas. Hard
Keyboarding Class the month that it is now. Row that you fingers should rest on. fingers that are resting on the f and j keys. key that used to unjam typewriters. fingers that are resting on the l and s keys. Hard
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[PIC] A First Look At The Walking Dead Season 8
by King Hazard
Ahead of the San Diego Comic-Con next week, Entertainment Weekly shared the first exclusive photo from the eight season of The Walking Dead.
Based on the new photo teaser, it looks like Season 8 will reunite old faces such as Carol and Daryl, who are probably preparing for an all-out war with the Saviors and their ferocious sociopathic leader Negan. So expect to see plenty of action with both beloved characters once again be at the center of it all.
From what we know Season 8 will continue the trajectory of Season 7 in a major way. It will also build off the reunions and first-time unions that unfolded in the season 7 finale.
The Walking Dead Season 8 will return for 16 episodes in the fall of 2017, which obviously means around October.
Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, “The Walking Dead” reigns as television’s most watched drama for adults 18-49 for a record-breaking five consecutive years. “The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse, and follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series is executive produced by showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero and Tom Luse.
Related Items: The Walking DeadThe Walking Dead Season 8
Watch The Trailer For The Walking Dead Mid-Season 8 [VI ...
Watch The First Three Minutes Of The Walking Dead Seaso ...
The Walking Dead Episode 704 "Service" - Extended To 85 ...
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Three retired women, Julia Mosley, Susan Hamilton and Trish Wade were moved by the many young people they saw desperately seeking help at schools in their communities. They recognised a need to support young people who were falling out of the education system because they didn’t have the financial resources & emotional support to succeed. These woman wanted to use their combined skills to raise funds and support as many young people in this situation as possible.
In December 2009, they established the YES OP Shop on Mahoneys Road in Forest Hill, Victoria. The shop has served to engage public support and has attracted many like-minded volunteers who have helped to grow YES, Inc. into what it is today. Since the opening of the first shop, public support has expanded and with the generous support of donors and patrons, lead to the opening of a second shop, called ‘YES 2 Shop’ also on Mahoneys Road in Forest Hill. This second shop increased capacity and has allowed Yes, Inc to sell items such as furniture that increase the amount of funds that can be raised by the shops.
Because YES Inc., has such an amazing team of volunteers it has not had to rely on any paid staff! This means that 100% of ALL Donations are used directly to support young people in need!
We would like to recognise a few of our wonderful patrons:
Kay Macpherson
Kay Macpherson, Regional Coordinating Magistrate, Broadmeadows Children’s Court
Official Message:
As a Children’s Court Magistrate and as a mother and grandmother I am very proud to be the patron of Youth Education Support Inc. I have been a Magistrate for 25 years, both in the Magistrates’ Court and for the last nine years in the Children’s Court.
There is no doubt that education is the key to the future of our children and young people. Without education their choices are very limited and many find themselves making bad choices and ending up in prison or living sad and unfulfilled lives.
I am passionate about the need to ensure that all children go to school and to obtain an education that will enable them to achieve whatever they want to in life. Youth Education Support Inc. is an organisation which assists young people to achieve great things and I support it wholeheartedly.
The Late Barbara Holborow OAM
Former Patron
The Late Barbara Holborow OAM, Former Magistrate of the NSW Children’s Court
Barbara began her career as a legal stenographer, later studying law and opening a practice as a solicitor. She eventually represented children, and spent 13 years as a NSW Children’s Court Magistrate.
Barbara resigned from the bench in June 1994, believing she could do more outside a system she found hamstrung by “ridiculous” legislation. Barbara was one of Australia’s most outspoken and committed children’s rights advocates and wrote three books: – Those Tracks on my Face, Kids – Loving for Life, and The Good, the Bad and the Inevitable.
One of Barbara’s famous statements:
“We will accept your religion,
We will accept your language,
We will accept your culture in relation to your dress,
Your manner, everything,
But we will not accept your cruelty to your children.
And it matters not to me that it’s been happening for thousands of years over there.
It will not happen in this country and it certainly won’t happen in my court.”
Freda Miles
“As I enter my centennial year it was with great joy that I accepted the honour of Ambassador for Youth Education Support Inc.
Having worked as a volunteer for the past 30 years I know firsthand the benefits of volunteering both to the community and our lives. My roles have been varied from Op Shop Manager, to providing meals on wheels for the sick or elderly to Neighbour Watch or collecting for Red Shield. A career as a volunteer can be as diverse as someone else’s need, and can change at any time.
Currently you will find me most days of the week behind the counter ready to have a chat, and help you with your purchase. I have happily and proudly volunteered with YES Inc. since its inception, witnessing a small dedicated group of volunteers with a vision, grow into a hardworking enthusiastic team of over 80. I consider it an enormous privilege to know that I can contribute to the very important work of YES INC. and help to support our younger generation to better equip themselves for the challenges ahead.”
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OECD Home AlbaniaSME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2016 - Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe - en
SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2016
Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe
In series:SME Policy Indexview more titles
The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool designed for emerging economies to assess SME policy frameworks and monitor progress in policy implementation over time. The Index has been developed by the OECD in partnership with the European Commission (EC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2006 for the Western Balkans. The South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (SEECEL) joined as an additional partner in 2014. The SME Policy Index has since 2006 been applied in four regions and nine assessment rounds overall. The SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2016 presents the results of the fourth assessment of the Small Business Act for Europe in the Western Balkans and, since 2012, Turkey. The assessment framework is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA). It provides a wide-range of pro-enterprise measures to guide the design and implementation of SME policies based on good practices promoted by the EU and the OECD. The Index identifies strengths and weaknesses in policy design, implementation and monitoring. It allows for comparison across countries and measures convergence towards good practices and relevant policy standards. It aims to support governments in setting targets for SME policy development and to identify strategic priorities to further improve the business environment. It also helps to engage governments in policy dialogue and exchange good practices within the region and with OECD and EU members.
Foreword and Acknowledgements
2016 SME Policy Index scores for the Western Balkans and Turkey
Policy framework and assessment process
Economic context and the role of SMEs in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Small Business Act assessment: Findings by SBA dimension10 chapters available
Entrepreneurial learning and women's entrepreneurship (Dimension 1) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Bankruptcy and second chance for SMEs (Dimension 2) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Institutional and regulatory framework for SME policy making (Dimension 3) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Operational environment for SMEs (Dimension 4) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Support services for SMEs and start-ups, and public procurement (Dimensions 5a and 5b) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Access to finance for SMEs (Dimension 6) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Standards and technical regulations (Dimension 7) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Enterprise skills and innovation (Dimensions 8a and 8b) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
SMEs in a green economy (Dimension 9) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Internationalisation of SMEs (Dimension 10) in the Western Balkans and Turkey
Small Business Act assessment: Western Balkans and Turkey country profiles7 chapters available
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Annexes3 chapters available
Methodology for the Small Business Act assessment
The Small Business Act assessment's scoring model for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Organisation profiles
The launch of the SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2016 was organised by the OECD South East Europe Regional Programme in co-operation with the European Commission, the European Bank for reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (SEECEL).
WHAT ARE THE SBA ASSESSMENT AND THE SME POLICY INDEX?
The SBA Assessment monitors the progress in the implementation of the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe and measures convergence towards EU practices and standards.
The dedicated methodology – the SME Policy Index – was specifically developed by the partner organisations in 2006 in order to apply the SBA in EU pre-accession economies. The index identifies strengths and weaknesses in policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; allows for comparison across countries; and measures convergence towards EU SME policy standards.
The purpose of the SBA Assessment is to improve SME policy-making in partner countries and to enhance the capacity of policy-makers, as well as to improve the business environment "on the ground" and to foster entrepreneurship and competitiveness. It aims to support governments in setting targets for SME policy developments and strategic priorities to further improve their business environments. It also engages governments in policy dialogue and facilitates the exchange of experiences within the region and with the partner organisations.
For more information, please contact Anita Richter.
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Title: Calvinism
Subject: List of places of worship in Berlin, Christian theology, Protestant Reformation, Christianity, John Calvin
Collection: Calvinism, Calvinist Theology, Chalcedonianism, Dutch Golden Age, Five Points of Calvinism, Trinitarianism
Reformation Wall in Geneva; from left to right: William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox
Synod of Dort
Theology of John Calvin
Regulative principle
Calvin's Institutes
Three Forms of Unity
Westminster Standards
Second Helvetic Confession
La Rochelle Confession
Savoy Declaration
1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
First Helvetic Confession
Scots Confession
Huldrych Zwingli
Continental Reformed
Congregationalist
Low church Anglican
Huguenots
Presbyterian polity
Congregational polity
Episcopal polity
Largest groups
World Communion of Reformed Churches
World Reformed Fellowship
International Conference of Reformed Churches
North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council
Presbyterianism in South Korea
List of Reformed denominations
Calvinism portal
Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition, Reformed Christianity or the Reformed faith) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians.
Calvinists broke with the Roman Catholic Church but differed with Lutherans on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, theories of worship, and the use of God's law for believers, among other things.[1][2] Calvinism can be a misleading term because the religious tradition it denotes is and has always been diverse, with a wide range of influences rather than a single founder. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, and many within the tradition would prefer to use the word Reformed.[3][4] Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed — as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism — are divided into Arminians and Calvinists.[1][5][6] Reformed churches may exercise several forms of ecclesiastical polity. Most are presbyterian or congregationalist, but some are episcopalian.
While the Reformed theological tradition addresses all of the traditional topics of Christian theology, the word Calvinism is sometimes used to refer to particular Calvinist views on soteriology and predestination, which are summarized in part by the Five Points of Calvinism. Some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things—in salvation, but also in all of life.
Early influential Reformed theologians include John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B. Warfield, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til and Gordon Clark were influential, while contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I. Packer, R. C. Sproul, Timothy J. Keller, Alister McGrath, John Piper, John MacArthur, and Michael Horton.
The biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world.[7][8] There are more conservative Reformed federations like the World Reformed Fellowship and the International Conference of Reformed Churches, as well as independent churches.
Spread 1.1
Reformed identity 2
Revelation and Scripture 3.1
Covenant 3.2
God 3.3
Christ and atonement 3.4
Sin 3.5
Salvation 3.6
Predestination 3.7
Five points of Calvinism 3.7.1
Comparison among Protestants 3.7.2
Church 3.8
Worship 3.9
Regulative principle of worship 3.9.1
Sacraments 3.10
Logical order of God's decree 3.11
Variants 4
Amyraldism 4.1
Hyper-Calvinism 4.2
Neo-Calvinism 4.3
Christian Reconstructionism 4.4
New Calvinism 4.5
Social and economic influences 5
Usury and capitalism 5.1
Politics and society 6
Doctrine 7.1
Related 7.2
Similar groups in other traditions 7.3
Calvin preached at St. Pierre Cathedral, the main church in Geneva
First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), Martin Bucer (1491–1551), Wolfgang Capito (1478–1541), John Oecolampadius (1482–1531), and Guillaume Farel (1489–1565). These reformers came from diverse academic backgrounds, but later distinctives of Reformed theology can already be detected in their thought, especially the priority of scripture as a source of authority. Scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord's supper. Each of these theologians also understood salvation to be by grace alone, and affirmed a doctrine of particular election (the teaching that some people are chosen by God for salvation). Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, and to a larger extent later Reformed theologians. The doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther.[9]
John Calvin (1509–64), Heinrich Bullinger (1504–75), Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563), Peter Martyr Vermigli (1500–62), and Andreas Hyperius (1511–64) belong to the second generation of Reformed theologians. Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536–59) was one of the most influential theologies of the era.[10] Toward the middle of the 16th century, the Reformed began to commit their beliefs to confessions of faith, which would shape the future definition of the Reformed faith. The 1549 Consensus Tigurinus brought together those who followed Zwingli and Bullinger's memorialist theology of the Lord's supper, which taught that the supper simply serves as a reminder of Christ's death, and Calvin's view that the supper serves as a means of grace with Christ actually present, though spiritually rather than bodily. The document demonstrates the diversity as well as unity in early Reformed theology. The remainder of the 16th century saw an explosion of confessional activity. The stability and breadth of Reformed theology during this period stand in marked contrast to the bitter controversy experienced by Lutherans prior to the 1579 Formula of Concord.[11]
Calvin's magnum opus: Institutio Christianae religionis
Due to Calvin's missionary work in France, his programme of reform eventually reached the French-speaking provinces of the Netherlands. Calvinism was adopted in the Electoral Palatinate under Frederick III, which led to the formulation of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. This and the Belgic Confession were adopted as confessional standards in the first synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571. Leading divines, either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism, settled in England (Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and Jan Łaski) and Scotland (John Knox). During the English Civil War, the Calvinistic Puritans produced the Westminster Confession, which became the confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English-speaking world. Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to other parts of the world including North America, South Africa, and Korea.[12]
Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their city of origin, to succeed far beyond their borders, and to establish their own distinct character.[13]
Although much of Calvin's work was in Geneva, his publications spread his ideas of a "correctly" reformed church to many parts of Europe. In Switzerland some cantons are still Reformed and some are Catholic. Calvinism became the theological system of the majority in Scotland (see John Knox), the Netherlands, with men such as William Ames, T. J. Frelinghuysen and Wilhelmus à Brakel and parts of Germany (especially those adjacent to the Netherlands) with the likes of Olevianus and his colleague Zacharias Ursinus. In Hungary and then independent Transylvania Calvinism was a significant religion. In the 16th century the Reformation gained many supporters especially in Eastern Hungary, parts of present-day Albania and Transylvania. In these parts the Reformed nobles protected the faith. Today there are about 3.5 million Hungarian Reformed people worldwide.[14] It was influential in France, Lithuania and Poland. Calvinism gained some popularity in Scandinavia, especially Sweden, but was rejected in favor of Lutheranism after the Synod of Uppsala in 1593.[15]
Most settlers in the American Mid-Atlantic and New England were Calvinists, including the English Puritans, the French Huguenot and Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam (New York), and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of the Appalachian back country. Dutch Calvinist settlers were also the first successful European colonizers of South Africa, beginning in the 17th century, who became known as Boers or Afrikaners.
Calvinism has been known at times for its simple, unadorned churches and lifestyles, as depicted in this painting by Emanuel de Witte c.1661
Huntingdon Connection. Some of the largest Calvinist communions were started by 19th and 20th century missionaries. Especially large are those in Indonesia, Korea and Nigeria. In South Korea there are 20,000 Presbyterian congregations in about 9–10 million church members, scattered in more than 100 Presbyterian denominations. In Korea Presbyterianism is the largest Christian denomination.[16]
Today, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, which includes some United Churches, has 80 million believers.[17]
Many conservative Reformed churches which are strongly Calvinistic formed the World Reformed Fellowship which has about 67 member denominations. Most are not part of the World Communion of Reformed Churches because of its ecumenial attire. The International Conference of Reformed Churches is another conservative association.
Reformed identity
Reformed Protestants disagree among themselves about the definition and boundaries of the Reformed tradition, and often find it difficult to define what makes them Reformed. Reformed churches do not have a single global leader or set of confessional documents to summarize their beliefs.[18] Instead, different Reformed churches have written different confessional documents.[19] Reformed theologians have proposed several interpretations of Reformed identity. Some define the tradition by a certain church polity, some by a set of essential beliefs, some by doctrinal themes and emphases in the tradition, some by a certain "habitus" or character, and some by a certain theological grammar.[20] Liberal Reformed theologians such as Shirley Guthrie have argued that churches which have revised and rejected long-held theological beliefs are more faithful to the Reformed tradition than more conservative theologians because Reformed confessions are provisional and always open to revision.[21] Historical theologian Richard Muller, however, has argued that the Reformed tradition has historically maintained certain distinctive beliefs and practices despite confessional and theological diversity.[22]
Revelation and Scripture
Reformed theologians believe that God communicates knowledge of himself to people through the Word of God. People are not able to know anything about God except through this self-revelation. Speculation about anything which God has not revealed through his Word is not warranted. The knowledge people have of God is different from that which they have of anything else because God is infinite, and finite people are incapable of comprehending an infinite being. While the knowledge revealed by God to people is never incorrect, it is also never comprehensive.[23]
The seal of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, an early American Presbyterian church
According to Reformed theologians, God's self-revelation is always through his son Jesus Christ, because Christ is the only mediator between God and people. Revelation of God through Christ comes through two basic channels. The first is creation and providence, which is God's creating and continuing to work in the world. This action of God gives everyone knowledge about God, but this knowledge is only sufficient to make people culpable for their sin; it does not include knowledge of the gospel. The second channel through which God reveals himself is redemption, which is the gospel of salvation from condemnation which is punishment for sin.[24]
In Reformed theology, the Word of God takes several forms. Jesus Christ himself is the Word Incarnate. The prophesies about him said to be found in the Old Testament and the ministry of the apostles who saw him and communicated his message are also the Word of God. Further, the preaching of ministers about God is the very Word of God because God is considered to be speaking through them. God also speaks through human writers in the Bible, which is composed of texts set apart by God for self-revelation.[25] Reformed theologians emphasize the Bible as a uniquely important means by which God communicates with people. People gain knowledge of God from the Bible which cannot be gained in any other way.[26]
Reformed theologians affirm that the Bible is true, but differences emerge among them over the meaning and extent of its truthfulness.[27] Conservative followers of the Princeton theologians take the view that the Bible is true and inerrant, or incapable of error or falsehood, in every place.[28] This view is very similar to that of Catholic orthodoxy as well as modern Evangelicalism.[29] Another view, influenced by the teaching of Karl Barth and Neo-Orthodoxy, is found in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Confession of 1967. Those who take this view believe the Bible to be the primary source of our knowledge of God, but also that some parts of the Bible may be false, not witnesses to Christ, and not normative for today's church.[28] In this view, Christ is the revelation of God, and the scriptures witness to this revelation rather than be the revelation itself.[30] Dawn DeVries, a professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary, has written that Barth's doctrine of Scripture is not capable of resolving conflicts in contemporary churches,[31] and proposed that Scripture not be thought of as the Word of God at all, but only human reports of the revealed Jesus Christ.[32]
Adam and Eve in paradise (The Fall), by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Reformed theologians use the concept of covenant to describe the way God enters fellowship with people in history.[33] The concept of covenant is so prominent in Reformed theology that Reformed theology as a whole is sometimes called "covenant theology".[34] However, sixteenth and seventeenth-century theologians developed a particular theological system called "covenant theology" or "federal theology" which many conservative Reformed churches continue to affirm today.[33] This framework orders God's life with people primarily in two covenants: the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.[35] The covenant of works is made with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The terms of the covenant are that God provides a blessed life in the garden on condition that Adam and Eve obey God's law perfectly. Because Adam and Eve broke the covenant by eating the forbidden fruit, they became subject to death and were banished from the garden. This sin was passed down to all mankind because all people are said to be in Adam as a covenantal or "federal" head. Federal theologians usually infer that Adam and Eve would have gained immortality had they obeyed perfectly.[36]
A second covenant, called the covenant of grace, is said to have been made immediately following Adam and Eve's sin. In it, God graciously offers salvation from death on condition of faith in God. This covenant is administered in different ways throughout the Old and New Testaments, but retains the substance of being free of a requirement of perfect obedience.[37]
Through the influence of Karl Barth, many contemporary Reformed theologians have discarded the covenant of works, along with other concepts of federal theology. Barth saw the covenant of works as disconnected from Christ and the gospel, and rejected the idea that God works with people in this way. Instead, Barth argued that God always interacts with people under the covenant of grace, and that the covenant of grace is free of all conditions whatsoever. Barth's theology and that which follows him has been called "monocovenantal" as opposed to the "bi-covenantal" scheme of classical federal theology.[38] Conservative contemporary Reformed theologians, such as John Murray, have also rejected the idea of covenants based on law rather than grace. Michael Horton, however, has defended the covenant of works as combining principles of law and love.[39]
For the most part, the Reformed tradition did not modify the medieval consensus on the doctrine of God.[40] God's character is described primarily using three adjectives: eternal, infinite, and unchangeable.[41] Reformed theologians such as Shirley Guthrie have proposed that rather than conceiving of God in terms of his attributes and freedom to do as he pleases, the doctrine of God is to be based on God's work in history and his freedom to live with and empower people.[42]
The "Shield of the Trinity" diagrams the classic doctrine of the Trinity
Traditionally, Reformed theologians have also followed the medieval tradition going back to the early church councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon on the doctrine of the Trinity. God is affirmed to be one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son (Christ) is held to be eternally begotten by the Father and the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and Son.[43] However, contemporary theologians have been critical of aspects of Western views here as well. Drawing on the Eastern tradition, these Reformed theologians have proposed a "Social Trinity" where the persons of the Trinity only exist in their life together as persons-in-relationship.[43] Contemporary Reformed confessions such as the Barmen Confession and Brief Statement of Faith of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have avoided language about the attributes of God and have emphasized his work of reconciliation and empowerment of people.[44] Feminist theologian Letty Russell used the image of partnership for the persons of the Trinity. According to Russell, thinking this way encourages Christians to interact in terms of fellowship rather than reciprocity.[45] Conservative Reformed theologian Michael Horton, however, has argued that social trinitarianism is untenable because it abandons the essential unity of God in favor of a community of separate beings in community.[46]
Christ and atonement
Reformed theologians affirm the historic Christian belief that Christ is eternally one person with a divine and a human nature. Reformed Christians have especially emphasized that Christ truly became human so that people could be saved.[47] Christ's human nature has been a point of contention between Reformed and Lutheran Christology. In accord with the belief that finite humans cannot comprehend infinite divinity, Reformed theologians hold that Christ's human body cannot be in multiple locations at the same time. Because Lutherans believe that Christ is bodily present in the Eucharist, they hold that Christ is bodily present in many locations simultaneously. For Reformed Christians, such a belief denies that Christ actually became human.[48] Some contemporary Reformed theologians have moved away from the traditional language of one person in two natures, viewing it as unintelligible to contemporary people. Instead, theologians tend to emphasize Jesus' context and particularity as a first-century Jew.[49]
John Calvin and many Reformed theologians who followed him describe Christ's work of redemption in terms of three offices: prophet, priest, and king. Christ is said to be a prophet in that he teaches perfect doctrine, a priest in that he intercedes to the Father on believers' behalf and offered himself as a sacrifice for sin, and a king in that he rules the church and fights on believers' behalf. The threefold office links the work of Christ to God's work in ancient Israel.[50] Many, but not all, Reformed theologians continue to make use of the threefold office as a framework because of its emphasis on the connection of Christ's work to Israel. They have, however, often reinterpreted the meaning of each of the offices.[51] For example, Karl Barth interpreted Christ's prophetic office in terms of political engagement on behalf of the poor.[52]
Christians believe atonement. Reformed Protestants generally subscribe to a particular view of the atonement called substitutionary atonement, which explains Christs death as a sacrificial payment for sin. Christ is believed to have died in place of the believer, who is accounted righteous as a result of this sacrificial payment.[53] Contemporary Reformed theologians such as William Placher and Nancy Duff have criticized this view, claiming it makes God appear abusive or vindictive and sanctions violence by the strong against the weak.[54]
In Christian theology, people are created good and in the image of God but have become corrupted by sin, which causes them to be imperfect and self-interested.[55] Reformed Christians, following the tradition of Augustine of Hippo, believe that this corruption of human nature was brought on by Adam and Eve's first sin, a doctrine called original sin. Reformed theologians emphasize that this sinfulness affects all of a person's nature, including their will. This view, that sin so dominates people that they are unable to avoid sin, has been called total depravity.[56] In colloquial English, the term "total depravity" can be easily misunderstood to mean that people are absent of any goodness or unable to do any good. However the Reformed teaching is actually that while people continue to bear God's image and may do things that are outwardly good, their sinful intentions affect all of their nature and actions so that they are not wholly pleasing to God.[57]
Some contemporary theologians in the Reformed tradition, such as those associated with the PC(USA)'s Confession of 1967, have emphasized the social character of human sinfulness. These theologians have sought to bring attention to issues of environmental, economic, and political justice as areas of human life that have been affected by sin.[58]
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrating forgiveness
Reformed theologians, along with other Protestants, believe salvation from punishment for sin to be given to all those who have faith in Christ.[59] Faith is not purely intellectual, but involves trust in God's promise to save.[60] Protestants do not hold there to be any other requirement for salvation, but that faith alone is sufficient.[59]
Justification is the part of salvation where God pardons the sin of those who believe in Christ. It is historically held by Protestants to be the most important article of Christian faith, though more recently it is sometimes given less importance out of ecumenical concerns.[61] People are not on their own able even to fully repent of their sin or prepare themselves to repent because of their sinfulness. Therefore, justification is held to arise solely from God's free and gracious act.[62]
Sanctification is the part of salvation in which God makes the believer holy, by enabling them to exercise greater love for God and for other people.[63] The good works accomplished by believers as they are sanctified are considered to be the necessary outworking of the believer's salvation, though they do not cause the believer to be saved.[60] Sanctification, like justification, is by faith, because doing good works is simply living as the son of God one has become.[64]
Reformed theologians teach that sin so affects human nature that they are unable even to exercise faith in Christ by their own will. While people are said to retain will, in that they willfully sin, they are unable to not sin because of the corruption of their nature due to original sin. To remedy this, Reformed Christians believe that God predestined some people to be saved. This choice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen. This view is opposed to the Arminian view that God's choice of whom to save is conditional or based on his foreknowledge of who would respond positively to God.[65]
Karl Barth reinterpreted the Reformed doctrine of predestination to apply only to Christ. Individual people are only said to be elected through their being in Christ.[66] Reformed theologians who followed Barth, including Jürgen Moltmann, David Migliore, and Shirley Guthrie, have argued that the traditional Reformed concept of predestination is speculative and have proposed alternative models. These theologians claim that a properly trinitarian doctrine emphasizes God's freedom to love all people, rather than choosing some for salvation and others for damnation. God's justice towards and condemnation of sinful people is spoken of by these theologians as out of his love for them and a desire to reconcile them to himself.[67]
Five points of Calvinism
The Five Points
of Calvinism
Most objections to and attacks on Calvinism focus on the "five points of Calvinism," also called the doctrines of grace, and remembered by the mnemonic "TULIP."[68] The five points are popularly said to summarize the Canons of Dort;[69] however, there is no historical relationship between them, and some scholars argue that their language distorts the meaning of the Canons, Calvin's theology, and the theology of 17th-century Calvinistic orthodoxy, particularly in the language of total depravity and limited atonement.[70] The five points were popularized in the 1963 booklet The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, Documented by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. The origins of the five points and the acronym are uncertain, but the acronym was used by Cleland Boyd McAfee as early as circa 1905.[71] An early printed appearance of the T-U-L-I-P acronym is in Loraine Boettner's 1932 book, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.[72] The acronym was very cautiously if ever used by Calvinist apologists and theologians before the booklet by Steele and Thomas.[73] More recently, theologians have sought to reformulate the TULIP acronym to more accurately reflect the Canons of Dort.[74]
The central assertion of these points is that God saves every person upon whom he has mercy, and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or inability of humans.
"Total depravity," also called "total inability," asserts that as a consequence of the fall of man into sin, every person is enslaved to sin. People are not by nature inclined to love God but rather to serve their own interests and to reject the rule of God. Thus, all people by their own faculties are morally unable to choose to follow God and be saved because they are unwilling to do so out of the necessity of their own natures. (The term "total" in this context refers to sin affecting every part of a person, not that every person is as evil as they could be).[75] This doctrine is derived from Augustine's explanation of Original Sin.[76] While the phrases "totally depraved" and "utterly perverse" were used by Calvin, what was meant was the inability to save oneself from sin rather than being absent of goodness. Phrases like "total depravity" cannot be found in the Canons of Dort, and the Canons as well as later Reformed orthodox theologians arguably offer a more moderate view of the nature of fallen humanity than Calvin.[77]
"Unconditional election" asserts that God has chosen from eternity those whom he will bring to himself not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people; rather, his choice is unconditionally grounded in his mercy alone. God has chosen from eternity to extend mercy to those he has chosen and to withhold mercy from those not chosen. Those chosen receive salvation through Christ alone. Those not chosen receive the just wrath that is warranted for their sins against God.[78]
"Limited atonement," also called "particular redemption" or "definite atonement", asserts that Jesus's substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its purpose and in what it accomplished. This implies that only the sins of the elect were atoned for by Jesus's death. Calvinists do not believe, however, that the atonement is limited in its value or power, but rather that the atonement is limited in the sense that it is intended for some and not all. Some Calvinists have summarized this as "The atonement is sufficient for all and efficient for the elect."[79] All Calvinists would affirm that the blood of Christ was sufficient to pay for every single human being IF it were God's intention to save every single human being. But Calvinists are also quick to point out that Jesus did not spill a drop of blood in vain (Galatians 2:21), and therefore, we can only be sure that His blood sufficed for those for whom it was intended, however many (Matthew 26:28) or few (Matthew 7:14) that may be. Some Calvinists also teach that the atonement accomplished certain benefits for all mankind, albeit, not their eternal salvation.[80] The doctrine is driven by the Calvinistic concept of the sovereignty of God in salvation and their understanding of the nature of the atonement. At the Synod of Dort, both sides agreed that the atonement of Christ's death was sufficient to pay for all sin and that it was only efficacious for some (it only actually saved some). The controversy centered on whether this limited efficacy was based on God's election (the view of the Synod and of later Reformed theologians) or on the choice of each person and God's foreknowledge of that choice (the view of Arminius).[81]
"Irresistible grace," also called "efficacious grace", asserts that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith. This means that when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved. The doctrine holds that this purposeful influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted, but that the Holy Spirit, "graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ." This is not to deny the fact that the Spirit's outward call (through the proclamation of the Gospel) can be, and often is, rejected by sinners; rather, it's that inward call which cannot be rejected.
"Perseverance of the saints" (or perseverance of God with the saints) (the word "saints" is used to refer to all who are set apart by God, and not of those who are exceptionally holy, canonized, or in heaven) asserts that since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with (1 John 2:19), or, if they are saved but not presently walking in the Spirit, they will be divinely chastened (Hebrews 12:5–11) and will repent (1 John 3:6–9).[82]
Comparison among Protestants
Protestant beliefs about salvation.[83]
Reformed Christians see the Christian Church as the community with which God has made the covenant of grace, a promise of eternal life and relationship with God. This covenant extends to those under the "old covenant" whom God chose, beginning with Abraham and Sarah.[84] The church is conceived of as both invisible and visible. The invisible church is the body of all believers, known only to God. The visible church is the institutional body which contains both members of the invisible church as well as those who appear to have faith in Christ, but are not truly part of God's elect.[85]
In order to identify the visible church, Reformed theologians have spoken of certain marks of the Church. For some, the only mark is the pure preaching of the gospel of Christ. Others, including John Calvin, also including the right administration of the sacraments. Others, such as those following the Scots Confession, include a third mark of rightly administered church discipline, or exercise of censure against unrepentant sinners. These marks allowed the Reformed to identify the church based on its conformity to the Bible rather than the Magisterium or church tradition.[85]
The Bay Psalm Book was used by Pilgrims
The regulative principle of worship is a teaching shared by some Calvinists and Anabaptists on how the Bible orders public worship. The substance of the doctrine regarding worship is that God institutes in the Scriptures everything he requires for worship in the Church and that everything else is prohibited. As the regulative principle is reflected in Calvin's own thought, it is driven by his evident antipathy toward the Roman Catholic Church and its worship practices, and it associates musical instruments with icons, which he considered violations of the Ten Commandments' prohibition of graven images.[86]
On this basis, many early Calvinists also eschewed musical instruments and advocated a capella exclusive psalmody in worship,[87] though Calvin himself allowed other scriptural songs as well as psalms,[86] and this practice typified presbyterian worship and the worship of other Reformed churches for some time. The original Lord's Day service designed by John Calvin was a highly liturgical service with the Creed, Alms, Confession and Absolution, the Lord's supper, Doxologies, prayers, Psalms being sung, the Lords prayer being sung, Benedictions.[88]
Since the 19th century, however, some of the Reformed churches have modified their understanding of the regulative principle and make use of musical instruments, believing that Calvin and his early followers went beyond the biblical requirements[86] and that such things are circumstances of worship requiring biblically-rooted wisdom, rather than an explicit command. Despite the protestations of those who hold to a strict view of the regulative principle, today hymns and musical instruments are in common use, as are contemporary worship music styles with elements such as worship bands.[89]
The Westminster Confession of Faith limits the sacraments to baptism and the Lord's Supper. Sacraments are denoted "signs and seals of the covenant of grace."[90] Westminster speaks of "a sacramental relation, or a sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other."[91] Baptism is for infant children of believers as well as believers, as it is for all the Reformed except Baptists and some Congregationalists. Baptism admits the baptized into the visible church, and in it all the benefits of Christ are offered to the baptized.[91] On the Lord's supper, Westminster takes a position between Lutheran sacramental union and Zwinglian memorialism: "the Lord's supper really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance as the elements themselves are to their outward senses."[90]
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith does not use the term sacrament, but describes baptism and the Lord's supper as ordinances, as do most Baptists Calvinist or otherwise. Baptism is only for those who "actually profess repentance towards God," and not for the children of believers.[92] Baptists also insist on immersion or dipping, in contradistinction to other Reformed Christians.[93] The Baptist Confession, describes the Lord's supper as "the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance," similarly to the Westminster Confession. ^ a b 1646, XXVII.I.
^ a b WCF 1646, XXVII.II.
^ WCF 1646, XXIX.VII.
^ Benjamin B. Warfield, Works vol. V,Calvin and Calvinism, pp. 364–365, and vol. VI, The Westminster Assembly and Its Work, pp. 138–144.
^ Michael Horton in J. Matthew Pinson (ed.), Four Views on Eternal Security, 113.
^ Warfield, B. B., The Plan of Salvation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973)
^ WCF 1646, VII.III.
^ James Bratt, Dutch Calvinism in Modern America. Wipf and Stock; original Eerdmans (1984)
^ James E. McGoldrick, Abraham Kuyper: God's Renaissance Man. (Welwyn, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000).
^ North & DeMar 1991, pp. 81.
^ a b
^ The letter is quoted in
^ See
^ Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Descartes, René, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band II, col. 88
^ Karl Heussi, Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11. Auflage (1956), Tübingen (Germany), p. 396-397
^ H. Knittermeyer, Bayle, Pierre, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 947
^ Bertolt Brecht, Leben des Galilei, Bild 15
^ Heinrich Bornkamm, Toleranz, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 941
^ B. Lohse, Priestertum, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band V, col. 579–580
^ Karl Heussi, Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, p. 325
^ Karl Heussi, Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, pp. 329–330, 382, 422–424
^ Jan Weerda, Calvin, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage (1958), Stuttgart (Germany), col. 210
^ Clifton E. Olmstead (1960), History of Religion in the United States, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., p. 10
^ M. Schmidt, Pilgerväter, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band V, col. 384
^ Clifton E. Olmstead, History of Religion in the United States, p. 18
^ Allen Weinstein and David Rubel (2002), The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower, DK Publishing, Inc., New York, N.Y., ISBN 0-7894-8903-1, pp. 56–62
^ Clifton E. Olmstead, History of Religion in America, pp. 74–76, 99–117
^ Hans Fantel (1974), William Penn: Apostle of Dissent, William Morrow and Co., New York, N.Y.
^ Edwin S. Gaustad (1999), Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America, Judson Press, Valley Forge
^ G. Müller-Schwefe, Milton, John, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band IV, col. 954–955
^ Robert Middlekauff (2005), The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, Revised and Enlarged Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y., ISBN 978-0-19-531588-2, pp. 52, 136
^ Douglas K. Stevenson (1987), American Life and Institutions, Stuttgart (Germany), p. 34
^ Clifton E. Olmstead, History of Religion in the United States, pp. 353–375
^ M. Schmidt, Kongregationalismus, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band III, col. 1769–1771
^ Wilhelm Dietrich, Genossenschaften, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage (1958), col. 411–412
^ Ulrich Scheuner, Genfer Konventionen, in Evangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage, col. 407–408
^ R. Pfister, Schweiz, in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band V, col. 1614–1615
^ Welfare, Religion and Gender in Post-apartheid South Africa: Constructing a South-North Dialogue, AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, (1 January 2012), Page 326
^ Maintaining Apartheid Or Promoting Change?: The Role of the Dutch Reformed Church in a Phase of Increasing Conflict in South Africa, Wolfram Weisse, Carel Aaron Anthonissen, Waxmann Verlag, (1 January 2004), Page 124-126
^ ibid., Page 131.
^ Clifton E. Olmstead, History of Religion in the United States, pp. 80, 89, 257
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Balserak, Jon (2014). John Calvin as Sixteenth-Century Prophet. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198-703259
Bratt, James D. (1984) Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture excerpt and text search
Hart, D.G. (2013). Calvinism: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, excerpt and text search
Picken, Stuart D.B. (2011) Historical Dictionary of Calvinism (2011) excerpt
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More Accurate Emissions Data Needed Worldwide, U.S. Researchers Say
A lack of trust wafted through the Copenhagen air when negotiators gathered at December's United Nations climate summit. While many developing countries offered emission reduction commitments, several delegates from industrialized nations remained unconvinced that such reductions could be proven.
To guarantee that the commitments do take place, the Copenhagen Accord [PDF] concluded that developing countries will be held to domestic measurement, reporting, and verification standards (MRV) and that submissions to the United Nations will be subject to "international consultation and analysis under clearly defined guidelines." But a new analysis finds that the guidelines may still not be enough to ensure that reported emission levels are truly accurate.
Recent technology advancements have allowed each country to estimate fossil fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions more accurately, but independent data, especially for other greenhouse gases, is still unavailable for most countries-whether wealthy or poor, according to a report from the U.S. National Research Council.
In many industrialized countries, self-reported national inventories are, on average, estimated to have uncertainties of less than 5 percent for national CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use. Uncertainties for net CO2 emissions from land use change (such as deforestation) and for emissions of methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) often range from 25 to 100 percent.
Rapidly improving satellite technology offers tremendous potential for accurate emission measurements, especially of natural CO2 sources and sinks such as forests. The Japanese Aerospace Agency and United Nations launched the first satellite that could track greenhouse gases last year. While the crash of NASA's $278 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite in February 2009 was a step back, U.S. President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 budget request includes $170 million for a replacement craft. Brazil and India plan to launch satellites in the next two years that will monitor their domestic emissions. Meanwhile, private companies such as Google are developing software that may also advance satellite measurements of carbon emissions.
The NRC report offers several recommendations for improving the collection, analysis, and reporting of emissions that could quickly improve verification procedures. The cost, based on an estimate of improving emission verification in 10 of the largest emitting developing countries, would be a "relatively modest" $11 million over five years.
"For any international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, it would be essential for each country to monitor its own emissions and to provide a transparent capability for any nation to check the values reported by another," said Princeton University ecologist Stephen Pacala, who chaired the NRC committee that produced the report, in a statement. "This would give nations confidence that their neighbors are living up to their commitments."
Ben Block is the staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.
This article originally appeared on the Worldwatch Institute blog Dateline: Copenhagen. For permission to republish this report, please contact Juli Diamond at jdiamond@worldwatch.org.
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10 States With the Most Drug Overdoses
By Michael B. Sauter June 24, 2016 6:05 am EDT
Fatal drug overdoses are on the rise in the United States. Specifically, deaths from heroin and other opioids have increased to the point that public health officials are calling it an epidemic. Roughly 47,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2014, the highest on record. Drug overdoses now kill more Americans each year than either automobile accidents or guns.
While few states have been immune to the alarming increase in overdose deaths in recent years, it is an even more serious problem in some parts of the country. Nationally, there were 14.7 drug deaths per 100,000 people in 2014, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The drug overdose death rate was greater than 20 deaths per 100,000 people in 10 states, including West Virginia, where more than 35 people died of a drug overdose for every 100,000 residents — the worst rate in the country.
The rapid increase in overdose deaths has been alarming. Between 2000 and 2014, fatal overdoses increased by 137%. In some states with the highest rates of fatal overdoses, the rise has been even more dramatic. In West Virginia, fatal overdoses increased by 473% between 2004 and 2014, and in New Hampshire, which has the third worst fatal overdose rate, drug deaths increased by 670%.
Click here to see the 10 cities with the most drug overdoses
Heroin and opioid overdoses account for 62% of all drug deaths, and in states with the highest rates of fatal overdoses, opioids represent a disproportionately large share of drug abuse. In seven of the 10 states with the highest overdose rates, at least 40% of all people who are admitted for substance abuse treatment in a given year are addicted to heroin or other opioids, whereas the proportion is less than 25% in the majority of states.
One major cause of the recent opioid epidemic has been an increase in the abuse of prescription painkillers. Since 1999, deaths due to prescription opioids have quadrupled and today account for at least half of all opioid deaths in the United States. Many Americans first think of cocaine, heroin, crack, and methamphetamines as the biggest problem substances in this country. However, opioids other than heroin such as vicodin, oxycodone, and morphine account for between 20% and 30% of all admissions for substance abuse treatment in a number of states.
High overdose death rates afflict poor, rural places, with relatively low educational attainment just as much as they are found in wealthy, urban, more educated populations. At least on the state level, a community’s drug overdose problem is not as closely tied to social and economic conditions as many other health outcomes, such as heart disease, obesity, and cancer are.
Mental health is one factor that appears to have some relationship to both drug abuse and drug deaths. Nationally, 18.6% of adults report having suffered from some form of mental illness in the past year. In seven of the 10 states with the highest fatal overdose rates, at least 20% of adults report mental health issues.
To determine the states with the most drug overdoses, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed drug use, treatment, and overdose deaths rates per 100,000 people, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, for 2014 and previous years. In addition, we considered the share of adults reporting some form of mental illness in the past 12 months, also from SAMHSA. From the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, we reviewed drug arrest rates for 2014 and previous years.
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I'm On A Boat!
Ginny Clayton Wednesday, November 11, 2009 7 comments
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.” ~William Shedd
Sometimes when I'm listening to my iPod I can't help but hear a tarot card shout out through a song. The other morning this song came on my random shuffle and all I could think about was the Three of Wands.
WARNING: Probably NSFW, liberal use of the f-bomb will ensue if you choose to view this video
Are you laughing? I hope so. I was. Hard. That song is from The Lonely Island's debut comedy album "INCREDIBAD"(C) Universal Republic. The Lonely Island is Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone. I love it because it's contagious and perfectly captures the excitement of something simple. To me, the 3 of Wands means a lot of things, but one of its meanings is having one's ship come in. The most basic meaning of the idiom is that something very good has happened to you. Most often it is used in terms of financial wealth, but in tarot the suit for this ship's homecoming is not pentacles but fiery, passionate wands. It's that playful, passionate energy that I see in that video.
Other similarities to the card have to do with the number. In the beginning of the video, the prize is a boat ride for three. Three is a pretty low number, but it's a first completion or achievement. How exciting to get to the point in one's endeavor when you can sit for a moment and just enjoy what life has brought to you. Make you want to jump up and down and shout, "I'm on a BOAT! Look at me! I'm on a BOAT!" It's a card of adventure, strength, commerce, and of approaching life with a "Let's Go!" attitude. The ship symbol is commonly seen in rock carvings as far back as 5000 BCE. It can be found on funeral stones, in graves, and was believed to be one of the vehicles to reach the afterlife. You've probably heard of the mythological Charon who ferries dead folks over the River Styx on what? A boat. Boats have long been the most prolific symbol of good luck next to the dragon in China. Boats take you places, bring things to us, allow us to cross an otherwise unnavigable ocean in order to expand our horizons.
The image of the ship or boat is featured in other RWS tarot cards as well. The 2 of Pentacles shows ships on rough waters behind the dancing figure. The 6 of Swords is all about a boat crossing water. There is a ship in the distance behind Death. The King of Cups shows a ship in the water beyond him as well. Don't "miss the boat" in the cards because if you do, you miss out on some key symbolism in the reading. Boats offer safe passage over water -- the element in tarot that represents emotions and the deep psyche. They allow us to be in the water without being overwhelmed by it. From a safe distance we can plumb the depths of our own emotions and the emotions of others and the situation, allowing objectivity while still being involved.
In dream interpretation boats are usually indicative of something going on emotionally, depending on the condition of the water beneath the boat. Various words and phrases seem to come up time and time again when discussing boats or travel by boat. Words such as "involved","carried along","emotionally excited","having a good time","current" and "waves". Boat dreams are often linked to emotional excitement. When we become excited by a project, a book, or something currently happening in our lives, boats may feature prominently in our dreams. It makes sense. Boats carry us, push us farther, propel us, inspire our imagination. Wands do the same thing. They inspire, propel, activate and recharge us. Sometimes getting carried away is the only way to get there.
I guess that's what I really like about that video. Silliness aside, it provokes a sense of wide-eyed excitement over something relatively commonplace. Being on a boat is something not everyone in the world experiences and yet this is about more than just the boat ride itself, but about finally achieving something, reaching a small but significant pinnacle in one's life, seeing one's reward and reveling in it.
Cards , Minor Arcana , Tarot Miscellaneous
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Duff McKagan Thought Guns N’ Roses Were Over When Axl Rose Broke Foot
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan recalled thinking his reunion with Axl Rose was over after just three songs when the frontman broke his foot during their comeback show.
The incident took place at the band’s warm-up show on April 1, 2016, at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, just ahead of a 21-date tour that was continually extended until it finally wound down in December 2018. Rose managed to avoid canceling performances with the help of Dave Grohl, who lent him the throne he built after suffering a similar injury the previous year.
“We had a wonderful, amazing two-and-a-half-year tour we just did, and it ended on such a high note, and it was overwhelming how many people came to see those shows. We played 159 shows,” McKagan told The Rich Eisen Show. “We played the Troubadour … and Axl broke his foot, like, third song in, and I thought, ‘Well, we've got this one show under our belt. We did this thing.’
“And he wanted to continue on. He was, like, 'This isn't gonna stop me.' We played a bunch of shows with him in a cast in a chair, and we just went through so many revelations of things and ended that on a high note. And that's where we're still at.”
You can watch the full interview below.
In another recent interview, McKagan discussed the possibility of new Guns N’ Roses material, saying Rose had revealed some “magnificent” and “really cool stuff.” He refused to go into any detail, though.
Asked if he had any update to offer, he said, "I will say things are very positive in that world. I did say something about it in an interview. People are super interested in that, and I understand why. I do like the mystique factor of the band, and I shall keep it there. But things are positive. … Things are great.”
McKagan will release a new solo album, Tenderness, on May 31.
The Best and Worst Song From Every Guns N' Roses Album
Next: Top 10 Guns N' Roses Songs
Source: Duff McKagan Thought Guns N’ Roses Were Over When Axl Rose Broke Foot
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Selena Gomez Gives Album Update: ‘If It Takes 10 Years, It Takes 10 Years’
Matt Winkelmeyer, Getty Images
A Selena Gomez record may be further away than fans thought. Though the singer has been releasing a steady stream of singles — including recent Marshmello collab "Wolves" — she hasn't put out a full album since 2015's Revival, and listeners have been eagerly anticipating a follow-up.
But while Gomez has been adamant that an album is on the way (and soon), she's also making clear that she wants to take her time. "My next album has been forever in the making. When people ask me why, I’m honest about it: It’s because I haven’t been ready. I mean, point-blank, I don’t feel confident enough in where my music is yet," she said during a recent sit-down with 13 Reasons Why star Katherine Langford for Harper's Bazaar. "If that takes 10 years, then it takes 10 years. I don’t care. Right now I just want to be super intentional with all of the things I’m doing."
For Gomez, that also means putting her health first. Back in 2016, she canceled her Revival tour in order to focus on her battle with lupus, and last fall, she revealed she'd undergone a kidney transplant over the summer. A source told People earlier this month that Gomez recently completed treatment for anxiety and depression stemming from the autoimmune disease, and is now "feeling very empowered" and "excited" about her new music.
That bodes well for a potential new project, but Gomez acknowledges that lupus will always be an ongoing struggle. "I will always start with my health and my well-being. I’ve had a lot of issues with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been very vocal about it, but it’s not something I feel I’ll ever overcome," she continued to Harper's Bazaar. "There won’t be a day when I’m like, 'Here I am in a pretty dress—I won!' I think it’s a battle I’m gonna have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m okay with that because I know that I’m choosing myself over anything else."
Selena Gomez Through the Years
Source: Selena Gomez Gives Album Update: ‘If It Takes 10 Years, It Takes 10 Years’
Filed Under: selena gomez
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Baby Born Deformed After Misdiagnosed Ectopic Pregnancy
katie moisse
PlayRachel Schoger
WATCH Plan B Debate
Rachel Schoger of Caldwell, Idaho, had been trying to have a baby for two years and eight months -- a grueling wait interrupted by three positive pregnancy tests and three unexplained miscarriages.
After a fourth positive test, she went to her doctor for answers. The news was devastating. "It's ectopic," Schoger recalled the doctor saying after a hormone test and an ultrasound. "I was so upset because we'd been trying for so long."
An ectopic pregnancy is one that occurs outside the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. Because the fetus cannot survive and the mom could suffer life-threatening internal bleeding, ectopic pregnancies, which may account for as many as one in 40 pregnancies, are terminated at the earliest sign. Schoger's doctor recommended using methotrexate -- a chemotherapy drug that would save her and her fallopian tube, and kill the doomed fetus.
"I have three other kids at home," said Schoger, who was 29 at the time. "I couldn't take the risk."
Schoger was given two high-dose shots of methotrexate in the fatty tissue above her hips to abort her pregnancy, which was four weeks and five days along. Days later, she started having nightmares about a baby crying out in pain inside her. So when she returned to the doctor for a second round of shots a week later, she insisted on a follow-up ultrasound for peace of mind.
"I needed it to calm me down, to know I was doing the right thing," she said.
As the ultrasound technician rolled the probe over Schoger's pelvis, her jaw suddenly dropped. Schoger was still pregnant, and the fetus was in her uterus where it belonged.
Despite advances in medical imaging, roughly 40 percent of pregnancies diagnosed as ectopic are later revealed to be normal, intrauterine pregnancies, according to a 2002 study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
And for women treated with methotrexate, the lapse can be catastrophic.
"Those fetuses that are misdiagnosed as ectopic and were actually in the uterus receive high doses of a teratogenic drug during early stage of development, and that causes malformations," said Dr. Yaron Finkelstein, an emergency physician at Sick Kids Hospital and associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Toronto. "This is a serious problem, and one that's probably overlooked."
Finkelstein and colleagues described the effects of methotrexate on eight misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies in a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Three of the pregnancies ended in miscarriage within two weeks after the injection; three were terminated surgically after the mothers were warned of the potential birth defects; and the remaining two were born -- one stillborn at 30 weeks, the other born with severe malformations at 37 weeks.
"We're not sure how many more cases like this are out there," said Finkelstein, adding that doctors have no incentive to report misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies. "We wanted to highlight this phenomenon and bring it to awareness."
Schoger, who was not part of the study, decided to follow through on her pregnancy despite the risks. And in January 2006, she gave birth to Seraphine.
"She was beautiful," said Schoger. "She had 10 fingers, 10 toes. She just looked so good."
But relief quickly gave way to panic as nurses struggled to take Seraphine's temperature. The baby, who, against all odds, appeared to be normal, had no rectum. She also lacked a vagina and a uterus, and has a malformed spinal cord. These are all birth defects Schoger is convinced stemmed from methotrexate exposure in the womb. She filed a lawsuit against the doctor and a jury trial is set for January 2013.
Finkelstein stressed that diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy is tricky, and that failing to diagnose a pregnancy as ectopic can have a dire outcome, too. "If the woman is stable, one option is to admit her for 24 hours or send her home and ask her to come back for another [human chorionic gonadotropin] test and ultrasound." Another option is to come up with a safer drug -- "one that terminates ectopic pregnancies but is not teratogenic to normal, intrauterine pregnancies."
Misdiagnosed Ectopic: Heartache for Moms
After multiple surgeries, Seraphine is a surprisingly healthy 5-year-old, Schoger said. But her bulging and tethered spinal cord might one day limit her ability to walk, and she'll never be able to have children.
Schoger, now 35, said she spends hours on her computer scouring message boards. She hopes to catch women diagnosed with ectopic pregnancies and urge them to get a second opinion before they take methotrexate. She has yet to find one in time, though she said she has connected with nearly 200 other women with similar experiences. Most of them had already miscarried, though some aborted and a few others were raising babies with birth defects until they died from complications.
In 2008, Schoger was diagnosed with a true ectopic pregnancy -- a diagnosis she said saved her life.
"If you're too early, you have a baby that needlessly lost its life. If you're too late, the woman could rupture and die," she said. "They really need to focus in on the critical window."
Baby Deformed After Medical Error
+Preemies Feel Pain at 37 Weeks, Says Study
+Best Approach to Trying Again After Miscarriage
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Posts Tagged ‘Dick Van Dyke’
Jonathan Walker and Jennifer Van Dyck
Posted in Adaumbelle, Comedy, Entertainment, Movie/Film/Motion Picture, Music, Other, Television, Theatre, tagged "20th Century", "Adaumbelle's Quest", "After The Fall", "Chapelle's Show", "Dancing At Lughnasa", "Eli Stone", "Far From Heaven", "Fringe", "Hedda Gabbler", "Heights", "Law & Order", "Malevolence 2", "Michael Clayton", "New Amsterdam", "People I Know", "Series 7", "Sex and the City", "States of Control", "Stealing Martin Lane", "The Big C", "The Divine Sister", "The Good Wife", "The Secret Rapture", "The Third Story", "Two Shakespearean Actors", Across the Universe, Alison Fraser, Amy Rutberg, Austin Pendleton, Bathsheba Doran, Boyd Gaines, Carol Burnett, Charles Busch, Charlton Heston, Dick Van Dyke, Dick York, Douglas Post, Jennifer Van Dyck, Jonathan Walker, Julie Halston, La MaMa, Lucille Ball, MCC, Mike Leigh, MTC, P.S. 122, Playwrights Horizons, Roudabout Theatre Company, Suzan-Lori Parks, The New Group, The Public Theater, Vanessa Redgrave, Women's Project on November 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »
On November 4, 2010, I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with real-life married couple Jonathan Walker and Jennifer Van Dyck after seeing them in hilarious new Charles Busch show “The Divine Sister” at the SoHo Playhouse. This was my very first joint couple interview (Thank You James Valletti for the idea!) and it was thrilling! With impeccable comedic timing, Jonathan and Jennifer bring the house down while on stage both together and separately.
Jonathan has delighted audiences on Broadway in “20th Century” and “After the Fall,” while Off-Broadway audiences saw him in Charles Busch’s “The Third Story,” “The Divine Sister” at Theater for a New City as well as numerous productions at The Public Theater, MCC, MTC, Women’s Project, The New Group, Playwrights Horizons, Roudabout Theatre Company, La MaMa, and P.S. 122. Jonathan has lit up the big screen in such feature films as “Far From Heaven,” “People I Know,” “Heights,” “Michael Clayton,” and “Malevolence 2.” Television audiences have seen Jonathan in “The Big C,” “The Good Wife,” “Eli Stone,” “Sex and the City,” “Chapelle’s Show,” and lots of “Law & Order.”
Jennifer has dazzled Broadway audiences in “Hedda Gabbler,” “Dancing at Lughnasa,” “Two Shakespearean Actors,” and “The Secret Rapture.” Her many Off-Broadway credits include Charles Busch’s “The Third Story” and “The Divine Sister” at Theater for a New City as well as plays by Austin Pendleton, Bathsheba Doran, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Douglas Post. Film/TV audiences have seen Jennifer in “Across the Universe,” “Michael Clayton,” “Stealing Martin Lane,” “Series 7,” “States of Control,” numerous “Law & Order” episodes, “Fringe,” and “New Amsterdam.”
Now you can see both Jonathan and Jennifer shine in “The Divine Sister” at SoHo Playhouse (15 Van Dam Street) along with fellow Adaubmelle’s Quest participants Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Alison Fraser, and upcoming participant Amy Rutberg! This show is a MUST SEE, so click here for tickets and enjoy an afternoon or evening in heaven…
1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer?
Jennifer: I always wanted to be an actress. There was never any question. It really began growing up…my friend and I would always put on productions of “The Wizard of Oz” and she played “Dorothy,” of course, and I played “The Scarecrow.” As far as people who inspired me, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. I was completely mesmerized by “I Love Lucy” reruns growing up.
Jonathan: A number of the guys I gleaned for this show, and I mean this in a good way, the cheesy leading men in the 60s/70s who I admired growing up, like Chad Everett who was on a show called “Medical Center” (who was actually in the “Singing Nun”), Charlton Heston, Dick Van Dyke, and Dick York. Also as a child, we were church going (look how it all blends with this show) and a troupe came to our church called the Alpha and Omega Players (who still exist today) and they travel around in a van and put on religious-themed (but not evangelical) shows. They came into our church, I must have been 6, and they transformed it into a performance space. They did a shortened version of “St. Joan” and I was undone. To see that space I was in three days a week turned into this thing and I have a distinct memory of standing out front of the church as the van pulled away, bursting into tears and saying to my father “I wanna go with them,” (you know instead of running away to the circus). So from “Bewitched” to “St. Joan” was the real early inspirations for me.
Jennifer: The other side of that for me was The Paperbag Players. My parents took me to that when I was very young and they terrified me. I remember they were doing Grimm’s Fairytales and people’s fingers were being cut off and people were being locked in cellars, but I was utterly transported to another world. I remember being both terrified and thrilled by the whole thing and remember saying “I want to do that.”
2. Who’s the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to?
Jennifer: Mike Leigh, the filmmaker (he’s directed “Topsy Turvy,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Vera Drake,” etc), who comes from a theatre background. I just read his book and I’m just so in awe of him. I love his films. He does like six months of rehearsal with his actors, so by the time they shoot the film, the actors really know their characters inside and out. It sounds like a terrifying prospect, but I’ve always been fascinated by rehearsing as if you were living a character. Then getting to do it for film, which normally has no rehearsal, but his way you seem like you get the best of both worlds with theatre and film combined.
Jonathan: I would have to say it’s always been Vanessa Redgrave. I put out feelers for “Driving Miss Daisy” you know when they were casting it and I heard with in two days that Boyd (Gaines) was getting it and I was like “Yes, of course he is.”
3. If you couldn’t be doing what you are doing now, what career would you choose?
Jonathan: We were just talking about that with our friend Matt. You know the actor Matt McGrath, well Matt is always talking about “Drop out dream #whatever, opening a candle shop” because it’s so up and down in our profession. You go through a 2-3 month foul period and you’re like “I stink,” “They stink,” “It all stinks.” Then you go okay, Surfboard shop, masseuse, priest, baker…I always wanted to be a UPS delivery man. They have those lovely brown outfits with the shorts and the socks and I see them on the street and I go “Oh, oh, I’d love to do that, wouldn’t that be fun delivering packages all day.” (no, no that would be terrible). All jobs are difficult, all jobs are hard, that’s why they call it jobs! In all seriousness, I’d like to work with a not-for-profit group. I do a lot of volunteer work and now I’m working with a group called “Transportation Alternatives.” It’s a cycling, pedestrian, and mass transit advocacy group. I worked for the Green Gorillas for a while and God’s Love We Deliver. They’re just great because people are there for a reason. That is something I would probably do because they do good work so if I could get job with one of them full time, I would.
Jennifer: I guess I would be a teacher. I have no experience teaching, I know nothing. My mom’s a teacher and my dad’s a minister, so that’s what I’ve seen (they’ve seen this show many times already and love it, the irreverence and all).
4. How did you guys meet?
Jennifer: Doing a play…we did a production of “Hamlet” at the Old Globe, directed by Jack O’Brien. Jonthan was “Laertes” and I was “Ophelia” and Campbell Scott was our “Hamlet.”
5. What’s it like to work together and live together? How does the whole dynamic work?
Jonathan: We spend 23 hours a day together and that 1 hour apart is if you add up all the bathroom time, okay, so maybe we spend 22 hours out of the day together, if we’re including gym time. (Jennifer laughs)
Jennifer: It’s great. When we worked with Jack at The Globe, we did a couple of seasons there doing plays, but then we didn’t work together, other than readings, for like 15 years, before Charles (Busch) put us both in “The Third Story” by sheer accident…We did that in La Jolla and then that came here and all the while we got to know Charles and then he wrote this play for us…
Jonathan: We’ve been in like four plays together with Charles (2 productions of “The Third Story” and 2 productions of “The Divine Sister” (the previous one being the limited run in March ’10 at Theatre for a New City). So, we really like it. You know, we’re married, we live together, we love each other, but really like each other too and respect each other’s work…
Jennifer: I’m always amazed when actors marry civilians because schedule wise, you have no weekends, you can not plan ahead, you can’t do anything when you’re working because you’re so focused on the show…
Jonathan: (not in reference to Jennifer) But you’re also a nut job, you know, you’re out of your mind, you’ve got opening night and you’re like “Blahhh,” but the other person understands…
Jennifer: Right, so we get it, and it’s been amazing with “The Divine Sister” because it’s not just understanding one of us is in a play, we’re in the same play, so we go home and we’re like “oh that sucked” or “wow, that was great” or “what about that…”
Jonathan: Or we go “oh you had a great show, no I had a rotten show, you had a great show….”
Jennifer: We have some of that.
Jonathan: When we were opening, I was thinking maybe it would be interesting to come home to someone who has no connection to the show, because, it’s hard to come home and just detach. We’re always dissecting the show, but we don’t senor that cause it’s actually nice, even on our night off or on Sunday nights we’ll often go out to dinner and we kind of refrain for 20 minutes or so from talking about the show and then we just give into it…
Me: You guys, the whole cast, work so well together. I really feel like it’s such an ensemble piece.
Jennifer: It’s a great bunch and we all work great together. You know, Charles wrote this show for all of us and we’ve been together since the beginning and there is a real sense of comfort and ease with each other.
Jonathan: You know it’s not a lie, we really all get along and like each other. It’s really a cooperative thing, like tonight, the audience is really part of the ensemble. It’s not like “Long Days Journey Into Night” which drags you along, but the audience goes through something too and that’s part of Charles’ charm, and talent, and genius. He comes right out and puts you in his hand and he’s kind of taught us to do that a little bit and be there for the audience, and say “Come on, let’s go, let’s go do a dirty nun’s story.” (everyone laughs).
6. Favorite place to rehearse on your own?
Jennifer: In our building, our dear friend Richard Easton lives upstairs from us (as does Julie and her husband) and he was away during the time we were rehearsing “The Divine Sister” for the first time and we would take turns going up to his place to learn our lines because in our one bedroom apartment there is only a door that you can close, which usually isn’t enough to learn the lines separately….
Jonathan: It worked out great, one in his apartment and one in our apartment. The street is another good place to rehearse on your own. John Gielgud who lived in the country, used to talk about walking the roads saying lines to himself and thinking all his neighbors thought he was crazy.
Jennifer: I do learn plays when I run. Once the lines are starting to go in, I do them on the run and then I add on to what I’ve already learned. I make faces and sometimes I think other runners are like what the hell is going on. That is sort of a very meditative time for me to learn my lines.
7. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Jennifer: The first professional job I had was at Trinity Rep and Richard Jenkins was directing me in a production of “The Crucible” and he basically said to me “There is no clear path how one goes through this life (for a career). One step does not lead to another. There are side steps and vertical steps and horizontal steps. Let the unknown be your compass.”
Jonathan: I was working a lot in LA doing television and there’s a famous story that someone asked Estelle Getty “What advice do you have for a young actor trying to make it in LA?” She said, “Take Fountain” (that’s a street in LA that cuts below Sunset Blvd). You know, she’s absolutely right, you were able to get right across town, the lights worked, you were out of traffic. In LA, all you do is drive from audition to audition and I would drive down Fountain and be like, “She’s right, Estelle Getty was right.” But in line with what Jennifer said, Richard Easton gave me a piece of advice “Say, Yes” and he means that in all senses. If someone calls you up and says do you want to do a reading, say yes, because work leads to work.
8. Favorite way to spend your day off?
Jennifer: It would be to be together…
Jonathan: Often. I would say, “There ain’t enough hours in the day for the nothing I want to do.”
Both: Being in Vermont, walking in the woods.
9. Favorite website?
Jennifer: BBC News, Merriam Webster Dictionary (because I do a lot audio books and they have a pronouncing key where you can type in a word and then hear how it’s pronounced.
Jonathan: There’s a website called Chowhound.com which is an amazing resource for food. It’s a place for people who like food and like to talk about food, give recipes, restaurant suggestions, etc. There was also a website called Loronix.com, it’s a Brazilian music website and you can download all this music legally.
10. Superman or Wonder Woman?
Jennifer: Wonder Woman
Jonathan: Superdog, for me, but if I had to answer the question exactly, I would say Superman because I never quite got Wonder Woman with the rope and the bracelets. But I also love Richie Rich, Scrooge McDuck, and Baby Huey.
11. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that nobody knows about?
Jennifer: I’m a ferocious burper. I don’t know if I’d call that a talent, but I got it from my mother and I can really let ’em rip…
Jonathan: You can really let ’em rip…I think that your portrayal of “Timmy” in “The Divine Sister” was a hidden talent. It wasn’t “Timmy” per say, but she’s very, very silly at home and pulled “Timmy” out of a hat and I’ve never seen anything like that before from her in my life…
Jennifer: (to Jonathan) What’s your secret talent?
Jonathan: I used cage drinks doing this…I can take 2 toothpicks and put them in my mouth, in my lower lip, and actually cross them, and then put them up my nose without touching them and then move my lower lip and make my nose go up and down. I know, it’s totally a stupid human trick. It’s vile and creepy and it’s odd and very few people can do it.
12. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be?
Both laughs…
Jennifer: You (meaning Jonathan)
Jonathan: and I’ll have to say Kate Winslet, but seriously the happiest dreams I have are when Jennifer’s in them.
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Technophobia
After much thought, I've taken JS-Kit up on its offer to 'fix' my Blogger template (I'm a glutton for punishment). When this turns into another disaster, I'm contemplating switching to Disqus or Intense Debate (both integrate with FriendFeed, and Intense Debate looks particularly good). Nobody seems to offer spell checking in the comments box, and, from reading various support postings, all the comments companies are, to varying degrees, surprisingly clueless about doing their jobs. JS-Kit seems to be the only hope at recovering Haloscan comments.
I'm using Firefox again, but only when I can't use Opera (blog posting is one area where Opera won't really work). The deep problem with Firefox, and one that can't really be fixed, is that extensions tend to be incompatible. Firefox tries to monitor this, but can't possibly figure out whether every possible combination of extensions will work. Twice now I've frozen Firefox completely (and the 'solution' of deleting files from AppData doesn't work). You could run it without the extensions, but then you might as well run IE. I've tried all the various IE clones, but they are all as hopelessly slow as IE. Opera is still far ahead of everybody, and, since the Abe Vigoda plugin is no longer available for Firefox, the only choice for power surfers.
at 1/31/2009 06:22:00 PM 49 comments Links to this post
The human asymptote
A few things:
Note that the root cause of the flare up at the Davos conference, besides the senile remarks of Peres, was the blatant and outrageous bias shown by the moderator of the panel, David Ignatius, a "Jewish-American journalist of Armenian descent". Jewish and Armenian censoring a Turk discussing the slaughter by the Jews in Palestine? This comment by Dan Kervick sums it up nicely:
"I have moderated my share of panels too, and understand the challenges of managing the debate and time constraints at the same time. But Ignatius seemed supremely unconcerned about time constraints as he let Peres ramble on for 25 solid minutes, while Erdogan say quietly and patiently, writing notes for his response. To then cut Erdogan off was stunning, and will naturally be viewed as a contemptuous affront."
The sheer unbridled arrogance of the Jews in their exercise of power will be their downfall.
Add a wealth tax to catch the greed of the past and I'm in.
The American government kept paying extreme nut job Laurie Mylroie for the benefit of her 'expertise' at least until 1997! The posting points out that even the neocons say she's crazy "out of annoyance that her work helps to discredit their own".
Subcomandante MARCOS, as always, right on the mark (note how a true revolutionary sees through the bullshit of the 'anti-Semitism' preoccupation of 'progressives'):
"Again, pardon our ignorance, maybe what we're saying is beside the point. And instead of condemning the ongoing crime, being the indigenous and warriors that we are, we should be discussing and taking a position in the discussion about if it's 'Zionism' or 'anti-Semitism,' or if Hamas' bombs started it.
Maybe our thinking is very simple, and we're lacking the nuances and annotations that are always so necessary in analyses, but to the Zapatistas it looks like there's a professional army murdering a defenseless population.
Who from below and to the left can remain silent?"
"And perhaps a boy or girl from Gaza will survive, too. Perhaps they'll grow, and with them, their nerve, indignation, and rage. Perhaps they'll become soldiers or militiamen for one of the groups that struggle in Palestine. Perhaps they'll find themselves in combat with Israel. Perhaps they'll do it firing a gun. Perhaps sacrificing themselves with a belt of dynamite around their waists.
And then, from up there above, they will write about the Palestinians' violent nature and they'll make declarations condemning that violence and they'll get back to discussing if it's Zionism or anti-Semitism.
And no one will ask who planted that which is being harvested."
Philip Weiss, the human asymptote, moving ever closer to the truth but, due to his background, unable ever to reach it, inches closer (from the same blog, the account of another journalist on the same path). The failed Bildungsroman Weiss is creating is interesting reading, and proves why the Jews will never be able to fix the problem they have created. "The destruction of belief in inherent Jewish goodness." It isn't goodness that is the issue. Any group that can 'stand for' a moral abomination like Israel can't be good. It's sanity. It is the sanity of the Jews that is in question, whether their racist eliminationist supremacism has rendered them incurably insane.
at 1/31/2009 05:51:00 AM 19 comments Links to this post
The war crimes evidence keeps piling up
Via Action Report Online, an article in Haaretz (my emphasis in red):
"The idea to bombard the closing ceremony of the Gaza police course was internally criticized in the Israel Defense Forces months before the attack. A military source involved in the planning of the attack, in which dozens of Hamas policemen were killed, says that while military intelligence officers were sure the operation should be carried out and pressed for its approval, the IDF's international law division and the military advocate general were undecided."
the Jewish attack could have had nothing to do with whatever Hamas was accused of doing, as it was being planned for months, down to the exact timing of the end of the Gaza police course, indeed months before Hamas had been keeping the ceasefire which the Jews eventually had to break so the Jews could attempt to claim the slaughter was because of the rockets; and
the Jews knew that the planned attack on the Gaza police graduation was an attack on civilians (and there is obviously no possible argument about human shields or whatever other legalese great Jewish minds can scheme up).
You think it's bad now?
You can start to have an inkling of where the idea of the 'blood libel' came from (my emphasis in red):
"When the leader of Israel's religious-Zionist Meimad Party recently addressed a meeting of 800 high-school students in a Tel Aviv suburb, his words on the virtue of Israeli democracy for all its citizens were drowned out by student chants of 'Death to the Arabs.'"
"Israeli soccer matches were suspended during the assault on Gaza. When the games resumed last week, the fans had come up with a new chant: 'Why have the schools in Gaza been shut down?' sang the crowd. 'Because all the children were gunned down!' came the answer."
These are the young people, the future of Israel. Things are only going to become much worse. It is time to put an end to it, to stop the killing.
The psychos and the boycotts
One of the peculiarities of Jewish psycho racist extremist eliminationist supremacism is that World Jewry will not react rationally to boycotts or similar actions. Their mental illness renders them incapable of understanding the reactions of decent people to their violent craziness. Instead, they will label it as just another example of the ubiquitous 'anti-Semitism', i.e., an example of the moral failings of their accusers, and not of their own moral failings. The short-term effect of boycott-sanctions-divestment will be a paradoxical hardening of the positions of Israel and World Jewry, as they will see the increase in 'anti-Semitism' as an excuse to act even more insanely than before.
That is not to say that boycotts aren't morally necessary (the true status of Chomsky can be seen in his continued resistance to boycotts, as he prefers to wait for his socialist-anarchist paradise to save the world from the problems caused by . . . the Americans). They will have the effect of continuing the legitimacy crisis in Israel for those Jews who aren't insane, will increase the phenomenon of sane Jews leaving Israel, and deter sane Jews outside of Israel from moving there. They will also increase the expense to the Jew-controlled American government of paying for the continuing Jewish program of slaughtering. Most importantly, however, the whole boycott program will serve as the rallying point for world-wide resistance to the Jewish eliminationist program. One of the main problems decent people face is that the total Jew-control of politicians and the media - as definitively proven by the utterly shameful reaction of all Western politicians and media to the Gaza slaughter - seems to make it impossible for decent human beings to do anything in the face of such powerful and overwhelming blood-dripping-from-the-fangs Evil. Boycotts can start us on our way.
More important than boycotting Israel, however, will be our efforts to punish those who are under Jew-control, to make it clear to the sycophants and power-followers that there are powers greater than those of World Jewry. For example, punishing the shameful BBC executives who censored a charity appeal for Gaza - just how fucking evil can you be! - by firing them and making sure no one else will hire them - except, of course, the Jewish Billionaires! - will start to send the message that we the decent and sane will no longer put up with the evils of Jew-control. It is the boycott and punishment of the enablers of Jewish evil that will have the biggest long-term effect at stopping it and establishing one Palestinian state in the Middle East.
The problem with Israel isn't just all the horrible things it has done and is doing, a list that people are now reviewing in the light of the recent slaughter. It isn't just the obvious psychopathic mental illness of the Israeli politicians coupled with a defective political system that makes change impossible. It isn't just that the political spectrum is veering rapidly to the extreme eliminationist right. It isn't just that the slaughter was supported - not just supported, but enjoyed - by the vast, vast majority of Israeli Jews and people who identify themselves as Jews around the world (moral people brought up as Jews are so disgusted by it that they no longer self-identify as Jews, hence the 'problem' of assimilationism; btw, we must stop letting them get away with the lie of distinguishing 'Jews' from 'Israeli Jews' from 'zionists' - they all have the same shared evil psychopathy). We're talking over 95 per cent support. It's outrageous that I claim blood drips from their fangs, not because it slurs them, but because it cannot do justice to the stark evil inherent in today's Judaism. Most of the few Jews who are concerned about the slaughter are 'lite', i. e., they are worried that world disgust at what the Jews are up to might delay the Project of building Greater Israel (note that another taboo, mentioning the Project, has been bravely broken, and the reaction of the fanged ones!).
No, the problem is that it is now crystal clear, to everybody who is not a Jew or a 'progressive' enabler (the 'progressive' enablers are simply covered - covered! - in the blood of Palestinian children), that the slaughter is part of a long, constantly reoccurring pattern of psychopathic violence, and that the psychos are escalating, in the three ways of escalation:
the violence is becoming more and more brutal;
the periods between violent outbursts are decreasing;
the psychos are losing control of their ability to regulate their violent outbursts.
I can predict, without even the tiniest fear of being wrong, that sometime in the near future Israel will do something else horribly violent, probably worse than Gaza or the most recent attack on Lebanon, and will continue to do so until the Jewish state is wiped off the map.
In considering options, we are often asked to compare Israel to South Africa. This is a faulty comparison, in ways that are not flattering to the the Jews. The Boers were evil racist scumbags, but they were sane. When the time came that they could no longer reasonably expect to maintain their hold on power, they sat down and negotiated the best deal they could (and a great deal it was, giving up political power but keeping all their wealth and the control of the economy). Unlike the Jews, they were not emotionally invested in the fact that they were scumbags. They were not psychopaths No reasonable person looking at the escalation of Israeli psychopathic acts can describe Israel as sane. The Jews are a racist eliminationist supremacist group. They cannot help themselves.
Consider the terrible effect that the concept of anti-Semitism has had on the Jews. The South African whites couldn't look at the rest of the world and decide that the attacks on them were solely as a result that the world was entirely filled with 'anti-Boer-ites'. They had to accept that the rest of the world held its disgust at apartheid honestly. Not so the Jews. World Jewry has an automatic excuse for every comment on the actions of Israel: anti-Semitism. Over time, this has created a monster: Jews can literally do no wrong as any third party critic of their behavior must be motivated by this one ulterior motive, hatred of the Jews. Over time, this obsession with anti-Semitism has turned World Jewry into a psychopath, never responsible for its acts as any and all criticism is entirely evidence of the failings of the critics. It is ironic that 'progressive' enablers have played a large role in this - although, to be fair, racist supremacism is built into Judaism (I still need to write about this) - and will ultimately bear moral responsibility for the end of Israel (oh well, at least they'll still feel good about themselves).
My basic mistake in all along supporting a two state solution was thinking that the Israelis, and World Jewry, were sane, and would eventually do the rational thing. They are not sane, something which should be obvious from the pattern of irrational violent behavior (which goes back even before the establishment of the State of Israel), and the escalation. We distinguish criminals, who are responsible for their acts and are punished, from the criminally violent mentally ill, who are not responsible for their acts but still have to be removed from society for the protection of everybody. Removing Israel is not intended to punish the Jews. It is a recognition that World Jewry suffers from a terrible mental illness, and the world needs to be protected from the irrational violence of Israel. Perhaps in time, with treatment, the Jews can regain their sanity.
My eyes are sore from internet reading, and I'm tired of all the tragedy, so it is time for some cartoonery:
I'm really liking Wondermark by David Malki (some of his personal favorites), including these two.
The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats is a cartoon drawn in the style of Krazy Kat (complete with a back-story, as it is supposed to be drawn by a contemporary of George Harriman), but based on the language and mannerisms of the lolcats. Is the internet self-referential, or what?
Speaking of which, 4chan (now semi-famous due to the mainstreaming of 'rickrolling') meets the lolcats meets Metallica (no idea why, but this only seems to display properly using Opera as the browser ). This may be the end of human civilization, but you have to admire the work involved.
"The Recently Deflowered Girl", by the genius, Edward Gorey.
Another Jewish gift to humanity
From an article by David Cronin (my emphasis in red):
"Israel's refusal to allow civilians any exit route from Gaza as its defence forces rained bombs down on schools and houses appears unprecedented in modern warfare, a United Nations investigator has said.
Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, described the sealing off of the Gaza Strip in order to ensure that nobody could flee it as 'a distinct, new and sinister war crime.'
'For the first time in a military operation, the civilian population as a whole has been locked into a war zone,' he told a meeting of the European Parliament by telephone. 'No children, women, sick people or disabled people were allowed to leave. For the first time, the option of becoming a refugee has been withheld.'"
Oddly - bizarrely, even - timed noamian treatment of Old American Establishment influence on Hollywood movies. It is certainly true that the Establishment will use all its weapons, including propaganda, but what happens when all the propaganda outlets are controlled by traitors working for a foreign entity?
Why are they telling us this? Ha! - Immigrant Absorption Ministry!
Speaking of anti-progressive 'progressives'
Speaking of anti-progressive 'progressives' chased out of the weeds by Gaza, the discussion on this posting led me here. As I keep saying, Zionism has destroyed American progressive politics. I wonder when progressive 'anti-Semitism' - the norm of progressive thinking in the first half of the 20th century until it was sidelined by the Holocaust - will return.
The smarter revisionists are finally starting to realize that revisionism is the best gift World Jewry has ever received (in a similar vein, I never believed the Mossad killed Haider, their best friend in all of Europe: no real threat to World Jewry, but a constant source of propaganda). Meanwhile, the responsibility-to-protect crowd (Samantha Power, Michael Ignatieff) - considered by people like me to be stooges for World Jewry - have gone missing (or worse, in the case of Ignatieff) on Gaza.
If a group with an eliminationist agenda - and Israel and World Jewry clearly have such an agenda - kills a large number of members of a group on the 'do do' list of the eliminationists, that is by definition 'genocide'. No debate.
Invocation Eve
It is curious how much 'progressives' read into Rick Warren's comments to Sean Hannity. Assassination? And why do they assume that he is referring to Iran when he is talking of evildoers against whom violence is justified? Does the context not leave open the possibility that he is talking about Israel? Note that Warren's first 'yes' in this transcript is very misleading (if you look at the clip, it is clear he is not agreeing to killing Ahmadinejad, but just pausing before he addresses the entire issue). Warren has already gone out of his way to praise Syria, a move which World Jewry considers tantamount to anti-Semitism. I would think it is absolutely clear that the Christian, but not Christian-Zionist, position has to be that the only 'evildoers' in the Middle East against whom violence might be justified are Jews living in Israel.
I note that the Geigh Lobby - more 'one issue guys', and not at all progressive - is attacking Warren's efforts to stop AIDS in Africa by using the kind of slimy guilt-by-association tricks they would be the first to whine about if used by a Limbaugh type.
at 1/20/2009 02:36:00 AM 4 comments Links to this post
This is an excellent summary of the mechanics of how the Lobby works. One of the chief weapons of World Jewry against those who try to uncover their scheming is the very implausibility of how groups representing 2 or 3 percent of the American population can be leading the entire country to its obvious and complete ruination. Their sheer psychopathic ruthlessness helps, as does the fact that they are 'one issue guys'.
I'm wondering about the importance of Jewish votes and Jewish money. There aren't many Jewish votes, except in a very few areas, and the amount of dollars we're talking about is sometimes as low as a few thousand. How does World Jewry have so much influence? Obviously, we have to factor in the importance of utter Jew-control of the entire media, but we still don't have enough of an explanation for what amounts to the suicide of one of the world's great empires on the pyre of Jewish nationalism.
It has to be blackmail. We must be witnessing the largest blackmail operation in the history of politics.
Unsafe, or just supremacist?
Instructive quote from Philip Weiss:
"The core condition of Zionism is the understanding that Jews are unsafe in western societies."
My RSS reader shows that this was originally a little harsher:
"The essence of Zionism is the belief that Jews are unsafe in western societies."
Weiss goes on to point out that Jeffrey Goldberg fled the United States to Israel because of all the anti-Semitism he was experiencing, a fact which pretty much proves what we've always thought, that Jeffrey Goldberg is insane!
Anyway, Weiss' error about Zionism is instructive about the nature of lite Zionism. Zionism is simply another late 19th century ethnic nationalism, based, as always, on the supremacy of some master race. It has nothing whatsoever to do with safety. The urban intellectuals who formulated Zionism came up with it decades before the holocaust against the Jews, and at a time when anti-Semitism was on the obvious wane - not that it wouldn't continue to flare up, particularly in rural areas - and a new class of Jewish financial and intellectual leaders was starting to come into prominence. Zionism didn't come out of a feeling of weakness, just the opposite: it came out of a feeling of rapidly growing power. It is not a surprise that Zionism is reaching its obvious tragic conclusion in another era of Jewish power.
Why is there such an animus in Jews against the Palestinians? Why are the checkpoint soldiers so cruel? Why does Israel stoop to committing every single war crime imaginable? Why do a few mostly harmless rockets produce such unimaginable rage? It isn't fear. It is the fact that the continued existence of the Palestinians, their failure to capitulate, is an insult to the Master Race, a failure to acknowledge the superiority of the Jews.
The Weiss schtick is that Zionism was a defensive intellectual framework, formerly necessary, but no longer so due to the power of Jews in American society. But Zionism was never really defensive, and has always been in essence offensive, creating a base for the Master Race. The Master Race wasn't threatened by Gentiles, it was offended to have to live amongst such inferiors, and particularly insulted to have to live under the rule of inferiors. The failure of the Zionists - lite or hard core - to really understand the nature of Zionism is built right into the nature of supremacism. It is why Jews won't solve this problem.
Collective psychopathy
FAIR points to Thomas Friedman's express endorsement of what FAIR chooses to call 'terrorism' - what I would call 'collective punishment', as it avoids Bibi's 'war on terror' while making clear the sheer illegality of what Friedman is endorsing - on the pages of the New York Times. As Glenn Greenwald phrases it (in one of the Updates he adds in response to the psychopathic - i.e., Jewish - comments he receives):
". . . is it even possible to imagine an Op-Ed or column being published by a major newspaper that enthusiastically trumpeted all of the great strategic benefits that would accrue to Muslims from the violent deaths of large numbers of Israeli civilians, the way Friedman today did with regard to the deaths of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians?"
Another advantage of the slaughter - perhaps the most important in the long run - is that it has made it abundantly clear that the root cause of the problems in the Middle East is the extremist racist psychopathic supremacism of the Jewish people, so transparently reflected in the comments of a Jew like Friedman when a little pressure is applied, in this case the pressure of a few complaints about the magnitude and illegality of the Jewish slaughtering. It is this incurable - at least in the short run, but we do not have time to wait for future generations - collective psychopathy that is the real reason that the world must eliminate the Jewish State of Israel, and replace it with a state ruled by Palestinians. Of course, Jews could still live in a Palestinian state if they wanted to, but their collective psychopathic supremacism will mean that the vast majority would not choose to live under Gentile rule.
The killing continues:
The Angry Arab writes: "I won't be surprised if the New York Times decides that any mention of the civilian suffering in Palestine is in fact anti-Semitic." In fact, Canadian Jewish groups are now arguing that demonstrating against the slaughter is anti-Semitic hate speech, and presumably needs to be stopped by the Canadian government. Said government, having achieved the nadir in Canadian diplomatic history by voting alone for genocide and Israel, might very well follow its Jew masters and agree.
Speaking of which, CanWest is circling the toilet. It is not a coincidence that World Jewry is experiencing its worst financial crisis at the same time that Israel is going mad. In the case of CanWest or the New York Times, the pro-Zionist lying is so obvious, and so repulsive to the average decent person, that it is actually leading directly to the insolvency. The World's Worst Newspaper is the world's worst newspaper largely because of its lying to promote Zionism.
Israel, which we know uses human shields - against the ruling of its own Supreme Court, a ruling which the Israeli government is trying to convince the court to overturn! - complains that Hamas uses human shields, necessitating the huge civilian toll that the slaughter is causing (note that the Zionists have given up saying that no civilians have been harmed in the making of this holocaust). Gaza is the most densely populated area in the world. It is completely locked up. Short of laying down arms and giving up, where is Hamas supposed to go to get away from the civilian population? This is just another example of the type of argument - both wrong-headed and somehow deeply evil - that we are coming to associate with Jews.
More Angry Arab:
"Three factors are strategic liabilities for Israel in the technical military-intelligence sense: 1) Israeli terrorist soldiers fight with the awareness of the military superiority of Israel, unlike previous generation of Israeli terrorist soldiers who thought that Arab armies were a match and thus fought as if the life of the lousy entity depended on it; 2) there is no more Arab Jewish immigrants in Israel whose knowledge of Arabic (or Persian) can be utilized by Israeli terrorist military and intelligence (this is a point made by Amer, in fact; 3) the ideological zeal which can be an asset in battle is less of a factor. I mean, do you think that Russian or Ethiopian immigrants give a shit about the fate of the Zionist project?"
All true. People first started to notice the deterioration in Israeli fighting ability while the IDF was getting its ass handed to it by Hezbollah in Lebanon. It was Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld - the guy, you may remember, who was used to threaten Europe with an Israeli nuclear attack - who noted that armies with vast technological and material supremacy irrevocably lose their fighting morale. The phony-Jewish Russian immigrants being forced to risk their lives for the Project are the same group who spray-paint swastikas on the sides of synagogues. The soldiers are not willing to take any risk: they lob rockets and tank shells from a distance, and then use Palestinian human shields to ensure that they face no danger of running into scary Hamas.
Future Madoff fun
A prominent Canadian tax lawyer weighs in on Madoff:
"Paul will not generally complain when one robs Peter to pay Paul. In this case, however, there could be worse news downstream for the investors who have already lost millions of dollars. An additional wrinkle to the scandal is the United States Federal Bankruptcy Court decision in the Bayou case. That case held that earlier investors must give back the money that they 'earned' from the Ponzi.
Payments by Mr. Madoff to the earlier investors were fraudulent conveyances - an illegal transfer of property with the intent of committing fraud. The earlier investors were, in fact - albeit innocently - beneficiaries of the fraudulent scheme. The investors must refund their improperly earned money into the pool of assets from which all - old and new - victims will share, if there is anything to share. Thus, we can expect to hear a lot of complaining from Paul."
Sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm battling Firefox. Where, exactly, did Firefox get its good reputation? It is unbelievably unstable, and every time it updates, which is very often, half of what you've had to laboriously install to approximate Opera's functionality suddenly, and mysteriously, doesn't work. I know why it is popular. Cubical prisoners seeking something to do all day other than what they are paid to do are dying for something useless to tinker with. For them, it is perfect. We live in a world where 'retarded' - from here - is a virtue.
Three good posting from the Angry Arab (who always lets his freak flag fly). It is nice to see Israeli 'historians', who are basically propagandists and thus part of the Israeli military, removing the disguise.
I also fully agree that critiques of Palestinian resistance are wrong. The Palestinians are in an impossible position, and are doing what they can. Quibblers about the details are Zionist apologists. When the Palestinians win, the rockets will be part of that victory. I only wish they had better ones.
The guy who won the movie award didn't mention Gaza. He should give the award back. It is not an anti-war movie, it is a movie about how terrible it is that the noble Jewish soul has to be troubled by feelings as it slaughters. Very lite Zionist. Also very Golda.
The remarkable series of Israeli lies about the shelling of the UN school has finally reached its conclusion: it was a 'stray'. After each atrocity too obvious to ignore, the Israelis and their apologists always give us this series of Maxwell Smart preposterous lies, 'would you believe . . . ', and with the failure of each lie just come up with another one. It was the same thing with Cana, or when they bombed the UN observer post in Lebanon.
The mysterious hold of Zionism over American politicians
Juan Cole, who seems to be letting his freak flag fly recently, has an excellent detailed posting on the automatic control that the Israeli government has over the American government, exemplified by Olmert picking up the phone and ordering Bush around to the extent that the United States changed its mind and abstained, rather than voted for, the latest UN cease-fire resolution. This was a public slap in the face for Rice, who actually helped draft the resolution, and Olmert is crowing about it. Note the behind-the-scenes trickery of the Jew Kouchner, who valiantly worked for his homeland - Israel, naturally, not France - to try to block the resolution.
Cole concludes by raising the most important issue of all - the consideration of which is necessitated by the lack of any obvious motive for Bush to act as he did - the conspiracy theory that the mysterious hold of Zionism over American politicians is connected to blackmail. Israeli intelligence, with the aid of the secret cadre of dual-loyalty American Jews, gathers dossiers of information on characters like Bush, people who have a lot of embarrassments in their pasts, and holds it over them. Other than direct payments of cash, which probably explains Cheney, this is by far the most plausible theory for why American politicians consistently and blatantly act against American interests (sorry Noam). I wonder what the Israeli dossier on Obama looks like?
Finding the answer to a Blogger problem isn't easy, and isn't helped by the inscrutable Google style - you can see the frustration in so many similar questions asked with so few answers given! - but the problem with my disappearing comments button was a corrupted widget, probably caused by whatever indignities JS-Kit performed on my template, and the answer to the problem is to remove the offending lines of HTML, republish the template, reinsert the same words, and republish again, all as neatly described here. I've reverted to plain vanilla Blogger comments for now, until I find enough courage to embark upon another comments system (JS-Kit is dead to me).
Despite wasting - and that's the only word for it - an enormous amount of time on the subject, the 'comments' link has again gone missing, although you can comment, I think, by clicking on the time stamp under the post, getting a new window with the post and its comments, and going from there. I'm getting very close to being fed up with comments. My view on JS-Kit, who have never responded to my request for help, is like what the Jews say about the Jewish holocaust, 'never again'. There is another service called Disqus which I may try. It looks good, but it doesn't seem to be working at the moment.
at 1/12/2009 02:27:00 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Advantages of slaughter
There are a few advantages coming out of the slaughter:
Jewish apologists no longer have any possible ammunition to argue against academic boycotts, as the Israeli version of a boycott is a bomb dropped on a university or school.
There is nothing bad you can say about Israel or Jewish support for Israel, no comparison you can make to the worst holocausts in history, that can live up to the blood-dripping from-the fangs evil. Israel and the Jewish people - and Jewish support for the Palestinian holocaust puts the full blame on the Jewish people - are as evil as it gets, and everybody knows it.
I've been called an anti-Semite for daring to speak of Jew-controlled politicians and Jew-controlled media. No more of that. I blame the crypto-Zionist 'progressives' for much of the horror, all because they couldn't accept the truth about Jew control and wanted to show off how 'progressive' they were. When every mainstream media outlet and every major politician spouts exactly the same made-in-Israel words, words that are patently bullshit, which everybody knows are patently bullshit, and in direct contradiction to the knowledge and understanding of the vast majority of the population (less vast, of course, where decades of Jew-controlled media malfeasance have misled the people), there is only one possible explanation: Jew control. Let's shout it, unapologetically, from the rooftops. I await the abject apologies from everybody who has accused me of being an anti-Semite.
Sanctions, divestment and boycotting are now commonly discussed, and millions of people are now newly politically aware, and mobilized, on the issue. The demonstrations in Europe were amazing and, again, highlight Jew-control, as the Jew-slave politicians are so obviously out of line with their electorates. One would hope that the mass realization that both the mainstream media and all major politicians have been bought and paid for by World Jewry would lead to a further realization that these lying Jew-slaves need to be replaced, pronto.
We're witnessing the death of the Chomskean lie that all political evil flows out of the United States. While the Bush Administration, in its death throes, has managed one final embarrassment to the United States (one for which Americans will be paying for decades), this one is entirely to be blamed on Israel and World Jewry. Again, while acknowledging the evil of the United States in blessing this monstrosity, everybody knows who is really to blame.
We can't forget that the slaughter is encouraging a deep examination of the psycho-killer psychology of Israel and World Jewry, which, just as in the case of many psychopaths, is tinged with self-righteousness. An example of the new analysis is Gideon Levy:
"You can't have it both ways. The only 'purity' in this war is the 'purification from terrorists,' which really means the sowing of horrendous tragedies. What's happening in Gaza is not a natural disaster, an earthquake or flood, for which it would be our duty and right to extend a helping hand to those affected, to send rescue squads, as we so love to do. Of all the rotten luck, all the disasters now occurring in Gaza are manmade - by us. Aid cannot be offered with bloodstained hands. Compassion cannot sprout from brutality.
Yet there are some who still want it both ways. To kill and destroy indiscriminately and also to come out looking good, with a clean conscience. To go ahead with war crimes without any sense of the heavy guilt that should accompany them. It takes some nerve. Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who preaches for this war and believes in the justness of the mass killing it is inflicting has no right whatsoever to speak about morality and humaneness. There is no such thing as simultaneously killing and nurturing. This attitude is a faithful representation of the basic, twofold Israeli sentiment that has been with us forever: To commit any wrong, but to feel pure in our own eyes. To kill, demolish, starve, imprison and humiliate - and be right, not to mention righteous. The righteous warmongers will not be able to allow themselves these luxuries.
Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who sees it as a defensive war must bear the moral responsibility for its consequences. Anyone who now encourages the politicians and the army to continue will also have to bear the mark of Cain that will be branded on his forehead after the war. All those who support the war also support the horror."
Self-righteousness is the defining characteristic of Zionism (just read anything by Dershowitz; it is almost funny). They won't be able to get away with it any more.
The final advantage of the slaughter is that people are finally considering what is to be done to Israel to punish it for what it habitually does - another advantage of the slaughter is that the entire history of Zionism is being reanalyzed as part of a pattern of psychopathic murderous compulsion - and stop it from reoffending.
A note of caution. The lite Zionists are gearing up to protect Zionism by ensuring that the sanctions on Israel amount to no more than ineffective boycotts (especially so as boycotting Israel is illegal in the United States). They will purport to be outraged, and purport to be dealing with the problem, all the while doing what they always do - protecting the project of Greater Israel which they all secretly support. We can't let them get away with this. We now know that Zionism is an incurable violent psychological illness, and Israel will not stop murdering. Zionism has to be stopped. Permanently. The only way to accomplish this is to make a Jewish state in the Middle East impossible. We need to be figuring how to do this in the most humanitarian way, while acknowledging that there will inevitably be millions of Jewish refugees. As terrible as that is, Israel and World Jewry have made it necessary.
Graphic art of the year
Via Moon of Alabama, wow (or here). The artist is Morten M. Kristiansen (Morten M). I may just have a space for it. World Jewry loves Norwegian graphic arts.
RFK assassination: Onassis and Hamshari?
Actor Robert Vaughn resurrects an old theory proposed by Peter Evans on the assassination of Robert Kennedy, that it was the work of Aristotle Onassis and Mahmoud Hamshari, a Palestinian who Israel claimed - without any evidence - had been involved in the Munich Olympics attack (Hamshari was eventually assassinated by the Israelis with a bomb in his telephone). Note the Lisa Pease response to Evans' theory (Evans' main source seems to have been the extraordinarily suspicious Robert Maheu, who just died in August, and who was certainly trying to deflect suspicions about his own involvement in the assassination). Since the Los Angeles police spent an enormous amount of effort destroying and manipulating evidence, you have to ask the obvious question: why would they do this for Onassis and an obscure Palestinian politician? Vaughn also has real problems describing the motives of both Onassis and Hamshari.
Refutation of the current Zionist set of lies
Via Spontaneous Arising, "The Truth about Palestine and Israel" from the Republic of Lakota, a very concise, well-informed summary.
World Jewry is insane (it is the insanity that differentiates Zionism from South African white supremacism, of which more later), and so obviously insane, that it is a wonderful target of mockery. Just issue a fake press release showing a prominent Jewish group appearing to act sane or moral, and watch the fun. This type of trickery is particularly powerful, as it emphasizes the utter madness of organized Jewish representatives.
Tuncay Guney
The Toronto Star on Tuncay Guney (see also here; my emphasis in red):
"It's a fantastical tale from the slight, bespectacled man, a former Muslim who now wears the garb of an Orthodox Jew.
But Guney is not taken lightly in his home country. He is the lynchpin in a sprawling trial accusing dozens of prominent Turks of plotting to overthrow their government. Many in Turkey see the trial as the result of a power struggle between the secular military and the pro-Islamist government of the ruling AK Party.
According to Turkish prosecutors, the labyrinthine ultranationalist cabal, code-named 'Ergenekon', backed political assassinations and deadly terrorist attacks.
All the threads lead back to information provided eight years ago by Guney."
and (nine days of interrogation for a petty crime?):
"His standing among fellow expatriates is less lofty.
'Speaking as a member of the community, we are embarrassed that he lives in Canada among us,' said Lale Eskicioglu, executive director of the Ottawa-based Council of Turkish Canadians. 'Because of him, many innocent people have been interrogated. He has caused a lot of hell in Turkey.'
Guney's rise from obscure journalist to renowned whistleblower began in 2001. That year, he was arrested for attempting to sell a stolen car. Over nine days of interrogation, Guney told police he had uncovered a wide-ranging plot to unbalance the Turkish state."
"Police searched Guney's apartment, uncovering six batches of documents, some marked `Top Secret'. The papers laid out a portion of the conspiracy, naming as members some of Turkey's most prominent citizens.
'He got so much information that he cannot have gotten it by himself,' said Ergun Babahan, a former editor of the Turkish newspaper, Sabah. 'Someone gave it to him.'
Despite a travel ban, Guney was mysteriously able to flee Turkey for the United States. 'He went from Turkey to New York and then Toronto. That is not so easy to do,' said Babahan. 'I believe he has some sort of protection.'
Different factions in Turkey have variously accused Guney of working for American and Iranian intelligence; Islamist interests and Ergenekon-linked secret police units. He denies all of it. He took off his black, broad-brimmed hat and skullcap before being photographed for this article because he feared it would bolster accusations that he works for Israel's Mossad."
Mossad makes sense. But why would the Mossad want to destabilize the Turkish government and embarrass their very good pals in the Turkish military (latest development here)? Is all this part of the bigger deal whereby Turkey continues - through thick and mostly thin - to be an ally of Israel? More intrigue:
"Guney is famous in Turkey for his about-faces and provocative statements. There is also his `conversion' to Judaism since leaving Turkey. Guney claims that his family are Jews by way of Egypt who presented themselves as Muslims in order to survive in Turkey."
Blog progress
Just part of an old pattern
Saree Makdisi (my emphasis in green and blood-red):
"The brute fact of the matter is that, as long as their air force is killing an entirely defenseless people, the Israeli public and media do cheer them on. As soon as they start paying any kind of price - no matter how grotesquely out of proportion to the level of damage their soldiers are inflicting on unarmed and innocent people - their bloodlust quickly cools. In Gaza, the Israeli infantry won’t take a single step forward unless the ground in front of them - and everything and everyone in it, armed, unarmed, whoever and whatever they are - has been safely cleared away for them by the air or by artillery. 'These are ‘Georgia rules,’ which are not so far from the methods Russia used in its conflict last summer,' write Harel and Issacharoff in Ha’aretz. 'The result is the killing of dozens of non-combatant Palestinians. The Gaza medical teams might not have reached all of them yet. When an Israeli force gets into an entanglement, as in Sajaiyeh last night [where three Israeli soldiers were killed], massive fire into built-up areas is initiated to cover the extraction. In other cases, a chain of explosions is initiated from a distance to set off Hamas booby-traps. It is a method that leaves a swath of destruction taking in entire streets, and does not distinguish military targets from the homes of civilians.' I’m not sure where the 'Georgia' reference comes from: the Israelis used the very same tactics in Jenin and Nablus in 2002, and in southern Lebanon in 2006 and 1982. And it would be an act of futility to point out - for the millionth time - that the Israeli method of warfare takes place in sweeping disregard for the principles of international humanitarian law, not to mention total contempt for innocent human life. This is not to mention that most of the casualties pouring into Gaza’s morgues and hospitals are the victims of the sheer indiscriminate unleashing on densely populated civilian areas of high explosive ordnance from land, sea and air that has been characteristic of Israel's military style since at least the 1970s."
continuing:
"Israel’s disregard for innocent human life is not motivated only by a desire to forestall the political consequences - especially during an electoral campaign - of Israeli military casualties. It is also a clear indicator of the contempt that Israel has for Palestinian life in general. The cold, hungry, tired, desperate, and terrified men, women and children that Israel is now sweeping away by the dozen in balls of fire and showers of shrapnel are the very same people that it had already reduced to what one UN official months ago warned was 'a subhuman existence,' the deliberate product of the siege that Israel has imposed on Gaza for over three years, beginning in 2005, before the election of Hamas. They are the same people whose political and human rights Israel has been stifling since the occupation of 1967 - twenty years before the creation of Hamas. They are the same people who were ethnically cleansed from their land in 1948 because, as non-Jews, they were inconveniently cluttering up the land that European Zionists wanted to turn into a Jewish state, no matter what the land’s actual population had to say about it.
Israel's disregard for Palestinian life in Gaza today is, in short, a direct extension of its disregard for Palestinian life since 1948, and what is happening in Gaza today is the continuation of what happened six decades ago. Eighty percent of the people crammed into Gaza’s hovels and shanties are refugees or the descendants of refugees that armed Zionist gangs, which eventually coalesced into the infant Israeli army, terrorized from their homes elsewhere in southwestern Palestine in 1948. They have been herded, penned, and slaughtered by a remorseless power that clearly regards them as subhuman. If you think I’m stretching the point, I’m not. Listen to the words of Professor Arnon Sofer, the government consultant who did so much to help plan the isolation and imprisonment of Gaza, in a interview with the Jerusalem Post in 2004: 'When 2.5 million people live in a closed-off Gaza, it’s going to be a human catastrophe,' Sofer predicted. 'Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today, with the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam. The pressure on the border is going to be awful. It's going to be a terrible war. So, if we want to remain alive, we will have to kill and kill and kill. All day, every day.' Sofer admitted only one worry with all the killing, which will, he says, be the necessary outcome of a policy that he himself helped to invent. 'The only thing that concerns me,' he says, 'is how to ensure that the boys and men who are going to have to do the killing will be able to return home to their families and be normal human beings.'"
Golda! And more:
". . . the people being killed today are the ones for whom there is no room in the Zionist vision of the state. They are regarded as an excess population. Not even Malthus thought that a redundant population should just be lined up and shot, or bombed into the ground. But, clearly, times have changed since 1798.
This inhuman madness will end only with the end of the violent ideology that spawned it - when those who are committed to the project of creating and maintaining a religiously and ethnically exclusivist state in what has always been a culturally and religiously heterogeneous land finally relent and accept the inevitable: that they have failed."
and a nice bit on the American fuckers:
". . . it seems clear that the writing now being posted on alternative media outlets is also starting to outweigh the clumsy efforts still being churned out by America's army of paid and unpaid cheerleaders for Israel, who have forsaken what little remained of their own humanity and blinded themselves to suffering that ought to move any rational, caring, sentient human being to tears - the Dershowitzes and Foxmans, the Orens and Boots, the Krauthammers and Peretzes, the Bards and Goldfarbs, the cynical apparatchiks of CAMERA and AIPAC and the mindless busybodies and shuffling zombies of Stand With Us, the Israel Project and the Israel on Campus Coalition - who persist with their stubborn, craven defense of the indefensible. About these misanthropes there is much to be said, most of it too unpleasant to print . . ."
Psychopathic killers, escalating
Khalid Amayreh at Desertpeace doesn't pull any punches:
"For years, I have been warning that Israel is psychologically and morally capable of carrying out a holocaust or a genocide against the Palestinian people.
Needless to say, the horrible events of the past two weeks in Gaza seem to have enforced and vindicated my convictions in this regard.
Israel, government and people, seem to possess the psychological propensity that would make her embark on such a monstrosity. Yes, there is a minority of Israeli Jews and non-Israeli Jews who say 'No' to all the evils and crimes Israel is doing in the name of their name.
However, let us be honest and realistic. These people are a small minority and have very little influence if any on the Israeli government and army."
Me: I don't know the percentage of evil Israelis, but I do know that the way the country is set up, with its awful proportional electoral system that encourages and rewards political fanaticism, means that for the foreseeable future the people running things will be Zionazis. More:
"Given the Israeli mindset, Israel may well be hoping the latest genocidal onslaught could have a certain desensitizing and de-mystifying effect on people’s perceptions and attitudes.
The logic is quite simple. If the world can be bullied or cajoled into silence and apathy when Gaza is ravaged and thousands of its inhabitants are slaughtered en mass in full view of humanity, the same world can likewise be manipulated in similar fashion to come to terms with a greater genocide."
Me: of course, the attack on Lebanon, and the fact they used the levers controlled by World Jewry to get away with it, was the enabler for Gaza, just as Gaza will be the enabler for the next, greater, outrage. More:
". . . one could safely argue that the 'ideology of annihilation' now represents the mainstream in the Israeli society."
Me: dunno, but mainstream Israeli opinion doesn't matter, as described above. More:
"The Israeli hasbara machine’s main job has always been and continues to be to turn the black into white, the white into black and the big lie into a 'truth' glorified by millions, especially in the west.
To effect these obscene lies and 'virtual realities,' the Israeli government counts heavily on the Jewish-controlled or Jewish influenced media in the western world, especially in North America where telling the truth about Israel is the ultimate taboo."
Me: so, so, so, so true. If you are looking for real blood-dripping-from-the-fangs villains, look to North American Jewry. More:
"In truth, what has been happening in Gaza is a huge massacre of genocidal proportions as many conscientious Jews have testified.
What else can be said of this wanton, deliberate and indiscriminate blanket bombing of densely-populated neighborhoods and refugee camps?
I believe terms such as 'huge massacres' and 'genocidal onslaught' used in reference to the Gaza nightmare cannot be dismissed by Israel and her supporters as merely overstatements or rhetorical exaggerations.
This is unless Israel views non-Jewish pain and suffering as disingenuous, probably because non-Jews or 'goyem' are actually considered 'human animals' by a large and growing class of fanatical rabbis, politicians and military leaders."
Me: supremacism leading to genocide. More:
"On 6 January, Israeli tanks fired several artillery shells at a school at the Jabalya refugee camp, killing more than 40 civilians, mostly children and women, who had sought shelter at the UNRWA-run facility. Dozens others were injured, many critically.
Israeli army spokespersons, who are actually professional liars, claimed that Palestinian fighters were seen in the vicinity of the building and that some of these actually fired on Israeli troops from the school.
However, UN officials in Gaza strongly denied the Israeli account, with one UN official saying that he was '99.99%' that the Israeli army was lying.
Earlier, the Israeli air forces hit a mourning reception, killing 15 members of the same family."
Me: two hundred years from now, the school massacre will be read about in history books describing the end days of the State of Israel. More:
". . . if we are to accept this logic, namely that everything is fair in war, then Jews should stop complaining about what the armies of Hitler did to them during World War II.
It is just unacceptable to apply two standards of morality, one for Jews and another for non-Jews. For if what Israel is doing in Gaza is right, as Israel and her supporters maintain, then what the Nazis did in Europe several decades ago must have been right as well. And vice versa.
After all, crime doesn’t become kosher when committed by Jewish hands."
Me: what the Nazis did to the Warsaw ghetto was awful. They destroyed buildings with innocent people in them because they thought there might be one member of the resistance within. They wiped the place out, but they did it fighting, block by block. They would never have dreamed of locking the place up and bombing it to pieces. The Nazis were, after all, human beings, not animals. More:
"Facing their crimes, pornographic and outrageous as they are, many Israelis, probably the majority, are simply so gleeful that they think Israel is doing the right think and that God is standing on the side of Israel in this war and every war.
Some religious Israelis have become so euphoric, thanks to the Gaza blitz, that they think the Messiah’s coming imminent.
Other 'religious' Israeli Jews, including rabbis, readily justify the wanton slaughter by quoting biblical verses justifying genocide.
One Israeli settler leader recently argued during a conversation with a visiting American peace activist that 'if it was right to commit genocide during Biblical time, why can’t it be right to commit genocide now . Has God changed his mind,' the settler wondered sarcastically."
Me: no comment required.
Speaking of Zionist animals, more details are emerging about the massacre of 60 to 70 members of the extended al Samouni clan (my emphasis in red):
"Concerns had been growing that Zeitoun had witnessed massive civilian casualties after surviving members of the Samouni clan reached Gaza City three days ago.
They said that after the Israeli army first took the town on Saturday night soldiers had ordered about 100 members of the clan to gather in a single house owned by Wael Samouni around dawn on Sunday.
At 6.35am on Monday the house was repeatedly shelled with appalling loss of civilian life."
It pays to be 'chosen'
The nice Jewish ladies in Toronto were released without charges. Had they been Muslims, they would have been labeled 'terrorists' and jailed indefinitely without proper access to a lawyer or to the case against them.
Lull breakers
Two graphs from an article by Nancy Kanwisher, Johannes Haushofer and Anat Biletzki in the Huffington Post lead you to an unmistakable conclusion (my emphasis in red):
". . . a systematic pattern does exist: it is overwhelmingly Israel, not Palestine, that kills first following a lull. Indeed, it is virtually always Israel that kills first after a lull lasting more than a week.
The lessons from these data are clear:
First, Hamas can indeed control the rockets, when it is in their interest. The data shows that ceasefires can work, reducing the violence to nearly zero for months at a time.
Second, if Israel wants to reduce rocket fire from Gaza, it should cherish and preserve the peace when it starts to break out, not be the first to kill."
Of course, Israel always arranges things to provide an excuse for its genocidal violence. The current holocaust was set up by Israel breaking a lull to encourage the rockets so Israel would have an excuse to start slaughtering. The attack on Lebanon was started by sending some Israeli soldiers on a suicide mission. It is always the same sort of trick. The Jews are always the victims, and everything they do, no matter how vile, is always justified.
Jewish Protesters Stage Sit-In at Israeli Consulate
From Toronto: "Jewish Protesters Stage Sit-In at Israeli Consulate". The police are arresting the protesters. From Reuters:
"The Canadian government blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the deaths of more than 40 civilians who were killed by Israeli shells on Tuesday in some of the most hard-line comments by any leading western nation on the deadly incident.
Medical officials in Gaza said the civilians had been sheltering at a United Nations school. The Israeli army accused Hamas of using the civilians as human shields and of firing mortars at its troops from inside the school.
'Hamas bears a terrible responsibility for this and for the wider deepening humanitarian tragedy,' Canadian Junior Foreign Minister Peter Kent told Reuters when asked for Ottawa's reaction to the attack.
'The burden of responsibility is on Hamas to stop its terrorist rocketing of Israel.'"
The only problem was finding the hole in the back of Peter Kent's pants so the Jews could get their hand up his ass to move his lips. Before he was a politician, Kent was a 'journalist', working for the Jewish Billionaires, so I guess he's used to it.
The Jewish circle of death
The 'progressives' who coddle the Jews have a lot to answer for (perhaps explaining why so many are choosing to pretend that nothing is happening in Gaza). By calling anybody who dared criticize Zionism an anti-Semite, they have allowed the Israeli national mental illness of extremist racist supremacism to progress untreated, leading directly to the unbelievable escalation we are seeing now. The irony is that a little truth earlier on might have knocked some sense into World Jewry. The real 'anti-Semites' are those 'progressives' who allowed their addiction to power and their wanting to appear to be holier-than-thou to cover up the fact of the real evil driving World Jewry, evil which has led directly to the current slaughter, and will lead eventually to the destruction of the State of Israel.
What are Israel and its enablers responsible for? Cluster bombs (of course). White phosphorus. Attacking a building identified to the Israelis as a press center. Shelling a UN school to which civilians had been sent for refuge, killing mostly children (the streets ran with blood, causing the Jews to dream of matzos), again identified to the Israelis (Israeli tank gunners used HEAT rounds for maximum civilian kill). The use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. Intentionally targeting civilians using weapons which leave cancer-causing debris. Destroying entire apartment buildings containing civilians (of course, David Frum would claim that all these pictures of dead people are fake). We can't forget the 'diet' that the Palestinians have been on, nor the fact that Israel has an obligation under international law to look after these people. The Israelis can do all these things so easily as Jewish supremacists don't see gentiles as human beings.
All of this is being watched by Jews on lawn chairs, sipping Pepsi, as a sort of ghoulish spectator sport, from the area where the Palestinian (?) rockets are falling, the rockets that were the Israeli rationale for the slaughter in the first place. Now we'll see some sort of ceasefire, and will just have to wait until the Jewish supremacist bloodlust rears its head again, so we can witness the next holocaust. This will keep happening until the Jewish supremacist state is wiped off the face of the earth.
The Good Jew
The lite Zionists continue to breathlessly report on the status of the debate within the 'community', as if anybody could give a rat's ass. Somebody writes something crazy - well, crazy in the sense that it exactly reflects Israeli national policy - like 'let's kill them all', and somebody else responds by stating that the Jews are moral - unlike everybody else - and probably should kill a little more slowly. Whatever.
But what about all the prominent Jews in the world of entertainment, the arts, and general celebrity? They are not exactly shy about expressing their opinions on anything else. What do they think about the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians? Which prominent Jewish American 'liberal' has come out with a comment that genocide might just perhaps be wrong?
Just one. The Good Jew. The only Good Jew. Roseanne Barr (her blog):
"starting with Rahm Emmanuel
remove israel's influence from american government! Their occupation of and brutality against their neighbors is the real reason we were attacked on 9-11!
Israelis must dismantle their war state and make peace or die.
Israeli soldiers must resist the urge to follow their nazi leaders blindly and refuse to 'obey orders' to kill UNARMED STARVING CHILDREN in Gaza. the UN must step in and must investigate Israel!"
"i told my friend don't go!
I said Israel will attack any boat carrying doctors and medical supplies - they have turned away the red cross already and all medical and food assistance. Israel is a NAZI state. The Jewish Soul is being tortured in Israel. The destruction of the jews in Israel has been assured with this inhuman attack on civilians in gaza. Hamas is the street gang - this is equivilent to los angeles attacking and launching war on the people of watts to attempt to kill the bloods and the crips."
Of course, she's taking hell for it.
We have them now
From kei and yuri in the comments:
"What we have heard from local and national American news is worse than usual, that is, they are literally reading IOF press releases as if it were news and quoting without attribution as though that was the way things are."
The politicians and almost all the media are reciting the same Israeli propaganda, word for word, and it obviously has no connection to reality (with Obama, it looks more and more like you can has cheezburger, but that's about it; if you miss the reference, see here and here). This is actually a good thing, as almost anybody can understand exactly what is going on, the same thing that always is going on, but not so ridiculously obvious. A number of people have noted the gross disparity between public opinion, as shown in polls and demonstrations, and the official position taken by the media and politicians. You should not have any doubts that we live in a world of conspiracies, and World Jewry is amongst the most active conspirators.
As I've said before, we all have a native understanding of the horrible injustice of what is being done to the Palestinians, which forms such a stark contrast with the official story. It goes beyond the ludicrousness of hearing all media figures and politicians recite the same nonsense. We understand that if a conspiracy can be so big and so awful - putting people in cages, half starving them to death, dropping bombs on them, and then blaming the dead people for what has happened to them! - that the same thing could happen to any of us. When we protest what is being done to the Palestinians, we are not just asserting our sense of morality (morality is, by its nature, anti-supremacist), we are also reflecting a realization that we could just as easily be the next Palestinians. The lies are so awful, and the disconnect with reality so huge, that we should all be terrified of the Jews and their power (which may be exerted in places you might not expect). It doesn't help that people like Frum and Rubin, and this monster from Israel, have such a tin ear about normal human morality that they appear to be people-eating space aliens rather than human beings.
As with Lebanon, the Jews forgot about the internet. We've worked around official pronouncements, which are all the Jews control (and I never expect anybody to dare complain about my saying 'Jew-controlled media' again!), treating the mainstream as a virus, and heading for truth. There is quite a bit of truth out there, stuff that looks even better in the light of the mainstream media truth crisis. The craziness of it all even has people like Juan Cole linking to the Truth will set you Free (I guess Cole has really given up on Yale; I can't wait for him to link to Judicial-Inc.). If all the acceptable sources are spouting nothing but obvious lies, you have to take the truth where you can find it.
Western politicians and media have never been so out of line with the facts and simple human decency. The reason they are so bent is that they have been bought by the Jews, and the reason the Jews are so bent is that they are extremist racist supremacists. We need to stop Israel and World Jewry from doing this again by:
Putting an end to Israel by changing international law to recognize that habitual state offenders have to be stopped, and the only way to stop them is to treat them as international outlaws (this isn't collective punishment as our intention isn't to punish the residents of Israel for what they have done, but to stop the state from reoffending, something we are certain will happen); and
Retaking control of our politics and media, which has never been so far from representing our interests and belief-system (not to mention their gross dereliction of duty in the world of finance), by rejecting this entire set of bought politicians and boycotting the entire mainstream media and entertainment industry.
We have them now. They've finally gone too far.
In order to have working comments I've switched to a completely new template. The comments line now pops up without having to jump on it before it disappears, but I haven't yet figured out how to retrieve the old comments. Anyway, the new template is cleaner, and looks a lot better on Firefox. I'm now trying to contact JS-Kit to see where the old comments are hidden. If you click on 'Comments', a 'Leave a comment' line appears, which, when clicked on, leads to the comment box. Still no spellcheck.
I don't know what happened to the comments. It wasn't something I did. Haloscan's operations were taken over by an outfit called JS-Kit, which basically told me that all Haloscan systems were going to be replaced by JS-Kit systems, so I might as well switch over now voluntarily, rather than wait and be forcibly changed. I'm hoping that the loss of comments is a temporary glitch, and not more Zionist thought control. (Oddly, the comments seem to be entering the JS-Kit system - I get emails of each of them - but not posted to Blogger, so maybe its the Zionists who own Blogger who are to blame.)
'traducteur' in the comments refers to this excellent piece (or here) by Ilan Pappé. Note the huge difference between a true anti-Zionist and any of the innumerable lite Zionists who appear to be trying to help (my emphasis in red):
"It is crucial to explore the ideological origins of this attitude and derive the necessary political conclusions form its prevalence. This righteous fury shields the society and politicians in Israel from any external rebuke or criticism. But far worse, it is translated always into destructive policies against the Palestinians. With no internal mechanism of criticism and no external pressure, every Palestinian becomes a potential target of this fury. Given the firepower of the Jewish state it can inevitably only end in more massive killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing.
The self-righteousness is a powerful act of self-denial and justification. It explains why the Israeli Jewish society would not be moved by words of wisdom, logical persuasion or diplomatic dialogue. And if one does not want to endorse violence as the means of opposing it, there is only one way forward: challenging head-on this righteousness as an evil ideology meant to cover human atrocities. Another name for this ideology is Zionism and an international rebuke for Zionism, not just for particular Israeli policies, is the only way of countering this self-righteousness. We have to try and explain not only to the world, but also to the Israelis themselves, that Zionism is an ideology that endorses ethnic cleansing, occupation and now massive massacres. What is needed now is not just a condemnation of the present massacre but also delegitimization of the ideology that produced that policy and justifies it morally and politically. Let us hope that significant voices in the world will tell the Jewish state that this ideology and the overall conduct of the state are intolerable and unacceptable and as long as they persist, Israel will be boycotted and subject to sanctions."
"It seems that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as discrete events, unconnected to anything that happened in the past and not associated with any ideology or system. In this new year, we have to try to realign the public opinion to the history of Palestine and to the evils of the Zionist ideology as the best means of both explaining genocidal operations such as the current one in Gaza and as a way of pre-empting worse things to come."
"Despite the predictable accusation of anti-Semitism and what have you, it is time to associate in the public mind the Zionist ideology with the by now familiar historical landmarks of the land: the ethnic cleansing of 1948, the oppression of the Palestinians in Israel during the days of the military rule, the brutal occupation of the West Bank and now the massacre of Gaza. Very much as the Apartheid ideology explained the oppressive policies of the South African government, this ideology - in its most consensual and simplistic variety - allowed all the Israeli governments in the past and the present to dehumanize the Palestinians wherever they are and strive to destroy them. The means altered from period to period, from location to location, as did the narrative covering up these atrocities. But there is a clear pattern that cannot only be discussed in the academic ivory towers, but has to be part of the political discourse on the contemporary reality in Palestine today."
"By connecting the Zionist ideology and the policies of the past with the present atrocities, we will be able to provide a clear and logical explanation for the campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Challenging by nonviolent means a self-righteous ideological state that allows itself, aided by a mute world, to dispossess and destroy the indigenous people of Palestine, is a just and moral cause. It is also an effective way of galvanizing the public opinion not only against the present genocidal policies in Gaza, but hopefully one that would prevent future atrocities. But more importantly than anything else it will puncture the balloon of self-righteous fury that suffocates the Palestinians every times it inflates. It will help end the Western immunity to Israel’s impunity. Without that immunity, one hopes more and more people in Israel will begin to see the real nature of the crimes committed in their name and their fury would be directed against those who trapped them and the Palestinians in this unnecessary cycle of bloodshed and violence."
While this is all good and necessary, I've come to see that it is not enough. The racist supremacists - and this includes the lite Zionists, although they will never understand it - will resist until everybody is dead. Supremacism has made them completely insane, unable to listen to reason or even to understand their own self-interest. Both Lebanon and now Gaza has proven that, beyond a shadow of a doubt. The boycotts and sanctions won't stop the Israelis and their enablers. The problem won't be gone until Israel is gone.
Another prediction
The international community, which until now has done nothing but parrot talking points supplied by the Israelis, will suddenly grow a conscience just in time to prevent Israel from having to invade Gaza, something the Israelis don't really want to do (they fear Hamas capturing Israeli soldiers). As a result of the Zionist slaughter, Hamas will end up stronger (which was probably the Israeli plan). Your tax dollars will then be employed to begin to pay for the damage caused by World Jewry. As nothing will be done to put an end to Israel (just as nothing was done after the outrages committed against Lebanon), the Israelis will be free to commit another outrage (and another, and another, and another . . .) as soon as the dust clears from this one.
I don't know where to start
So much to write about, I don't know where to start. I'll clean up a few links by going meta, meta-analysis being the last refuge of scoundrel bloggers:
Have you noticed how many self-styled 'progressive' bloggers are pretending that Gaza isn't happening? It doesn't fit their view of the world, so they are choosing to ignore it.
Meanwhile, the circle jerks are up to the usual, tabulating a list of the Jews who are right about the issue (because of Jewish innate morality), against a list of those who are wrong. Hopeless.
Note how Philip Weiss' definition of Zionism turns on a reaction to anti-Semitism, and not on typical 19th century ethnic nationalism. This huge mistake is the defining one of lite Zionism. The Jews are victims, at most subject to making tactical errors which are understandable given the great injustices to which they are always subject. It is because the lite Zionists will never get out of their intellectual straight-jacket that they are much worse than useless. Note how easily Blankfort, a real anti-Zionist, gets it, effortlessly putting Zionism within the context of European colonialism.
I've called the defining Jewish characteristic - a racist notion, to be sure - a lack of grace. Note David Frum and Barry Rubin. They are intellectually and emotionally incapable of understanding that they sound like monsters. The same problem infects the entire Israeli leadership, who simply cannot understand that there is no amount of propaganda from the lying Jew-controlled media and the lying Jew-owned Western politicians that will make bombing civilians in a cage look good. Everybody has a native, instinctive understanding of this except the Jews, who wonder what is wrong with crushing cockroaches. We got it when they bombed the civilians of Beirut, and we get it while they bomb the civilians of Gaza. They will never be able to understand how easily we get it, which is why they are doomed to fail.
To give a hint of how bad Jewish control is - and we simply can't emphasize it enough, particularly as those strangely silent 'progressives' define 'anti-Semitism' as pointing it out - note the caution from the Angry Arab. It is a fact that Americans kind enough to want to donate to alleviate Palestinian suffering face a very real risk of spending the rest of their lives in jail as supporters of 'terrorism'.
More on the spin numbers: the reason the Israelis can bomb apartment buildings, mosques, schools, government buildings, busy city streets and university buildings and only kill 'terrorists' is partly because all Palestinian men are defined as terrorists (more analysis here, proving the UN, except for the brave Richard Falk, is also scared of the Jews). Remember the outrage when certain Islamists claimed that all Israelis were fair targets because they all have served, or will serve, in the IDF?
Righteous comment on the inability of the Huffington Post to publish Mustafa Barghouthi's excellent analysis (also here and here, in case Jewish pressure forces them to remove it) without falling all over itself with qualifications. I look forward to reading their qualifications the next time they publish something from a Zionist.
'stevieb' wrote in the comments:
"I wonder how those 6 holocaust flicks released this month are making out at the box office..."
Six Christmas Holocaust movies, with no chance of any of them making money. Just when the Jews need a little propaganda. Coincidence? Producing a movie is a fairly massive undertaking, and can take a couple of years or more. On the other hand, 'Hollywood' knew there would be a U. S. election in November 2008, knew that George Bush was very unpopular (and that a large part of his unpopularity derived from fighting Wars For The Jews), knew that the Democrat might very well succeed on an America-first platform, and therefore knew that Israel would have to provoke an attack on the Palestinians in late 2008/early 2009 in order to ensure that the new President couldn't end Zionism by enforcing a peace on the Israelis that would preclude Greater Israel. Yet another massive media onslaught - it is the media coverage that is important, as almost nobody will go to see any of these depressing films - reminding everybody what the poor Jews - always the victims, even when they drop bombs on children in cages - are up against is in line with the entire history of Hollywood propagandizing.
Despite bleatings from the 'Hollywood'-controlled press, one of these movies, 'Valkyrie', looks likely to bankrupt one - or even two - of the major, indeed iconic, studios. That's a big price to pay for a little propaganda, and indicates how important World Jewry regards its total control of the message.
The mysterious hold of Zionism over American polit...
Jewish Protesters Stage Sit-In at Israeli Consulat...
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When Lying To Tourists Crosses A Line
Posted by Anita in Central America, Guatemala
My destination for the day: Hotel Kangaroo in Rio Dulce
As backpackers, we’re mostly prepared for the harmless little lies we are told by tour operators,travel agents, and hoteliers that we book with. “Yes, the shuttle will take you directly to the ferry terminal”, when you have to take a taxi, or, “You should arrive by 2pm”, when you know you’d have to break the sound barrier to achieve this, and “Yes, we have hot showers”, when the water is tepid at best. We brace ourselves, smile, and reason that especially in developing countries, it’s an accepted part of the experience of being sold to.
On my journey to Rio Dulce this past Tuesday, however, the lying went a little too far for my liking.
I was debating taking a public bus to Guatemala City and then getting to the right “Zona” in order to catch a Pullman bus all the way to Rio Dulce, which was supposed to be a 4-5 hour journey. Here’s what I was told vs. what actually happened.
What I was told: “The shuttle service will take you directly from Antigua to Rio Dulce in about 5-6 hours.”
What actually happened: The shuttle contained people only being dropped off in Guatemala City, both at the airport and at various bus stations throughout the city. I was going to be dropped off at the bus station with a pre-paid ticket on the Pullman.
What I was told: “If you take public transportation you’ll need to catch a taxi from where the Antigua bus arrives, to the bus station for Rio Dulce.”
What actually happened: I was taken to the bus terminal for Rio Dulce and given an onward bus ticket.
What I was told: After encountering road works on the way to Guatemala city, I expressed concern that after leaving the airport, I only had 30 minutes left to catch my 11:30 bus. “No Te Preocupes” I was told repeatedly.
What actually happened: The more I was told not to “preoccupe” the more worried I got.
What I was told: Since the other girl who was catching a bus to El Salvador didn’t need to leave for another hour and a half, I asked the driver if he could take me to my bus station first. After another “No Te Preocupes”, he explained that we had plenty of time and would make it to my 11:30 bus for sure.
What actually happened: This was the driver’s way of ensuring the fastest return for him to Antigua…I had heard him making arrangements to go out with friends on the phone, telling them when he’d be back in time.
What I was told: On arriving at my bus station, flustered and stressed, at exactly 11:30, the bus driver explained that buses here never left on time, and kindly (I thought) ran into the station to make sure the bus didn’t leave without me. “No problem, senorita, bus is here, and you need to just go inside the office and present your ticket”. Great!
What actually happened: After frantically thanking the driver for his help and running to the station, I couldn’t see any bus in any of the departure spots marked for Rio Dulce. After hurriedly enquiring where I should go, I was informed, quite plainly, that the bus for Rio Dulce had already left five minutes ago.
I was livid. Not necessarily that I’d missed the bus because of the time. What I hated was the fact that he knew the bus had gone, and that he just lied blatantly to my face.
I had to wait another two hours for the next bus and pay an extra 10 quetzals for the change. This meant that I wouldn’t arrive in Rio Dulce until after dark.
I know that it’s all part of the experience, but there are times like this when lying to tourists crosses the line.
Have you ever been lied to while traveling in a way that ruined your plans or created false expectations?
Where: Shuttle from Antigua to Guate, then Pullman Bus to Rio Dulce
When: March 22
How: With Difficulty
4 thoughts on “When Lying To Tourists Crosses A Line”
Very shitty behaviour! I’d be livid too.
Ayngelina Brogan said:
Yep unfortunately it happens often. I have learned not to buy any tickets in advance because I never get there in time.
Hilary Burton said:
You have such a way with words that I knew EXACTLY what was going on…I even felt like I was sitting next to you on the bus…feeling your anxiety and stress…sheesh…love your face!
Thanks babe. So glad you’re enjoying it!
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Quick Thoughts on INF
Another treaty – this time, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) – slain by John Bolton, the unilateralest man alive. It will come as no shock that I find this move misguided, executed in bad faith, and sure to have counterproductive second- and third-order effects. Bolton’s single-minded hostility to the very notion of arms control should be cause for skepticism. It is on his watch that multiple cornerstones of the late Cold War arms control regime have been dismantled.
INF withdrawal, in particular, should be condemned on two main grounds: those of principle and those of logic. U.S. intent to leave the treaty fails on both counts.
Moral/Principle
Arms control is itself almost always a net good. It brings together party-states in dialogue and discussion (itself a confidence-building measure), and when accompanied by measures like on-site inspections and periodic review committee meetings, ensures the basis for continuing conversation and face-to-face meetings. Treaties represent the culmination of a decade or more of negotiations and hard-fought compromises and should never be dismissed lightly; e.g., for anything less than a grave and imminent threat to national security. The SSC-8 decidedly does not rise to this level.
By leaving the INF, the United States concedes the moral high ground to Russia. Regardless of whether the SSC-8’s range does or does not violate the treaty, a violation is qualitatively different from a dismantling. In the eyes of allies and the world, the United States has chosen yet again to abrogate a treaty that has dampened nuclear tensions for decades, irrespective of other details. Matt Korda and Hans Kristensen have more on some of these aspects.
Furthermore, Keeping ground-launched nuclear platforms out of Europe for a generation has been a welcome development in continental affairs. The prospect of jettisoning a bulwark of allied strategic stability has surely been unwelcome (if not unexpected) in European capitals.
Practical/Logical
A subset of China hawks argue that membership in INF has placed us at a perpetual disadvantage in the Western Pacific, by virtue of constraining our own missile development while the PLA Rocket Force continues to deploy mass quantities of ballistic missiles throughout the theater. But this argument falls flat when considered at any level deeper than “they’ve got them so we must too.”
Where would such weapons be based in the region? Guam, presumably. But that faces challenges of its own. As Pranay Vaddi writes for Carnegie:
Guam is small, about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Only a portion of that territory would be suitable for basing GBIRs. Given these space constraints, deploying GBIRs on Guam would lessen the survivability advantage that mobile missile systems usually provide by being dispersed across a vast geographic expanse (as demonstrated by China’s own mobile missile force). Additionally, the already significant U.S. military presence makes Guam an early target in any conflict with China.
So where else? Given recent debates over conventional forces in Okinawa, that can safely be ruled out, and so too other Japanese bases. Placing U.S. missiles in Taiwan or the South China Sea would so provocative a move as to preclude consideration. And once you get to Wake and beyond, you’re into ICBM range, so INF-noncompliant systems don’t provide a lot of additional capability.
All of this raises a larger issue: do we really have a capability shortfall in the Western Pacific? It’s unclear whether INF withdrawal advocates think we need IRBMs of our own to counter ships or to hold the Chinese mainland at risk, but in the case of the former, we lack the targeting kill chain to enable ballistic missile usage against moving targets (like, say, a Chinese CV). The Minuteman III uses a guidance system better-for fixed, albeit small, targets.
But it is also for this reason that U.S. precision weapons development traveled down alternative paths. Instead of a GLCM, we have the TLAM with a thousand-mile range that can be launched from submarines and surface combatants alike. The Strategic Capabilities Office – at least for now – continues to pursue new uses for existing platforms, like repurposing the SM-6 SAM into an antiship cruise missile. Between stealthy platforms, standoff munitions, and existing global strike capabilities, the United States can already – and easily – hold Chinese ships, units, and land targets at risk. Other than sheer numbers, what capabilities do new in-theater platforms have to offer?
Another argument, made in even worse faith, is the fact that the INF Treaty does not include China. This follows on the heels of unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – a plan to constrain Iranian nuclear weapons – for not addressing Iranian missile development. Perhaps an arms control regime ought to include more than the original signatories: China has the largest missile arsenal in the world and there are obvious arms-race implications for this. But this in turn would suggest Indian participation in such a regime, and thus Pakistan’s, and so on. The difficulty in achieving such a multilateral agreement is the same reason there has be no movement on multilateralizing the nuclear disarmament movement. And it is for this reason that a painstakingly negotiated accord between two countries should not be thrown away for want of a third. U.S.-Russian INF is a building block for future expansion. A treaty addressing one subject is not defunct because it doesn’t address another.
INF is worth preserving. It is worth additional discussion between both parties to it, and more immediately, a real discussion on how best to enforce arms control arrangements (this is, perhaps, the most pressing issue for the future of INF, New START and any future progress on arms control). I found Rebecca Hersman, the CSIS PONI Director, to have one of the few decent ways forward if we must leave the treaty:
We should declare that while in a post-INF world the United States can test and deploy ground base and intermediate range missile systems however, it has no need or intention to do so. We have the principle, but we do not need the capabilities.
We should make clear that the U.S. stands for the principle of compliance. We also believe international agreements should be judged independently on their merits and on that basis that New START should be extended.
And even more to the point, it is Russia that has violated the INF Treaty. If the treaty is to wither and die, it should be Russia who lets it – not the United States.
Posted in In Brief
Tagged arms control, ballistic missiles, China, JCPOA, missile defense, nuclear, precision weapons, Russia
Nike’s Revenge: The Return of Urban Missile Defense
News last week that the US is contemplating area cruise missile defense – around US cities – against Russian missiles, no less – was enough to fill me with a certain sort of glee.
Given the problems we’ve had with defending against ballistic missiles and their far more predictable (and detectable) trajectories, the technological barriers to implementing an effective urban cruise missile defense are likely to be high. (On the other hand, if the Russian ICBM threat is as overhyped as State is playing it, then we’ve got some breathing room to develop such a system.) Of course, this wouldn’t be our first iteration of urban aerial defense.
Nike Hercules missiles on alert, 1970s.
The Nike program from the early Cold War was the US attempt to thwart Soviet nuclear attacks by shooting down bombers (at first, with Nike Ajax), and eventually expanding to target ballistic missiles (Nike Hercules/Zeus). Surface-to-air missiles versus aircraft, essentially. By the 1970s, the threat of a massive, overwhelming ICBM salvo led some missiles had begun to be armed with nuclear warheads, most notably those of the separate SENTINEL/SAFEGUARD program with its 5 megaton W71. But the last of the Nike sites was decommissioned in 1974, and Safeguard only lasted a few months before being shut down in 1975. An excellent overview of all this has been published, of course, as an Osprey book.
Raytheon/Kongsberg HAWK-AMRAAM mobile launcher.
The proposed system is a little different – new active electronically-scanned area (AESA) radars would enable F-16s to shoot down the cruise missiles, rather than relying on a ground-based interceptor. The fighters would be networked with some sort of barrage balloon-type airships carrying sensors, as well as radars and sensors at sea (too bad Washington must bid adieu to USS Barry – would that it might gain a second life from this effort). However, Raytheon is considering land-based versions of both the SM-6 and the AMRAAM, which would require some degree of construction for basing.
What’s most interesting to me is where exactly such systems might be deployed. In addition to the major SAC bases, various Nike anti-air batteries defended major industrial and population centers.
Nike sites in the continental United States
Reading a list of the 40″defense areas” from the 1950s is like a snapshot of US heavy industry at its peak: Hartford, Bridgeport, Chicago-Gary, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, Niagara Falls-Buffalo, Cincinnati-Dayton, Providence, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee (among others) were all deserving of their own ring of air defenses. But what would the map look like now?
It’s both a rhetorical and a practical question. The importance of place has changed, and in some ways the country as a whole is more sprawling than it was during the Cold War. More places to defend but also more targets for an enemy. As the JCS Vice Chairman Sandy Winnefeld is quoted, “we probably couldn’t protect the entire place from cruise missile attack unless we want to break the bank. But there are important areas in this country we need to make sure are defended from that kind of attack.” One can already imagine the hearings and horsetrading that would accompany any discussion of which cities are worthy of protection – picture the East Coast interceptor site debate multiplied a hundredfold.
Hopefully SM or AAMRAAM is a part of it, but if the new system of sensors and radars is indeed confined to mobile platforms – fighters, ships, balloons – we’ll be deprived of Nike’s wonderful legacy of ruins. Only one Nike site, that of Fort Barry in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Recreation Area, has been preserved and is open to the public. Others make for a nice, if haunting walk. Others have found new purpose – it was only in recent years that I learned Drumlin Farm, a wildlife sanctuary run by the Massachusetts Audubon Society and frequent field trip destination as a kid, was once home to the control site of Launcher B-73 and its Ajax and later Hercules missiles.
Radar dome of Nike site Mike near Eielson AFB, AK.
Without the permanent physical infrastructure of a Nike-type program, our cruise missile defense initiative will be sorely lacking any vestiges for future generations to explore. Although how ironic is it that one of the better reasons to support a missile defense initiative is in anticipation of its eventual decommissioning? At any rate, it’s likely that any modern system would leave a smaller footprint than Nike, with presumably fewer control sites having command of multiple, if not all launch sites in a given area.
The land-based component might never be constructed. But at least with balloons in the skies overhead, we all might wake up one morning and wonder if we’ve been transported to some kind of alternate reality.
“Manhatan” (as it appeared on Fringe).
Tagged cruise missile defense, history, missile defense, technology, urban
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Posts Tagged ‘transgender’
Random Friday Thoughts — July 6, 2018
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: Billy Porter, Boy George, crime, Culture Club, Dominique Jackson, Fourth of July, FX, Gabrielle, Kinky Boots, Labor Day, LGBT, LGBTQ, Life Tour, Madonna, Minnesota State Fair, Mj Rodriguez, murder, Pose, Ryan Murphy, Showtime, The B-52s, Thompson Twins, Tom Bailey, transgender, Vogue, Whitney Can I Be Me?, Whitney Houston. Leave a comment
I hope you had a great Fourth of July and you’re ready for the weekend.
In retrospective, my “Random Friday Thoughts” last week were a little bleak. This week, it’s happier. Well, once you get past the second one!
Thank you for checking out my thoughts and feel free to share yours.
HAPPY 72ND ANNIVERSARY
My favorite president and his wonderful wife are celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary this weekend.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married on July 7, 1946, at the Plains Methodist Church.
He was 21 and just out of the Navy and she was 18.
Interesting tidbit: Just months earlier, she said “no” when he first asked her to marry him. 🙂
THE “TRANSGENDER” STATE
In America, it’s pretty much a given that straight, white men run the country and most businesses. That’s slowly changing.
Even in the LGBTQ community, it’s usually white, gay men at the forefront when it comes to being more privileged and in positions of power. That’s slowly changing, too.
Sadly, it’s the “T” part of LGBTQ, our transgender brothers and sisters, that feel the brunt of hysteria and discrimination from not only straight America, but even from within our own community! It’s shameful!
It’s bad enough that the government is trying to keep the trans community out of the military, but they also have to fight just for the right to use bathrooms without people thinking there are ulterior motives like child molestation.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg. As of 2009 worldwide, at least one transgender person is murdered every three days on average!
Here in America, there’s been an increase in the number of transgender men and women killed and a large number of those are transgender women of color!
In 2017, there were at least 28 trans people murdered!
So far this year in the U.S., there have been thirteen trans people killed, including three in Jacksonville, Florida, prompting some there to think a serial killer is targeting the trans community!
I have several transgender friends and one is a very dear friend. She’s bright and she’s very vocal in pointing out all of the atrocities that she and the community go through in daily life.
I hope she remains safe and always WOKE!
Our trans friends are just like everyone else and they want the same things everyone else wants! Some lead quiet lives and some want the glamour and fame!
That’s the focus of uber-producer and Hollywood heavyweight Ryan Murphy’s latest FX series, “Pose”.
It’s set in New York City in the late-1980s and focuses on the underground world of “ball culture”. (Oh, there’s also corporate greed and “white privilege” — compliments of those in Trump Tower!)
Most people are unfamiliar with “ball culture”. It’s basically drag contests in the underground world where contestants compete for trophies to see which “house”, usually a group of outcasts seeking security from a family and a “mother”, the queen of that house.
“Ball culture” is the topic of Jenny Livingston’s landmark documentary, “Paris is Burning” and the inspiration for Madonna’s 1990 career-defining worldwide hit, “Vogue”, that made “posing” and “voguing” mainstream!
In “Pose”, we have the prominent “House of Abundance” led by Elektra (the amazing Dominique Jackson), which takes most of the trophies at the balls. Elektra is like the Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan of “Dynasty”.
Yes, “Dynasty” is brought up — it’s the late-1980s.
The drama escalates when one of her “children”, Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), leaves and starts the “House of Evangelista”. She becomes the Krystal Carrington, if you will.
While I love Dominique Jackson’s evil (and she truly is) portrayal of Elektra, Mj Rodriguez’s Blanca is my favorite. She’s loving, caring, hard-headed, and heartbreaking.
Billy Porter (“Kinky Boots”) is fabulous as the emcee of the balls and Blanca’s friend.
“Pose” features the largest transgender cast ever assembled on television.
What I love about “Pose” is the real story lines. You’d think you were living right there with them — from the transphobia directed at them not only from straight America, but also the yuppie, white gay boys.
One of the characters is diagnosed with HIV early on and “Pose” does not hold back on showing how many in the medical field dealt with those dying of AIDS.
Ronald Reagan doesn’t get a “free pass” for his ignorance, denial, and handling of the AIDS plague either.
And, the music is fantabulous!
I hope “Pose” is renewed for a second season. However, ratings for the series are really low. 😦
“DON’T JUST STAND THERE — STRIKE A POSE!”
In 1990, Madonna’s “Vogue” topped the charts in more than 30 counties and became the biggest selling single in the world that year with more than six million copies sold!
MINNESOTA STATE FAIR FOOD
Once I landed the job in Duluth, Minnesota, in early April, I stayed in Panama City, Florida, to fulfill my apartment lease and to get my old station through the May ratings period.
Now I wish I had moved here earlier to take time off to go to the Minnesota State Fair for the “Life Tour” — Boy George and Culture Club, The B-52s, and Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey — all on the same bill on Labor Day!
And, I’d love to sample some of the new food this year — Za-Waffle Sticks (waffles blended with pepperoni and mozzarella, topped with a parmesan herb blend and served with pepperoni-infused maple syrup or marinara sauce) and Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs (flaky phyllo dough filled with feta and ricotta cheese, deep-fried, drizzled with honey and topped with powdered sugar.).
But, my favorite new offering there is one I think I can make at home with a little experimenting — Firecracker Shrimp Stuffed Avocado!
It’s Gulf white shrimp tossed with lime, onion, black beans, tomato and fire-roasted corn in a garlic aioli (mayonnaise seasoned with garlic), drizzled with cilantro-infused olive oil, stuffed in avocado halves and served open-face with flatbread!
That’s similar to one of my favorite appetizers to make — Shrimp Ceviche , which is pictured here! (Yes, I made these!)
WHITNEY: CAN I BE ME
This Showtime documentary was incredible!
It didn’t shy away from Whitney’s drug use as a teenager, her fear of disappointing God, the rumors about whether she was a lesbian or bisexual, and her spiral out of control that ultimately cost her her life in early 2012.
It was mind-boggling hearing that people were more comfortable ignoring her abuses of drugs and alcohol than it was to accept that she might be a lesbian black woman!
A new “Whitney” documentary hits theaters this weekend.
If you’re a Whitney Houston fan, what are your favorite songs?
Here are my ten favorites. Of course, it was hard making this list because she had so many amazing songs.
By clicking on this link, it’ll open in a new window!
https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2017/02/11/remembering-whitney-houston/
90s NOSTALGIA
Since moving to Duluth a month ago, I’ve been a little nostalgic about my previous times living in the Midwest and Great Lakes back in the 1990s.
When I visited Chicago over Memorial Day weekend 1994, I made my decision to move there and six weeks later I was living in the “Windy City”.
While there for Memorial Day, we partied at the Gentry on Rush and I heard “Dreams” by English singer Gabrielle and I fell in love with the song and, ultimately, the album.
While the song hit the Top Ten in more than a dozen countries in 1993 and 1994, it only reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, it did top the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart here in the U.S.
We All Deserve An Elio Moment
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: Academy Awards, Armie Hammer, bisexual, Call Me By Your Name, Corey Hart, Depeche Mode, Elio, gay, George Michael, lesbian, LGBT, Love, Oscars, PFLAG, Sufjan Stevens, Timothee Chalamet, transgender. 12 comments
While my thoughts today are inspired by the Oscar-nominated motion picture, “Call Me By Your Name”, it’s not a review of the movie.
About that, I’ve written that the movie “is stunning, sensual, and heartbreaking” and 22-year-old Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamet “deserves the Oscar nomination and I could definitely see him as a front-runner”.
In “Call Me By Your Name”, it’s 1983 in northern Italy and Elio’s summer takes a tender turn when the 17-year-old meets and falls in love with a visiting 24-year-old American graduate student, Oliver, who’s there for six weeks working with his father.
It’s a friendship and romance that’s both approved and encouraged by Elio’s loving parents. Remember, this is Italy and the ages the story presents are more acceptable in Europe than it would be here in the United States — in the 1980s or today!
I’ve always been an out gay man even when it wasn’t popular as a high school and college student in small town Kentucky in Ronald Reagan’s conservative, “Christian Right” America.
For teenagers today, it’s much different than it was in the early-1980s navigating between being gay and living an open honest life when America and the world didn’t want us to be out of the closet.
My mother knew I was gay, but she still couldn’t always hide her concern with how life would be for me or with some of my decision making.
I remember one summer weekend before I started my sophomore year of college. We lived about 25 miles from my university and an older college student, who lived near campus, invited me there for the night. My mother was more concerned that I was spending the night with a guy than the fact that I might be taking part in underage drinking.
That first year of college living away from the watchful eyes of my parents was exciting for me as a teenager.
Decades later, I still fondly remember the butterflies I felt staring across the college dorm television room and locking eyes with the mustachioed student that came over and started talking to me. And, still vivid are the memories of meeting and spending the night with the divorced dad in my neighborhood that was ten years older than me when I was 19.
Those three encounters happened in a one-year time span.
While I’ve gone on to fulfilling and loving relationships in my adult life, they could never compete with the excitement and the loss of innocence for a naive kid experiencing the physical sensations of becoming a young man.
Watching innocent teenager Elio in “Call Me By Your Name”, in 2018, brought back the rush I felt on those exciting nights in 1983 and 1984. Now, as an older man, I felt a sense of happiness that those nights were definitely worth it.
Luckily, for all of us, things are changing.
In the age of social media, which pretty much covers the last decade of my career as a television meteorologist, and with my personal blog, my “private” life is played out in public.
That’s given me a forum to educate people on what it’s like to be part of the LGBT community. It shows people that we’re just like them — we work, we pay taxes, we cook dinner, we watch Netflix and movies, and so on.
It’s been very rewarding having mothers, grandmothers, and aunts reach out to me about how to handle their child or loved one’s “coming out” or being gay.
It’s better now because of the resources available online and in person for LGBT youth (and adults) questioning their sexuality or for parents and friends needing answers with PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
While acceptance is higher these days, there’s also the backlash that comes with that increased visibility.
The same freedom, strides, and public acceptance that LGBT people fought for and earned (some with their lives) are being stripped away with that hateful man sitting in the White House.
The venom Donald Trump spouted in the 2016 presidential campaign and in his first year in office has given some of his followers, that already had poisoned minds, the power to openly attack (verbally and physically) others based on their sexuality (real or perceived), race, religion, gender, and the list goes on.
Sadly, our transgender friends are the ones feeling the brunt of that hate.
I know that most of the people that read what I write access it through Facebook. And, according the site’s analytics, 72% of my Facebook followers are women and the ones that correspond and comment the most are straight.
While I want this to touch them, I really hope that this moves beyond my usual circle of readers because they are the ones that need to see it more. We all know someone that is LGBT and it’s likely that some of them may be questioning their life and future.
In today’s political climate, this is the perfect time for “Call Me By Your Name”.
I hope that any scared, alone, or questioning teenager or adult from any small town in America — whether it’s the backwoods of Alabama and Mississippi, the “Bible Belt” South, the wilderness of the Mountainous West, or the barren tundra of Alaska — can see “Call Me By Your Name” and know that it’s okay to have their own Elio moment, they’re not sick, and they deserve to find love and happiness!
P.S. Now that you finished my thoughts, I’m sharing the Oscar-nominated song from “Call Me By Your Name”, “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens.
Also, here are three inspiring songs that got me through those days and nights in the 1980s.
“Never Surrender” — Corey Hart
“People are People” — Depeche Mode
“I Want Your Sex” — George Michael (Even in this risque song, George was singing about wanting to be “out and proud”!)
“There’s things that you guess/And things that you know/
There’s boys you can trust/And girls that you don’t/
There’s little things you hide/And little things that you show”
Random Friday Thoughts — August 4 , 2017
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: 2016 Presidential Election, Aerosmith, American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Cult, Angela Bassett, Aziz Ansari, Caitlyn Jenner, Discovery, Donald Trump, Ella Eyre, Friends From College, HBO, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Biel, Justin Theroux, Lena Waithe, Manhunt Unabomber, Master of None, Netflix, Now, Panama City, Patti LaBelle, Paul Bettany, Quad Cities, Shania Twain, Sigala, Ted Kaczynski, Thanksgiving, The Leftovers, The Sinner, transgender, turnips, USA Network. Leave a comment
Are you ready for the weekend? Although I have nothing planned, I’m still ready!
Thank you for checking out my Random Friday Thoughts!
THREE MONTHS ALREADY
This weekend marks my third month in Panama City, Florida!
While everyone’s life carries on, the things I miss the most about the Quad Cities are my family and friends, my fish pond, my beautiful and spacious sun porch, and Sunday champagne brunch!
I’M READY FOR A GETAWAY
Clearly from the way I kicked off this week’s blog, I’m ready for a vacation.
Shania Twain has the right idea in her latest video, “Life’s About To Get Good”, that dropped last week.
And, when I take that getaway, I’m coming back with a new attitude and moving on with my life.
“NOW” IS GETTING CLOSER!
It’s been 15 years since Shania Twain released her last studio album. Her new one, “Now”, comes out September 29th.
“Life’s About To Get Good” is the first single and while country radio decided not to embrace it, the song is getting some airplay at adult contemporary stations.
CAITLYN, YOU CONTINUE TO DISAPPOINT ME
It’s no secret that I’m not a Caitlyn Jenner fan.
While I applauded her decision to come out to the world as a trans woman, her misinformation and ignorance proves she’s not a good spokeswoman for the transgender movement.
I find her latest escapade of expressing her love of Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady” highly offensive.
We all know that she transitioned from the gorgeous Olympic star Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn because she was born male, but that wasn’t her gender identity. But, now to finally be seen as a woman and then to make a mockery of it is just tacky.
You could say that it’s no different from a gay man calling himself a “sissy” or a “girl”. It is different because that gay man may have always identified and lived that way.
We may disagree on this, but Caitlyn has spent a fortune trying to look like the woman she felt inside. So, why cheapen yourself by thinking it’s still cool to publicly admit that you love an offensively, crude song with the title, “Dude Looks Like a Lady”.
Sadly, in the world we live in, many people still see you that way!
The new season of “American Horror Story” debuts on FX September 5, 2017.
The first episode deals with the 2016 presidential election and takes place in the battleground state of Michigan.
The creator, Ryan Murphy, says it’s about “the fallout of that night, which to many people, from all sides of the camps is a horror story.”
Oh, by the way, the season is called “Cult”.
I guess that’s because “Freak Show” and “Asylum” have already been used in the series!
“THE SINNER” & “MANHUNT: UNABOMBER”
Both of these limited series made their debut this week. I’m definitely find one more intriguing.
After watching the first two episodes of “Manhunt: Unabomber”, it was informative and entertaining enough even with very little of the Unabomber. It was more about his crimes and the FBI manhunt to capture him.
Maybe we’ll find out more about Ted Kaczynski and get to see Paul Bettany (“Wimbledon”) do his thing as the hunted serial bomber.
I was much more impressed with USA’s “The Sinner”, which “seemed” like a cut and dry story.
A woman (Jessica Biel) is at the beach with her attractive husband and child and while cutting a pear, she savagely attacks and kills a man sitting with his friends in front of her.
She confesses to the crime to police, but why did she do it? A twist at the end of the first episode has me awaiting next week’s second of eight episodes.
“MANHUNT: UNABOMBER” GRADE (after two episodes): B
“THE SINNER” GRADE (after one episode): A-
While Comcast pimped me over recently by not recordings movies on my DVR during my free HBO and Cinemax week, I did get a chance to catch the first season of “The Leftovers”.
The Bible-like “rapture” story is chilling enough, but when you add in a “cult” (wait, they say they’re not a cult) and mental illness, it gets unsettling.
But, on the other hand, Justin Theroux is gorgeous!
Now, I can’t wait to see seasons two and three.
By the way, happy second anniversary to Justin and his beautiful wife, Jennifer Aniston.
I loved the first season of Netflix’s “Master of None”. While I enjoyed all but one episode, I wasn’t blown away as much by season two.
But, the show is nominated for an Emmy for “Comedy Series”, Aziz Ansari got a nod for “Comedy Actor”, and Ansari and Lena Waithe (“Denise”) are up for the “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series” for the Thanksgiving episode, which was my favorite of the season.
Angela Bassett is almost nominated for “Guest Actress in a Comedy Series” for the Thanksgiving episode.
“Master of None” is nominated for four more Emmy Awards for a total of eight. I really wish Bobby Cannavale was nominated, too.
Two episodes into this Netflix original comedy series, I realized why I don’t have any friends. These people are annoying!
I’ll pass.
MY NEW FAVORITE VEGETABLE
As a kid, I hated turnips. I don’t even remember how my mother and grandmother cooked them to make them look like puree.
I dice them and saute them in seasoning and olive oil and I can’t get enough. I need to experiment with recipes and try them others ways, too.
PICK HIT
24-year-old English DJ Sigala is racking up the Top Ten hits in his native United Kingdom. He’s already has five, including a #1 hit.
“Came Here For Love” with 23-year-old U.K. vocalist Ella Eyre is his latest. It went all the way to #6 and has made the Top Three in Belgium and Scotland.
“NEW ATTITUDE”
I can’t mention “New Attitude” earlier in the blog without sharing Miss Patti LaBelle!
This #1 dance hit in 1985 was featured on the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack and earned LaBelle a “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance” Grammy nomination!!!
Random Friday Thoughts — July 28, 2017
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: anorexia, Black Box, bulimia, C & C Music Factory, Chechnya, Donald Trump, eating disorder, Hillary Clinton, homophobia, Jason Bateman, Jason Dottley, Laura Linney, LeAnn Rimes, LGBT, Martha Wash, Melissa McCarthy, Netflix, Novaya Gazetta, Ozark, Panama City Beach, racism, Ramzan Kadyrov, Tales of the City, To The Bone, transgender, Tropickles, Walmart, women's rights. 4 comments
Where does the time go? It’s hard to believe that it’s already the end of July and that seven months of this year have already passed.
I hope you have a great weekend and I appreciate you checking out my “Random Friday Thoughts”. After you read mine, feel free to share yours.
#45, YOU DON’T SURPRISE ME AT ALL
Last summer, when #45 posted this on Twitter, I made sure to save it.
On January 27, 2017, I wrote, “At the time of this tweet, I laughed to myself as a man, an American, and one of those people he thanked! I think now just as I thought then, it’s just another joke and a bad one played on me and my fellow Americans.”
This past Wednesday, #45 tweeted that transgender people will not serve in the military in an capacity.
Here’s my reply.
This ban is a perfect example of “smoke and mirrors” to hide his job and policy failures.
Friends, just remember: “Stay Woke” and “Resistance”!
KILLING GAYS IN CHECHNYA
Outside of conservative America, there’s an all out war against the LGBT community in Chechnya (a republic of Russia). When I say war, I mean savage murdering.
The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazetta reports that as many as 26 men have been killed, so far, in 2017, in Chechnya.
However, Chechnya’s president, Ramzan Kadyrov, claims there are no gay people there. In an interview with “Real Sports”, he said “To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them to Canada”.
Earlier this spring, he publicly stated that he wanted all LGBT people in his country eliminated by May 26, the start of Muslim holiday, Ramadan.
While sad and devastating, one has to think how this might be handled if the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was different — if we had Hillary Clinton as president and a different Secretary of State.
BUT, WE HAVE OUR OWN HATRED
While Chechnya and Russia’s hatred of LGBT people needs to be addressed on the international stage, we need to do something at home, too.
Already in 2017, there have been, at least, 11 trans people, many of them people of color, murdered in the United States.
But, this is nothing new, it’s just getting worse.
Over the years, Brandy Martell (above) is just one of many high-profile transgender women, again, mostly people of color, that have been brutally murdered.
37-year-old Martell was shot in the genitals in Oakland, California, and Diamond Williams’ body was hacked into pieces and scattered about in an overgrown lot in Philadelphia.
And, just last week, a former Navy sailor, 21-year-old Dwanya Hickerson, of Mississippi, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering a registered nurse, Dee Wigham, in 2016.
Hickerson stabbed Wigham 119 times after learning that she was transgender.
“LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE”
Maybe everyone needs to take four minutes and open their ears and mind and listen to LeAnn Rimes!
She’s one of my favorite singers and a sweetheart (I met her in Salisbury, Maryland, in 2005).
This week she tops the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with her latest, “Love is Love is Love”.
Earlier this year, “Long Live Love” also topped the chart marking her third #1 on the Dance Club Songs chart.
If you haven’t bought her latest album, “Remnants”, do so now. It’s phenomenal!
“Ozark” is the latest Neflix series and it debuted last week.
Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) is a financial adviser from Chicago who’s laundering money for a Mexican drug lord. When a scam deal goes bad, he relocates to the Ozarks of Missouri to continue his illegal work.
Laura Linney, one of my favorite actresses, plays his wife. You’ve heard me talk about her many times as Mary Ann Singleton in “Tales of the City”. Plus, she’s a three-time Oscar nominee and she’s won four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes!
This is an excellent series and both lead actors play their broken characters very well.
The Emmys will come calling for Bateman, Linney, and the series next summer and I hope it’s renewed for season two.
“TO THE BONE”
Earlier this week, I talked about the Netflix movie “To The Bone”.
It’s the story of a 20-year-old woman’s struggle with anorexia that was not only threatening to kill her, but it was also tearing her family apart.
While the movie was realistic and I commend it for showing that men suffer from eating disorders, too, I was a little offset by the amount of humor surrounding the dire subject.
Humor is needed in the darkest of times, but there has to be a line and I think this movie crossed that line, at times.
Overall, a great movie to highlight a devastating illness.
RECOVERY IS A LIFELONG STRUGGLE
I know first hand about eating disorders. While “To The Bone” focused mostly on anorexia nervosa, my illness is the opposite, bumilia (binging and purging).
In 1995, I weighed 116 pounds (down from a weight of 169 in 1986). I was on the wagon for 21 years, but I relapsed this past winter.
I’m eating healthy again and exercising. I’m at almost three months and counting toward my next 21-year run!
You can read that blog by clicking here and it’ll open in a new window: https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/daily-struggle-through-thick-and-thin/
If you or someone you know is fighting anorexia and/or bulimia, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association at 1-800-931-2237 or check out their website, http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
MELISSA McCARTHY KNOWS SHE’S NOT THIN
The hilarious comedian earned an Oscar nomination for “Bridesmaids” and scored one of my favorite movies of 2015 with “Spy”.
She’s talked candidly with “Rolling Stone” about her weight and said she often wished she was taller, prettier, and thinner.
One night she was looking at the IMDB message board and saw an anonymous message from Ohio at 3:43 a.m. calling her a “fat pig” and hoping “she drops dead of a heart attack in front of her children.”
McCarthy told the magazine, “all the air left my lungs. Like, wait a minute. My kids? Like who –? What kind of ass? I kind of wanted to go to Ohio and just be like, ‘Hey, I have two girls, I do by best, and you hope I die in front of them? Like, what the f*ck? I mean, you can hate my movies, find me boring or over-the-top, whatever it is. But when you move into that realm of the world…”
What is wrong with people?
MARTHA WASH & BLACKBOX
Just one more thought on this weighty subject matter.
I’m sure many of you remember or have heard the classic,”It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls.
The group, made up of Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, also worked as back-up singers for Sylvester. They were then known as Two Tons O’ Fun.
Since then, Wash has worked with many acts because she’s an incredible vocalist. Back around 1990, she sang on albums by C+C Music Factory and Black Box.
“Everybody Everybody” and “Strike It Up” became Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and both topped the Dance Club Songs chart.
However, if you watch the “Strike It Up” video, you don’t see Wash. You see a very petite Katrin Quinol lip-synching the lyrics!
Wash also sang the vocals on C+C Music Factory’s #1 hit, “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”. Yet, another petite woman, Zelma Davis, appears in the video moving her mouth to Wash’s voice.
It’s a perfect example of pandering to the mentality that it’s easier to sell a product with a pretty, young, and thin woman as opposed to a pretty, older, and larger lady.
I wish we lived in a society that accepted people for who or what they are, but we don’t. 😦
As for Martha Wash, in 1993, her self-titled album produced three Top Ten Dance Club Songs hits with two hitting #1 (“Carry On” and “Give It To Me”). I also got to see her perform at the Vortex in Chicago around that time!
Here’s that full-figured dynamo with some very hot, hot dancers!
In 1994, Wash and C+C Music Factory’s Clivilles and Cole reached two out-of-court settlements giving Martha credit for singing on their hits.
TROPICKLES
You may have heard Walmart is carrying Tropical-flavored pickle spears!
Some of you are already snarling your nose up and some are thinking that it sounds interesting.
Kyle, our morning photographer, brought some in and I tried one.
If you like “bread and butter” pickles and you like fruit punch, you’ll love them. It’s a very pleasant combination and I’d definitely buy them for a picnic.
PICK HIT & PANAMA CITY BEACH
Most of you may not know Jason Dottley.
He starred in the LogoTV series, “Sordid Lives: Television Series”. (If you’ve never seen the original “Sordid Lives” with Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan, Beth Grant, Delta Burke, and others, you’ve got to find it. Hilarious!)
Jason is also a singer that’s scored three hits on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart over the years.
His latest, “Summertime” is convenient for the season.
The video was filmed in Panama City Beach, Florida. While there, over the Fourth of July, Jason says a young woman called him a “f**got”.
I know Jason is man enough to handle her ignorance.
But, I just want you all to know we have some great people here — like those that risked their own lives recently to make a human chain to save a family caught in dangerous rip currents. But, we also have other people like that young woman! It takes all kinds!
Thank You “The Advocate” For My Advocacy
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: AIDS, anti-gay, Arnie Zane, Bill T. Jones, bisexual, Black Cat Tavern, Chicago, Cracker Barrel, Diane Anderson Minshal, gay, Gay Pride, Harvey Milk, Hidden Figures, Janelle Monae, Keith Haring, Kentucky, lesbian, LGBT, Los Angeles, marriage equality, New York City, people of color, police, police harassment, President Barack Obama, Resistance, Ronald Reagan, sexual racism, Silverlake, Stay Woke, Stonewall Inn, Stonewall riots, The Advocate, trans rights, transgender, women's rights. Leave a comment
Every week, I share my “Random Friday Thoughts”. I’m always thinking about something and writing gives me an avenue to express myself. It’s rewarding when those thoughts prompt others to think about topics they normally wouldn’t consider and a dialogue is started.
I love to be provoked to think, too. We should all be challenged to pontificate about life and what we can do to make ours better and the lives better for those around us. Today, my thoughts focus on a special milestone.
The largest and oldest LGBT magazine in the United States, “The Advocate”, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Happy Birthday and thank you for leading the fight!
We’ve made so many advancements in the past five decades, but our work is just beginning.
I want to thank “The Advocate” for pushing two key phrases now as we navigate through the next 1,295 days (Inauguration Day 2021): “Stay Woke” and “Resistance”!
We need this encouragement now more than ever.
“The Advocate” started as a local Los Angeles newsletter in 1967 and while many LGBT magazines copied its model, most have come and gone.
My first recollection of “The Advocate” was in the early-1990s when I was living in small town Kentucky reading about the anti-gay and racist business practices of the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. While still a southern staple, it’s expanded across the country, but I’ve never eaten at one and I never will.
“The Advocate” has covered all of the issues we’ve face in the LGBT community starting with police harassment at the Black Cat Tavern in Los Angeles and the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City in the 1960s.
That harassment was a tipping point. We’d had enough and it was time to fight back. That fight was the catalyst for the modern gay rights movement and the Gay Pride parades that started in 1970.
“The Advocate” was there for out politicians like Harvey Milk in the late-1970s and to out anti-gay politicians.
Just as we were beginning to gain national exposure and make progress in showing the country and the world that we were someone’s brother, sister, son, daughter, neighbor, and friend, “The Advocate” was there to inform us in the summer of 1981 when “gay cancer” began killing off our friends in the community.
That cancer became GRID and then AIDS in the 1980s.
“The Advocate” was there to hold President Ronald Reagan responsible for not saying AIDS publicly until 1987 after more than 16,000 people had already died.
And, “The Advocate” was there as we fought for our rights and for equality — marriage equality, transgender equality, and women’s rights.
“The Advocate” was there through it all and its insight prompted me to move to Chicago in 1994 and become the person I am today.
A person that’s proud to be an out gay man that’ll continue to work to educate people about acceptance and equality.
I wish the new editorial director, Diane Anderson-Minshal, the very best as she takes the magazine forward in the fight for the next 50 years. (Also, a thank you to the former editorial director, Matthew Breen, who now works in the same capacity at LogoTV.)
SEXUAL RACISM
I mentioned that I like to be pushed to think, too.
Sexual racism is a term that’s gaining traction across the country, but many people are not familiar with it.
It’s basically when a person of one race idolizes or fantasizes about a person of another race to the point of objectification. It’s seen as power — one race being superior to another. The article that got me to thinking more about it was from a black writer exposing the obsession he saw toward his community by white men.
I’ve never been in a situation where a person of color pursued me for a relationship, but I’d be open to it.
It’s like the line in “Hidden Figures” when Janelle Monae’s Mary Jackson says, “It’s equal rights. I have the right to see fine in every color”. That’s how I feel.
When I see attractive people of color, I take notice. But, I don’t set out to look for this or that. I’m not ordering from a takeout menu and this particular flavor sounds especially good today. I see people as people.
Bill T. Jones is a man that I truly admire for all that he’s done for the gay community over his long life. And, from what I’ve read, it doesn’t appear that he has a hang up with “sexual racism”.
Jones, who’s black and who modeled naked for the late renowned (white) artist, Keith Haring, in the early-1980s, doesn’t mince words about how he feels.
Jones told “The Advocate” about his former lover and partner Arnie Zane (the couple were together for almost twenty years until Zane died in Jones’ arms in 1988), “I wanted to find, and I did find, a person like Arnie Zane — Jewish, aesthetic, neurotic, poetic, and fierce — and already dealing with being an androgynous man who was a white man who would be public about actually loving a black man, and it wasn’t some sort of a kink. He was able to love me.”
Jones went on to say about the 1970s gay clubs days, “… we can see race is very much with us. Race has not left.” And, he adds, “So the gay identity was white, middle class. God knows, I love them – or I loved – those white boys.”
So, with that, I’m still learning from “The Advocate” and like President Barack Obama evolved with his views on marriage equality, I’m still evolving, too.
Bisexuality comes to mind when I think of myself evolving.
With the acronym LGBT, I never bought into the “B” for bisexual. I always thought bisexuals were gay people afraid to admit it because of family, religion, or the fear of homophobia.
You often hear certain celebrities come out as “bisexual”, but I’ve never had a friend tell me they’re “bi”.
However, looking back to my early years in the gay community, I recall a friend that was lesbian that went on to marry a man and have children and another woman that was married to a man, but also took on a lesbian lover with her husband’s knowledge.
So, I’ve evolved to believe that there are true “bisexuals”.
I’m looking forward to learning more from “The Advocate” as the LGBT community advances proudly through the next 50 years.
Again, congratulations and happy anniversary to “The Advocate”.
Random Friday Thoughts — June 30, 2017
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: 3 Generations, American Crime Story, Andrew Cunanan, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Bad Santa 2, Ben Whishaw, Charlotte Rampling, Christmas, Donald Trump, Elle Fanning, Entertainment Weekly, Erasure, Gay Pride, Get Out, Gianni Versace, Holland America, Hurricane Katrina, Jeffrey Dahmer, Jordan Peele, Kathy Bates, Latitude 29, Lifetime, Lil Rel Howery, London Spy, marriage equality, Naomi Watts, New Orleans, penis, Pride, racism, Resistance, Ronald Reagan, Ryan Murphy, SCOTUS, summer, Supreme Court of the United States, Susan Sarandon, Sylvester, Tom Rob Smith, transgender, Versace. Leave a comment
The first half of the year is over now! It’s incredible how fast time flies.
I hope you’ve enjoyed part one of 2017 and are looking forward to more of the same for the part two if it’s been a good one. If it hasn’t been all that spectacular or if there’s room for improvement, here’s to a better summer, fall, and the kick-off to winter!
I appreciate you checking out my random thoughts and feel free to share yours, too. If you disagree, do it diplomatically!
4 MORE YEARS, ANTHONY KENNEDY, PLEASE!
Rumors are swirling that Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Anthony Kennedy, almost 81-years-old, might be ready to announce his retirement.
The Reagan-nominee has been a Justice for more than 29 years.
The court is currently split. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now 84, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer lean Democratic and Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito side Republican.
Kennedy is sometimes a tiebreaker or a swing voter.
My hope is that he holds out until 2021 before he retires since President Obama didn’t get to appoint a successor to conservative judge Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016.
TWO YEARS AND THE WORLD IS STILL HERE
It was two years ago this week (June 26, 2015) that Justice Kennedy authored SCOTUS’ decision making marriage equality the law of the land.
He concluded by saying, “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
That night, the White House showed its true colors!
Since that day, despite people like Kentucky’s “Wicked Witch” Kim Davis, the LGBT community learned more about what the expression “all men are created equal” means.
And, to this day, the Earth is still rotating on its axis, the sun still rises in the east, and settles in the west! And, that won’t change with #45 either!
#Resistance
VERSACE LIVES AGAIN
Summer just started last week and I’m already looking forward to fall and winter. And, now, early 2018 can’t get here soon enough. 🙂
The long awaited follow-up to the spectacular and award winning FX series “The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” was announced.
Originally, it was going to about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, but that’ll now be the third installment.
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” is now being filmed at Casa Casuarina, Versace’s former Miami Beach home, and an early look at the series graced the cover of “Entertainment Weekly”.
It stars Edgar Ramirez as Versace, Oscar winner Penelope Cruz as Versace’s sister, Donatella, Darren Criss (“Glee”) as Andrew Cunanan, the man suspected of killing Versace, and Ricky Martin, as Versace’s boyfriend, Antonio D’Amico.
ANDREW CUNANAN
I had my own small brush with Cunanan notoriety working as the weekend news anchor in Lubbock, Texas, in 1997.
The search for Cunanan was one of the biggest stories that summer. Without thinking about it, the newscast was produced with me reading the story of Miami’s search for the suspected spree killer since I had a phone interview with a friend that lived in that city.
We used an “OTS” (over the shoulder) of Cunanan and then we started getting phone calls about the eerie similarities. 🙂 See for yourself!
You can read my full blog on this story here. Just click on this link and it’ll open in a new window so you won’t lose your place in today’s “Random Friday Thoughts”.
It also gives you the back history of the story. It’s crazy to believe that it’s been twenty years already!
https://anthonypeoples.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/cunanan-then-peeps-now-nicknames/
RYAN MURPHY ON TRUMP
Murphy’s new Versace series focuses not only on the designer’s murder, it also drives home how homophobia let Cunanan’s killing spree go one for so long and how that led to Versace’s death.
Murphy tells “Entertainment Weekly” that after the 2016 presidential election, there couldn’t be a better time for this series to air.
Murphy: “I think it’s the perfect timing based on this president we have. I felt there was so much progress in terms of gay rights and rights for any marginalized groups of people [under Obama] . Suddenly it felt like Trump is inaugurated and the door closed and there’s fear again and they’re trying to take away everything we fought for. This a bracing cold slap against the policies that the current government has.”
Racism is front and center of this psychological drama about a young, white woman taking her black boyfriend home to her little small New England town.
It’s the directorial debut from comedian Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele” and “MADtv”) and he masters it beautifully. Peele knows the subject very well since he’s the son of an interracial couple.
As the movie is moving toward its climax, you might have to suspend disbelief, but the point is perfectly driven home.
While it’s a drama, the comedy provided by Chicago actor and comedian Lil Rel Howery is so funny. He plays the main character’s best friend.
When he explained to his friend why he needed to “Get Out” of there, I’m glad I wasn’t taking a drink of something when he started talking about Jeffrey Dahmer, lobotomies, and penises! It was so flipping hilarious!
WARNING — CHRISTMAS TALK AHEAD!
I know it’s still about six months away, but I’m thinking about my first Christmas party — Florida-style.
While it won’t be as large as the ones Ray and I hosted back in the Quad Cities, I’m sure it’ll be festive.
Liquor is more expensive down here and as I’ve already vented in an earlier blog, boxed wine only comes in 3-liter boxes! Instead of “I Want My MTV”, I want my 5-liter boxed wine!
Well, thanks to returning my two Redbox movies and wanting to get salsa at WalMart last Sunday, I walked out with a gigantic start toward the Christmas party with a cart of discontinued, discount liquor with rebates!
All of this for just $4 to $12 a bottle!
CHRISTMAS PARTY PUNCH????
I just came across the most interesting sounding cocktail that I’m considering making as a punch for my Christmas party.
It’s a staple at Latitude 29 in New Orleans called a “Paniolo”.
It’s a combination of fresh cranberry syrup, lime juice, bourbon, and a macadamia nut liqueur!
Sounds tasty and festive!
The last really incredibly tasty and holiday-festive drink I had was on a Holland America cruise a few years back.
It was a Strawberry Basil Bellissimo (vodka, strawberries, basil infusion, and fresh basil)!
I didn’t see the original and I only wanted to give this one a try because of Kathy Bates.
She was very naughty and was the highlight of the movie.
“Bad Santa 2” is so crude. I don’t think there’s a group that this movie didn’t set out to offend. 🙂 Yes, I did laugh at some of the absurd humor.
Warning: contains adult language! (You can check out the “red band trailer”, which is about four minutes long. It’s really raunchy, so I didn’t share it, but it’ll save you 90 minutes of your life and a couple of bucks from not renting this movie at Redbox!)
GRADE: C-
Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, and Elle Fanning headline this little seen summer movie about a trans teenage boy, Ray, played by Fanning wanting to transition from female to male.
Watts is stellar and Sarandon was very funny and likable as Watts’ mother and Fanning’s grandmother, who just happens to be a lesbian.
The subject matter is very relevant with today’s higher visibility of trans men and women and the fight for transgender equality, but this isn’t the movie to further the cause.
It’s just a step away from an after-school special or a Lifetime movie. But, don’t take that the wrong way. I’ve watched some Lifetime movies, especially at Christmas.
MORE OF MY PRIDE CLASSICS
LGBT Pride month is winding down, but I’m still sharing some of my favorite classics from my club days. Actually, I had three different eras of club days.
In the 1980s, in Paducah, Kentucky, when I first started going out. Then, in Chicago, from 1994-1996, and, again, from 2002-2004.
So, I’ll featured a couple more of my favorites!
OH L’AMOUR — ERASURE
This is still one of my favorite songs of all time.
I got to see Andy Bell and Vince Clark in concert in Chicago a couple of years ago and it was incredible.
Their new album, “World Be Gone”, their 17th, came out this May.
Dance diva Sylvester, who died from complications from AIDS in 1988, scored three Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the late 1970s.
However, he had 18 hits on the Billboard Dance charts. Three of them topped that chart.
“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, from 1979, was one of those number one hits and it also was played on mainstream pop radio.
ANOTHER PARTING VERSACE SERIES NOTE
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” is being written by Tom Rob Smith.
Smith, who created and wrote the incredible 2015 BBC Two five-part miniseries, “London Spy”, featuring my future fantasy husband Ben Whishaw.
If you haven’t seen, find it. Not only is Whishaw captivating, it also stars a stellar Charlotte Rampling.
Random Friday Thoughts — February 24, 2017
Posted by Anthony Peoples in Uncategorized. Tagged: A&E, Academy Awards, Al Jarreau, Arrival, Attorney General, Bates Motel, Billboard Hot 100, Blondie, Caitlyn Jenner, Carly Rae Jepsen, Casey Affleck, Christmas, Denzel Washington, Elton John, Emma Stone, Emmanuelle Riva, Grammy Awards, Harvard, Jackie Evancho, Janet Jackson, Jeff Sessions, Juliet Evancho, La La Land, LGBT, LGBT rights, Libya, Madonna, Mahershala Ali, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Moonlighting, Oscars, Paul McCartney, Psycho, republicans, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, stress, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, transgender, transgender rights, Viggo Mortensen, Viola Davis, Whitney Houston. Leave a comment
Today’s random thoughts is short and sweet. I don’t think I have anything too controversial in here, but with human nature, I can’t be sure. 🙂
Have a great last weekend of February!
OSCARS WEEKEND
Millions will be tuned in Sunday night to see the best of Hollywood (at least those nominated and chosen) accept their awards and make political speeches.
I’m basing my picks on my “entertainment” knowledge.
The only nominated movies and performances I’ve seen, so far, in the top categories are “Arrival”, “Captain Fantastic”, “Florence Foster Jenkins”, and “Hell Or High Water”.
My picks for the big prizes are:
Best Picture: “La La Land”. I saw “Arrival” and it’s definitely not going to be that one.
Best Actor: Denzel Washington. If not, it’ll be Casey Affleck. However, I’d love for it to be Viggo Mortensen.
Best Actress: Emma Stone
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis
LIBYAN TRAGEDY
Earlier this week, at least 74 bodies of migrants washed ashore from the Mediterranean Sea in Libya.
Libya is a North Africa country on the other side of the world that I’d never want to visit, even if it borders the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.
It’s a country strife in human rights violations and political regimes.
While it’s so far away (and tragedies like this one are a frequent occurrence), it’s gotten minor news coverage. Sadly, many across the rest of the world probably had little concern about it as it crossed their online news feeds.
But, for some reason (maybe since I’m pontificating about life and my future), it really hit me.
I didn’t know those people and I know things like this happen. Yet, those people yearned for something better. They were willing to sacrifice the most prized gift we’re given — life — for it.
What it all comes down to is that those people were someone’s loved ones!
CAITLYN JENNER SAYS “CALL ME”
It’s no secret that I’ve never been a Caitlyn Jenner fan.
While she’s educating herself more and making progress, I still feel she’s out of touch with what life is really like for the average transgender American.
However, “from, well, one Republican to another”, she’s finally stepping up and speaking out against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and her “friend” in the White House.
While I say “kudos” to Jenner on this, I’m still shaking my head to think that she didn’t have the foresight to see this coming!
This leads me into part two of this thought process!
JACKIE EVANCHO & TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
16-year-old classical singer Jackie Evancho sang the National Anthem at the Inauguration of #45 last month.
To those familiar with her, this was a little (or a lot) confusing since her sister, Juliet, is transgender. It probably wouldn’t be a stretch to think of how the new administration would feel about LGBT rights, specifically transgender rights.
Earlier this week, the president rolled back federal government protections allowing transgender students to use the bathroom associated with their gender identity.
Evancho reached out to #45 via Twitter: “I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide. #sisterlove“.
She also tweeted: “@realDonaldTrump u gave me the honor 2 sing at your inauguration. Pls give me & my sis the honor 2 meet with u 2 talk #transgender rghts ”
So far, she hasn’t heard back from him.
What are your thoughts? I’m torn.
Maybe she performed to make a connection to discuss her sister and transgender rights? Or, did she do it for the publicity and a possible bump in record and concert ticket sales?
Before the performance, she and her family were questioned about the new administration’s views and her transgender sister and they basically said that it’s a performance and not political.
Well, I do have issues with that one. It is political!
REMEMBERING AL JARREAU
As I mentioned last week with the passing of French actress Emmanuelle Riva, real life gets in the way and I miss some things (even with real news and fake news on Facebook).
I was saddened to learn that jazz, R&B, and pop legend Al Jarreau died the weekend before Valentine’s Day at the age of 76.
He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and didn’t release his first album until he was 35 years old!
If you’re not a jazz or R&B music fan, you’ll likely remember him singing the theme to the late-1980s ABC hit show “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.
Jarreau charted 11 Top 40 hits on the R&B chart with four reaching the Top Ten.
On the Billboard Hot 100, he had three hits. The “Moonlighting” theme reached #23 in 1987, but “We’re In This Love Together” from 1981, my favorite, was his biggest. It reached #15.
Throughout his career, Jarreau won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for 17 more.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC RELEASES STRESS
When I find myself stressed or really bummed out, Christmas music always snaps me back into reality.
The past few weeks have been rather stressful and Wednesday morning, I found myself letting Mariah Carey soothe me.
If you’ve never heard her version of “Oh Santa” or seen the retro video, check it out.
Hey, don’t feel bad for clicking on the video, Christmas is only ten months away!
CLOSING IN ON HISTORY
Don’t think too hard and don’t Google it. What artist has had the most Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100?
Could it be Elvis? The Beatles? Madonna? Whitney Houston? Michael Jackson? Mariah Carey? Janet Jackson?
It’s actually Rihanna!
With “Love On The Brain” moving into the Top Ten this week on the Billboard Hot 100, Rihanna is now in third place in music history!
It becomes her 30th Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and she didn’t scored her first until 2005!
So, who’s ahead of her?
In second place with 34 Top Ten Hot 100 hits, it’s The Beatles.
Their first was “Love Me Do” in 1962 (it hit #1) and their last was “Free As A Bird” (peaked at #6) in 1995.
And, in first place, it’s Madonna, with 38 Top Ten hits!
Her first Top Ten hit was “Lucky Star” (#4 in 1984) and her most recent was “Give Me All Your Luvin'” (with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.) in 2012. It peaked at #10.
Behind Rihanna for the most Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten hits are Michael Jackson in 4th place with 29 and Stevie Wonder is in 5th place with 28.
Elton John, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson are tied in sixth place with 27 Top Ten Hot 100 hits and the Rolling Stones, Whitney Houston, and Paul McCartney are in ninth place with 23.
By the way, Rihanna was just named Harvard’s “Humanitarian of the Year” and will be appearing in the final season of “Bates Motel”, now airing on A&E, as Marion Crane, Janet Leigh’s iconic character from the original “Psycho” movie!
CAITLYN, UNTIL THE PHONE RINGS, “CALL ME”
OR, “CALL ME MAYBE”
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HANSARD 1803–2005 → 2000s → 2004 → May 2004 → 18 May 2004 → Commons Sitting → Clause 219
INFORMATION AND ADVICE TO EMPLOYEES
HC Deb 18 May 2004 vol 421 cc932-8 932
§ Vera Baird (Redcar) (Lab)
I beg to move amendment No. 46, in page 144, line 40, after 'employers', insert 'and annuity providers'.
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments:
No. 47, in page 144, line 41, after 'employees' insert 'and annuity purchasers'. No. 44, in page 145, line 12, at end insert— '(f) make provision about the information and advice given to employees and their spouses.'.
No. 48, in page 145, line 12, at end insert— 933 '(f) provide that they apply to annuity providers of a prescribed description and annuity purchasers of a prescribed description. (g) make provision as to the action to be taken by annuity providers to ensure that annuity purchasers and their spouses have signed to confirm that they have received and understood information relating to the annuity purchase.'.
No. 45, in page 145, line 19, at end insert— '(d) the person who would be affected directly or indirectly by the provision of the information.'.
No. 49, in page 145, line 23, at end insert— '(7) In this section "annuity provider" means any company selling annuities whether or not resident or incorporated in any part of the United Kingdom.'.
§ Vera Baird
The amendments seek out a positive approach from the Government to a difficult problem.
Clause 219 is concerned with the supply of clear, good-quality information so that people are fully informed when they make decisions about their retirement income. The amendments are consistent with that aim and would mean that the employers and companies selling annuities would have to ensure that those buying the annuities and their spouses had signed to indicate that they had received and understood information relating to the purchase.
The amendments drive at the difference between a single life annuity and its impact and a joint life annuity. I am well aware that everyone in the Chamber knows the difference, but I should explain that a single life annuity is paid to the individual taking it out. When that person dies, the annuity income dies too. There is no benefit to the surviving spouse. The joint life annuity, on the other hand, continues to pay as long as one member of the pensioner couple is alive. For that reason, income from joint life annuities is considerably less than single life annuities. The purpose of the amendments is to ensure that on purchase of an annuity by a married person they and their spouse are fully aware of the consequences of their decision to purchase a single rather than a joint life annuity. They are also designed to ensure that on the death of their spouse nobody faces an unexpectedly huge drop in pensioner income.
According to the Association of British Insurers, only 19 per cent. of married people have joint annuities, although it is unclear on what information their decision was based. The amendments require that when a married person purchases a single life annuity their spouse signs a form saying that they have read and understood a leaflet explaining the options. The spouse should also give their consent for their partner to purchase a single life annuity and understand the implications of that decision for their pension income should their partner die before them. If the annuity purchaser decides to buy a single life annuity and not a joint life annuity, the written consent of their spouse to buy such an annuity should be required. If they cannot obtain that consent, the default position should be that they buy a joint annuity.
934 I emphasise that the amendments are not meant to compel all married people to purchase a joint life liability—the decision would still be theirs. The rationale for people having a right to their spouse's savings when they do not have rights to their earnings is based on the fact that it is women who are primarily disadvantaged by the present position. Women's historical and current difficulties in building up a decent pension mean that they are disproportionately reliant on their husband's pension income. If their husband dies before them, they are reliant on any survivor benefit in their husband's pension, so it is critical that they should be aware of what is happening.
Survivor benefits are particularly important because women have less pensioner income in their own right—on average, it is 57 per cent. of men's pensioner income, and the gap has widened since the 1980s. Less than 12 per cent. of women get a full basic state pension in their own right. Men have high membership rates of pension schemes, and they purchase the majority of annuities. In addition, women are likely to outlive their husbands. Almost half the women over the age of 65 are widows, and a 65-year-old woman can expect to live three years longer than a 65-year-old man. The issue is therefore a pressing one.
I accept that for some couples a single life annuity will be the best option—for example, when both spouses have access to sufficient pension income in their own right or when the survivor is on a low income and receipt of survivor benefits will reduce the amount of means-tested benefits that they receive. That decision, however, ought to be taken jointly, so that at the outset both spouses are aware of the consequences.
As a footnote, I should add that annuities provide non-married or single-sex couples with a good opportunity to make provision for survivor benefits. One of the obvious benefits of a joint life annuity is that an individual can decide to provide survivor benefits for their dependant regardless of the relationship. Occupational schemes often exclude non-married or same-sex partners. Without legal recognition of those partnerships, as is currently the case, it would be inappropriate to enforce a signed waiver of rights, but it would be prudent none the less to ensure that the annuity buyer understands the implications of their decision.
This is an extremely important issue, and there is a good deal of consensus is on it among the Fawcett Society, Age Concern and other pressure groups that have sought repeatedly to draw the problem to the Government's attention. I have no intention of pressing the amendments to a vote, but I hope for a positive response from my hon. Friend the Minister.
§ Mr. Webb
I should put on record, for the benefit of the whole House, the Committee's appreciation of the hon. and learned Lady's contribution in Committee, where she secured that a report be made next year on women's pensions issues. This group of amendments represents one of those issues, although obviously it relates to men as well. As she said, this set of amendments refers particularly to women, because if a person buying an annuity—typically, a man—fails to provide for his surviving spouse, it is women, typically, who lose out. In a number of forums—in the House, Westminster Hall and elsewhere—the hon. and learned 935 Lady has stood up for women pensioners in particular and she deserves a great deal of praise for that. [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."]
I support some of the amendments in the group. Amendment No. 44, which would allow regulations to be made to make provision about information and advice to employees and their spouses, seems entirely appropriate. We need more information and advice. However, I have always felt uncomfortable about the written permission referred to in amendment No. 48. I am trying to work out what it is that makes me feel uncomfortable.
Although the process that the hon. and learned Lady describes is technically gender-neutral, let us take the most common case, in which a man gets to the point where he has to buy or wants to buy an annuity. If the amendment were agreed to, he would be prohibited from buying a single life annuity without the written consent of his wife. That just does not feel right. That is not a very good argument, but it does not feel right that an individual who has saved for their own pension should be prohibited from buying with that pension the particular investment vehicle that they think is right. My worry is the power of veto. I do not lave a problem with the amendments that provide for both partners to be given information. One would hope that in a normal relationship they will talk to each other, weigh things up and make a decision. The power of veto would presumably apply where relationships are not working quite as well as that.
Whether the answer is to give one partner a legal block on the other partner's ability to buy a single life annuity worries me. Let me give an example. Suppose this may be a less typical case—that the man who wants to buy an annuity has a pension pot. That is his entire pension provision for old age, whereas his wife has a fantastic occupational pension—say, she had been a Member of Parliament or something like that. Even though all the annuity will come out of his savings and it is all he has to depend on, he still needs her written permission not to make provision for her. The hon. and learned Lady might well say, 'Yes, but being a reasonable woman, she will give it", and she may do so.
Often in legislation we have the concept of what may reasonably be done. If everyone were behaving reasonably, we would not need the provision at all, because they would all talk to each other, they would have been sent the leaflets and they would make a joint decision. We need the power of veto presumably for couples whose relationship is not terribly good. Is it right in all cases to prohibit one partner who may need the money from buying the annuity that serves his—in this case, his—purposes best? Although his wife may subsequently get her very good pension, if the relationship is not terribly good, she may not share it. Obviously, the converse of all those things is true if one transposes the gender, but we are dealing with a typical case.
I think that the hon. and learned Lady would accept that there is a raft of issues to do with women's pensions that need addressing, of which this is one. There is a raft of issues even on the subject of survivors' benefits, of which this is a subset. It would be unfair to criticise the proposals as piecemeal, because we all do things 936 piecemeal—that is all we can do when faced with legislation. We try to make the world a slightly better place where we can.
That is meant not as a criticism, but as an observation that we need a strategy for widows and other survivors that encompasses not only annuities and, hence, money purchase pensions, but occupational pensions, where in many cases there are no survivors' rights, as well as public sector pensions. Until the happy day comes when men and women have accrued enough pension in their own right and we can do away with the concept of survivors' benefits, which must be the goal of pensions policy, we must tackle this huge generational transition. I fully accept the need for a provision such as amendment No. 44, which lays down requirements on information and ensures that both partners know what is going on, but the power of veto seems one step too far.
Divorce law establishes that pensions are joint assets on divorce and therefore during marriage. Pensions are analogous with other joint assets such as houses, which cannot be mortgaged without the consent of both parties. Why does the same argument not follow for pensions?
The point is fair, but one of my worries is that the position is not necessarily reciprocal, because amendment No. 44 relates only to a specific category of pension provision. In my example, the man has a defined contribution pension that must be converted into an annuity, but if the woman has a final salary pension with no survivor's rights, asymmetry would be created.
The hon. and learned Lady argues that the pot of money to buy an annuity is the couple's joint property, but on that basis their joint property should also include the woman's occupational pension. The woman would have the power of veto over the man's pension, and asymmetry would occur because the provision does not include her occupational pension; it is not holistic—the example holds for both men and women if we were to reverse the genders.
The idea is right, but the power of veto is not what we want to introduce when dealing with pensions. We want to make substantial general provision for survivors, who are predominantly women. The hon. and learned Lady was right to table amendment No. 44, and I support some other amendments in the group. I hope that the Minister reassures us that the Government have a broad strategy on survivors' benefits, and if he can do so, the hon. and learned Lady will have done us all a great service.
§ Mr. Pond
My hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar (Vera Baird) asked for a positive response, which I can certainly give her. I add to the tribute paid to her by the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) for her vociferous arguments on the issue.
Clause 219 aims to ensure that where employers contribute little or nothing towards their employees' pensions and where levels of scheme membership are low, employees get access to the information and advice that they need to help them make an informed choice about savings for retirement. As part of that requirement, employees will receive information or advice about annuities, where it is appropriate.
937 The amendments promoted by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar work with the grain of both our agenda of informed choice and our determination to ensure justice for women in pensions matters. The amendments would considerably extend the requirements in clause 219, and would, via the Secretary of State's power to make regulations, require employers and providers of annuities to give employees, purchasers of annuities and their spouses access to information and advice about retirement planning and, in particular, annuities.
That fits with the informed choice agenda, but I ask my hon. and learned Friend to consider the practical difficulties, which we must examine in deciding whether we can take the amendment forward. The Government believe that employers have a responsibility to help their employees provide for their retirement, but to extend that responsibility to cover the spouses of employees presents considerable practical difficulties. For example, arranging presentations or one-to-one advice sessions in the workplace for employees' spouses would not be an easy task. Such a requirement would lead to additional complexity and costs that many employers, especially the smallest employers, would find difficult to bear.
In addition, providing information and advice to spouses about annuities and other pensions matters might well raise data protection issues, as well as conflict of interest issues, for providers and employers. We recognise that consumers who are considering retirement and who must purchase an annuity face an important and complex decision. That is why the Financial Services Authority has already introduced changes designed to help people choose the annuity that is best for them.
FSA rules now require providers of personal pensions to give annuity purchasers information about open market options. For example, many issue the FSA leaflet, "Your pension—it's time to choose", which explains in simple language what an annuity is, as well as the options that are available to people and how they can shop around to get a better deal. In January this year, the FSA published further guidance in its "Guide to annuities and income withdrawal", and since the spring of 2003 it has included annuities in its comparative tables to make it easier for purchasers to shop around for the best value annuity available.
Additionally, new rules introduced in this year's Finance Bill will mean that occupational money purchase schemes are required to offer members the opportunity to choose between a scheme pension and a lifetime annuity. If they choose the annuity, members will again be informed about their open market options.
The issue of annuities has been the subject of considerable consultation over the past few years, and the outcome of that consultation has fed into our pensions simplification work. In answer to the hon. Member for Northavon, we are seeking to put in place provisions that will ensure that surviving spouses have support. We are strongly committed to the concept of 938 informed choice, and we are trying to move forward on that. We are also committed to the concept that pension provision should close the inequality that has traditionally existed between men and women. I understand that that is why the Fawcett Society, the Equal Opportunities Commission and Age Concern have supported such proposals, which, although we find them attractive in principle, involve issues of practicality that we need to resolve.
I can assure my hon. and learned Friend that we will keep the need for further annuity-specific information and advice under review and that we will continue to assess how we can move forward on this agenda. I hope that given that reassurance she will feel able to withdraw her amendment.
I thank my hon. Friend for that response, which could not be called anything other than positive. Mindful of the care that the Government are taking to ensure informed choice, and cheered by their determination to use pension provison to close the inequality between men and women—a large commitment, but I was pleased to hear it—I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
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Forward to New Clause 33
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HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1990s → 1990 → April 1990 → 19 April 1990 → Lords Sitting
National Health Service and Community Care Bill
HL Deb 19 April 1990 vol 518 cc112-72 112
§ 3.33 p.m.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hooper)
My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.
Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Baroness Hooper.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly.
§ [The CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES in the Chair.]
§ Clause 1 [Regional and District Health Authorities]:
§ Lord Winstanley moved Amendment No. 1: Page 2, line 4, at end insert— ("(2A) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that appointments under Schedule I do not give prominence to one political party or opinion.").
§ The noble Lord said: I am sorry that with this very first amendment, which stands in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, I should cause party politics to raise its ugly head so very early in our discussion of the Bill. That is particularly regrettable as so many Members of the Committee from all parties have met together on a regular basis in the hope of dealing with the Bill on an entirely non-party and non-political basis and thereby making improvements to it to the benefit of the National Health Service, about which we are all concerned.
§ However, the matter which I raise is of some importance. It concerns the manner in which people are appointed to very important posts as chairmen of health authorities and so on.
§ It has been my experience in many years of working in the National Health Service, both in hospitals and in general practice, that over and over again with a change of government very able health authority chairmen suddenly disappear to be replaced by people whose qualifications for office appear to be no more than their own personal political affiliations. It may well be that some of them do a very good job. However, I have always been concerned not so much about the people who have been appointed to the bodies following a change 113 of government but about the people who have been removed from them. Members of the Committee on all sides of the Chamber will know of people who have given excellent service as chairmen of health authorities in various parts of the country who have suddenly, unexpectedly and regrettably been removed from office for no understandable reason. It may be that in some cases there is a perfectly understandable reason, but if the reason is party politics that is not acceptable. We should say so in the Bill.
§ I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, added his name to my amendment. I hasten to say that it is not aimed at one political party. I am sure that all political parties have been guilty of using their right to make appointments in a way which has been pDlitically advantageous. I certainly know that the Conservative Party has done so recently in relatiol to some committees. I also believe that the Labour Party did so on occasions. I am prepared to accept that a long time ago the Liberal Government, when there was one, did the same. I recollect that within my lifetime, when I was a small boy, David Lloyd George used patronage to very great political effect. However, that is another matter.
§ I am very glad that the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, has added his name to the amendment, because this is not a party matter. It is a matter of principle. Appointments to offices of immense importance for the success or failure of the National Health Service—to health authorities, family practitioner committees or the new family health service authorities-should be made on the basis of the suitability for office of the individual concerned rather than his party political affiliation.
§ My experience of the matter is in part anecdotal. I have looked on from the outside and wondered why A or B had been removed and why they had been replaced by C and D. My noble friend Lady Robson, who served with such great distinction as chairman of a regional health authority, has more personal experience of the matter. She may be able to tell your Lordships' Committee more about the subject.
§ I hope to hear a favourable response to the amendment when the government spokesman replies I shall say no more at the moment. I beg to move.
§ Lord Ennals
I am happy to support the amendment standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Winstanley. I was delighted to see it when it appeared on the Marshalled List. It is a very appropriate amendment with which to start our debate 3. As the noble Lord wisely said, over the past few weeks and months an attempt has been made to agree some measure of all-party approach to some of the amendments which will come later in the course of the Committee stage. Members of the Committee will have looked at some of the amendments and seen how broad is the basis on which they appear.
The principle enunciated by the noble Lord must be right. It must be right that people should be appointed according to their abilities, their 114 experience and their skill and not on the basis of their political party, although there may be times when an incoming Secretary of State would find that appointments have been very unbalanced in a party political sense and he might want to set the balance right. Certainly a Secretary of State taking up his post now would want to do so.
It is important that there should be a balance. The political parties will argue over what should be adopted as their policy to ensure the growth, expansion and improvement in the quality of service for the vast majority of our nation who depend upon the National Health Service. A far higher proportion of Labour voters may be dependent on the National Health Service than Conservative voters, who may be more dependent on the private sector, but we are all dependent on the National Health Service for a range of services which I need not go into. There is nothing wrong with having political arguments about the best way to organise the National Health Service. Although in Committee all the arguments will not be on an all-party basis, some may well appear to be.
There was a recent case in which the current Secretary of State, in appointing health authority chairmen, disposed of most of those with Labour or Liberal connections and brought in a significant number of people of Conservative views, so there is now no balance. I suppose that the most obvious of such decisions has been that to sack one of London's most efficient, popular and successful district health authority chairmen, Dr. John Dunwoody. I have never heard any criticism in the district of which he is chairman that he has sought to use his political influence to the advantage of his party. He is an absolutely dedicated man and I mention him only because he is a good example. I am not running down his successor whom I happen to know and respect and who is a noted Conservative politician. It is perfectly obvious what is being done and it is utterly wrong.
The policy of any Secretary of State should be to choose the best person. I recognise that it is not always easy to know who is the best person, but it is wrong to make appointments on a political basis. I sought to maintain a balance and to ensure that the right people were chosen. I have to admit when I was Secretary of State that I was often under considerable pressure from my own Back-Benchers to appoint particular people because of their Labour Party position or to sack people because they were Conservatives. I sought not to do that.
I see one good example. I am delighted that Mrs. Julia Cumberlege will shortly arrive in the House. She will be a great addition to the House; she is a woman of great ability. The fact that she is a Conservative has nothing to do with the matter; but she is a noted Conservative. I am proud of that fact because I appointed her. I appointed her because of her abilities, skills and experienceand her appointment has been fully justified.
The noble Baroness may say that the amendment is not necessary. She may say that we must trust her right honourable friend, but in view of recent appointments I do not trust him in that respect. Sometimes there are situations which should be 115 written into a Bill. The noble Baroness should remember that if by any chance—I shall not say mischance—there were to be a change of government, this amendment, if accepted, would apply as much to a Labour Secretary of State as it would to a Conservative one. The principle is right.
§ Baroness Seear
Before the noble Lord sits down, will he say whether he agrees that the use of the word "balance" in his speech is inappropriate in terms of the amendment? I thought that the point of the amendment was that we should get rid of the idea of people being there on a party political basis, so surely balance does not come into the matter. It is a case of either that or merit, not both.
I thought that I stressed the quality, skill and experience aspects. If a Secretary of State were to find on analysis that, for example, 85 per cent. of health authority chairmen were Conservatives, he would feel that there was something wrong. I am not saying what he would do; that responsibility does not fall upon me. But I should want to ensure that we had the best possible people. I totally support both the principle and the wording of the amendment.
§ Lord Jenkin of Roding
I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, in almost everything that he has said, but not with his amendment. I probably made more appointments of health authority chairmen than any other Secretary of State because it fell to me to appoint the 190 new district health chairmen when the areas were abolished and the districts were to be set up. I entirely endorse the proposition that one should choose people for their quality, abilities and experience and that politics should not enter into the matter at all.
I also agree with the noble Lord that that approach is not always popular with one's supporters. He mentioned John Dunwoody, who was one of my appointees. I appointed him to a district. I entirely agree with what the noble Lord said about him. Perhaps I may also mention Sir Sidney Hamburger, who was re-appointed regional chairman in the North-West to the total disapproval of every Conservative Member of Parliament in the North-West. I came under enormous pressure not to re-appoint Sir Sidney Hamburger. I reappointed him because he was an extremely good regional chairman. I cannot remember whether I appointed the noble Baroness, Lady Robson of Kiddington. If I did, I am proud of it—but she shakes her head. Perhaps it was someone else who came after me who appointed her.
Perhaps I may mention one or two other appointments that I made including Mr. Eric Moonman, who had been a prominent and able member of the Labour Party. I re-appointed Dr. Ivan Clout to a district health authority in Surrey, again to the total opposition of all the Conservative Members of Parliament for Surrey.
I accept the principle that politics should not enter into the appointment one way or the other.
116 Secretaries of State have increasingly looked for people with business experience as we have moved progressively from health authorities looking rather like local authorities with a large amount of representative membership to their becoming, as the proposals in the White Paper have it, much more like executive boards. There will therefore be a natural tendency to look for people with a strong business background. In those circumstances there may be a tendency for more of those people to have voted Conservative.
In many cases one simply did not ask what a person's politics were. People came with a good record. I am sure that the noble Baroness, Lady Seear, has, as so often, put her finger on the point; namely, that one may agree with everything that we have said about the absence of political bias being highly desirable and totally disagree with the amendment because it brings in political bias by requiring a balance or, as the amendment puts it rather negatively, that the Secretary of State should ensure that appointments, do not give prominence to one political party or opinion". If one finds that one is appointing or re-appointing 200 district health authority chairmen—in many cases one does not know their politics—and then discovers that, having appointed the best people, there are 70 per cent. from one party and 30 per cent. from another, must one then change some of those appointments so as to obtain something nearer 50-50? That is what the amendment means.
I hope that my noble friend on the Front Bench will endorse the principle that politics should notenter into the matter, but say that the amendment would not be the way to achieve that end. The best way is to ensure that Secretaries of State are prepared to resist the political pressures and appoint the best people.
§ Baroness Robson of Kiddington
As I have been mentioned, perhaps I may be allowed to quote some personal experiences, having been a regional chairman appointed originally by the noble Lord, Lord Joseph, at the end of 1973. I should like to pay tribute to his appointments of regional chairmen because, as far as I can see, there was absolutely no political bias in those appointments.
The Committee will probably know that it has been the custom for regional chairmen to meet at regular intervals prior to meeting the Secretary of State. In the early life of the reorganisation of the health service there was certainly never any political feeling among the regional chairmen. It was perhaps because we all felt that the appointments had not been made on a political basis.
In 1974 there was a change of government. It was not the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, but probably his predecessor who began what I would call the habit of appointing, when the opportunity occurred, chairmen of area and regional health authorities who had the same political views as those of the government in power. That caused the co-operative feeling among the chairmen to change somewhat. Once or twice it began to give a political bias to the discussions. With the further change of government in 1979 that attitude towards appointing a supporter 117 of the Government in office increased. I am sorry that the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, did not have an opportunity to decide whether or not to reappoint me. For personal reasons I had to resign at the end of 1983, as no doubt he remembers. So he did not have to make up his mind as to whether or not a Liberal would be acceptable for a third term.
I am trying to say that the political bias in the appointments changed the relationship between the regional chairmen. I do not think it was a good influence on the way in which they worked together. However, when I unfortunately had to resign, which I very much regretted, I was asked by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, whether I could make any recommendation for a successor. I put up a name. With all due respect to the noble Lord's remarks about no political bias, the first question that he asked me was, "Do you know what his politics are?" That does not sound as though it were not a slightly politically biased question. I was also asked, "How many MPs in the region does he know?" I could not answer that question either.
My attitude was that I had recommended that person because I felt that from among all the people I knew he was the only one who could do the job. It had never occurred to me to ask him about his politics. I believe that that is the way in which appointments should be considered. I think it is essential to have an amendment of this kind to make certain that we guard against the kind of thing that happened in the past. It happened under a Labour Government and under this Government. I want to see appointed the people who can do the job.
§ Lord Auckland
I intervene in the debate with some diffidence because I have served only on a House committee and as president of a league of friends. Although I support the principle behind this amendment, I can see enormous difficulties in its implementation. I live in the Mole Valley which is a Conservative area, at the present time anyway. Where the late and lamented gentleman the Member for Ebbw Vale who initiated the National Health Service lived, there is a very strong Labour catchment area. In two such areas how is one to obtain suitable political appointments? That is my first point.
The noble Lord, Lord Ennals, mentioned Mrs. Julia Cumberlege. In my area of Epsom we are having what one distinguished former Prime Minister described as certain local difficulties in moving certain sections of our local hospital to another hospital. Ironically that move comes from a very distinguished person in the health service who is shortly to become a Member of this Chamber. I mention that because I believe that if this amendment is accepted there will be enormous cross-party differences when not only appointments but transfers of services from one hospital to another are made.
On that basis, although I support the principle of the amendment, I believe that its implementation would raise enormous problems.
§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
Before the Committee makes a decision on this amendment one should look a little further not just into its purpose but at its likely effect. I think that most of those who have listened to this debate agree with the general philosophy that has been expressed from both sides of the Chamber, to the effect that appointments should be made on merit and irrespective of the political alignment of the people appointed. But the terms of the amendment that the Committee is asked to accept make clear that that will not be possible because it will impose a duty on the Secretary of State, apparently regardless of anything else, to make sure that the appointments do not give prominence to one political party or opinion.
Let us take the possible situation—indeed, the probable situation in many parts of the country—that most of the suitable appointees for posts are members of one party or another. In parts of the South of England there is very little doubt that a fairly high proportion of those suitable for appointment will more or less hold Conservative views. I am certain that in many other parts of the country the overwhelming proportion of those suitable for appointment will be of Labour Party views. It may even be so in the remoter stretches of outer Wales with people who hold various brands of Liberal views. The Committee therefore must look very carefully at this issue.
The amendment lays down that political alignment apparently should be the dominating factor in the decision on appointment. Let us take one of the examples that I gave, of an area in which the suitable people are overwhelmingly of the Labour Party. As I understand the amendment, the Secretary of State would not be able to appoint a good many of them but would find that the dominant consideration which he must apply, regardless of the respective abilities and merits of the people to be appointed, would be to have a political balance on that authority. Nobody wants that. Before the Committee decides upon this amendment, it ought to consider what would be its effect—not the intention nor the excellent motives behind it. That effect seems to me to be perfectly clear and very damaging.
§ Baroness Phillips
I believe that this amendment is necessary and very timely. As politicians we have all been guilty of allowing politics into almost every walk of life. I have always felt it wrong that one should ask about the politics of a potential magistrate, but that is done.
The Committee has talked about balance—that there must be some of these and some of those. Politics have crept into everything. When I was Lord Lieutenant—and I thought it was a tribute to me that they did not know my politics—I was often asked, "Are you one of us?" I used to reply, "Now which 'us' do you mean? I am a woman—that's obvious. I am a Catholic—that is another group. I am a socialist—yet another group. How many more do you want?
Politics have crept into our public life in a very insidious way. This is one way in which we can—I think for the first time—make it clear that people must be appointed for their abilities and on their 119 merits and not with a view to their age, sex, colour or political views.
§ 4 p.m.
§ Lord Ross of Newport
Perhaps I may make one point. In my part of the world, there are still Liberals—and it is not the deepest part of Wales. Our local chairman of the area health authority did not know until about seven days before his term of office expired whether or not he would be reappointed. Certainly everyone who served in that authority felt that that was outrageous. I put great pressure on the successor of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, to make a decision one way or the other. The chairman was reappointed for two years. Expedition in the making of appointments is an aspect that ought to be discussed during this debate. One knew that a search was being made to appoint someone else who held rather different views. In fact, someone else could not be found, and he was reappointed for two years. After the two years expired, sure enough, he was ditched.
We all know that in recent years far more party politics have come into the appointment of people in public office, whether in the health authority or outside. Patronage has become too widespread and it really must stop.
§ Baroness Hooper
I was interested to hear the experiences quoted by the noble Lord, Lord Winstanley, and others. I begin by agreeing completely with those who have said that party politics should not be the criterion in these important appointments.
In spite of what has been said by some, I must stress that appointments to health service bodies made by the Secretary of State and regional health authorities have never been made and so far as concerns this Government will not in the future be made on party political grounds. I cannot speak for appointments that have been made to the district health authorities in the past by local authorities. In fact, the changes in health authority membership which we propose in this Bill are a firm move away from any representative type of appointment or political bias.
The problem at present is that many health authority members tend to regard themselves asrepresentatives of the body which nominated them or, in the case of some district health authority members, the local council which appointed them. This has led to fundamental confusion as to whether health authorities are representative or management bodies. We believe that the Government's proposals will remove this confusion by creating smaller authorities of which the actual managers will also be members for the first time. There will be slimmer, more effective management bodies that will provide a single focus for effective decision-making. They will be unhindered therefore by the tendency of members to feel that they need to represent a body or indeed a political viewpoint.
Moreover, I must also point out that we simply do not have that information. Routinely—and I emphasise "routinely"—neither regional health 120 authorities nor Ministers at the centre ask about the political allegiance of candidates for appointment. As I have said, we do not propose to do so in the future.
§ Lord Peston
Perhaps I may intervene. We ought to conduct the debate on a basis of realism. Is the noble Baroness saying that her department is not bombarded with letters from all and sundry, in her case from members of her own party, drawing her attention to the politics of the people whom she is considering? If she is, there has been a miracle in Whitehall since the last time that I was involved.
I am not for a moment impugning her motives. But the suggestion that somehow one is unaware of the politics of people is so preposterous that I cannot believe we can conduct this discussion on that basis.
I believe that the implication of the amendment is that that information should be routinely collected. That is what I am aiming to disprove with my argument. Certainly it is not routinely collected as of now. One cannot of course prevent anybody who so chooses from writing with views on any subject.
I believe—and I agree with those who have already stated so—that the aim is and must be to appoint the best person for the job in each case. People of various party political persuasions—indeed, some of none—have been appointed. That will continue. We do not know the political affiliation, if any, of most appointees. I believe that it would be wrong to try to collect that information, which the amendment implies that we should do. My noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter has very clearly pointed that out.
I believe the Committee would agree that it would be quite improper for me to comment on the appointment of named individuals. I simply reiterate that all appointments are made on the basis of personal qualities and experience of the individual concerned, not for any sexual or political reason. I believe that some of the examples that have been quoted this afternoon bear that out.
I hope therefore that I have said enough to persuade the movers of the amendment that, as my noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding has said, the amendment is unnecessary and raises the question of political bias. That is why we cannot accept it.
I am very surprised at the reply of the noble Baroness. She seems to think that slimmer and more effective bodies are less likely to have a political chairperson appointed. We shall argue later about how slim or how efficient a body should be. However, I entirely agree with my noble friend's intervention. Any Secretary of State, whatever his political party, must be under great pressure to make appointments or not to make appointments, or to ensure that someone who has held a political point of view is not reappointed. I find it quite staggering for the noble Baroness to say that her department and her Ministers do not know. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, would take the same view that I have done. Of course it is known.
This is an absolutely essential amendment. Anyone who has analysed what has happened in 121 recent appointments will see that there has been a very significant swing from one particular party, or no party, to another party.
The noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, surprised me when he suggested that there were certain areas of the Country in which it would not be possible to find someone who had the experience, competence and skill to become chairman either of a regional health authority or of a district health authority except by making a political appointment.
The noble Lord misunderstands me, I am sure unintentionally. I said that there were areas in the country where the great majority of suitable appointees would, because of the general set-up there, be of one party or another and the effect of the amendment that he was supporting would be to prevent some of them being appointed by insisting on, above all, as a priority a political balance.
If I misunderstood the noble Lord, I am sorry. However, I do not think the logic of what he has said is conclusive. I believe that appointments should be made on the basis of skill and not on the basis of political commitment.
Hear, hear.
That is the purpose behind the amendment. I very strongly hope that it will be passed. We may make some further adjustment at Report stage to ensure that appointments are made on the basis of merit and not political allegiance. That might be a better way of proposing it.
I hope that we shall vote on an amendment that lays down a very important principle at the beginning of the Bill. I congratulate the noble Lord on having placed it at the beginning. I hope that he will decide to divide the Committee in order that it can express its view.
Lord Winstanley
For once I am not in total disagreement with the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter. I accept that the amendment could have been better worded. For any deficiencies that it may have, I apologise. I am responsible.
The intention is precisely that which I announced and which many people have understood. However, I accept, as the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, has stated, that its wording could require the Secretary of State to consider party political affiliation in order to achieve balance, and so on. That was not my intention. It is a very early stage of the Bill. We have later stages. If we carried the amendment and it is defective, it can very easily be altered. I am quite sure that the Government are capable of finding a better form of words.
I have listened to what the noble Baroness said. I was reassured about her opinion; but I already knew it. I am not reassured about what is happening. I accept that much of my recent experience is anecdotal because I am no longer in active medical practice. However, I have received information from sources in various parts of the country which I regard 122 as being reliable. It shows that in recent years there has been a large increase in the number of people removed from appointments for apparently political reasons and in the insertion of other people for reasons which at least appear to be political. That belief may be unfair to the Secretary of State responsible but that is what appears to be happening.
The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, made an admirable speech which I was delighted to hear. I am sure that he acted in the way he described. He is to be congratulated on appointing Sir Sydney Hamburger as chairman of Manchester Regional Health Authority. Sir Sidney was a splendid chap who the noble Lord said remained in office. However, it is my understanding that he was later removed from office for reasons which were widely believed to be political. That was reported as being so in the local press, although perhaps wrongly.
It is most important that the public should be encouraged to understand that such appointments are not made on a party political basis. At this stage I should like the Committee to enunciate the general principle behind the Bill. If the amendment is badly worded or defective—and possibly it is—it can be altered at a later stage. Members of all parties have decided that they wish to keep party politics out of our debates during this stage and later stages. Therefore, it would be admirable at this first opportunity to take a decision showing that we do not want party politics to play any part in the running of the National Health Service. In those circumstances I wish to test the opinion of the Committee.
§ On Question, Whether the said amendment (No. 1) shall be agreed to?
§ Their Lordships divided: Contents, 85; Not-Contents, 141.
DIVISION NO. 1
Addington, L. Graham of Edmonton, L. [Teller.]
Banks, L. Grey, E.
Birk, B. Hampton, L.
Blackstone, B. Harris of Greenwich, L.
Blease, L. Hatch of Lusby, L.
Bonham-Carter, L. Houghton of Sowerby, L.
Boston of Faversham, L. Hughes, L.
Bottomley, L. Hunt, L.
Broadbridge, L. Irvine of Lairg, L.
Burton of Coventry, B. Jacques, L.
Callaghan of Cardiff, L. Jay, L.
Campbell of Eskan, L. Jeger, B.
Carmichael of Kelvingrove, L. Jenkins of Hillhead, L.
Carter, L. Jenkins of Putney, L.
Cledwyn of Penrhos, L. John-Mackie, L.
Cocks of Hartcliffe, L. Leatherland, L.
David, B. Listowel, E.
Dean of Beswick, L. Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe, B.
Dormand of Easington, L. Lloyd of Kilgerran, L.
Ennals, L. Longford, E.
Ezra, L. Lovell-Davis, L.
Falkland, V. Macaulay of Bragar, L.
Fisher of Rednal, B. McCarthy, L.
Foot, L. McIntosh of Haringey, L.
Gallacher, L. Mais, L.
Galpern, L.
Meston, L. Robson of Kiddington, B.
Milner of Leeds, L. Rochester, L.
Milverton, L. Ross of Newport, L.
Mishcon, L. Russell, E.
Molloy, L. Sainsbury, L.
Monkswell, L. Seear, B.
Morris of Kenwood, L. Serota, B.
Nicol, B. Stallard, L.
Oram, L. Stoddart of Swindon, L.
Peston, L. Strabolgi, L.
Peterborough, Bp. Taylor of Blackburn, L.
Phillips, B. Thomson of Monifieth, L.
Pitt of Hampstead, L. Tordoff, L. [Teller.]
Ponsonby of Shulbrede, L. Underhill, L.
Prys-Davies, L. Williams of Elvel, L.
Rea, L. Winstanley, L.
Ritchie of Dundee, L. Winterbottom, L.
NOT-CONTENTS
Adrian, L. Hankey, L.
Airey of Abingdon, B. Havers, L.
Aldington, L. Hayter, L.
Alexander of Tunis, E. Henderson of Brompton, L.
Allerton, L. Henley, L.
Ampthill, L. Hertford, M.
Annaly, L. Hesketh, L.
Arran, E. Hirshfield, L.
Auckland, L. Hives, L.
Beaverbrook, L. Holderness, L.
Belhaven and Stenton, L. Hooper, B.
Beloff, L. Howe, E.
Belstead, L. Hunter of Newington, L.
Birdwood, L. Hylton-Foster, B.
Blake, L. Ilchester, E.
Blatch, B. Jenkin of Roding, L.
Boardman, L. Joseph, L.
Borthwick, L. Killearn, L.
Boyd-Carpenter, L. Kimball, L.
Braye, B. Lauderdale, E.
Bridgeman, V. Lawrence, L.
Brougham and Vaux, L. Layton, L.
Burton, L. Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, E.
Butterfield, L. Long, V.
Buxton of Alsa, L. Lucas of Chilworth, L.
Caithness, E. Luke, L.
Caldecote, V. Lyell, L.
Campbell of Alloway, L. McColl of Dulwich, L.
Campbell of Croy, L. Malmesbury, E.
Carnegy of Lour, B. Mancroft, L.
Carr of Hadley, L. Margadale, L.
Clanwilliam, E. Marsh, L.
Clifford of Chudleigh, L. Massereene and Ferrard, V.
Colville of Culross, V. Merrivale, L.
Constantine of Stanmore, L. Mersey, V.
Cottesloe, L. Mountevans, L.
Crook, L. Moyne, L.
Cullen of Ashbourne, L. Munster, E.
Davidson, V. [Teller.] Murton of Lindisfarne, L.
Denham, L. [Teller.] Norfolk, D.
Dormer, L. Nugent of Guildford, L.
Eden of Winton, L. Orkney, E.
Effingham, E. Orr-Ewing, L.
Elibank, L. Park of Monmouth, B.
Ellenborough, L. Penrhyn, L.
Elliot of Harwood, B. Platt of Writtle,B.
Erne, E. Porritt, L.
Erroll of Hale, L. Reay, L.
Ferrers, E. Renwick, L.
Flowers, L. Rochdale, V.
Fortescue, E. Romney, E.
Gainford, L. St. Davids, V.
Gardner of Parkes, B. St. John of Fawsley, L.
Gibson, L. Saint Oswald, L.
Gibson-Watt, L. Seebohm, L.
Gisborough, L. Sempill, Ly.
Grantchester, L. Shannon, E.
Gray of Contin, L. Shaughnessy, L.
Greenway, L. Skelmersdale, L.
Haddington, E. Slim, V.
Hailsham of Saint Marylebone, L. Smith, L.
Sondes, E.
Stevens of Ludgate, L. Torrington, V.
Stodart of Leaston, L. Trumpington, B.
Strathclyde, L. Tryon, L.
Strathmore and Kinghorne, E. Ullswater, V.
Sudeley, L. Vinson, L.
Swinfen, L. Walton of Detchant, L.
Swinton, E. Wise, L.
Terrington, L. Wyatt of Weeford, L.
Thurlow, L. Young, B.
§ Resolved in the negative, and amendment disagreed to accordingly.
§ Lord Walton of Detchant moved Amendment No. 2: Page 2, line 12, after ("member") insert ("but this shall not prevent their re-appointment under Part 1 of Schedule 1 to this Act")
§ The noble Lord said: I trust that this amendment will prove non-controversial. The requirement in Clause 1(4) is that any person other than the chairman of a regional or district health authority shall, at the appointed day, cease to be a member of that authority. Of course, the intention is that the members of the authorities appointed from the appointed day shall constitute a new authority.
§ Throughout this country there is a very considerable reservoir of knowledge, experience, dedication and expertise among those who have served—some for very long periods and others for much shorter periods—as members of regional or district health authorities. I believe that it would be very sad for the National Health Service if those people who have given such sterling service on a voluntary basis for many years were to be totally excluded from membership of the new authorities. Therefore, the purpose of the amendment is simply to write into the Bill the fact that such individuals shall not be prevented, even after their membership of existing authorities ceases, from being appointed to the new authorities.
§ The amendment is not only crucial from the point of view of ensuring continuity; it is important in order that the expertise of those individuals shall not be lost. I beg to move.
I have put my name to the amendment and I support it. We are talking not only about chairmen of regional and district health authorities and family health service authorities in England and Wales. We are also talking about all those who serve as members—thousands of outstanding people up and down the country who serve voluntarily as members of health authorities. Many of those people have made the National Health Service as good as it is and we wish to retain their services.
The Government are proposing that there should be much smaller health authorities comprising five executive or employee members and five non-executive members plus a non-executive chairman. They have said no more than that those members will be chosen on the basis of the skills and experience which they can bring to the authority. However, critics expect and fear that in large part the outsiders will be businessmen. There is nothing 125 wrong with businessmen. There are some businessmen on health authorities at present and we should continue to use their skill and experience on the new authorities.
However, I should like to quote a letter from Mrs. Cumberlege. I have already referred to her but I do so now in her capacity as chairman of the South-West Thames Regional Health Authority. My former general practitioner, Dr. Mel Henry, a GP in the area of Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton, serves on that district authority. He wrote to Mrs. Cumberlege to say how much he had valued working on the health authority and that he would be delighted, if given the opportunity, to serve again. I have kept in touch with Dr. Henry; he was an admirable and very able member of the health authority.
He received a letter from Mrs. Cumberlege which said: There is just one problem about membership of authorities in the future in that it is intended not to mix up the provider (ie, GP) role with that of the purchaser (ie, DHA) and as a consequence I am afraid I cannot be optimistic about being able to recommend you, or any other practitioner or consultant, for membership. I am sorry to disappoint you but I felt it better to be straight about it now rather than lead you to expect something that I know I shall not be able to deliver". I do not know how many existing members of health authorities have received similar correspondence from regional or district chairmen. That letter was unfortunate in two respects. It seems to confirm the impression that the Secretary of State is planning a clean sweep to bring in a new type of member with little knowledge of the National Health Service or indeed of the needs of patients and the community.
However, I ask myself: who could have approved such a letter? No chairman of a regional health authority would write a letter like that unless it had been approved in some way by the department. There must have been a steer in relation to the letter. It contains an assumption that the legislation before us is already on the statute book and that principles can be laid down which have not yet been debated in this Chamber. I find that very disturbing.
I do not make a personal criticism of Mrs.Cumberlege. As regards the earlier amendment, I have already said how much I respect her and her abilities. However, I fear that the Secretary of State is giving the impression I have outlined. That is why my noble friend and others have put their names to the amendment. I hope that the Minister will feel bound to accept it.
§ Baroness Cox
I shall not detain the Committee for more than a few moments but I wish to explain why my name is attached to the amendment. I hope that it provides clarification and that the Minister will be able to accept it. Surely it must be the intention that there should be provision for some continuity of experience and expertise. If that is the case, then the amendment is clearly necessary. It would do a great deal to allay anxieties about the ambiguity of the Bill as it stands. I hope that my noble friend can respond sympathetically to the amendment.
§ Lord Carr of Hadley
Before my noble friend replies, I wonder whether one of its supporters can enlighten the Committee as to the exact intention of the amendment. I see much objection to reappointment of people within their own district. I see no objection to their reappointment in other districts where a potential clash of interest and principles would not arise. Does the noble Lord wish to ensure that a person not reappointed in one area is nonetheless qualified to be appointed to another authority in a different area?
§ Lord Walton of Detchant
The intention is simply to write into the Bill the necessity of making it open for individuals who may have served on health authorities in the past to be available to be appointed to health authorities in the future. That is the purpose of the amendment.
I understand the concerns expressed by the mover of the amendment. Therefore, I am very pleased to be able to reassure the Committee on the matter with which it is concerned. I believe however that the amendment—and I hope that I shall be able to explain this—is unnecessary.
There is absolutely nothing to prevent current members of health authorities being considered for reappointment as non-executive members of the reconstituted health authorities; indeed, we expect that a number of them will be. That is certainly in the interests of continuity, as was suggested by my noble friend Lady Cox. At the same time, I must emphasise that all the new appointments will be made purely on the basis of the personal contribution and experience which the individuals can bring to the work of a particular authority. I believe we all agree that appointments should be made only on that basis, as was brought out in our previous discussion.
Perhaps I may take this opportunity to pay tribute to the effective contribution that health authority members have made all over the country to the running of the National Health Service in recent years. With the smaller number of members and the introduction of some fresh blood, it will clearly not be possible for all current members to be appointed to the new style authorities. That will in no way be a personal reflection on their performances. We sincerely hope that many of them will continue to be involved with the health authority and that it will continue to benefit from their experience.
With regard to the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, GPs will only be excluded from membership of district health authorities if they are practice fund holders. There would then be a potential conflict of interest as they would be direct purchasers of services. The appointment of the non-executive members of district health authorities will be a matter for the appropriate regional health authority acting within the terms of the new legislation, which is currently under consideration, but it will also be subject to departmental guidance. All non-executive members will be appointed on the basis of the individual skills and experience which they can bring to the authority.
127 The letter from Mrs. Cumberlege, to which the noble Lord referred, was, I understand, sent without reference to the Department of Health. As I explained, GPs will only be excluded from membership of district health authorities if they are practice fund holders.
Change is always unsettling for people who have been involved with an organisation for some time. Nevertheless, I am sure that it will be agreed that the government reforms, which will create smaller authorities and bring together executive and non-executive members to provide a single focus for decision-making, will increase the efficiency of health authorities and bring about the end for which we all earnestly hope—the maximum benefit to the patient. I therefore trust that the noble Lord who moved the amendment will feel able to withdraw it in the light of my reassurance that it is unnecessary and that there will be nothing to prevent current health authority members being considered for reappointment as non-executive members of the reconstituted authorities.
§ Baroness Masham of Ilton
Before the noble Baroness sits down, perhaps I could ask who the executive members will be and what sort of officers the authorities will have. I serve on a regional health authority and we have a very good mix. We have men and women. However, almost all the senior officers of the authority who are the present advisers are men. Will it be of benefit to patients if there is an imbalance of more men than women, as I think will happen?
I should also like to say that the businessmen who come on to the authority are the ones who understand the National Health Service least of all. They have hardly used the health service; they are generally healthy men who take quite a long time to understand how the authority runs. There is fear that fewer women will be serving in the health service in the future.
I shall do my best to reassure the noble Baroness. In the department, when we are looking at names and nominations, we are always anxious to ensure that there is a very good mix in every sense of the word. I certainly anticipate that in making appointments to the new bodies, those who are making the appointments, whether from the centre or at regional health authority level, will be guided by the principle that they shall have the best possible mix of background and experience. And that includes a fair representation of women.
It is perhaps a little unfortunate that the noble Baroness used the words "new blood". This is one of the "in" things, it is not? There are three magic words in our society; new, young and free. It does not necessarily follow that the new blood will be any better than the old blood that has gone before. Change is not always for the best. We live in a very changed society and I should certainly not say that many of the changes that we are seeing are for the best. To start with, this particular Bill will change things, but not for the better.
128 The suggestion was a little unfortunate: we all know the devastating feeling one has when one is pushed off a committee. Those are the only words one can use. It is not the same as being told by an employer that one is to lose one's job; in that case a reason has to be given. I recall being on the Consumer Council and as soon as the noble Baroness, Lady Oppenheim-Barnes, as she now is, came in, four of us were pushed off What had we in common? Not our lack of experience with consumer affairs. We all happen to be socialists—a pure coincidence, I am sure.
The words should be written into the Bill. It is all very well for the Minister to say that it will not happen. An advertisement will say that those who applied before may re-apply; otherwise, people tend to think that they have tried once, did not receive a reply and therefore will not try again. This is exactly the same situation. People who come off the authority will not expect to be reappointed; yet they are probably extremely valuable people. We want people of quality and dedication. We have had them in the past. The Government should think very carefully before becoming too hooked up on this "new blood" idea, particularly if it is to be all male.
The noble Baroness voiced a very sound conservative principle when she declared that not all change is for the best. As we might perhaps put it on this side of the Chamber, the burden of proof rests on those who advocate change. We might invite the noble Baroness to cross the Floor at some time; she will find herself among friends.
When I heard the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Walton, I looked again at the Bill, because it did not seem to me that it contained anything to stop the reappointment of competent people who were eligible for reappointment. My noble friend on the Front Bench has entirely reassured me on that point. I certainly support the idea of smaller authorities and the proposition that within any particular district it would not be right to have providers and authorities sitting together; they will be faced with impossible conflicts of interest.
Subject to that, I hope that those with experience and who remain eligible will be fully eligible for reappointment. My noble friend has given the reassurance that we seek on that point. In those circumstances there is really no need to press the amendment.
§ Lord Monkswell
I wonder whether I may raise a point which the Minister mentioned regarding the possibility of GPs being on the health authorities. Part of the argument is that those who are budget holders should not be on the authority because effectively they will be employing themselves in some respects. However, we are in a situation where there are no budget holders and there will not be any budget holders until after the introduction of the new authorities. We are thus in a position of being asked by the Government to say that we will only pick health authority members who are not going to be budget holders. We do not know who they will be and therefore almost by definition the 129 Government will exclude all GPs because they might become budget holders. There is concern about that philosophy and attitude of mind. In effect we shall see the total exclusion of GPs from health authorities.
We all recognise that GPs have made a significant contribution as members of health authorities. Perhaps I may expand a little on that point. We do not argue about GPs being members of family practitioner committees, where in effect they are employing themselves. Therefore the argument that as budget holders they should not be members of a district health authority does not hold water. The providers of the service have always been involved in running the service. One should not discriminate against some providers by saying that they should not be involved in overseeing the service. That is a new idea from the Government. It is almost a new principle, and it is being introduced without the sanction of Parliament and without any real consideration by Parliament. This is not the way to seek change, especially in such a significant institution in our British way of life as the National Health Service.
I am grateful to the noble Lord for emphasising this point because it is important to reassure people and to allay any anxieties which may have arisen as a result of the introduction of these proposals. I should like to reaffirm that it is not intended that GPs as a group should be excluded from regional health authorities or district health authorities. We shall bear that very much in mind when issuing guidance. I should also point out that no appointments will be made in this respect until after the Bill receives Royal Assent. As to the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Phillips, to which my noble friend Lord Jenkin to some extent replied, it is in the nature of things that fresh blood must be introduced from time to time. That is recognised even in your Lordships' House.
I agree entirely with the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, that there is nothing in the Bill to preclude the appointment to health authorities of those who have served on such authorities in the past. The purpose of the amendment was to fulfil a probing function. In the light of the clear and unequivocal assurances that we have received from the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
§ On Question, Whether Clause I shall stand part of the Bill?
I put down my name to oppose the Question as a means of probing an aspect of the Bill which I find somewhat arcane. In the Explanatory and Financial Memorandum of the Bill there is a straightforward sentence which I can understand. It states that Clause 1, streamlines the procedures for altering the boundaries of regions and districts". 130 I assume that Clause 1(3) deals with streamlining. It refers us to the schedule. I confess that I cannot make head or tail of any of the wording of the schedule, but that is the only part of the Bill that could remotely refer to streamlining. I hope that I am talking about the right part. I want to ask about the streamlining procedures. I am probing at this stage rather than tabling an amendment in the hope that I can have some explanation of what the Government have in mind.
The boundaries of regions and districts are extremely important. Indeed the way the Government's proposals work in practice will certainly depend on the boundaries of the regions, the districts and the FHSAs. Nothing makes this point more clearly than a consideration of the way fund-holding practices will work. What a fund-holding general practitioner can do, and for that matter what someone who is not a fund holder can do, will depend on definitions of boundaries. In other words, it will depend on which region or district he is in. This point also applies to self-regulating trusts. We cannot regard the question of boundaries as a trivial matter.
This leads me to the actual questions that I wish to raise under this heading. First, can the noble Baroness say what "streamlining" means? What do the Government have in mind? Can she say in particular what problems with the present National Health Service Act have led to the requirement for streamlining? Secondly, how will the new method of streamlining work in practice? What will happen? Thirdly, have the Government any proposals for streamlining particular medical practices and hospitals?
I have taken this opportunity to raise the issue of streamlining. As I have found it rather esoteric, it may well be that the noble Baroness will also find it rather esoteric. She may feel that she does not want to plunge into giving me a definitive answer at this moment. But it would be helpful to me if she could give a definitive answer at some time before Report stage. Purely theoretically, it seems that the kind of worries I have had about the ordinary NHS side of the boundary question and streamlining will also apply, perhaps even a fortiori, to the community care side, where again the region, the district and the FHSA that one happens to be in seems to be the relevant matter. I raise these points as this stage solely for information and enlightenment but with a view in due course if I do learn enough about the subject to table amendments.
I am grateful to the noble Lord for explaining the investigatory nature of his intervention. I shall do my best to give him an adequate answer. If it is not adequate I shall be happy to supplement it further at later stages.
The intention behind making new arrangements for boundary changes in Clause 1 is to remove the requirement on the Secretary of State to consult on an order varying the boundary of the health authority, including an order establishing a new one or abolishing or merging an existing one. At present a somewhat wasteful duplication of consultation is involved in the process. This is where the 131 streamlining comes in. The regional health authority consults widely on the principle of boundary change or merger but the Secretary of State is then required to repeat this consultation, concentrating on the content of the order, not the principle. There will continue to be thorough consultation but there will also be a removal of the possibility of duplication.
The clause simply aims to make the process quicker and more comprehensible to those consulted and, it is to be hoped, to all of us. A single consultation exercise will be undertaken by the regional health authority. The wasteful and confusing duplication of consultation exercises will therefore end. It should not be seen as a green light for widescale district health authority mergers. The reforms of health authority membership are not about wholesale restructuring but are designed to concentrate management attention where it matters. The regional health authority will be expected to consult widely at local level before putting proposals to the Secretary of State. He will consider them only where there is a compelling case for a change. I hope that my explanation is helpful to the noble Lord.
§ Clause 1 agreed to.
§ Clause 2 [Family Health Services Authorities]:
§ Lord Winstanley moved Amendment No. 2A: Page 2, line 43, at end insert ("but appointments to the Family Health Services Authorities shall reflect the importance of continuity of service").
§ The noble Lord said: This amendment is not dissimilar to that moved by the noble Lord, Lord Walton, in relation to Clause 1. Clause 2 deals with the new family health services authorities which were the family practitioner committees. In turn they were the executive councils and local committees. I speak as one who served as a member of the Lancashire Executive Council and the Lancashire Local Medical Committee before both of those organisations were reorganised and subsumed under the new title of family practitioner committees. Therefore, I know a little about the running of these bodies. I worked very closely with a family practitioner committee with which I was under contract in general practice.
§ The amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Walton, was to ensure that there was nothing to debar the reappointment of people to health authorities. I do not ask for that because my amendment merely requires that, appointments to the Family Health Services Authorities shall reflect the importance of continuity of service".
§ The noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, in the course of an earlier intervention said that those who propose change have a duty to demonstrate the advisability of the change. I say to him that I am not opposed to change but I have some belief in the principle of the inevitability of gradualness. Therefore, I prefer changes not to be too dramatic. I should not like to see suddenly wiped out a family practitioner committee containing some very valuable members with great experience and its replacement by people with no experience of running a family practitioner committee or what is now to be called a family health service authority.
§ Continuity of service is very important. If the experienced people who have served for some years are suddenly removed and replaced by people with very little experience, the likelihood is that the new people will tend to do exactly what the chief officer tells them to do. To my mind that is not an ideal family health service authority. I believe that continuity is important. In making these appointments I hope that proper consideration will be given to this matter. We have a new system with all kinds of new procedures taking place as regards the general practitioner services, quite apart from the new contact. If we suddenly have totally new committees administering these bodies without any continuity, the departure of experienced people who have served on those committees would be a bad development.
§ I hope that I shall receive some reassuring words from the noble Baroness when she comes to reply. I beg to move.
I am currently a member of the Manchester Family Practitioner Committee. I have to tell the Committee that over the past six months or so there has been the introduction of general managers to family practitioner committees as opposed to administrators. In some cases the original administrators have become the new general managers, so there is continuity of service in that respect. However, on a quite significant number of occasions there has been the replacement of the original administrator by a new person as general manager.
In my experience that has led not to difficulties, because that would be too strong a word, but to a need for education of the new general managers, which is necessary in the sense that the new general managers have come from outside the health service. They have not been aware of the traditions and the ways in which the National Health Service has worked, besides the particular emphasis and importance of aspects of service in the family practitioner committee arena.
It has been vitally important for the established members and chairpersons of the committees to be available to give advice and guidance to the new general managers of the family practitioner service. Given that context, the amendment which the noble Lord, Lord Winstanley, has moved is doubly important. Not only do we need a general sense of continuity in the National Health Service but also in the very specific context of the family practitioner service and what is to be called the family health service authority. We have very special circumstances. The introduction of the new general managers reinforces the need for continuity among the membership of these new advisers. I support the noble Lord in his amendment. I hope that we can get some understanding from the Government of the need for this continuity.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Henley)
I can assure the noble Lords, Lord Winstanley and Lord Monkswell, that we shall not be throwing away the valuable experience of existing members of family 133 health service authorities, as my noble friend has already said as regards both regional and district health authorities. I am sure that many lay members will be reappointed and others will be well placed to contribute to the work of the authority in other ways; for example, by serving on sub-committees. We share the concern of both noble Lords as regards continuity. If they look at Working for Patients, paragraph 7.24 they will note that it is stated that: The Government will ensure that the new lay membership will preserve a measure of continuity with FPCs as currently constituted". Nothing in the Bill jeopardises that.
I emphasise that the main objective in selecting members for the new authorities will be to enable the best people to be appointed for the job. Where the appointing authorities can achieve this and maintain continuity they will obviously wish to do so. However, there is no need for this to be a legislative requirement. Indeed, if we were to state it in legislation here we could inadvertently cast doubt on our ability to maintain continuity elsewhere. I hope with that in mind and in the light of those assurances that the noble Lord will not press this amendment to a Division.
I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his observations and reassuring remarks. I accept what he has said as being his intentions and no doubt those of his department. I hope that time will no: show that my confidence has been misplaced. It will be disastrous if we later find that the family health services in a certain area are being run by a committee comprised of members who have had no experience of running them and with a general manager who comes from outside and is also without experience. That would mean that the family practitioner services were being run by the Secretary of State or by his minions in the department. That is something which has to be avoided because it is certainly not the right way to run family health services.
I am grateful to the noble Lord for his reassurances. I shall await with interest reassurance from what actually happens. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
§ Lord Kilmarnock moved Amendment No. 3: Page 3, leave out lines 7 to 9.
§ The noble Lord said: In moving this amendment I am speaking also to Amendments Nos. 37B, 37C, 95, 102, 103ZA and 105. I believe that in doing so it will be for the convenience of the Committee. This series of amendments derives from remarks that I made at Second Reading in which I criticised the Bill for perpetuating and reinforcing the demarcations between the district health authority and the family practitioner committee—now to be called the family health service authority—made directly responsible to the regional health authority.
§ I suggested that it would make better sense to amalgamate the family health service authority with the relevant district or districts, thus breaking down the artificial division between the family 134 practitioners, the hospitals and the community health service. This is not only SDP policy. In their eighth report the House of Commons Social Services Select Committee reaffirmed their recommendation, contained both in their first report of 1986-87 and in their fifth report of 1987-88, that the functions of DHAs and FPCs should be merged.
§ The case for the merging of their respective functions is strong as both bodies have an important public health role and the FPCs are currently subject to annual and full four-yearly performance reviews, and the health authorities are also required to produce an annual report, which could lead to unnecessary duplication. There are many population based services such as child health surveillance, immunisation and vaccination which are currently provided both by GPs and DHAs, and so amalgamation of services should provide useful rationalisation.
§ The Government's response has been rather ambiguous. Responding to the Social Services Commitee's eighth report they stated that in their view the amalgamation of FPCs and DHAs would not be in the interests of the health service. However, the White Paper Working for Patients states in paragraph 3.20 that as more and more hospitals opt to become self-governing some DHAs will cease to be viable and will need to consider the possibility of sensible mergers with neighbouring Districts. Larger Districts might eventually become candidates for mergers with Family Practitioner Committees".
§ These amendments would facilitate that development.
§ I turn now to the amendments themselves. Amendment No. 3 would leave out Clause 2(6), which as at present written precludes the possible amalgamation of DHAs and FHSAs by preventing the inclusion of a family health services authority in the expression "health authority", as defined in the principal Act, which restricts that definition to regional and district health authorities; so it would be necessary to remove that to pave the way for possible amalgamations.
§ Amendments Nos. 37B and 37C to Schedule 1 would make DHAs responsible for appointments to FHSAs rather than the regional health authorities, thus making for a better co-ordination between the two main providing arms of the service.
§ Amendments Nos. 102, 103ZA and 105 taken together have the effect of shifting the direct responsibility for the functioning and financing of the family health services authorities from the regional health authority to the district health authority, with the object of achieving better co-ordination, as I have already explained. It would be in everybody's interests—consultants, GPs, nurses and community health workers—to ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care, not necessarily in hospital. It would also provide an incentive to health authorities as a whole to invest in health promotion and stimulate a wider range of GP services, which might include the rehabilitation of GP or community hospitals to reduce expensive and unnecessary stays in acute hospitals.
§ I have deliberately jumped over Amendment No. 95, which is also grouped with this series, to which 135 I now revert. This is intended to open up the possibility of an entire district health authority becoming a self-governing NHS trust, as referred to in Amendments Nos. 102 and 103ZA. This ties in with our desire to amalgamate family health services with district health authorities because as a result of this amendment family health services authorities could merge either with an existing DHA or with those that had taken the decision to become self-governing.
§ Amendment No. 95 is a probing amendment, as are all the others, because it is very important to establish at an early stage in the discussion of the Bill what attitude the Government propose to take to the applications they have received from NHS bodies and units other than from single hospitals to become self-governing NHS trusts.
§ I have here a list, which I believe to be fairly up-to-date, of units which have applied for NHS trust status. It is quite a long one so I certainly will not go through it all, but it includes not only free-standing hospitals but also such units as Cornwall primary care services, Great Yarmouth and Waverley priority services; a number of units concerned with mental health, for example, the Newcastle mental health unit, Cornwall mental handicap services, South Lincolnshire mental handicap services; as well as a number of community services units such as North-West Herts, community services unit. Last but not least, there are about a dozen district health authorities which I understand have made an application for National Health Service trust status in their entirety. Amongst those are Central Manchester Health Authority, Brighton Health Authority, Bristol and Western Health Authority, Bassetlaw Health Authority and Rugby Health Authority.
§ I am trying to establish through this amendment in particular what the Government's attitude is likely to be towards the various applications. As I have already said, it is of great importance for the Government to tell us today how they view these applications and those of other smaller units. I suggest that the statement that they will be considered on their merits is not good enough. I think we have a right to know the Government's general policy in this area, because a trust could be of especial value to rural districts such as those of North Devon and Bassetlaw which perhaps have only one acute hospital and which are particularly anxious to keep their hospital and their community health services together. We wish to know the Government's general policy in this area because it will have a considerable effect on our view of later stages of the Bill.
§ As currently drafted, the Bill may well allow DHAs to become self-governing. Clause 5 states: The Secretary of State may by order establish bodies … to assume responsibility … for the ownership and management of hospitals or other establishments or facilities which were previously managed or provided by Regional, District or Special Health Authorities".
§ This could well mean that all the services currently provided by DHAs would be covered, but it is not entirely clear and I submit that it must be clarified.
§ There are two questions: whether the Bill allows scope for the applications of the type that I have listed and, if so, what the Government's attitude is towards them.
§ I apologise for having taken up some of the time of the Committee. I hope I have explained the intended effect of the amendments and the thinking behind them, but before I sit down perhaps I should also admit that the drafting may be too prescriptive. In particular, I should like to make it clear that it is not my intention that the structures that I propose should be mandatory over the whole service but rather that they should be opened up as possibilities within the experimental framework which I believe many of your Lordships support. Therefore, if these amendments find favour in principle the drafting defects can be remedied before the next stage of the Bill. I beg to move.
I too await with interest the reply of the noble Baroness to the group of amendments moved by the noble Lord, Lord Kilmarnock. I think it is only fair to the noble Lord to say to him that there was a time when I very much agreed with the ideas which he has put forward. He will remember that some of them hark back to the days when Dr. David Owen was Minister of Health. At that time he was much concerned, as were many of us, about the so-called tripartite structure of the National Health Service. In those days it was divided into three parts, like old Gaul: the preventive services, the hospital services and the domiciliary services. The idea at the time was that the three never should meet, and they never seemed to do so. I felt that that was illogical, and I had to do away with it. Therefore, I agreed with some of the ideas which have led to this group of amendments.
However, experience has taught me that there are certain dangers in fusing family health services with the hospital services because very often their interests are in part in conflict. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Kilmarnock, will recollect this fact. Whenever the hospitals in a certain area suffer what they believe to be cuts—and let us not argue as to whether they were cuts—or whenever they are short of funds and unable to discharge their duties fully, a much heavier burden immediately falls upon the family practitioner services. That happens automatically because hospitals discharge people sooner, or they cannot admit them, and more and more work is left to the family health services.
In many ways at present our family health services are under threat. They are a unique type of mechanism, and I hope that they can be protected. They will be better able to protect themselves in a rapidly changing world if they are left under a separate administrative structure. Therefore, I make clear the fact that while some of these ideas appealed to me at one time, I am now opposed to the amalgamation of the family health service authority. Whatever such an amalgamation would mean for hospitals, it would certainly be to the detriment of the domiciliary services.
§ Lord Henley
I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Kilmarnock, appreciates some of the aims behind 137 our reforms. However, I am not sure whether the noble Lord, Lord Winstanley, was able to follow his arguments. I was particularly pleased to notice his support for the concept of self-government. For too long the NHS has laboured under a very centralised direction. The move to self-government will free the initiative of all concerned with patient care—namely, doctors, nurses, managers and members—to find local solutions to local problems and to offer the best service within the ever-growing resources available. The amendments recognise the importance of that fact.
However, there is a major difficulty. Unlike our proposals, the amendments do not recognise the important role of the district health authority. Indeed, they do away with it altogether. That is a move which is misguided. Under our proposals, the role of the district health authority will be enhanced rather than diminished. It will no longer be constrained by its operational responsibilities. Instead, it will be free to assess the needs of its resident population and plan to meet them in the most effective way. That will involve intensive work in the planning and community medicine disciplines, both of which have already been strengthened under this Government.
Distri;ts will need to survey all the providers of services within their area in order to ensure that they achieve the best deal for their patients. They will be in an excellent position to influence all providers as they will be able to back their decisions with resources for the first time. The amendments fail to recognise that central role; instead, the new district health trusts combine within themselves the two distinct roles of purchaser and provider of services. That will not lead to clarity. I fear that such organisations would find their plans and aspirations increasingly driven by what services were available, instead of using their purchasing policy to influence providers into meeting precise local needs. In short, many of the benefits which their devolved management would give them would be lost by this fundamental confusion in role.
The noble Lord raised the issue of the DHA and FHSA merger. The White Paper made it clear that the merger of these bodies was possible but only in the longer term. We feel that it would be too destructive in the short term and that it would distract both the district health authorities and the FHSAs from carrying out more important tasks.
While speaking to Amendment No. 95, the noble Lord raised the question of district health authorities becoming NHS trusts. As I said on Second Reading, we are prepared to recognise that it may make sense for the full range of services in a district to become self-governing. We do not wish to prescribe that, nor do we wish to rule it out. The Government will certainly consider applications from whole districts, using benefit to patients as the key criterion. However, as I indicated, we shall ensure that the planning and purchasing functions remain distinct within the district health authority. I hope that the noble Lord will accept that our approach meets his objectives and that he will not press his amendments.
§ Lord Kilmarnock
I am fairly grateful to the noble Lord for his reply. I should stress that I do not intend to press the amendments. However, I should like to clear up one confusion which has arisen. He seemed to suggest that in these amendments we were detracting in some way from the role of the DHA. That was not the intention. Concerning the purchaser and provider, under the proposed structure we would maintain the internal market because one district would be free to trade with another. Therefore there would be some operation of the internal market in some inter-district trading.
The noble Lord is correct to say that we support to a considerable extent the trust concept as it gives greater flexibility over the terms and conditions of employing staff, the freedom to borrow either from the Government or from the private sector, subject to an overall financing limit, and also a freedom to retain notional services and to build up reserves. We agree that those facilities ought to be available to a National Health Service trust and to a district health authority (which became a National Health Service trust) if we see any of these coming into being.
I was glad to hear the noble Lord acknowledge the possibility of a merger in the longer term. It was foreshadowed by the White Paper. I noted that remark with some considerable interest. However, as we are in Committee I should like to probe a little further on one aspect of the matter. The noble Lord went some way to saying that it may make sense for a full range of services embodied in a district to acquire trust status. However, he did not give any idea of the criteria upon which that would be decided. For example, would it be because it made more sense in a rural area that it did in an urban area? That is certainly the view that is held in some of the smaller rural districts which cover the larger areas geographically. They feel that it would be helpful to them to be able to maintain their services together.
As I understand it, a number of other units have applied for trust statues, but they do not extend to the full extent of the district services. In other words, they are community units, mental health units or ambulance units and so on. Before I withdraw the amendments, I wonder whether the noble Lord can help us a little further on how the Government will look at those applications. However, I was not displeased with the latter part of his response.
I shall respond briefly to the noble Lord's remarks. As he said, any unit of whatever kind can apply. Its eligibility for National Health Service trust status will be considered on its merits. To make the position quite clear perhaps I may return to the question of whole districts. As I said, it might make sense for the full range of services in a district to become NHS trusts. However, that will only relate to the services in the district. The DHA's other roles—that is, planning, purchasing and public health—must be kept separate.
I am grateful to the noble Lord for that clarification. I shall study his reply with great care when it is printed in the Official Report. 139 In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
§ [Amendment No. 4 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.]
§ Schedule 1 [Health Authorities and Family Health Services Authorities]:
§ Baroness Young moved Amendment No. 5: Page 63, line 7, after ("(1)") insert; ("Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below").
§ The noble Baroness said: I wish to move this amendment and at the same time speak to Amendments Nos. 16, 23 and 31. I regard these as an important series of amendments. They concern the position of universities and in particular the relationship of universities to the National Health Service.
§ I raised this point shortly before Christmas in the debate introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Hunter of Newington. I expressed what I regard as the importance of getting the relationship right. The matter was raised by a great many noble Lords during the debate on the Second Reading of the Bill. I shall leave it to other noble Lords who have attached their names to the amendment to set out in some detail the importance of universities in the health service. I make only three short points.
§ First, universities provide all the undergraduate education and training of all the nation's doctors and dentists. Secondly, they make a significant contribution to post-graduate medical education and continuing medical education. Thirdly, they provide most of the clinical research upon which the future of the National Health Service rests.
§ The purpose of these four amendments—I have others down later on the Marshalled List which apply the same principle to Scotland—is to ensure that universities share the decision-making process with health authorities at the highest level. Amendment No. 16 refers to the regional health authority, Amendment No. 23 to the district health authority and Amendment No. 31 to Wales.
§ I said at the beginning that I regarded this as an important series of amendments. The whole organisation and structure of funding, both of the universities and of the health service which are interlocked, are a complicated matter. The committee under the chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Croham, reported on the UGC. At one point it criticised the lack of consultation between the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Science on the subject of medical education. As a result, the steering group on undergraduate medical education was set up. It was greatly welcomed by the universities as an improved way forward but it does not replace the need for universities to be a part of the decision-making process, both at regional and at district level.
§ I believe that great harm can be done not only to teaching and research but also to the service and to 140 patient care—which at the end of the day is what the entire debate is about and which universities provide—if unilateral decisions were to be taken by some authorities without taking account of the views and position of universities. There are examples of that on which I have no doubt others will speak from their personal experience.
§ However, there is one particular aspect of the whole concern which separates this series of amendments from the many others on the Marshalled List concerning representations of one kind or another. I am referring to the straightforward and easily understood fact that universities bring money to the table. They bring some £240 million via the Department of Education and Science. I fully appreciate that in the context of the entire expenditure of the National Health Service this is a small amount. However, it is an important amount. I was about to say that universities are at the cutting edge but that might be regarded as a macabre pun on medical education. Nevertheless, that is exactly where they fall in training, education and research.
§ Perhaps I may add a personal anecdote to illustrate my interest in the matter. One of the jobs that I have taken on over the past two years is the chairmanship of a large medical appeal for the Oxford hospitals. That has not only brought me into contact with medical research but it has shown me the close inter-working between the university department of clinical medicine, the National Health Service and private money. Each is dependent on the others. It is very much a joint project and one that is worthwhile. However, it clearly depends on the close relationship between the universities and both the regions and the districts or the new regions and the new districts when they are set up.
§ I said in my opening remarks that the matter had been raised by a great many noble Lords in the course of Second Reading speeches. Not only was it raised by a number of noble Lords but I have every reason to believe that the Government recognised the point. I very much hope that my noble friend Lady Hooper will be able to say something positive about this. The Government recognised it when the Bill was going through another place. Perhaps I may quote from the correspondence between the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Sir Christopher France and Sir Edward Parkes, Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals. Sir Christopher writes in his letter dated 25th January 1990: For the future, the White Paper"—
§ that is to say, the forerunner of the Bill— recognised the case for University membership of both relevant Health Authorities and NHS Trusts and there are proposals accordingly in the NHS and Community Care Bill. On NHS Trusts, paragraph 3(1)(d) of Schedule 2 provides that, where a Trust has a significant teaching commitment, someone drawn from the University or Medical School is to be included among the non-executive directors.
§ That is now on the face of the Bill: On DHA membership, there will be provision in regulations for teaching District Authorities to continue as now to include a member drawn from the relevant University. Paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 of the Bill allows for the relevant regulations to be made and these will specify that one of the non-executive members of the teaching district is to be drawn from the 141 appropriate University or Medical School. The fact that this is how the power is to be used has been made clear to the members of the S:anding Committee in the 'Notes on Clauses'
§ That is a reference to the Standing Committee in another place. My noble friend Lady Hooper said on Second Reading regarding these matters at col. 1258 of Hansard of 3rd April 1990: In the case of districts with significant teaching responsibilities, the membership will also include representation from the relevant university or medical school".
§ I believe that my noble friend has understood the importance of the point. I hope therefore that she will be able to tell the Committee this afternoon that the Government accept the principle behind these amendments. As always on these occasions I shall quite understand if she feels that the amendments are not correctly drafted or if she would like to come back at a later stage with a redraft.
§ I hope that my noble friend will understand the impor:ance of this series of amendments which has been recognised in all parts of your Lordships' House. It is not simply of importance to the universities although that in itself is important; it is very important for the National Health Service itself. It is self-evidently true that without good medical education there will be no future National Health Service. It is also self-evidently true that without clinical research we shall not make the advances on the frontiers of medicine which are so important for the health of everybody in the country.
§ These amendments seek to make the Bill work better and to make the National Health Service work better as regards both the points I have mentioned. For the reasons that I have given I believe that the case of the universities is quite separate and distinct from that of other organisations. I hope therefore that these amendments will be considered in that light. I regard that as an important matter. With those remarks I hope that my noble friend will feel able to accept these amendments. As I said earlier, I am sure that they are in the best interests of the National Health Service. I beg to move.
§ Lord Dainton
Perhaps I can be a little more explicit on the effects of these amendments by reference to my own experience. If this group of amendments—Amendments Nos. 5, 16, 23 and 31—is accepted, it would remove the anomaly to which I drew the attention of the Chamber on Second Reading; namely, that as the Bill is now drafted, a NHS trust which is responsible for a teaching hospital would be compelled to have one of its non-executive directors appointed from the university whose students were taught in that hospital. Health authorities, on the other hand, would not be compelled to have a member from the university. I am sure, as I said on Second Reading, the Committee will agree that that is illogical. I ventured to think that it must be an oversight.
If the Bill is amended in the manner which has been suggested, both health authorities and trusts will gain the benefit of the university experience in their policy making, especially in relation to teaching and research in clinical medicine and dentistry. The argument for extending university membership to the health authorities rests on the fact that, as in 142 the past, they will be the fora in which priorities concerning hospitals are argued and where important decisions are made which will be reflected ultimately in their budgets. By illustration, I hope I may remind the Committee that when a health authority has responsibility for teaching hospitals its planning must take into account a range of facts, of which I shall just choose six important ones.
First, as the noble Baroness has already mentioned, full-time academic staff who are paid by the university will each be responsible for some of the patient care. In some university hospitals that contribution is substantial. In one university hospital that I know all the chiefs of service are full-time academic staff.
Secondly such hospitals will contain so-called "embedded accommodation" which has been provided and is still maintained at the expense of the university. That money is in addition to the some £260 million of which the noble Baroness, Lady Young, has spoken. Thirdly, the teaching and research conducted by those academic staff add to the average patient cost, I made that point on Second Reading. That fact is recognised by an increment of income provided by the Department of Health to health authorities in respect of each student enrolled. That is known as SIFT or a special increment for teaching. In practice that sum is also meant to provide a contribution towards additional research costs and may therefore be better termed as SIFT and R. An important feature of that sum is that it should be agreed precisely in amount and destination between the university and the regional health authority. If there is no such agreement I am afraid that chaos will ensue.
Fourthly, many of the resources of equipment, premises, libraries and other things which are provided by the university are almost always used by the staff of the health service and vice versa. The maintenance of this close and symbiotic relationship is of the highest importance in achieving a high standard of patient care, no less than in maintaining standards of teaching and research.
Fifthly, it is extremely important to maintain that distribution of patients with particular illnesses which is appropriate for the teaching and research that is carried out in a particular university hospital. That is clearly a matter of great importance when authorities are considering bed allocations, tertiary referral policy and other matters.
Finally, it is vitally necessary to maintain a standard of medical care and facilities which demonstrates to clinical students the standards which they should maintain throughout their working lives; in other words it has to be of exemplary quality. If this is done imperfectly, the performance of those students when they become doctors with clinical responsibility will be less than it should be. I am sure the Committee will appreciate that that would have deleterious knock-on effects which would affect many more patients in the subsequent 30 or 40 years during which such students will practise as doctors.
As a consequence of that and many other arguments which I could adduce, if health authorities are to discharge satisfactorily their duties of teaching 143 and research, it is essential for them to contain members who take a full part in the decision-making process, and who are fully cognisant of the issues I have mentioned and others like them and how those issues can be resolved. Indeed I would go further and say that unless the universities have a voice on the health authorities it will be difficult for them—the universities—to discharge their responsibilities as regards being accountable for the public money which they have received to provide an education for future doctors and dentists and also to carry out research in clinical medicine and dentistry. In all those circumstances it seems to me quite essential that membership of the health authorities by persons nominated by the universities should be enshrined in the Bill.
In that context I wish to draw the attention of the Committee to the fact that on a previous occasion reference was made to the requirement on universities and health authorities to have liaison committees. However, unfortunately, those liaison committees were not required to report to the health authority on the one hand and the university on the other. Therefore, the work of many of those liaison committees was in a considerable measure disregarded by both health authorities and universities. I believe that that is a compelling argument for ensuring that we put into the Bill a provision regarding the membership of health authorities to ensure that they incorporate a university element. In that context I should add that I have always regarded the arguments I have deployed as having considerable reciprocal force. By that I mean that there is also a strong case for a university council to have a member, preferably its chairman, drawn from the district health authority or the regional health authority. However, university government is not the subject of the Bill that we have before us. I refer to that point only to establish my own lack of bias.
Having given that background, I do not believe it is necessary for me to rehearse the details of these four amendments other than to emphasise that they provide for an unspecified number of such university people to be on regional health authorities, but for only two to be on a district health authority. The difference is to allow for the fact that there is no district health authority of which I am aware that has more than one university medical or dental school within its district, whereas I can think of some regional health authorities, notably in London and the Trent region which embraces Sheffield, Leicester and Nottingham, which have several medical schools.
I hope that I have put arguments which will enable the Government to recognise the validity of the case and in due course to modify the Bill accordingly. It would be a very great pity if the good relationships between the universities and the health service which are so necessary to the welfare of both, and the great tasks of slightly different kinds which lie ahead for each of them, should not be the best that can be achieved. The amendment will help that progress forward.
I should also like to lend my support to the amendments. My mind goes back to the time—which the noble Lord, Lord Flowers, will remember well—when we had to decide how we were to allocate the London teaching hospitals to the new district health authorities in London. It was only in London that the problem arose. Of all the administrative consequences of the creation of the new district health authorities which I had to deal with, that proved not only the most difficult but intellectually the most stimulating. That was partly because of the quality of the people with whom I was able to consult. I consulted very widely indeed. It was a considerable challenge and I believe that the solutions found at that time have mostly stood the test of time. That example demonstrates exactly what the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, said about the way in which the universities and health authorities established extremely close and satisfactory relationships.
I support the amendment. I shall oppose—not necessarily with my voice on every occasion but certainly with my vote—all the subsequent amendments put down to the Bill which are intended to establish representative members. Without wishing to anticipate those debates, it seems to me that the Government's proposals for dividing purchasers and providers depends crucially upon there not being a conflict of interest on the health authorities through having providers on the boards of the purchasers. Those amendments suffer throughout from that defect. Amendment No. 5 does not.
It is not necessarily a question of merging purchasers and providers but one of recognising the function of a district or regional health authority in administering the teaching and research activities of the hospitals which are part of the universities. I do not see how that could be done satisfactorily without the membership suggested in the amendments. I was interested to hear what the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, had to say about the other side of the matter. How many health authority chairmen have the time to devote to the time-consuming business to university administration is another question and not one which is before us. However, there needs to be very close co-ordination and understanding, and wherever possible there should be complete unanimity of view. That is enormously important.
Perhaps I may end by quoting an example of the problems that can arise. The Committee will remember the position that affected the Hammersmith Hospital. It was an ordinary district general hospital in an ordinary area health authority. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, must have been involved in the discussions just as I was. The Hammersmith Hospital was technically not a teaching hospital, although a postgraduate hospital, and not one of the 12 special health authorities. It created an extremely difficult relationship in what was then the Hammersmith and Fulham Area Health Authority.
In those circumstances the only solution was to take the hospital out of the area health authority and create a new special health authority. That is a solution which, as I told the other place, came to me 145 in my bath as I was pondering the problem. I went into the department the next morning and said that I thought that I had found a solution. My permanent secretary said, "I have been thinking, too. What is your solution?" I said that mine was a special health authority for Hammersmith and he said that, interestingly, he had come to the same conclusion. In his case I do not think that he had done so in his bath.
The point that I am making is that where there is a mixture of general health service and, as in that case, very special teaching functions, something more is required. It should not be regarded merely as an ordinary district hospital. The solution adopted by the amendments at least goes a long way towards perpetuating what has been on the whole a successful relationship in circumstances in which there could otherwise be considerable tension, acrimony and disagreement over policy. I hope that my noble friend will be able to make sympathetic noises regarding the amendments.
I repeat that I do not believe that the amendments propose representative membership in the way that all the subsequent amendments which will be moved seek 1o perpetuate what I believe has not been a satisfactory feature of the health service. I hope that my noble friend may be able to offer us some comfort.
As the President of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, perhaps I may offer congratulations to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, on taking a bath on that particular evening.
I very much support and welcome the amendments. I agree very much with the comments that have been made by the noble Baroness, Lady Young, and the noble Lord, Lord Dainton. As they have said, the universities have a vital and unique role in relation to the health of this nation. Not only do they train all of the doctors and dentists who serve in our National Health Service, but they and their associated hospitals play a crucial role in the research which leads to advances in medical treatment and improvements in the quality of care which patients receive.
As has been said, the working relationships between clinicians employed by universities on the one hand and health service staff on the other have been exceptionally close for many years. When I had the privilege of serving first as a clinical consultant in the Northern region, later in a clinical chair and subsequently as dean of a medical school, the integration between the two became very close. Ultimately it was virtually impossible in the deliberations of the board of the faculty of medicine to distinguish the contributions made by those employed by the university from those of staff employed by the NHS, and in the health authorities' deliberations to distinguish the contribution made by the university-employed staff from those of the staff employed by the NHS. That was because of the knock-for-knock agreement through which all 146 members of clincal departments in universities undertake patient care and NHS staff also teach students and do research in university departments and laboratories as well as caring for patients.
One of the crucial points relating to the regional issue is that the planning and distribution of regional specialties is the responsibility of the regional health authorities and will continue to be in the future. Most of the so-called high-technology clinical units for which specialties are provided regionally, such as neurology, neurosurgery, renal transplant and dialysis, cardiology and cardiac surgery, and the very specialised oncology and cancer care units, including those providing bone marrow transplants, are staffed at the senior level largely by university clinical academic staff One must be concerned that under the proposed system of contracts for services some of those units could be put at risk if only because GP budget holders might choose to send patients to less expensive units than to the high quality units provided on a regional basis.
It is therefore essential that the university has a direct role at regional level in decisions which could have an immediate impact on clinical teaching and research and on patient care in key regional specialties.
It is important also not to forget that nowadays much of the clinical teaching of medical students is undertaken in regional hospitals and not in the traditional teaching hospitals. In most of the regions in this country students, for their clinical teaching, are at times distributed throughout the region. It is therefore essential that appropriate safeguards are written into the Bill, as the noble Baroness, Lady Young, suggested, so that the universities' ability to provide the country with highly trained medical and dental staff, up-to-date research and high levels of patient care is not threatened.
Perhaps I may quote what was said recently by Sir Edward Parkes, chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals: Effective delivery of high quality medical and dental education, as required by the Medical Acts, depends on unity of purpose between the NHS and universities at all levels. This can only be achieved if a management structure which makes proper provision for university participation is written into the legislation". Hence I wish warmly to commend the amendments to the Committee. It is essential that there should be a member drawn from the university or universities in each region on the regional health authority and one, if not two, members nominated by the associated university on district health authorities which have a significant teaching and research commitment. I hope to see a university member on all district health authorities throughout the region.
§ Earl Russell
On behalf of the Liberal Democrat Benches I should like briefly and without unduly gilding the lily to add support to the amendments.
I listened with interest to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding. I am glad that he said that these amendments are distinct from some of those that follow. This is not a case for representation; this is a case of partnership. There is a difference of 147 function, at the same time working, as the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, said, with unity of purpose.
We have here a good working relationship. The concern of a good many of us is that that working relationship should continue. Once the Bill is on the statute book, I presume that there will be a good deal of change going on within the health service in one way or another. During the progress of that change, it is important that the good working relationship should not be disturbed. It will be much easier to bring that about if consultation can go on at all stages with views heard as early as possible before decisions are taken. In that spirit I should like to support the amendments.
§ Baroness Carnegy of Lour
It has been made clear by noble Lords that a number of the functions of universities and health authorities are inseparable. I am not sure that the solution of the problem is as simple as the amendment suggests. The amendment proposes that there should be grafted on to an arrangement, under which people are not representative, representatives of universities. I do not know whether that is possible while not adopting that method for all the other bodies which long to be represented as can be seen from other amendments. However, I hope that some way will be found for the universities to become part of the health authorities. There is no basis for arguing otherwise. I hope that my noble friend will find a way, although I am not sure that the solution suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, would accord with the strategy of the Bill. I shall be interested to hear what my noble friend has to say.
Perhaps I may make one comment. I hate the word representation and I deliberately avoided it. The test here is simple: if we want the health authorities, in doing their job, to have the highest degree of competence, it is inevitable that that must mean a university representative. Perhaps that word should be deleted from the record; I mean a person who will inevitably be nominated, among others perhaps, by the university and who will ultimately be appointed by the Secretary of State. That is how I look at the matter.
§ Lord Flowers
I should like to support this group of amendments so ably proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Young. Members of the Committee have made many of the points that I would have wished to put. However, I want to speak for the University of London and its peculiar position with regard to the National Health Service. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, for his kind remarks about our herculean efforts to put our medical affairs in some semblance of order.
The University of London has to deal with four regional health authorities, 14 district health authorities and eight special health authorities. It has 12 medical schools, three of which are wholly postgraduate, and about 30 major university hospitals are involved in its work as well as many smaller ones. Between them they train about a third of the country's doctors.
148 A case which I could perhaps use to illustrate the complexity of the problem involves our work in the North-East Thames region which contains St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, the London Hospital Medical College, the University College and Middlesex hospitals, which belong to University College, London, and the Royal Free Hospital Medical School. There are five university hospitals, seven district health authorities, the headquarters of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation, plus several of its seven institutes, seven special health authorities, 12 hospitals and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine together with another hospital.
In this House, only the noble Lord, Lord Annan, and myself know what it is like to be Vice-Chancellor in such a situation. It is not something that I recommend to any other noble Lords. I shall merely say that it is an extremely honourable burden. However, there have been times in my life as Vice-Chancellor when medical affairs have taken up as much as half my time for many months on end. Normally, they take up about a quarter of my time. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Annan, will say much the same.
The problem arises not from having a medical school, but from having to deal with many district health authorities and four regions and having to try to co-ordinate what goes on on the university front across all that. There is no disagreement among us that university medical schools contribute substantially to health service provision because doctors in the National Health Service and in the medical schools work side by side in providing patient care and in teaching and research. It follows that their policies, specialties and resources must be co-ordinated with those of the health authorities. One cannot run such a system if the policies are determined solely by one side of the partnership, by the National Health Service side or by the university side. Each side must have the deepest possible knowledge of the other and there must be collaboration.
Perhaps the most acute and best illustrated situation concerns capital provision in which regional health authorities will continue to have a major voice. For example, in my case, there is serious discussion about whether there will be a new Bloomsbury teaching hospital. That is the most important and largest capital item in the near future affecting the whole of the University of London, whether the medical or non-medical side. It is a large project. For such projects and for discussion of where specialties are to be found in different medical schools, it is essential that universities are involved in all such matters at the earliest planning stage. Happily, good sense has seen to it that there have been and are continuing consultations about the Bloomsbury hospital that I mentioned, but they should be required by law if we are moving in the direction that the Government have in mind.
Many working arrangements will be facilitated by university membership of boards at district and hospital levels rather than at regional level. I also greatly welcome the improved collaborative arrangements between universities and the National 149 Health Service proposed within the 10 key principles of the France steering group. However, I must emphasise that it is essential that the regional health authorities should also statutorily have knowledge of the problems of medical schools in their regions, if any, by including a member nominated by the appropriate university or universities.
I wholly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, that it is the knowledge of the role played by the medical schools which is of vital importance rather than their representational character. Among the membership of the regional health authority there must be somebody who understands the affairs of a medical school and how they contribute to the National Health Service. Those needs cannot be met simply by the suggestion in the letter of comfort that non-executive members might possibly be drawn from universities. One has to go a little further than that.
I shall not say any more other than summarise by saying that without statutory guarantees, which these amendments will provide, there will be a threat to the ability of universities to provide a secure long-term basis for medical and dental education and research and enable them to make their service contributions, all of which are so vital for the future welfare of the National Health Service.
§ Lord Adrian
I am the fourth person to put my name to this amendment. As I said at Second Reading, I believe that the proposed management boards need a more specific structure. My direct experience in these matters is nothing like as great as that of either of the noble Lords, Lord Dainton and Lord Flowers, but I have had some brief experience at Cambridge. In effect, as has already been said, many specialties provided at medical schools are made use of by health service patients in the whole of a region.
I agree with what has been said from all sides of the Chamber; namely, that it will lead to very great difficulties if regional management does not have a university presence and an input from the university. I agree also that it should not be specifically a representation of the university.
Cambridge medical school was founded about 20 years ago and has since been developing greatly. It attracts substantial funds from charity and industry to support more than half-a-dozen professorships in specialties of various kinds over and above those provided by the University Funding Council. The posts all carry honorary consultancies at Addenbrooke's Hospital. Also, the regional board has assisted developments in the medical school itself As was pointed out, the university contributes substantial resources and people to the health service. It must be able to join in the management decisions.
In the past that was done by the presence of the regius professor of physic, as we somewhat quaintly call our senior medical professor. Noble Lords will know that the chair was founded by Henry VIII and was recently occupied by the noble Lord, Lord Butterfield (who is sitting immediately in front of 150 me and who I am sure will speak much more knowledgeably than I about what has gone on).
The presence of the regius professor on the regional hospital board has meant that there has been a very productive integration of the joint resources brought to the whole enterprise of the National Health Service by the health service and the university. Services in the eastern region have been developed in a splendid spirit of co-ordination and by agreement. I have to question whether that can continue to be achieved, especially now that resources on both sides are less available than they were in some periods in the past. I question whether that kind of constructive relationship can easily continue without a university presence on the National Health Service authorities.
§ Lord Butterfield
I am tempted to make a few remarks to the Committee. I am very grateful to my colleague and friend, the noble Lord, Lord Adrian, for identifying me as someone in the succession started by Henry VIII in 1540. With great respect, I say to the Minister that it is terribly important that there should be integration between the teaching side and the performing side—the National Health Service and the universities.
I support the remarks made by the noble Baroness, Lady Young, who said that it was absolutely vital that we should get the relationship between the universities and the National Health Service right. In Cambridge we tried what I think may have lain behind the original drafting of this Bill; namely, the university liaison committee, to which the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, referred. It used to meet once or twice a year. The meetings were very unsatisfactory because they were never in phase with the political, planning and financial interests of the regional members. We did not get properly into the planning cycle. Eventually they were given up because we were never able to tie things together.
That is one reason why I believe that the Committee and the Government will give serious consideration to welding together the universities and other members of the new authorities. What really made things go in Cambridge—I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Adrian, for referring to it—was when I had the confidence, as a member of the regional health authority in Cambridge, to become intimately related with its officers, the treasurer and the regional medical officer. We began to integrate and plan our joint use of resources in, to my view, an increasingly better way. Indeed, in the famous France statement about the relationship between the medical schools and the NHS, which I think came out last month, reference was specifically made to the joint planning of the use of resources that had come about in Cambridge.
At this point I should like to pay sincere tribute to those regional medical officers, Dr. Duncan and Dr. O'Brien, who made it easier for us to decide which chairs to set up next. It also gave us a little authority with the benefactors when we could say, "This has been discussed in detail with the regional health authority. It would like to see the development of a chair in, say, clinical gerontology, to get exciting research going in that particular field". So I should 151 like to join with other much more experienced and able noble Lords to urge that this clutch of amendments be looked at very closely.
Eminent noble Lords have moved this amendment. Perhaps I may ask two very brief questions, one of which may be a little wide but is still of interest. Not long ago I had the pleasure of opening a small university unit in Leeds—a paediatric dental unit. The professor in charge of the unit was worried that in the future he might be short of teaching material.
I feel that there should be a link with the regions. What will happen if the teaching material is not available for the doctors and the dentists? My other question is concerned with the universities being short of money. Would it be reasonable for the private sector to contribute something because it benefits from the teaching and research of both doctors and dentists? Those are my questions.
Perhaps I may answer the noble Baroness from my experience on the question of getting private money into university teaching hospitals. To a certain extent that is achieved by many of the full-time academic staff being allowed to do some private practice provided that it is consonant with the policy of the school concerned and provided that the fees come to the school. There has been some discussion recently—the universities felt rather strongly about it—about the proportion of private practice fees which can be used for personal gain. It was felt that the issue might derogate considerably from the universities' motive in continuing their own research. There is a nice balance to be held. It is another reason for having a forum in which both sides are present as of right to hammer out the problems between them.
These amendments are indeed important. We have heard the views of some very important people in the course of our discussion this afternoon.
The Government recognise the need for effective joint working between the National Health Service and universities. Indeed, the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health chairs the steering group on undergraduate medical and dental education to which my noble friend Lady Young referred when moving the amendment, one of whose main purposes is to achieve just this aim of effective joint working. On 28th February the Permanent Secretary wrote to all health service general managers directing their attention to the importance of ensuring close and effective working between universities and the National Health Service. He enclosed the key principles to be observed and illustrative models for organisational arrangements. The measure was based on recommendations from the steering group which had been endorsed by the Secretaries of State for Health and for Education and Science. Copies were sent to the universities.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Health is fully committed to the maintenance of high standards of medical and dental education and 152 research and recognises that effective collaboration between universities at all levels and parts of the National Health Service is essential to the maintenance of these standards.
I recognise that in a sense universities are a special case when bringing money to the table. They contribute to the National Health Service and the National Health Service also makes a contribution to supporting medical education. That interdependence is reflected in the long established knock-for-knock funding arrangements to which the noble Lord, Lord Walton, referred. It underlines the importance of collaboration between the two areas.
The Permanent Secretary's steering group, to which I have referred, continued to look at the best ways to facilitate and improve that collaboration. The recently promulgated 10 principles which were welcomed by the noble Lord, Lord Flowers, deal with how to achieve that aim. They have been widely distributed.
On regional and district health authorities, as I said in speaking to a previous amendment, our reforms aim to resolve the fundamental confusion which exists at present as to whether these bodies are representative or managerial. A key problem at the moment is that many members seem to regard themselves as representatives of the bodies which nominated or appointed them. Under our proposals both regional and district health authorities will be reduced in size and the managers will also be members of the authority for the first time. We believe that this will provide a single focus for effective decision-making which will enable the newly constituted authorities to tackle the changes and challenges that the remainder of our reforms will introduce.
I repeat that no member will be appointed on a representative basis but solely on the basis of the personal contribution and experience that he or she can bring to the work of the authority. Nevertheless, because of the importance that the Government attach to medical education and research, special provision will be made in regulations so that teaching districts in England must have one of their non-executive members drawn from a university. In Wales, where the structure of the health service is different and there is no regional tier, all nine districts will have a university member. That is why paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 1 to the Bill allows the relevant regulations to be made. The Notes on Clauses which accompany the Bill make that clear and clarify the Government's intention to use them in this way. As now, the details of health authority membership will be set out in regulations. I hope that Members of the Committee will accept my assurance that we intend to use the regulations in that way.
Amendments Nos. 23 and 31 relate to district health authorities. I emphasise once again the Government's intention to create small authorities. While it is our intention to make special provision for university membership of teaching districts, I am afraid that to provide generally for two university members could adversely affect the balance of membership, at the very least on the smaller authorities.
153 We have already in many ways made the universities a special case with regard to district health authority membership. To go further would not be compatible with the reforms that we are making in the health authority membership.
My noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding referred to Hammersmith Hospital and special health authority status. We may be dealing with that matter in more detail during discussion of Amendment No. 37A. However, I can assure my noble friend that the special health authority for Hammersmith, as the special health authority for all the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, will have a non-executive member drawn from the relevant postgraduate institute of the university.
The noble Lord, Lord Dainton, responded to the questions raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Masham, about the private sector. His responses were very helpful and I thank him. I believe that the question of teaching material is one that can well be dealt with as a result of the collaborative process to which I have referred as a result of the Permanent Secretary's steering committee.
On regional health authorities, I emphasise that then: will be absolutely nothing to prevent someone from the appropriate university being appointed as a non-executive member on a personal basis. I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Flowers, should not discount this. Indeed, in a number of cases we expect that that will be so. However, it is not the Government's wish to be any more prescriptive about health authority membership than is absolutely necessary. I am not convinced that the only way to achieve more effective co-operation between these bodies—which I believe we all earnestly wish for—is to have a statutory university membership of regional health authorities as proposed by the amendment.
I cannot therefore at this stage accept the amendment or the others grouped with it. However, I recognise that some very powerful views have been expressed in the course of the Committee's discussion on these amendments. I shall look very carefully at all the arguments that have been advanced to see whether it is possible at a later stage to receive the general approbation of the Committee for some course of action to allay any anxieties in this respect.
Before the noble Baroness sits down, perhaps she will clarify one point. There is a grave danger that we shall become bogged down over the use of the word "representative". Surely she agrees—and I should be grateful if she would say so—that there is a great difference between people being representatives on a health authority because they represent a local authority, a trade union or some other worthy body, and being representatives because they are from a teaching university which is part and parcel of the health work of the country. ! They are not animals of the same species. Does the noble Baroness agree that we would be able to think clearly about the matter if we made a distinction and that we should not talk about universities being 154 represented? People from universities should be on the health authority because of their special knowledge and expertise and because they can contribute to the working of the authority. There is no parallel with any of the other groups who might claim to be represented.
I hoped that I had made it clear that I consider universities to be a special case.
I did not intervene earlier because the relevant arguments were put most cogently by Members of the Committee who spoke and I had nothing to add. Their arguments were overwhelmingly correct. I also wanted to hear the Minister's reply in the hope that she would accept the amendments or say that the Government intend to draft similar amendments to the same purpose. She did not confirm my worst fears by saying that everything can be done via regulations and ad hoc decisions by the Secretary of State. But she went some way down that road. That is a method which I find quite unacceptable given the overwhelmingly correct nature of the arguments put forward.
However, at the end of her reply, the Minister offered a completely different solution by saying that she would think about the amendments and perhaps they or similar amendments would be acceptable to the Government. If that is the case it would be a correct and rational response to the powerful arguments put to her. In particular, it would remove the suspicion that I often have when dealing with such Bills; that amendments as excellent as this are rejected because the Secretary of State or, even worse, the Civil Service finds them a little inconvenient.
I do not know what is now proposed by those Members who tabled the amendment. In my judgment, if the Minister is saying that she will think about the matter and that the Government might have an open mind about amendments proposing that people from universities would definitely be on the authority—not as a result of regulations or because the Secretary of State said so—then we need not divide at this stage. However, if she is not saying that we cannot let the matter go. Therefore, can the Minister tell the Committee exactly what the Government propose?
We are all agreed about the aim of the amendments to ensure effective collaboration between the universities and the National Health Service. I have tried to explain the reason why the Government have approached the matter as set out in the Bill and why we believe it to be unnecessary to introduce such provisions. Nevertheless, having listened to the powerful arguments, I shall do my best to meet as many as possible. It may be that there are more ways than one of dealing with the situation. I shall do my best to come back with an effective solution.
§ Lord Beloff
Before we leave the series of amendments I wish to put forward a point raised most recently by the noble Baroness, Lady Seear. There is a confusion which my noble friend has not 155 wholly allayed to my satisfaction. It is between the notion of representation and what is advocated by the universities. The point is not whether so-and-so is a nominee of a university or a medical school or in some way represents them. Indeed, one cannot represent an institution as large as a medical school or university. The point is that the university contribution to the health service, which the Minister has accepted as being fundamental to our discussions, is a complicated issue. Only someone who has been, and is, personally involved in that can bring to a management board such expertise.
In recent years we have frequently discussed universities in this Chamber. There appears to be a fundamental unwillingness on the part of Her Majesty's Government to accept the fact that expert knowledge may be essential, even for a board of management. One cannot simply produce five people and say, "They will be splendid managers but none of them has ever been in a hospital or discussed with a professor the way in which his research may contribute to the advancement of medical knowledge."
I believe that Members opposite who have spoken are attempting to insist that there should be a statutory provision for such specialised knowledge to be available to any authority which must make decisions in the medical field and that they cannot be made without that.
I wish to bring some balance to this discussion of the universities. Cambridge has had a large share of the debate. When I came up to the University of Oxford in 1932—the noble Lord, Lord Jay, and my noble and learned friend Lord Hailsham, were senior to me—medicine was a relatively small part of the university's affairs. If one mentioned Oxford in the United States or anywhere abroad, medicine was not the first subject that came into people's minds. However, the situation has been transformed by a series of initiatives such as the private munificence of the late Lord Nuffield and the contribution of major, particularly overseas, foundations. Members have spoken of the input of money. A great deal has come from the medical foundations as well as from the Government and the collaboration to which the noble Baroness referred. It is a complex subject which must be at the fingertips of people who are to direct research and teaching in the future.
Finance and the saving of money appears to appeal most to Ministers and perhaps that is understandable. Therefore, I wish to remind the Minister that the way in which we shall reduce spending on health care will be proportional to the results achieved in medical research. For example, medical research has enabled the length of stay of patients to be cut down notably. The impresssion sometimes given, although not by my noble friend this evening, is that medical research is a kind of ornament at the top of the pyramid. That is totally unreal even if thought of in financial terms.
I beg my noble friend to go back to her colleagues and point out that in this Chamber we attach the utmost importance to professional expertise even in managerial bodies.
It appears that we are arguing about the wrong issue. If we wish to have the expertise of universities involved in the authority it may be that the right way is to have ex officio members. My noble friend may come back with the idea that someone from the universities could be a member on the authority ex officio. We have ex officio the chief officer of the authority and certain other officers who will be prescribed. The style of management and the role of universities which is intended in all of this would indicate to me, were I the chairman, that I should rather like to have an ex officio member and not a representative at all. Perhaps my noble friend regards that as an option. I hope that we shall not vote on this amendment and adopt it because, as I believe I indicated in a previous brief intervention, I am not sure that that is the best way of dealing with the matter. The point has been made and I think my noble friend has accepted it. If she has not, we shall certainly make sure that she accepts it at a later stage; namely, the point that the universities should be there in a managerial function because there is a shared function between university and health authority. It seems to me that there are a number of ways to go about this and the amendment is not necessarily the best way.
Perhaps I may make a few observations at this point. I do not believe that it is realised that what is proposed in the Bill is an attenuation of what already exists in terms of the universities' involvement in the health authorities. The Minister said—and I believe I heard this correctly—that there is nothing to prevent universities somehow being drawn in as non-executive directors if they were trusts (which is provided for) or drawn into the boards. That is quite different from there being a requirement.
The way to look at this matter is that we have an actual and necessary partnership of two people contributing to the same enterprise. They are making different but overlapping and interlocking contributions. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that both be present when decisions are made which affect the other. That is the reason for wanting a requirement.
I should mention that in many countries that is recognised by the universities carrying out their own teaching in their own hospitals which they run and manage in order to secure that degree of control of policy, educational standards, and so on. We are not arguing for the system which operates in Germany, the Netherlands or indeed in the university hospitals in the United States but merely for the retention of what we already have and enjoy and of which good use has been made.
§ Baroness Young
We have had a very useful debate on this extremely important subject. I begin by thanking particularly the noble Lords, Lord Walton, Lord Dainton and Lord Adrian, who attached their names to this amendment, for all that they have said. They have spoken from a wealth of expertise and knowledge of the relationship between 157 universities and the National Health Service. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Flowers, for his contribution. He spoke about London and the circumstances there. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Butterfield, for what he said about the University of Cambridge and its relationship with the National Health Service. I am grateful to all Members of the Committee who have taken part in this debate for their support.
I turn now to what my noble friend on the Front Bench said in winding up this debate. It seems to me that the issue and the problem is that which has been identified by the noble Baroness, Lady Seear, and by my noble friends Lord Jenkin and Lord Beloff; namely, what is the appropriate word to use for the relationship between universities and the National Health Service?
I hope that what I said in my opening remarks made it clear that I fully understand what the Government intend in this Bill and what they propose for both regional and district authorities. That is quite clearly laid down. I realise that people will fuel very strongly about this. They will not wish to support a lot of representatives from organisations, no matter how important or valuable those organisations may be, because that is cutting across the whole principle of the Bill. I see that argument very clearly indeed.
However, the argument about the universities is not that argument at all but is quite separate. I believe that it would be very unfortunate to use the word "representative". I have looked again rather carefully at what the Bill says about trusts. As the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, quite properly pointed out, it is quite illogical to write on the face of the | Bill something about the links with the universities and a trust and not to do it in the case of the regions or the districts. Therefore, if my noble friend considers that point she will see that there is now a real inconsistency on the face of the Bill which needs to be addressed.
As my noble friend Lord Jenkin quite properly pointed out, we are not really talking about representatives but about people who are part of the management of the whole of the National Health Service. They are not representatives but managers. They may not be termed managers on one definition but I believe that I could easily defend the fact that they have a management role. They have such a role in teaching, in research and in the use of money because, as I said, they are the only organisations which bring money to the table. That is money which comes from the DES, charities, trusts, teaching and all sorts of sources. They bring all that into the National Health Service. Therefore, they are a very real part of the management team.
That is the important point which has emerged from this debate. I should like to leave that with my noble friend Lady Hooper. I appreciate what she said. I tried to make a note of it. I shall read it very carefully. She said that collaboration with the universities is essential and that the universities are a special case. She said, and I think the noble Lord, Lord Dainton, repeated it, that there was nothing to prevent a university member being represented in a 158 personal capacity. I believe that that is the anxiety of everybody. What is really needed in this management team is for the universities to be locked into the management team and for that to be set out on the face of the Bill both at regional and district levels so that it is seen in that capacity.
I believe that that is a quite separate case from anything else. It is not only that those people are part of a management team. As the noble Lord, Lord Beloff, quite properly said, they bring specialised knowledge. That is also very important.
Therefore, I was very grateful for what my noble friend said at the end of her remarks. I am grateful to her for saying that she will take back this amendment, think about it again and, I am sure, discuss it with her right honourable friend. I am sure that she will recognise the strength of feeling in this Committee on a matter which is designed to make the Bill work better in the interests of the patients. That is the object of this amendment. It is not aimed in any way at going against the principle set out in the Bill, which I can quite understand my noble friend cannot go against.
On the strength of my noble friend's undertakings and because there will be time between now and Report to consider and discuss the points raised, I shall not press the amendment this evening. I think it is right that this matter should be considered further. However, in withdrawing the amendment I hope that she will appreciate the strength of feeling and that this question will not go away unless we are offered a satisfactory solution. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
§ Lord Walton of Detchant moved Amendment No. 5A: Page 63, line 9, at end insert ("including one hospital consultant, one general medical practitioner, and one nurse, each appointed in consultation with professional advisory bodies within the Region.").
§ The noble Lord said: I fully appreciate that in the terms of the Bill as now drafted it would be anathema in a sense to refer to representation of specific individuals, groups or interests in the health authority's future. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, has already fired a salvo across the Chamber suggesting that he would be prepared to oppose all amendments which have been proposed suggesting that individuals should be appointed to health authorities representing certain sectarian interests.
§ Let me make quite clear that under this amendment and the others which are grouped with it, to which I shall also speak, it is not intended that these individuals should represent specific interests. The purpose underlying these amendments is that health authorities of the future should have available to them the appropriate professional advice among their membership to enable them to fulfil their functions as defined in the Bill. The intention is to make clear that appropriate professionals should be included within the non-executive membership.
§ For 40 years the basic information on the costings and effectiveness of the NHS has been grossly inadequate, and the case for improving all aspects of 159 management is therefore compelling. Appreciating that need, the recommendation of the Griffiths Report introduced into the service a much stronger management structure and greatly improved the quality of the managers who face, now and in the future, a massive task.
§ Health care management differs from business management in many respects. As well as a continual striving towards rapid cures made possible through the advances of modem medicine, the ethos of medical practice requires humanitarian support of all those individuals who cannot be cured. Patients must not only be treated, but must feel and be seen to be cared for. The best management policy for an individual cannot always be based on currently available scientific data on population groups. That is usually incomplete and sometimes misleading. Epidemiology and statistics are valuable tools, but are not the masters of good medical practice.
§ We heard about the importance of teaching and research in the NHS in the amendments concerning the role of universities, but there continues to be a credibility gap which has unfortunately developed, particularly in certain situations, between management on the one hand and the other professions in the National Health Service on the other.
§ I wish to stress that in moving this amendment and in speaking to those which are coupled with it, I do not seek to have representatives of professional groups within health authorities. The intention, as I said, is to have the appropriate professionals who can advise managers on important medical and other professional aspects of health care in the future. The case for developing and the obvious need to develop a real partnership between managers and health professions at all levels is absolutely crucial to the future of the National Health Service. Until the health professions have an essential role in the basic development of the new system at the policy-making level, especially concerning the quality of services to be provided as well as in the supervision of the practical aspects of the care of patients, the detailed organisation of the system could well fail. It could be based on theory and not on practice.
§ Over the past few years full credit must be given to many managers for warming to the task of trying to understand how doctors care for patients, and to many doctors for attempting to become managerially literate. However, that does not mean that each can do the job of the other. The argument that hospital doctors and other hospital-based professions cannot be a party to district or regional policy-making purchaser decisions because they are providers, is fundamentally flawed as exemplified by the dual role for general practitioners. On the one hand, the GP will be a purchaser, perhaps with a budget; on the other, he will be working side by side in the care of his patients with the providing clinician hospital based.
§ It is important that the wisdom of hospital-based clinicians be available through the membership of health authorities. Promises of seeking their advice from time to time are not adequate. The way forward is that the health professions as a whole must be 160 made a part of the decision-making machinery in the future health service. A real partnership with management and government must include listening, respect and adaptibility that is mutual. Only by harnessing professional expertise and experience can any real progress be made in finding new ways of improving the quality of patient care and preventing illness.
§ The important point underlying my amendment and those coupled with it, to which other noble Lords have added their names, is that there should be the inclusion of a reasonable number of individuals with clinical and teaching experience at every level of management, including units, districts, hospital trusts and regions. There must be an appropriate number of members on district or regional authorities who are clinicians or other members of health caring professions.
§ If one looks at these amendments, essentially Amendment No. 5A is more prescriptive in the sense that it suggests that there should be a hospital consultant, a general medical practitioner and a nurse not appointed as representatives, but appointed in consultation with professional advisory bodies within the region. I hope that every member of health authorities in the future will be prepared to act as an independent voice not representing any particular section or interest, but there simply with the purpose of improving the health care facilities provided in the region or district as a whole.
§ With regard to the amendments coupled with Amendment No. 5A, Amendment No, 17 is much less prescriptive. It simply requires, as an alternative to Amendment No. 5A that the Secretary of State shall consult, when making appointments: such bodies as he may recognise as being, either in that region or generally, representative respectively of medical practitioners, dental practitioners
§ and members of the other caring professions. It is much less prescriptive. The amendments coupled with that on the Marshalled List related to similar provisions in district health authorities and the district health authorities in Wales. Amendments Nos. 38, 41, 49 and 52 relate to the family health service authorities.
§ Let me make clear that in moving Amendment No. 5A I do not seek—nor do those who added their names to the amendment—representation on health authorities of specific sectional or professional interests. I simply seek to persuade the Government that in some way it may be prescribed within the Bill that approriate professional knowledge and expertise be made available to the health service in the future through membership of these respective authorities. I beg to move.
I support these amendments and urge the Committee to consider them sympathetically because I believe their provisions are essential for ensuring appropriate care for the wide range of patients and clients for whom the regional, district and family health service authorities will be responsible.
The amendments specify that certain professions should be included in the groups of people who are 161 to be appointed by the chairmen, those chairmen who themselves will have been appointed by the Secretary of State. That is entirely consistent with the aims and objectives of government policy in general, which include the principle of devolution of responsibility from the centre to the periphery, in this case, to the professionals who will actually be providing the services and be responsible for care. It will enable them to contribute to the formation of the policies which they will be implementing.
The amendments are also entirely consistent with the Government's commitment to the principles of accountability by bringing professionals into the domain of decision-making. Also, and conversely, the exclusion of people with such experience and expertise appears to be not only flying in the face of those principles of devolution and accountability, but is also surely indefensible in that it denies such bodies the benefit of clinical knowledge and experience which are essential for formulating the most appropriate policies and for anticipating the effects of policies which are under consideration.
In complex organisations such as health authorities the repercussions of policy changes are far-reaching and may cause real suffering if all the potential side-effects are not taken into account. Those who are best able to forestall or to anticipate such side effects are those in the front line of care with a clinical knowledge to anticipate unintended consequences.
I offer one example from a local level to illustrate the general point I am trying to make. I was recently very disturbed to receive a letter from a ward sister. She described to me how she had experienced a situation where a local policy decision required elderly patients in a rehabilitation ward to be relocated in a busy surgical ward. It might be argued that hospital beds are hospital beds, and that those elderly people were still receiving nursing care. However, not only was the hurly-burly of a busy surgical ward a totally inappropriate environment for the rehabilitation of long-stay elderly patients; their problems were compounded by the fact that the basic equipment and facilities were totally inappropriate for them. There were no hoists to help them when bathing and the doors leading to the lavatories were too narrow for their wheelchairs. So a decision made on what might appear to be rational management grounds of bed occupancy resulted in dismay and distress for some very vulnerable people.
I quote only one example; I could give many others. I wish simply to illustrate the need for policy makers to have the benefit of members within their bodies who have professional and clinical experience. They should be available to contribute to every stage of policy making. Schedule 1 to the Bill does not exclude the membership of such professionals explicitly; but it does not require it nor provide in any specific way for their inclusion. I echo the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant. We are not talking about representation in the sense of representing specific sectional interests. What we are talking about is making available to these key decision-making bodies the most appropriate professional and clinical expertise to enable them to be most effective in their policy 162 making and also, in terms of cost effectiveness, the most effective purchasers of resources.
I should like to speak for a moment for my own profession of nursing where it is felt that such an exclusion is ominous in the wake of the exclusion by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State of nurses from his own policy board. The precedent that he has set gives my colleagues in the nursing profession little confidence that their contribution will be valued in the future. Yet nursing has much to contribute to health care planning and to policy making. In many settings nurses are the only staff having direct contact with patients 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The insights they gain from this experience enable them to identify needs for services and also to witness the practical results of policies. That information is invaluable in considering and assessing policies. In addition, in the new more market-driven approach to health care envisaged in the Bill, there are good economic reasons for ensuring a nursing input to health authorities. As authorities draw up their contracts for services they are likely to find that nursing costs represent the single largest element within their budgets. At present nursing costs account for more than one-third of the average district health authority budget, so direct experience of nursing services will therefore be essential if authorities are to manage their affairs most effectively.
In conclusion, my noble friend the Minister may well say that the amendments are not necessary as the chairman of the authorities may choose to include clinical professional staff In that case the amendments merely clarify an intention and are therefore beneficial. They put on the face of the Bill what is intended. But if it is the purpose of the Bill as it now stands to allow chairman not to appoint such professional members, then we believe that the amendments are essential for the provision of adequate care for those who are in real danger of suffering if decisions are made without the benefit of clinical professional expertise and experience.
I wish to support all that has been said by the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Walton, who moved the amendment. It may be argued by some that they are doing special pleading on behalf of their own professions. I do not believe that that is the case. I believe that they are doing special pleading on behalf of the patients whom they serve, for whom they care and whom they understand.
I appreciated the earlier intervention of the noble Lord, Lord Beloff, concerning representatives. I wish to examine that point too. No one is suggesting that there should be within the new health authorities some external bodies which appoint people to represent those interests on the authorities. I do not believe that there should be delegates appointed by someone else and reporting back to someone else about how they are fulfilling their duties. I say that, and I shall say it later, in relation to other people whose experience should be available.
At a later stage I shall be arguing the case for experience in a number of different fields. I know that there is some contention across the Committee 163 about the nature of the new health authorities. I believe that health authorities are too large, but I fundamentally disagree with the concept of creating a tightly knit group of managers sitting with non-executive members of the business community and creating a management divorced both from those for whom they work and from those with whom they work. There is a fundamental difference. I do not know the extent to which the noble Lord, Lord Walton, or the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, agree with my view, but we have gone this far regarding the amendment before us.
One of my colleagues in another place spoke about the proposals before us in a manner that I commend. He said: My understanding of the schedule is as follows. The Minister appoints the non-executive members of regional health authorities and the chairs of the district health authorities, who are paid. The members of the regional health authorities appointed by the Minister then appoint a general manager, and together they appoint the rest of the regional health authority, which then appoints the non-executive members of the district health authority, who are also paid. The non-executive members of the district health authority who have been appointed by the regional health authority and the chair of the district health authority whom the Minister himself has appointed, all of whom are paid, then appoint the general manager of the district health authority. Then the district general manager with the non-executive members of the district health authority appoint the other executive members of the district health authority". This is a tightly knit group which can be—
Politically motivated!
My noble friend says "politically motivated". But my fear is that this group will be out of touch with reality. We argued earlier that people should come on to the authority, whether as appointees or by invitation because of their experience. In running a health authority one needs the experience of people who know of particular interests. One needs doctors, nurses and people who work in the community who have some knowledge of voluntary organisations. We need people who have some knowledge of the work done by local authorities in community care. If we go too far we shall set up bodies which are out of touch and isolated from those with whom they work, insensitive and too conscious of cost cutting, and cut off from the human needs of the patients whom they serve.
Sometimes it seems that we forget what the health service is about. It is about providing service for patients. It is absolutely essential that the voice of the doctors, of the nurses and perhaps of other professional groups is heard. They cannot all be there. More and more the professions understand each other and work as a team. Of course they should not all be there. The nurses are perhaps the most representative of all. At present too much in the Bill is left to the Secretary of State and his advisers. I believe that we need to open up and not tighten up the management team. It has a lot of resources to manage but I do not believe that it can do its job as if its members were directors of a private firm or public limited company. We are not running a commercial firm. We are running a national health service.
164 If the Government were to say that they were conducting a few experiments of different types of structures, I might say that we should try this type of structure as well as other types of structure. However, that is not the case. They are proposing to introduce right across the country something which is untried and untested. We shall talk about that on a later amendment. I believe that this amendment is absolutely right. One has to start with the patients and those who work with them: their presence is essential.
§ Lord Hunter of Newington
One is tempted to refer to a report one made in 1973 to a Conservative Government recommending medical managers. The consequence at that time was consensus management. I do not know how much coffee and tea was consumed during that period though I think the amount was substantial.
This amendment is also linked with Amendments Nos. 17 and 28 with which my name is connected. I find this matter very restricted. I wish briefly to refer to the wording of Amendment No. 17, which states that, the Secretary of State shall consult … bodies as he may recognise as being … representative … of medical and other professions". My interpretation is that the movers of this amendment are trying to get the Government to do what we failed to do in 1973; namely, to find medical managers. In those circumstances, can the Minister tell us whether they are looking for professional people to put on the board from any part of the health service and who are managerially competent?
I support this amendment very strongly primarily because I am a non-medical person. Indeed my personal experience is biased very much more in the direction of the business manager. Many of my best friends can be found in that field and not in the medical world. It is because I claim to know a little about the decision-making process in policy-making and management bodies that I am absolutely convinced that professional medical people should be on the board.
I know that the Minister will tell us that the professional people will be asked to give advice. That is the oldest trick in the book for keeping out the people whose knowledge should be available. Advice can be asked for in a thousand different ways and it can be listened to or not. There is no obligation on the people who ask for the advice to explain why they have accepted or rejected it. To suggest that to ask for the advice of the medical profession is any substitute at all for their being on the board is crass nonsense.
The reason I am so anxious that medical professional people should be on the board is that we in this Committee have all been on boards of one kind or another. We know that what matters is that in the cut and thrust of the arguments that take place before a decision is reached every point of view should be put forward. Unless we are obstinate to a degree, we are all prepared at that stage to adjust our point of view according to the facts and the 165 arguments that are presented as the discussion goes on. Very rarely does one come to a conclusion with which one agrees and which is exactly the same as the point of view one held at the beginning.
It is in the process of decision-making and at that point only that it is absolutely vital for professional opinion to be available. It is no good asking for professional advice beforehand and not taking it; it is no use seeking that advice after the decision has been made and then listening reluctantly to what is said. At that time the decision has been made and it is too late. The professional people have to be involved in that vital, constructive and creative process of working through the objections of all the different groups and listening to all the contributions from people with specialist knowledge. There should be business managers, but there should also be medical professionals as well. In those circumstances a decision can be arrived at and it will be the best decision that can be made.
Do not let us hear any argument that it is a substitute for medical professional people on the board to allow them the opportunity to give advice. The professional people have to be on the board if the decisions are to be right. That is not in their own interests but in order that the decision should be the right one for the patients.
I should like to be the first voice that disagrees with what has so far been a chorus of approval for these amendments. I do not want to speak at length. I have listened to what my noble friend on the Front Bench has said and no doubt she will give a very reasoned refutation. I wish to make two or three short points.
I honestly believe that those who have tabled these amendments and spoken in their support have not yet taken fully on board the fundamental policy that underlies the White Paper for which this Bill provides the legislative framework. The point was made in an earlier debate that it is the distinction beteen the purchaser and the provider. Those who have spoken have tended to see the health authorities as fulfilling much the same function as the existing authorities.
However, under the new dispensation it will be a markedly different function and it will also develop into a markedly different one. The new measures will not start fully fledged on 1st April next and no one would reasonably expect that. People will take time to work into the new system. For the first time under our National Health Service the role of the health authority will be separate and distinct from the role of those who are running the hospitals, the community services and those who will be providing the services under agreements in the manner provided for in the Bill.
In those circumstances it seems to me that there has to be a clear distinction between the purchasers and the providers; otherwise—as I suggested earlier in the point which I made and to which the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, responded—those involved will be faced with a hopeless conflict of interest. That is perhaps the answer to the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Seear; namely, 166 there is an inevitable human tendency that one will look after one's own interests. One of the major features of the public services generally, not only in this country but elsewhere, is the innate tendency for those in their employ to identify their own interests with those of the people whom they serve.
One has heard the argument over and over again: "You only need to pay us better and then the patient will get a better service". I need not dwell on the matter in detail. That is the fundamental point that underlies the philosophy of the White Paper and the Bill. I do not believe that the speeches made so far recognise the fact. I will give way to the noble Lord, but I have not finished.
Can the noble Lord accept that there are some of us who understand the purpose of the White Paper but who believe that the argument is simply unproven?
As long as the noble Lord, Lord Ennals, makes it clear that in moving this amendment he is not trying to approve the scheme in the White Paper but trying to perpetuate the present arrangements, we shall understand what he is saying. He has made it clear that he opposes the scheme put forward in the White Paper. Therefore, the amendments to which he has put his name follow logically.
The noble Lord, Lord Ennals, said at the beginning of his speech that no one is going to suggest, as regards any of these amendments, that any one should be respresentative of particular interests. In a few moments we shall come to Amendment No. 7 concerning staff. It states: which shall include at least one person representative of NHS staff". He has a representative of the users of the service. Whatever he says, he is trying to argue for representative membership and his later amendments make that clear.
The only other point I would make is in answer to a point made by my noble friend Lady Cox who has repeated an argument which I have often heard from her professional colleagues. I have to say that I find myself increasingly puzzled by it and to some extent unsympathetic. The argument is that unless nurses are appointed at every tier of management it means that the Government, the public or the health service do not value their services. I have listened to that argument from the nursing bodies as I am sure has the noble Lord, Lord Ennals. It cannot be right to feel that you have to have a statutory nurse on every body; otherwise they will feel slighted and rejected. That is not true. The question is whether they will make a valuable contribution to the management body, to the work of the body to which one is making appointments. If the answer to that is yes, then it is open to the Secretary of State, or to the chairman as the case may be, to ensure that appropiate people with the necessary professional qualifications, where there are no conflicts of interest, be appointed.
That is the thrust of the White Paper. It is the main thrust of the Bill. Therefore, these amendments are quite inconsistent with it. I hope that my noble 167 friend will not feel seduced by the arguments—powerful and eloquent though they may have been—to depart from those principles.
Before the noble Lord sits down, perhaps I may make a point which I think comes better from a totally non-medical person with no particular sympathies for the medical profession. I entirely agree with what he has said. I am not asking that nurses be there because they will feel hurt if they are not there. I do not mind whether they feel hurt or not.
I am saying that if you want proper decision making and to arrive at the best decisions you need the ingredient of their knowledge in order to make the decisions. As I understand it, that is what the noble Lord said he wanted. He said that if that is necessary the Secretary of State will appoint them. If the Secretary of State agrees that it is necessary, why is it not in the Bill already? That is why we are trying to put it in. We must assume that the Secretary of State does not believe in it. That is why we want the amendment.
As the noble Baroness has intervened in my speech, it seems to me only right to say that if it is included in the Bill in the form that is sought by this amendment and other subsequent amendments, it then becomes mandatory in every case and is seen as statutory.
That is what the Secretary of State is trying to get away from. I tried to get away from it 10 years ago and singularly failed because I was trying to work within a structure where the purchasers and providers were the same people. The attraction of the White Paper is that it now recognises that there are two separate functions here and that therefore there are separate roles for the various people involved.
As my noble friend misrepresented me perhaps I may correct him. What I tried to say—the point was made by the noble Baroness, Lady Seear—was that nurses are not interested in being represented for the sake of their own self-interest, self-esteem and self-aggrandizement. Their concern is for the patients and quality of patient care, and for the knowledge, expertise and first-hand experience they can bring, both in terms of the implication of policy making and also, as I tried to indicate, of the financial implications for nursing services, which are enormous.
The contribution of nurses to the policy-making bodies is essential at every stage of the decision-making process, along with other key professional clinical imputs, for the right decisions to be made for patients and also, if we are talking about the bodies as being purchasers, for the purchasers of services to be as well informed as possible about the value of what it is they are purchasing. Their information is crucial to enable the purchasers to do an efficient and effective job.
So to put the record straight on behalf of my profession, that was not their concern. Their concern was for the quality of services provided for patients and clients.
§ Lord Rea
I should like to support this group of amendents, and Amendments Nos. 38, 41, 49 and 52 in particular which relate to the family health services authorities.
I am perfectly well aware, as I think we all are, although Lord Jenkin does not seem to think so, that the Bill aims to separate purchasers from providers. This is a policy to which I am opposed as I am not convinced that it will work. In fact, I think it is likely to create more problems and expense than it would avoid. But I am willing to let it be tried out in a small number of districts.
Even if we want to try that separation policy, it will be extremely difficult to operate in the administration of the family health services authorities. My noble friend Lord Walton said that that would be so with regard to budget holding GPs, but it would also be extremely difficult to maintain such separation for the whole of the family health service. For instance, the new contract requires a close involvement between GPs, the whole of the primary care team and the administering authority.
The amendment to which I have put down my name, Amendment No. 41, is an excessively modest one. It simply suggests that the FHSA should include a specified number of health care professionals appointed in consultation with appropriate professional bodies. It allows the Secretary of State quite a lot of leeway. It allows for representation of those most concerned—I am sorry, "representation" is not a word I am allowed to use—it allows for membership of the authority of those most concerned with the carrying out of the functions of the FHSA. That is in the area where it most matters as regards the actual giving of patient care.
A practitioner, whether a nurse, dentist, pharmacist or GP, is aware of what is necessary at the point of implementation. Such people can give experienced advice to other members of the authority on the practicality of any proposed measures. The noble Baroness, Lady Cox, spelt this out extremely clearly with an example concerning a change in a hospital. I suggest that if professionals are absent the discussions within the FHSA will tend to be unreal, authoritarian and bureaucratic. The noble Baroness, Lady Seear, has given us an extremely good lesson in how management should be carried out and the value of discussions between people from different disciplines. If those professional experts are not there to take a real part in the discussions the decisions will be wrong, and their absence will lead to difficulties, misunderstandings and resentment. In do not think that that is the way to administer a health service, or any service for that matter.
§ Lord McColl of Dulwich
I rise to support my noble friend Lord Jenkin. He said that when he was Secretary of State he tried to depart from the usual structure of management. He has forgotten that in fact he succeeded in one area in doing just that. He replaced an area health authority with five commissioners. Not one of them was a doctor or a nurse. None of them represented anybody except the patients. Three of the five were past vice-chancellors.
169 That brings us back to the original point: we have to have university people in the appropriate place, not as representatives but there in their own right. It is essential that we get away from the business of having representatives on the boards. That is a recipe for disaster and bad management.
The Committee is becoming completely bogged down with the question of representation. I disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Rea, in that I am in favour to a certain extent of the separation of the function of purchaser-provider. Therefore, to that extent I am sympathetic with the Government. But you could not have any purchasing body in any other business in the world which did not actually have expert purchasers. Surely that is the point. Only the nurse and the doctor who are on the management board of the DHA can know what they are buying and whether they are getting value for money.
It seems to me that the arguments put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, and other noble Lords, do not assist the principle of purchasing and providing as separate functions. They do not cut any ice with me, because what we want is expert purchasing, and for that we need expert voices on the boards.
We have had a wide-ranging discussion on the issue of representation. The Government recognise that there is an important professional contribution to be made to decision making. We believe that we provided for that in the most effective way. I do not think that any of the solutions proposed in the amendments now before the Committee add to our proposals; indeed, they might well work against them to the detriment of good management which, at the end of the day, is what will benefit patients most. That is what we all want.
The Government regard it as essential that regional health authorities and district health authorities obtain the best possible medical public health and other professional advice in the way that it—that is, each authority—feels is most effective. Shortly, we shall be debating the specific role of the Director of Public Health. However, we do not believe that the Government should dictate to health authorities how they should obtain that advice. The precise form of advice needed will vary upon the circumstances of the individual authority. Therefore, it would be misleading to try to impose any national blue-print. I should have thought that that would have been welcomed by the noble Baroness, Lady Seear. For that reason, I am not attrac:ed to the proposals put forward in Amendments Nos. 5A, 19 and 30. I do not believe that a single member at the level of the authority can provide the full range of advice needed by that authority. By seeking to enshrine a single source of advice, the amendment may actually limit its scope.
I appreciate that the noble Lord, Lord Walton, did not intend that his amendments should enable representatives to be appointed. However, as I read them, they would have that effect rather than that members were appointed on their own merits in a 170 personal capacity. One of the main advantages of our reforms relating to membership, as I have already said, is the breaking of that representative link. With the best will in the world an individual cannot take a full part in the decision-making of a public body if he feels that he is ultimately there to serve a single interest. On the other hand, appointments made on a personal basis overcome that problem, enabling all members to draw on the full range of their personal experience but not constraining their personal contribution in any way. Similar reasons—
I trust that the noble Baroness will forgive my intervention, but I feel that I should point out that no one has suggested under this amendment that these appointments should not be made on a personal basis. Indeed, they should be made on a personal basis. The issue concerns the description as to what that basis should be.
Yes, I understand. However, I believe that the effect of the process which is suggested by these amendments would be that the individual would feel that he was representing the interests which had appointed him.
I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for giving way. If a non-executive member happens to be associated with a firm, is it then assumed that that person will be representative of that firm on the health authority? Surely you cannot have it both ways.
The person concerned will have been appointed for his personal contribution. That is exactly what can happen in this case. There is nothing in the Bill to prevent any professional individual being appointed to make that sort of contribution if he is his personal capacity is seen to be the suitable person for that appointment.
That is what we have been saying all along. All this talk of representation is completely irrelevant to the main purpose of the amendment. Perhaps we can now return to the main issue of discussion.
I am so glad that the noble Baroness agrees with me.
I must deal with these amendments one by one as they have been spoken to by the Members of the Committee involved. Similar reasons about consultation underlie my doubts on Amendments Nos. 17 and 30. If a person is appointed to membership after a specific consultation exercise, there is a real danger that such a person would see himself as a delegate rather than as an individual appointee. For that reason, I am not attracted to statutory consultation.
However, I can assure Members of the Committee that the Government give careful consideration to all suggestions put forward for membership of regional health authorities, and regions likewise do so for appointments at district level. The process will continue under the changes proposed in the Bill. No doubt the professional bodies will take full advantage of the opportunity to feed in their thoughts on the 171 non-executive membership of their local health authorities. As I have already said, there is nothing to prevent GPs, nurses or those from other professions from being appointed in a personal capacity. I should have expected that fact to be welcomed.
The noble Lord, Lord Hunter, referred to medical managers. I agree with the general emphasis of improving the managerial input of doctors. Indeed, some doctors have moved into general management while others contribute to management in other ways; for example, through the resource management initiative which we are seeing throughout the country.
The National Health Service Management Executive is keen to encourage further management training for clinicians. I believe that the input of doctors into such arrangements may well be reflected in authority membership. In many cases that will be from the Director of Public Health. But clearly health professionals who are themselves managerially qualified in addition must be among the best qualified people to make a very positive personal contribution to these authorities.
I turn now to deal with the membership of the family health services authorities. We have made our intention on professional membership quite clear. Each FHSA will contain membership drawn from the contracting professions—that is, a GP, a dentist and a pharmacist, each serving in a personal capacity. In addition, one of the other members will be a nurse with community experience. We shall be enshrining that provision in the regulations as the Notes on Clauses explain in more detail. I hope that that reassures at least to some extent those noble Lords who have questioned our intentions in this connection.
As with health authorities, we intend that those appointments should be made on a personal basis. Therefore, that will obviously receive approval from all quarters of the Committee. It is not the intention that these professional members should act as spokesmen in a single interest, but that decisions should be informed by a professional presence. The key factor in the appointments will not therefore be who nominated the person concerned but whether he is the best person for the job. That provision must have the approval of all Members of the Committee who have spoken to these amendments. In the light of that explanation, I trust that the mover of the amendment will feel able to withdraw it.
Before the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, rises to speak, I should like to ask him a question. At the beginning of the debate, he said that these people would be chosen from the non-executive members. However, would it not be better if they came from the executive members? I say that because otherwise the health authorities would be very professionally orientated. I hope that he will agree to consider that suggestion.
I take note of the point made by the noble Baroness. I should like to express my grateful thanks to the Minister for the careful consideration she has given to Amendment No. 5A.
172 At the outset of the debate I said that it might possibly turn out—and I believe that it has—to be too prescriptive in defining by profession those whom one would wish to see appointed in a personal capacity to health authorities.
However, I am disappointed that the noble Baroness felt similarly not attracted by Amendment No. 17 and those related to it. They simply refer to a consultation process by which the Secretary of State or, in the case of people being appointed to district health authorities, the regional health authority chairman would consult appropriate professional interests before making such appointments. It is disappointing to me that the noble Baroness has not felt able to approve at least in principle the ideas set out there. My personal experience—from membership of my old regional hospital board and then subsequently of an area health authority, of several hospital management committees and district health authorities—is that without question the managerial expertise which has been introduced in increasing substance within the National Health Service has been a remarkably important development.
However, time after time even the most committed and intelligent laymen with long experience in business and many other fields, including—if I may say so in reply to the noble Lord, Lord McColl—vice-chancellors, have repeatedly turned to medical, nursing and other professional advice when specific items were required for consideration and decision. It is absolutely essential that these individuals should be available, not to be consulted and to be advisory, but to be members of health authorities involved in the full discussion and decision-making process.
In the light of the comments made by the noble Baroness, at this stage I beg leave to withdraw Amendment No. 5A. However, I reserve the right to come back with perhaps alternative amendments at the Report stage of the Bill.
§ Baroness Blatch
I beg to move that the House do now resume. I suggest that we reconvene in Committee upon the Bill at half past eight.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House resumed.
Forward to Bromley London Borough Council (Crystal Palace) Bill
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Visual Arts Past Faculty
Keith Sanborn
Lecturer in Visual Arts
Keith Sanborn has taught Introductory and Intermediate Video Production in the Program in Visual Arts since 2002. In addition, in 2005, he devised and taught a new course attempting a synthesis of theory and practice called “From Montage to Game Hacks: Strategies of Cultural Critique.” His long-term interest is in media critique through his theoretical writings and translations, as well as, through strategies of cultural critique in his media work. He continues to pursue both his artistic and theoretical interests. In the past several years he has concentrated on video installations.
His media work has been featured at festivals such as the Rotterdam International Film Festival, The European Media Arts Festival in Osnabrück, Oberhausen Kurzfilmtage, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, OVNI in Barcelona, the New York Video Festival, the Migrating Forms Festival, Video Dumbo and Video Vortex . His work has been included in the Whitney Biennial of American Art two times and was included in the Whitney’s “American Century” survey as well as the Pomidou Centre’s survey “Monter/Sampler.” He has had numerous one-person shows at a range of institutions including Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg, FAMU in Prague, The École nationale superieure des beaux arts in Paris, the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne, Millennium Film Workshop in New York, Chicago Filmmakers, the London Filmmaker’s Coop and the National Film School in Beaconsfield. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Department of Cinema Studies of New York University, Bard College, Smolny Insitute in St. Petersburg, the City University of Hong Kong, the Centre de Cultura of Barcelona, SUNY/Buffalo, The Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Sussex.
His theoretical and critical essays have appeared in a range of periodicals from Artforum, A/S, The Brooklyn Rail, and thething.net and in collections such as Kunst nach Ground Zero. He has written catalogue essays for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Francisco Cinematheque, the Pompidou Centre, Exit Art and the Pacific Film Archive among others. He has also acted as a curator for Hallwalls Gallery in Buffalo, the Oberhausen Kurzfilmtage, Exit Art, and the Pacific Film Archive. His curatorial and theoretical work has lead him to translate the works of Guy Debord, Gil Wolman, René Viénet, Georges Bataille, Napoleon, Paolo Gioli, Berthold Brecht, Harun Farocki and Esfir Shub. His curatorial, critical and translation work has contributed strongly to the introduction of the work of the Situationist International to the English-speaking world. In 2008, supported by a Fulbright grant, he taught a history of the compilation film at Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg and pursued research in Russian media.
His media work has been supported by the Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, Art Matters, the Experimental Television Center and The Thing.
How to Make a Film
Introductory Video and Film Production
The Artwork in the Age of its Mechanical Reproducibility… by Keith Sanborn on Vimeo.
Campus Address
Lewis Center for the Arts
Spring 2016 Video Classes Screening
The Lewis Center for the Arts presents End of Semester Film Screening
Fall 2015 Video Classes Screening
Visual Arts Program Presents a Screening of Student Work in Film and Video
Spring 2015 Video Classes Show
Lewis Center for the Arts presents End of Semester Screening featuring the work of students in three film/video production courses
Spring 2014 Film/Video Screening
Student Video Showcase
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Grab the Fee and Run
By: Ellen Perlman, Governing Magazine
Oh, the sturm und drang over 911 emergency calls and the ins and outs of their funding! Three years ago, Wisconsin added a fee to wireless phone bills to pay for 911 enhancements. The improved systems were needed to detect the location of the phone used to make a 911 request and to direct the call precisely and quickly to the nearest call center.
The fee not only provided all the cash the 911 system needed to buy and implement the new technology but also ran up a surplus of $25 million. By law, the surplus was supposed to be returned to the fee payers.
That never happened. Instead, Governor Jim Doyle shifted the $25 million to the general fund and, this year, the state increased the fee by nearly 30 cents to a 75-cent assessment. That has ticked off the law’s author, state Representative Phil Montgomery. “Any connection between 911 and the fund is lost,” he complains. “It’s a tax.”
Wisconsin is not the only state to demand that the users of one technology—cell phones—fund the needs of another—enhanced 911. And no wonder. Few people notice the fee or, if they do spot it on a bill, know what it’s for. “That’s why some governors feel they can take this money,” says K. Dane Snowden, a spokesman for the Cellular Telephone Industry Association. This year, Hawaii diverted $16 million and Oregon took $3.6 million. In New York, where cell-phone users are charged $1.20 per month for 911 enhancements, the improvements are in place, and the fees now go straight into the general revenue pot. Arizona, Delaware and Georgia also have diverted their cell-phone fees for other uses besides 911.
There is talk that some of the cell-phone fees will contribute to next-generation 911 enhancements. These upgrades are likely to include text, images and video from mobile devices. Cell-phone users would be able to clue in emergency service operators via a photo of, say, an overturned vehicle hanging at the edge of a cliff. But it will take a while to implement this.
In Wisconsin, the 75-cent fee on landline and wireless phone accounts—called a “police and fire protection fee”—will go toward maintaining the amount of state aid that goes to local governments for public-safety services. Police and fire are not, of course, the same as enhanced 911. In Montgomery’s view, the 75-cent fee is “an arbitrary number that goes to the general fund and it’s forever.”
Congress has tried several times to prevent states from draining 911 funds for other purposes. Its latest attempt—the New and Emerging Technologies Improvement Act, which passed in 2008—stipulates that if governments collect fees for 911 via cell-phone assessments or other sources, the money may be used only to support 911 systems and equipment. Little is known, however, about the consequences of flouting the law or the mechanism for challenging governors who disobey it.
The federal law was enough of a concern in Florida that the state attorney general’s office issued an opinion holding that if money collected for 911 were used for other purposes, the state could lose the authority to impose and collect the fees at all. Given that reading, the state chose not to raid the cell phone fund. The same was not true in Oregon. There, the attorney general reached the same conclusion but the state had a different reaction.
It took the $3.6 million anyway.
Source: http://www.governing.com/node/2414/
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The 'List: Instrumentals
by Carlos Gonzalez 2 years ago in playlist
A 'list of hits from a lost, long-forgotten format—music without the (mostly) benefit of voice or lyrics.
Hello one and all and welcome to a New 'List for 2018!
So, here's the official 'list for the new year and after several solo efforts, I'm pleased to report that my collaborator and best friend Calvin "Oates" Cherry gave me his two cents on this 'list.
The 'list actually takes a look at a lost music genre. The instrumental. Just music—nothing more; not a vocal track (although sometimes it will incorporate some light vocal accompaniment or singing) or even lyrics. Not very many instrumentals have cracked the Top 40, although there's conflicting reports that Baauer's 2013 number one smash "Harlem Shake" is the last known instrumental to chart, although it seems to also be pegged as a novelty song. Also, the song hardly has a band playing, but does an enormous amount of over-sampling.
In the rock era, the first (believed to be, at least) official number one instrumental is Perez Prado's "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" in 1955 which spent a cool 10 weeks at the top. Instrumentals have been a mainstay of radio and record sales since the 1930s and 1940s and on. The format reached its peak of popularity in the 1970s, but it began to decline in the 1980s, despite a few chart hits by diverse artists by Mike Post, Jan Hammer, Meco, Herb Alpert, Harold Faltermeyer and the king of elevator sax, Kenny G. The 1990s saw a few instrumentals chart and score (this would include the aforementioned Kenny G.), but it's clear that the format/genre was on its last legs. Generally, the format was relegated to movie theme songs pop-ified for radio or even television show themes, but classical music was also used often in the 1970s disco era (Walter Murphy who sadly, didn't make the cut in this 'list with his "Fifth of Beethoven"). Original songs were sprinkled often, but, sadly, it's officially a lost art form and my honest, albeit crazy hope, is that we can see its popularity rise again very soon.
Here's our 'lists: Oates and mine and a wish for a prosperous and Happy New Year in 2018.
Cherry Picks:
"Song For Guy" - Elton John (1978)
My buddy's main pick, him being a super-duper Elton J. fan. It was a big hit in the UK and was a mostly musical eulogy to a friend of John's who died in a motorcycle accident; but John does add some vocals toward the end repeatedly; "Life isn't everything." It's a somber song written by John himself.
"Love's Theme" - Love Unlimited Orchestra (Barry White) (1974)
The late behemoth soul star with the booming voice was also a prolific music producer and arranger. His Love Unlimited Orchestra project was a 40-piece band which had past famous members such as Ray Parker Jr., Lee Ritenour and....*sigh*, even Kenny G. Another good pick from my buddy and a number one smash on the pop and soul charts. Fun fact: Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias, re-recorded his own version of this song in 1975—with lyrics!
"Feels So Good" - Chuck Mangione (1977)
This Upstate NY native was a jazz favorite with his instrument of choice; the flugelhorn—and perhaps the only artist to accomplish a top-3 pop hit with the instrument and the song he used it in. Used often (as I remembered) by many commercials and ads and even had an acknowledgement from the popular superhero movie, Doctor Strange from 2016.
"Frankenstein" - Edgar Winter Group (1972)
Perhaps the first well-known rock instrumental to go to number one on the charts in 1973, it uses every form of instrument known to man including timbales, keyboards and even saxophone. Interesting fact, the late singer Dan Hartman played bass for the group and was known for his 1978 disco hit, "Instant Replay" and his 1984 pop/soul smash, "I Can Dream About You," that was long disputed by me as having been a Daryl Hall & John Oates hit record. (Right, Oates?)
"Eruption" - Van Halen (1978)
As heavy metal began to show major signs of chart life in the late 1970s, this Pasadena, CA band fronted by axe-guitar god Eddie Van Halen had a near two-minute guitar solo which is in fact, the intro to the Van Halen cover of the Kinks' 1964 smash, "You Really Got Me" which was considered by many as the first official heavy metal hit song. Seems fitting that this metal band would do that song justice.
"TSOP" - MFSB (1974)
Mother, Father, Sister, Brother is the full name of this thirty-piece band which scored a number one mostly-instrumental disco smash with some vocal spice added by the girl group The Three Degrees. The title stands for "The Sound of Philadelphia" and was a Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff composition. It's also considered the unsanctioned theme to the hit music/dance show, Soul Train.
"Theme From 'Pink Panther'" - Henry Mancini (1964)
One of the most iconic jazz movie themes with the most famous sax solo by Plas Johnson. It was used in a series of animated shows featuring the titular character as well as a series of popular live-action comedy films with Peter Sellers. The Cleveland native would score three Grammys and a lifetime major fame for his signature tune.
"Chariots Of Fire" - Vangelis (1981)
This iconic synth movie theme is also noted as the slowest, longest climb to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The Greek-born composer has now got the most popular sports-themed score ever made. The film would also win the Best Picture Oscar for 1981.
"Last Date" - Floyd Cramer (1960)
This Louisiana native had a number two smash with this "slip note" country-style instrumental. Not much is known by me, except that my good buddy, Oates, would clearly know more about him as he's part of the country music scene.
"Dueling Banjos" - Eric Weissburg & Steve Mandel (1972)
This bluegrass instrumental was a chart smash and was featured in the classic John Boorman horror thriller "Deliverance" with Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty (who was in the film's most notoriously repellent scene). The piece alludes to a beautiful, yet creepy scene between Ronny Cox and an inbred boy strumming the banjo. Years after fact, it has been mercilessly tied to redneck/inbred-style movie or television show themes.
...and My Picks!
"Theme From 'Close Encounters'" - Meco (1978)
Apples and oranges time. Despite hitting number one with a disco-fied medley cover of the iconic John Williams score for "Star Wars and the Cantina Band" themes; it was this lesser hit disco-fied cover of another John Williams composition for Lucas' bestie Steven Spielberg and his 40+- year-old sci-fi UFO classic film. It peaked at number 25, but had the clever distinction of having an artificially vocodered recording of a child's voice at the end (alluding to Cary Guffey's child-like voice) saying: "Goodbye, goodbye." This one stuck more than the other from the Pittsburgh producer/musician's smash cover.
"Axel F" - Harold Faltermeyer (1985)
This German musician-producer was known for his hit songs for Donna Summer and Blondie; but he would score the entire Martin Brest 1984 action-comedy "Beverly Hills Cop," that made Saturday Night Live comedian Eddie Murphy a household name. It peaked at number three and was the rarest pop/synth instrumental to become a hit.
"Children" - Robert Miles (1996)
Two instrumentals made waves in the year the Olympics went stateside here (Atlanta, GA). One was the movie theme to the blockbuster Tom Cruise smash "Mission: Impossible" by U2 members, Adam Clayton Jr. and Larry Mullen, but this late composer/DJ/producer who was Swiss/Italian, made a dent here in the top 20 with this rare 90s instrumental. It was a nice mix of trance and EDM, that featured an eerie piano hook as its main selling point. Sadly, he left us in 2017. His song is the rare 90s jam I listen to on a regular basis. May you rest in peace.
"Theme From 'A Summer Place'" - Percy Faith (1960)
Before "Love Story" in 1970, ten years earlier, this Canadian bandleader/composer popularized the Max Steiner composition of the popular 1959 romantic drama and made it one of the most endearing instrumentals in the rock era. It was one of those rare instances that the music superseded the film in popularity. Proof that music could also sell a movie by becoming a hit record. Now, the song is the most overused theme in all of media! Hmmmm.... not that that's necessarily a bad thing!
"Theme From 'Midnight Cowboy'" - Ferrante & Teicher (1969)
Much like the previous entry, two musician/composers popularized the somber John Barry theme to the wildly controversial John Schlesinger-directed, 1969 Oscar-winner for Best Picture which was about a male hustler and a grifter in the rough-and-tumble XXX world of NYC, and gave the 1970s a push with the instrumental format. Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were the stars and it seems this 'list has the distinction of having two Jon Voight films on it!
"Nadia's Theme" - Barry DeVorzon & Perry Botkin Jr. ('The Young & The Restless') (1976)
This piece was incarnated initially in a 1971 made-for-TV movie by its composer DeVorzon, known for his many television themes and hits with other artists like Bob Dylan and Marty Robbins. It was the 1976 Summer Olympics that gave this tune a shot in the arm and a place in the pop charts as it was used to showcase Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's somersaults and gymnastic skills in television montages. The song would have yet another life as the theme to a popular CBS daytime soap opera (read the title as it's the dead giveaway). This is considered a "cat" song as it had more lives than most of the songs on this 'list!
"Music Box Dancer" - Frank Mills (1979)
This Canadian composer/pianist's classic hit had a wild ride to the charts. A batch of 45 RPM's made its way to a Canadian rock music radio station and the DJ mistakenly played it on the air. Both the DJ and listeners flipped for the record and it caught on quick. It placed number three on the pop charts and proved that even an easy listening artist could score a hit on the rock/pop music scene despite the delivery person making a mistake. The theme had also found another life—as the Mister Softee ice cream theme! True 'dat!
"Chase" - Giorgio Moroder (1978)
This Italian-German musician/producer/wunderkind, who was largely responsible for Donna Summer's career, would switch gears and try composing for movies. His Oscar-winning music for the prison drama, Midnight Express was the tip of the iceberg. While not a big hit on the charts, it would cement Moroder's career in movie music and pave the way for other rock music producers (Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame and Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo fame) to try their hand at it—and have major success. Scarface, Flashdance, American Gigolo, and Top Gun would bring him massive fame as well.
"Pick Up The Pieces" - Average White Band (1974)
This disco/funk confection by the mostly white Scottish band went to the top of the pop charts in 1975 and featured some light shouting from it's band members. Sadly, it would be the last hit to feature drummer Robbie MacIntosh as he died from a fatal heroin overdose in 1974. A favorite of mine and a heavy addition on my mp3 'list.
Finally....
"Rise" - Herb Alpert (1979)
The last official instrumental number one of the 1970s. It was a mostly light-jazz/disco/torchy song with Alpert's trumpet solo featured prominently as the main hook. Alpert as many of you may or may not know; was the 'A' in the A&M record label that featured his instrument (trumpet) as the logo. His many instrumental hits in the 1960s with his Tijuana Brass Band were the stuff of legend. But, in 1968, he would chart with a vocal record "This Guy's In Love With You" and go to number one. He's the only artist to have two number ones, but one a vocal recording and the other—an instrumental. He would foresee the careers of The Carpenters, The Captain & Tennille, Peter Frampton, Styx, The Police and Janet Jackson to name a few.
BONUS: "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" - Perez Prado (1955)
- just because!
Thank you and enjoy. Happy New Year 2018.
Next 'List Pending.
Read next: Your Favorite Track on 'Reputation' Based on Your Favorite Track Off '1989'
A passionate writer and graphic artist looking to break into the BIG TIME! Short stories, scripts and graphic art are my forte! Brooklyn N.Y. born and raised. Living in Manchester, Connecticut! Working on two novels now!
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In case you weren't aware, your butt is pretty amazing. It helps your body stay upright, enables you to power through workouts, and looks fantastic when squeezed into a pair of skinny jeans, just sayin'. That's why it's so important for you to know how to get the most out of your glutes, the muscles in your posterior. Read on for all the crazy details.
Sandow was so successful at flexing and posing his physique that he later created several businesses around his fame, and was among the first to market products branded with his name. He was credited with inventing and selling the first exercise equipment for the masses: machined dumbbells, spring pulleys, and tension bands. Even his image was sold by the thousands in "cabinet cards" and other prints. Sandow was a perfect "Gracilian", a standard of ideal body proportions close to those of ancient Greek and Roman statues. Men's physiques were then judged by how closely they matched these proportions.
If you’ve been dealing with tightness in the hip flexors or hip flexor pain for quite some time now and haven’t found the solution, then give these exercises a try. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results! Want more information on Hip Pain? Download our Free Report on Hip Pain “5 Secrets About Hip Pain That Will Surprise You….And Help Get Your Back To Exercising/Running Pain Free” Click Here to Download This Free Hip Pain Report
The function of the gluteus maximus is primarily upper leg (thigh) extension, such as moving the upper leg backward—think rising from a squat position. Another way of thinking about this is bringing the torso upright after being hinged forward. Think of a kettlebell swing and you’ll get a good visual for the major action of the gluteus maximus muscle.
How to do it: Lie on your back with both feet planted firmly against the flat base of a Bosu ball, knees bent. Stabilize your body. If you’re feeling a bit wobbly, your arms can hover on either side of you in case you fall in one direction. If you feel balanced, raise your arms straight up above your chest, hands clasped to challenge and work your stability. Drive your hips toward the ceiling, then lower and repeat.
To combat steroid use and in the hopes of becoming a member of the IOC, the IFBB introduced doping tests for both steroids and other banned substances. Although doping tests occurred, the majority of professional bodybuilders still used anabolic steroids for competition. During the 1970s, the use of anabolic steroids was openly discussed, partly due to the fact they were legal.[9] In the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990, U.S. Congress placed anabolic steroids into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In Canada, steroids are listed under Schedule IV of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, enacted by the federal Parliament in 1996.[10]
Apply the above concept to your hips. When you sit, your hips are in a "flexed" position. Therefore, the muscles that flex your hips are in a shortened state. You probably spend at least a third of your day sitting down. Think about how much time those hip flexor muscles stay shortened. A lot. Over time, they become tighter and tighter until you look like the old man in the picture. So unless you want to look like that, perform the stretches shown below.
“Imagine you've fasted for over eight hours,” he says. “At breakfast, you're firing your metabolism off really high. If you don't eat for another five hours, your metabolism starts to slow right down and you have to try and kickstart it again with your next meal. If you eat every two and a half to three hours, it's like chucking a log on a burning fire.”
Tight hip flexors can also make it harder for your glutes to activate—since they're opposing muscle groups, when one is really tight the other becomes lengthened. When a muscle is more lengthened than it should be, it takes away some of its ability to contract. When your glutes are in this compromised position, it can cause other muscles to do more work than they should, making your workouts less efficient and sometimes, increasing your risk of injury.
But muscle can’t turn into fat, just like mud can’t turn into gold. If you quit lifting, your muscles mass will decrease over time because there’s no training to stimulate your body to keep it. And your body-fat level will increase if you don’t start eating less (since you burn less). The obvious solution when you stop lifting is to also stop eating so much.
We can all pile on the pounds, just stay in the fast food lane, but it’s a nutrient-dense healthy diet, that will promote lean muscle development and size. In truth, muscular growth and building that brick house frame, can be harder to achieve than losing weight, and very frustrating. But we are here to help - follow our top 8 tips and you'll pack on lean muscle and size far more easily and be well on your way to achieving that physique you want.
Yes, but I didn’t start off with saying Keto, because Keto is a buzzword. You need to understand why Keto does what it does. I would have someone start with Keto for the reasons mentioned above, but I would not have them on it long. Carbs are not essential, but they are helpful. Especially, if someone is on Keto trying to build muscle. Or in just in a deficit. If anything, Atkins is where I would lead someone after doing Keto.
One of the biggest glutes-toning mistakes people make is relying on weight machines to tone their butts, says Metzl. Instead, try functional bodyweight training exercises like those squats and bridges we mentioned before. These moves are more effective at strengthening the layers of muscle in your glutes, he says—weight machines, on the other hand, isolate a single layer.
Take note to see if the thigh rests down parallel to the ground (Picture 2) or if it stays up in the air (Picture 1) (You will need someone to be nearby to see what your leg does). Perform on both sides and compare. If the thigh does not stay raised up in the air then there is no true hip flexor tightness and stretching does not need to be performed. If one of the thigh/legs stays up noticeably higher than the other, then stretching will need to be performed. If your leg is able to hang down comfortably parallel to the ground or lower then you passed the test!
"Your glutes are made up of three different muscles, the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus," says Lefkowith. "They externally rotate your hip, abduct your hip, extend your hip, and even posteriorly tilt your pelvis." Because of this, it is important that you not only work one or two of these muscles, but rather, focus on showing all of them some love. "If you were only to do moves in one plane of motion, say a front lunge or squat, you wouldn't work your glutes to strengthen all of the joint actions they can perform."
Cancel, pause, or adjust your order at any time, hassle free. Your credit card will only be charged when your order ships. The discount applied every time is 15% off. Since it would be weird to subscribe to a kettlebell, the subscriptions and subscription discounts are only for things you'll need often, like supplements, foods, and personal care items.
Some bodybuilders use drugs such as anabolic steroids and precursor substances such as prohormones to increase muscle hypertrophy. Anabolic steroids cause hypertrophy of both types (I and II) of muscle fibers, likely caused by an increased synthesis of muscle proteins. They also provoke undesired side effects including hepatotoxicity, gynecomastia, acne, the early onset of male pattern baldness and a decline in the body's own testosterone production, which can cause testicular atrophy.[42][43][44] Other performance-enhancing substances used by competitive bodybuilders include human growth hormone (HGH), which can cause acromegaly.
And not to drop a truth bomb but, most of us need to be doing glute exercises — and aren’t. “Lack of use is the biggest reason so many people tend to have weak glutes,” says Cassandra York, PhD, MS, RD, CSCS, best-selling fitness author and a professor at Central Connecticut State University. “We don’t walk as much as we used to. We don’t take the stairs. And when we do move, we tend to be quad dominant,” says York.
Why it works: The RDL, as it's known, is primarily a hamstrings move, but it’s also effective in building strength in your glutes, lower back, and upper back. Be sure to feel the "squeeze" in your hamstrings and glutes as you raise and lower the bar. For an even tougher variation that'll also increase your grip strength, try doing tempo RDLs—count a few seconds on your way up, and on your way down.
I learned from this to focus on the body weight exercises. I never understood why I could lift a lot of weight, but felt weak when it came to dips, pull ups, push ups etc. Normally I spend 2 hours in a gym: 20 min jogging, 80 min lifting, 20 min jogging, 5 days a week. After reading this I’m excited to incorporate HIIT training in addition to mobility training on my off days, because I think I was wasting a lot of time and effort. I can push way harder on lifting days without the jog beforehand, so I’ll also be able to make the most of 60 minutes…
Teresa Giudice, who's best known as a personality on Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey, competed in her first bodybuilding contest Saturday. — Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY, "'Real Housewives' star Teresa Giudice shows off new muscles at bodybuilding competition," 10 June 2018 His first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, suggested in an interview with Time magazine, with little evidence other than his penchant for bodybuilding and mirror-gazing, that Omar Mateen could have been gay. — Tim Fitzsimons /, NBC News, "What really happened that night at Pulse," 12 June 2018 The physique competition will be held at McGlohon Theater and includes the following categories: bodybuilding, fitness, men’s physique, figure, bikini, classic physique and women’s physique. — Courtney Devores, charlotteobserver, "Your 5-minute guide to the best things to do in Charlotte | June 22-28," 21 June 2018 Fans who have been following Giudice closely on social media have watched the reality star workout in videos, but Giudice hasn't posted publicly about her first bodybuilding competition. — Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY, "'Real Housewives' star Teresa Giudice shows off new muscles at bodybuilding competition," 10 June 2018 Carolyn Marvin, who served as the graduate adviser for both Prosper and Nirenberg, pointed to his thesis, an autoethnography about the subculture of bodybuilding. — Josh Baugh, San Antonio Express-News, "Nirenberg knew immediately that he’d eventually marry Erika Prosper," 17 Mar. 2018 The bodybuilding competition is one of two hosted produced each year in Louisville by Kentucky Muscle promoter Brent L. Jones. — Matt Stone, The Courier-Journal, "Bodybuilders, fitness athletes go flex at 2018 KDF Derby Championships," 29 Apr. 2018 Father John Brown is basically a bodybuilding legend, having won two Mr. Universe titles and three Mr. World crowns. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Facts you may have missed about each Packers draft choice in 2018," 4 May 2018 The affable Louisville man helped bring back the bodybuilding show culture in 2011 with 90 competitors. — Matt Stone, The Courier-Journal, "Bodybuilders, fitness athletes go flex at 2018 KDF Derby Championships," 29 Apr. 2018
The materials and information provided in this presentation, document and/or any other communication (“Communication”) from Onnit Labs, Inc. or any related entity or person (collectively “Onnit”) are strictly for informational purposes only and are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a health problem or as a substitute for consulting a qualified medical professional. Some of the concepts presented herein may be theoretical.
(3) This is where I explain the parentheses: The liver and the muscles contain glucose storages. Glucose all chilling together hanging out stored is/are called glycogen. When these storages become full, then glucose will spill over and get stored in our fat cells just like fat does. Why? The glucose “needs to go somewhere”, it’s not just gonna chill circulating around the body. (I’ll explain “needs to go somewhere” in point 6) FAT does not mean looking like Santa, fat is stored energy. Carbs only lead to fat gain when there is a spillover. Fats only lead to fat gain when that fat isn’t used for energy. *keep reading
How to From High Lunge with your left foot in front, stretch your arms forward, parallel to your mat and to each other, palms facing one another. As you exhale, press the left thighbone back and the left heel actively into the floor; straighten your left leg and lift the back leg to come into Warrior III. Keep your pelvis level as you bend your left knee slightly (shown), then straighten it. Repeat 6–8 times without letting the spine, shoulders, or pelvis change their relationship to one another. If you can’t balance, place your fingers on a wall and allow them to slide up and down as you move. Repeat on the other side.
You see, there is only so much muscle that the human body is capable of building in a given period of time. So, if you supply your body with MORE calories than it’s actually capable of putting towards the process of building new muscle… it’s not going to magically lead to additional muscle being built. It’s just going to lead to additional fat being gained.
Often people try to correct a forward tilt of the pelvis by gripping with the abdominal muscles. But besides limiting your breathing and being counterproductive in backbends, gripping the abdominals won't control the anterior pelvic tilt if you have tight hip flexors—not even in simple standing postures. That's why it's so important to make hip flexor stretches part of your daily practice, especially after a long day of sitting. These poses will let you enjoy a new sense of space in your pelvis—and help protect you from compression and pain in your lower back.
The iliopsoas is another powerful hip flexor that begins in two distinct regions proximally. The iliacus has a broad origin, arising from the inner table of the iliac wing, the sacral alae, and the iliolumbar and sacroiliac ligaments. The psoas originates at the lumbar transverse processes, the intervertebral discs, and the adjacent bodies from T12 to L5, in addition to the tendinous arches between these points. Distally, the two large muscular bodies converge to become one distinct structure—the iliopsoas—and subsequently jointly insert at the lesser trochanter of the proximal femur. The nerve to the iliopsoas (i.e., the anterior division of L1 to L3) supplies the iliopsoas muscle.
Other muscles that can be recruited to assist with hip flexion include the tensor fascia latae (TFL), the pectineus, the adductors, the gracilis, and the anterior aspects of the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. The contribution of these secondary hip flexors largely depends on the position of the hip at the time at which movement is initiated.
We don't allow self-promotional posts. Don't post about athletes outside of the bodybuilding realm. Check the rules to see if your post would belong in one of our bot-automated threads rather than as a separate post. Do not ask for advice on how to rehab an injury or how to deal with any medical condition. Don't post about supplements. If you haven't been training as a bodybuilder for at least a few years, your questions probably belong in the weekly Newbie Tuesdays thread.
The hip flexors are a group of muscles in the front of the hip that act to lift the knee and bring the thigh towards the abdomen. The major muscles making up the hip flexors that we will focus on are the iliacus and the psoas, or the iliopsoas and the rectus femoris. The rectus femoris is a “two joint muscle” because it crosses both the hip and knee joints. As a group, the hip flexors have attachments on the lumbar spine, the pelvis, and the femur. In addition to their major function of flexing the hip, their attachment on the spine makes them an important part of the core muscles and spinal stabilizers.
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Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic
Suzanne Weyn
From the author of REINCARNATION, another historical, supernatural romance, this time focusing on five sisters whose lives are intertwined with the sinking of the Titanic.Science, spiritualism, history, and romance intertwine in Suzanne Weyn's newest novel. Four sisters and their mother make their way from a spiritualist town in New York to London, becoming acquainted with journalist W. T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor. When they all find themselves on the Titanic, one of Tesla's inventions dooms them...and one could save them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAR 30, 2009
Weyn's historical novel climaxes with the sinking of the Titanic, but it begins in 1898 when narrator Jane, the second of five sisters, is four years old and observing her mother, a medium, contact the spirit world for the first time. That same life-changing day, on their way to a spiritualist community outside Buffalo, N.Y., the newly-fatherless family is caught in an artificial earthquake caused by real-life scientist Nikola Tesla. The beginning of the novel centers on the girls' mother's spiritual work, with Jane unsure of her mother's clairvoyance. Science has an equally important role, as Jane becomes obsessed with Tesla, following his career in the paper and then seeking him out. The story's pace is slow, but it picks up as the years pass, and Jane falls in love with Tesla's assistant, Thad. After a trip to England, the sisters find themselves on the Titanic-the author uses a touch of the fantastic to provide a (mostly) happy conclusion. The interplay of science, spirituality, history and romance will satisfy. Ages 12-up.
Scholastic Canada Ltd.
More Books by Suzanne Weyn
The Bar Code Tattoo
Water Song
The Haunted Museum #1: The Titanic Locket
The Diamond Secret
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Biz Events Asia – The magazine for thought leaders
Australia Updates
MCEC celebrates multiple milestones
by BEA Reporter
In the last seven years, the convention centre has more than doubled its revenue.
In a year of milestones, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019, along with one year since opening its new expansion.
MCEC chief executive, Peter King says the expansion has been a great addition to the venue, increasing MCEC’s economic impact.
“In the 2018/19 year, we have contributed more than AU$1.10 billion in economic impact to the state of Victoria,” he says. “In the last seven years we’ve more than doubled our revenue and we are on track to exceed $100 million next year.”
Since the official opening in July 2018, MCEC’s expansion has hosted 247 events including a diverse range of meetings, conferences and exhibitions.
The Melbourne Convention Centre was officially opened on 5 June 2009, by former Victorian premier, John Brumby, who now presides as chairman of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Trust.
“Since opening in 2009, the Melbourne Convention Centre has become an iconic Melbourne events destination hosting over 7,000 events and welcoming millions of visitors through its doors,” Brumby says.
“The growing success of MCEC is testament to the strong partnerships we have across the Victorian Government and our precinct partners, Plenary Group.”
Plenary Group chairman, John O’Rourke, congratulated MCEC on the milestone, highlighting the whole-of-precinct approach taken while planning the original project.
“We knew the long-term success of MCEC, for Melburnians and visitors alike, would turn on the sort of precinct created around it.
“Our masterplan envisioned the complete transformation of an industrial site into the active tourism and events destination it is today, which was borne out of the $1 billion private sector investment in a hotel and retail commercial development.”
He adds: “The outstanding success of the precinct is evidenced by a further $150 million private sector investment in the recent expansion project, including the construction of a second hotel.”
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September 15, 2012 July 6, 2017 by Tom Conmy
Sunday, August 17, 1947, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, PA. Pirates playing the Cardinals. Del Rice is catching for the Redbirds (rookie Jim Hearn on the mound, off camera), Whitey Kurowski at third, and slugger and future Hall Of Famer Hank Greenberg is coming up to bat in the bottom of the 7th inning, in the final year of his illustrious career.
Greenberg was a Detroit Tigers legend through the ’30’s and ’40’s, even after taking off 4 years for WWII service. But at the beginning of the 1947 season, he was mired in a salary dispute with ownership, and elected to retire instead of taking a cut in pay. Doing so, the Tigers sold his contract to the Pirates, and the Bucs’ owners (including Bing Crosby, who recorded a song, “Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye” with Groucho Marx and Greenberg [listen below!] to celebrate Greenberg’s arrival), offered him $80,000, the highest ever paid a baseball player to that point, to persuade him not to retire, and play one last season. The Pirates also reduced the size of Forbes’ left field by installing fencing and renaming the section “Greenberg Gardens” to accommodate Greenberg’s pull-hitting style. Playing for the Pirates also afforded him the opportunity to mentor a young Bucs slugger by the name of Ralph Kiner, and the “gardens” in left were changed to “Kiner’s Korner” after Hank’s departure.
Click photos for larger versions!
Greenberg walked in the above at-bat (Kiner was on second with a double), but he belted a homer in his next trip to the plate (his 330th) during the Bucs’ 4-run 8th inning, going 2-3 on the day (Hank would have only one more home run in his career, in September at Forbes). Despite that, Stan Musial’s 3-for-3 helped the Cards to a 6-5 win, allowing them to pull within 4.5 games of the Dodgers, but would never catch them for the ’47 pennant. As for the Pirates, they were already mired in the second division at this point, as Hank’s career was winding down, and would end the season tied for last place. Ralph Kiner would go on to have a Hall Of Fame career of his own, albeit shortened by injury. Hank himself entered the Hall in 1956.
Posted in A Moment In Time, Audio, Cardinals, Forbes Field, PiratesTagged 1940's, Hank Greenberg, Ralph Kiner
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Celebrity Cruises Announces Three Revolutionary Partnerships Ahead of Celebrity Flora’s Debut
April 25, 2019 by Editor
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – April 25, 2019 – With just 66 days until the official debut of Celebrity Flora, Celebrity Cruises has unveiled three new cutting-edge partnerships for the revolutionary new ship: A world-renowned conservationist turned Godmother, a one-of-a-kind designer with an unmatched vision, and a leading university specializing in marine and atmospheric sciences.
“We are also thrilled to unveil three one-of-a-kind partnerships, which help underscore our passion for protecting this beautiful archipelago,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “Each of these new partners are helping shape a better tomorrow for our planet in one way or another – whether it’s through the research, sustainable material sourcing or conservation – and we couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this sea change.”
Lutoff-Perlo also added: “These new partnerships are accentuating the already incredible work we’ve done with our other partners, including the amazing Francesca Bucci of BG Studio International, a New York City hospitality design firm – who designed every aspect of this stunning new ship – and the world-renowned marine scientist and regional destination expert Dr. Ellen Prager – who crafted new and exciting science- and discovery-based programming exclusive to Celebrity Flora.”
A GODMOTHER WITH PURPOSE
Naturally, sharing Celebrity’s passion for environmental stewardship was the most important factor in choosing a godmother for one of the most eco-friendly ships of its size in the Galapagos Islands. No one was a better match than Yolanda Kakabadse.
Recognized as a prominent environmental leader and a global champion of sustainable development and biodiversity preservation, Kakabadse is a former Minister of Environment for the Republic of Ecuador and a former president of both the International Union for Conservation of Nature and World Wildlife Fund International. Kakabadse is passionate about reducing the economic, social, and environmental impacts of food waste, and is a member of Champions 12.3. She has dedicated her career to leaving the world a better place.
“The Galapagos Islands are an ecological treasure and I am excited to showcase its one-of-a-kind biodiversity through Flora,” said Kakabadse. “I am proud to partner with a company that is committed to sustainability in the Galapagos and showing leadership on an issue critical to sustain this beautiful ecosystem, food waste.”
As part of Celebrity’s more than 20-year repertoire of environmental efforts and inspired by the work of Celebrity Flora’s Godmother, the brand is pleased to partner with Kakabadse to further focus on continued efforts to further reduce the any food waste and to create passionate advocates for conservation in every guest who sails.
UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE OCEAN
Located at the intersection of five ocean currents are the lush Galapagos Islands, with their world-famous ecology featuring some of the most diverse flora and fauna anywhere in the world. Understanding how those currents and weather patterns have impacted development of the unique island environment and wildlife is a key part of conserving the one-of-a-kind archipelago for years to come.
With the launch of their newest ship, Celebrity Cruises had the opportunity to blend exploration and research by making Celebrity Flora the first vessel in the Galapagos to be equipped with cutting-edge oceanographic research equipment, known as Oceanscope. The program builds on a more than 20-year relationship with University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science that benefits from a cruise ship’s consistent itinerary to create a perfect and cost-effective way for scientists to gather and measure ocean circulation dynamics.
The system will track and map the region while measuring sea-surface temperatures and gathering data critical to research prediction of El Niño and La Niña. All findings gathered by Celebrity Flora will become open source data – globally accessible to research – a first for scientists around the world and anyone with a passion for this information.
“Celebrity Flora‘s repeated circumnavigations of the Galapagos Archipelago will not only yield data essential to understanding the physical system that has created and maintains the unique Galapagos ecosystem but will be an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the effects of global weather and climate upon eastern equatorial Pacific circulation and regional ocean acidification,” said Peter B. Ortner, Research Professor, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
DESTINATION-INSPIRED DESIGN
When Celebrity set out to build the first ship designed with the Galapagos in mind, the brand knew it needed to bring on a designer whose aesthetic not only drew inspiration from the region, but who also had a personal connection to this one-of-a-kind destination and would complement the stunning ship design by BG Studio.
Ecuadorian-native Adriana Hoyos was the perfect choice. A renowned interior and furniture designer, Hoyos pulls inspiration from her heritage and her extensive travels and highlights sustainable materials when crafting a new collection. Her one-of-a kind pieces can be found throughout the Discovery Lounge, Penthouse Suites and the Marina, complementing the ship design with local elements that connect to the destination organically.
“The Galapagos have always been a great inspiration for my work. Each island has different elements like the sand, the volcanic ashes, the leaves and all of those textures put together have a place in my furniture. That is why we chose selected pieces to complement the ship’ design with local elements that will connect organically to the design of the cruise,” said Hoyos. “The ship is unique and Galapagos is a unique place as well!”
EXPERIENCE THE EVOLUTION OF TRAVEL IN THE GALAPAGOS
One of the most energy-efficient ships of its size in the diverse archipelago, the 100-guest Celebrity Flora is the first ship of its kind designed specifically for the Galapagos. The cutting-edge new ship will feature Celebrity’s signature outward-facing design concept, giving guests 360-degree views of the islands, and all-suite accommodations – including an unprecedented 50% Sky Suites with Infinite Veranda – equipped with personal attendants. Unique to Celebrity Flora are the first-ever glamping experience at sea, new dining venues, an open-air stargazing platform, expert-led ecological seminars, and custom-designed Novurania yacht tenders, which create a seamless sea-to-shore experience for guests.
Categories Cruise News Tags Celebrity Cruise Line, Celebrity Flora, cruise, Galapagos Post navigation
Royal Caribbean Begins Construction on Fifth Oasis Class Ship
Celebrity Summit Unveils New Look After Massive Makeover
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Tag Archives: al Qaeda
A Sinkhole Sucking in Failed States: jihad in Africa
The number of violent incidents involving jihadist groups in Africa has increased by more than 300% between 2010 and 2017… Many Western officers are despondent. Without more troops “there is no question we will lose”, says a senior French officer.
In the potpourri of jihadist groups, many pledge their loyalties to al-Qaeda or IS. They include al-Shabab in Somalia, Boko Haram and its factions in Nigeria, and Jama’a Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin in Mali. In each country, conflict may be fuelled largely by local grievances. But the insurgents share some ideological traits. Many have been strengthened by the breakdown of Libya after the downfall of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime in 2011. Weapons spilled out of Libya’s armouries, and smuggling networks for everything from people to drugs developed across the Sahara. There are signs that the jihadists are learning from one another and sucking money and support from militant groups in the Middle East…
The most important of the battles is Nigeria’s campaign against Boko Haram. ..A retired general who once held a senior post at AFRICOM, America’s military command for Africa, puts it thus: “If Nigeria goes down it would make a giant sinkhole that would suck in six or seven other countries.” Nigeria’s difficulties, moreover, offer sobering lessons to many other African countries, and their Western allies.
Maiduguri (Nigeria) was the birthplace of Boko Haram, whose factions make up the world’s deadliest terrorist group. It is so extreme that it sickens even IS and al-Qaeda. The group was founded by the followers of a charismatic Islamic preacher, Mohammed Yusuf, who had started a religious school and mosque in Maiduguri in 2002… Among his demands was a ban on secular schooling (the group’s name, Boko Haram, means “Western education is a sin” in Hausa).
The Nigerian police arrested and then killed Yusuf in front of a crowd outside the police headquarters in Maiduguri (the government insisted he was shot while trying to escape). Yusuf’s followers went into hiding before emerging under the command of Abubakar Shekau. In 2011 they blew up the headquarters of the Nigerian police and a UN building in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. By the end of 2014 they had overrun large parts of three states in north-eastern Nigeria, gained international notoriety after kidnapping almost 300 schoolgirls from Chibok and were fighting their way into Maiduguri. Nigeria’s army, hollowed out by corruption, was in disarray. Units were filled by ghost soldiers whose pay was being pocketed by their commanders. One Western officer recalls how a company that should have had 100-150 soldiers consisted of just 20 men.
Boko Haram did not at first try to govern…. It preferred chaos. It bombed mosques and markets, massacred villagers and abducted women and children. Some girls were enslaved and sold. Others were pressed into being human bombs. A study by the Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, a military academy, found that more than half of 434 such human bombs the group used between April 2011 and June 2017 were female.UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, says that last year Boko Haram strapped bombs to at least 135 children.
Mr Shekau’s brutality proved too much even for IS, to which he had sworn allegiance in 2015, changing Boko Haram’s name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). In 2016 IS named Abu Musab al-Barnawi the leader of ISWAP, splintering the group into two factions. Meanwhile, thousands of villagers and residents of Maiduguri took up machetes or handmade muskets and joined a self-defence militia, the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), that held the gates of the city. The new president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military dictator, ordered his generals to move their headquarters to Maiduguri. Neighbouring states such as Chad, Niger and Cameroon contributed troops to a multinational force. Within months the army had recaptured most big towns, pushing the insurgents into forests or Lake Chad, a mass of swamps where the borders of four countries meet.
Since then, though, stalemate has set in…The ISWAP has learned how to make roadside bombs and has become more skilled in conducting attacks. …It levies “taxes” on locals and erects roadblocks to extort money from passing traffic… It is building a proto-caliphate.
Nigeria’s generals talk about “winning hearts and minds” but they are doing the opposite. The army has systematically cleared people from the countryside, burning their villages and packing them into squalid camps in Maiduguri and other “garrison towns”. In all, some 2.4m people have been displaced by the fighting in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. T Most observers think that indiscriminate killings by the army and the forcing of people into garrison towns are fuelling the insurgency. There are almost no jobs in the camps. Access is through checkpoints manned by the army and CJTF, who demand bribes. Amnesty International, a human-rights group, says many women and girls have been raped in the camps and that hundreds if not thousands of people confined in them have died of starvation or a lack of medical care. … “It is like a factory for jihadis.”
The Nigerian state’s failure extends far beyond the camps. In In effect, Nigeria’s north-east is a failed state within a dysfunctional one.
Excerpts from Jihad’s Next Battleground, Economist, July 14, 2018, at 41
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, War and tagged al Qaeda, al-Shabab Somalia, Boko Haram Nigeria, islamic, Islamic State (IS), Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on August 9, 2018 by Stoa.
Lernaean Hydra-cultivating the many Gaddafis
When Doundou Chefou first took up arms as a youth a decade ago, it was for the same reason as other ethnic Fulani herders along the Niger-Mali border: to protect his livestock. He had nothing against the Republic of Niger, let alone the United States of America. His quarrel was with rival Tuareg cattle raiders.
Yet in October 2017 he led dozens of militants allied to Islamic State in a deadly assault against allied US-Niger forces, killing four soldiers from each nation and demonstrating how dangerous the West’s mission in the Sahel has become.
The transition of Chefou and men like him from vigilantes protecting their cows to jihadists capable of carrying out complex attacks is a story Western powers would do well to heed, as the pursuit of violent extremism in West Africa becomes ever more enmeshed in long-standing ethnic and clan conflicts.
For centuries Tuareg and Fulani lived as nomads herding animals and trading – Tuareg mostly across the dunes and oases of the Sahara and Fulani mostly in the Sahel, a vast band of semi-arid scrubland that stretches from Senegal to Sudan….Though they largely lived peacefully side-by-side, arguments occasionally flared, usually over scarce watering points. A steady increase in the availability of automatic weapons made the rivalry more deadly.
A turning point was the Western-backed ousting of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. With his demise, many Tuareg who fought as mercenaries for Gaddafi returned home, bringing with them the contents of Libya’s looted armouries. Some returnees launched a rebellion in Mali to create a breakaway Tuareg state in the desert north, a movement hijacked by al Qaeda-linked jihadists who had been operating in Mali for years. In 2012, they swept across northern Mali, seizing key towns and prompting a French intervention that pushed them back in 2013.
Amid the violence and chaos, some Tuareg turned their guns on rivals from other ethnic groups like the Fulani, who then went to the Islamists for arms and training.
“The Tuareg were armed and were pillaging the Fulani’s cattle,” Niger Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum told Reuters. “The Fulani felt obliged to arm themselves.”..
Tuareg in Mali and Niger dreamed of and sometimes fought for an independent state, Fulani generally been more pre-occupied by concerns over the security of their community and the herds they depend on. “For the Fulani, it was a sense of injustice, of exclusion, of discrimination and a need for self-defence,” A militant who proved particularly good at tapping into this dissatisfaction was Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, an Arabic-speaking north African, several law enforcement sources said. Al-Sahrawi recruited dozens of Fulani into the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), loosely allied to al Qaeda in the region and controlled Gao and the area to the Niger border in 2012.
Why pastoralists in Mali and Niger turned to jihad, Reuters, Nov. 13, 2017
This entry was posted in War and tagged Africa, al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Al Qaeda Somalia, Al-Sahrawi, Fulani, Gaddafi, Islamic State (IS), jihadists, Mali, Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), Niger, Tuareg in Mali, Tuareg state on November 16, 2017 by Stoa.
West versus the Islamic State: the Apostles
Undercover warriors [led by the US spy agency CIA] will aim to “cut the head off the snake” by hitting the command structure of the Islamist terror group responsible for a trail of atrocities across Iraq and Syria, reports the Sunday People. PM David Cameron has told the SAS and UK spy agencies to direct all their resources at defeating IS [Islamic State] after a video of US journalist James Foley being beheaded shocked the world.
British special forces will work with America’s Delta Force and Seal Team 6. The move sees a rebirth of top secret Task Force Black, which helped defeat al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq .This time the counter-terrorist experts will be targeting Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of IS and now the world’s most wanted terrorist.
A source said: “We need to go into Syria and Iraq and kill as many IS members as we can. You can’t negotiate with these people. “This is not a war of choice. They are cash rich and have a plentiful supply of arms. If we don’t go after them, they will soon come after us…You have to get on the ground and take out the commanders – cut off the snake’s head.
The new task force will comprise a squadron of the SAS, special forces aircrews from the RAF and agents from MI5 and MI6. The operation will be led by America’s CIA spy agency.
One of the first jobs will be to identify the British Muslim shown on an IS video released last week apparently cutting Foley’s head off with a knife. UK intelligence sources confirmed that the killer, believed to be a British-born Pakistani from London, is already at the top of a CIA “kill list”…
Troops will also train Kurdish Peshmerga fighters…There are also moves to revive a defunct Iraqi special forces unit called the Apostles, which was created by the first Task Force Black after the Iraq War.
Excerpts from Aaron Sharp, SAS and US special forces forming hunter killer unit to ‘smash Islamic State’, Mirror, Aug.23, 2014
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, Espionage, Human Rights, War and tagged Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, al Qaeda, cia, CIA secret wars, Delta Force, Islamic State, Islamic state in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Seal Team 6., special force Apostles, task force black, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), US special forces on August 25, 2014 by Stoa.
The Jihadist View of the World
Al-Qaeda.., including militia groups under the umbrella name of Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law)in Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Mali and Egypt that both compete and co-operate with the organisation, have recovered momentum and self-confidence as the hopes invested in the Arab spring have withered. Indeed, the reverses of the Arab spring have been a boon to it.Take Egypt. After the coup that toppled President Muhammad Morsi in July, Mr Zawahiri posted a 15-minute message on jihadist websites arguing that “the crusaders” in the West and their allies in the Arab world will never allow the establishment of an Islamist state…Look to the biggest gift the Arab spring has given al-Qaeda: the increasingly sectarian civil war in Syria. The prospect of overthrowing Bashar Assad is catnip to jihadists; his Alawite regime is an heretical abomination to the hyper-orthodox Salafis from which al-Qaeda draws its support. Western intelligence thinks most of Syria’s effective rebel militias may now be jihadist, with thousands of fighters from other Muslim countries and hundreds from Europe, especially Britain, France and the Netherlands.
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), formerly al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), has recently pushed into eastern Syria from Iraq, following a resurgence there that is part of the more general pattern of ineradicability…Al-Qaeda wants to bring Iraq, Syria and Lebanon together into a single “caliphate”, and ISIS uses foreign fighters drawn to Syria on both sides of the porous border with Iraq. It has also tried to merge with Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN), one of the most militarily formidable rebel militias (and the one with which Mr Qunaibi is associated). …For the time being, ISIS and JAN are focused entirely on the would-be caliphate of the Levant. Most of the network’s affiliates are similarly engaged in regional struggles, the most extensive being that of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the north African branch. AQIM is seeking to make use of Libya’s post-revolutionary chaos, and weapons from Muammar Qaddafi’s former arsenal, to create an “arc of instability” across the Sahara and the Sahel. It provides help and advice to jihadist organisations from Boko Haram in Nigeria to the Shabab in Somalia.In 2012 AQIM commanders allied to an indigenous insurgent group, Ansar Eddine, took control of the northern half of Mali. They ruthlessly implemented sharia law and picked an unnecessary fight with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, a grouping of rebel Tuaregs…
An intense drone campaign has killed several of AQAP’s (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) senior leaders; its second-in-command, Said al-Shihri, died on July 16th. Yemeni government operations have driven it out of some of the southern tribal areas it overran in 2011. But it has lost none of its ambition….Bruce Riedel, who has advised four presidents and is now at the Saban Centre for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC, recently warned that al-Qaeda in Pakistan remains embedded in a network of local support groups from the Taliban to Lashkar-e-Taiba. After the departure of NATO combat forces in 2014 it may be able to regenerate itself, rather as ISIS did in Iraq….Thomas Sanderson of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, also in Washington, says al-Qaeda and its allies in Pakistan are weaving a narrative that equates America’s post-2014 withdrawal with the mujahideen defeat of the Soviet Union, another superpower with feet of clay, 25 years earlier…
One counter-terrorism intelligence source recently observed: “Tactically, we may have defeated the central leadership, but strategically, they are winning.” While attacks on the far enemy are important both as a deterrent and as a source of jihadist inspiration, they are not al-Qaeda’s main purpose. Its overriding aim remains, as it has been since bin Laden saw the retreat of the Soviet Union, the creation of a new caliphate across the Islamic world based on unswerving adherence to sharia law. That requires the corrupting influence of the “Zionist-Crusader alliance” in the region to be extirpated and all apostate Muslim governments removed.
Seen from that point of view, things are not going badly. Al-Qaeda believes America is in retreat not just in Afghanistan but also across the Middle East. The poisoning of the Arab spring has given it new purpose and ideological momentum. Al-Qaeda itself may be divided and in some places depleted. It may be shunned by some with similar ideologies, and its affiliates may increasingly ignore its ageing leadership. But the Salafi jihadist view of the world that al-Qaeda promotes and fights for has never had greater traction.
Excerpts, The state of al-Qaeda: The unquenchable fire, Economist. Sept. 28, 2013. at 21
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, War and tagged al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaida, al-Shabab, Ansar al-Sharia, AQAP, drone war against al-Qaeda, drone war against al-Shabab, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) on December 23, 2013 by Stoa.
Naming the Dead of the CIA Drone War
Naming the Dead is a project run by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a not-for-profit research organisation based in London. The project aims to identify those killed in CIA drone strikes on Pakistan. Over the past nine years, the tribal region of Pakistan’s north west has been hit by hundreds of drone attacks as the CIA has sought to stamp out al Qaeda fighters and the militant groups that have given them shelter. Missiles launched from these high-tech, unmanned aircraft have hit homes, cars, schools, shops and gatherings. At least 2,500 people have been killed, according to data already collected by the Bureau as part of our wider Covert Drone War research.
Senior US officials have described drones as highly precise weapons that target and kill enemies of the US. John Brennan, who oversaw the development of the drone campaign and is now director of the CIA, has called drone technology an ‘essential tool’ for its ‘surgical precision – the ability, with laser-like focus, to eliminate the cancerous tumour called an al Qaeda terrorist while limiting damage to the tissue around it.’
Those killed by drones include high-ranking militant leaders – figures such as Abu Yahya al Libi, al Qaeda’s feared second-in-command, or Baitullah Mehsud, commander of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP). But according to credible media reports analysed by the Bureau, the dead also include at least 400 civilians. Some were unlucky enough to be nearby when militants were attacked. Others were killed alongside their husbands or fathers, who were believed to be militants. Still others were mistaken for terrorists by drone operators sitting thousands of miles away.
In most cases, there is little information available about who the drones are really killing. Most of the dead – an estimated four-fifths of those killed – are believed to be militants. But their deaths are typically reported as a number – their names, origins and livelihoods remain a mystery. For so many people to die in obscurity, unnamed and unacknowledged, is a tragedy. But it is a further tragedy that the public, and even policy makers, are unable to properly test whether drones are ‘highly precise weapons’ when so little is known about who is actually dying.
Through Naming the Dead, the Bureau aims to increase the transparency around this conflict and inform the public debate. Initially this project will record all names published in open-source material – in credible reports by journalists, in legal documents presented in court, in academic studies and in field investigations carried out by human rights groups. In the future, the Bureau aims to identify more of the dead on a regular basis, and to uncover more details of those who have been killed. Where possible we will provide further identification – where they were killed, and their occupations, full names and ages. In the remote areas of Pakistan where drone strikes take place, official identification is rare. Few people possess identification cards, birth certificates, or even documents recording their relatives’ deaths. But wherever possible this project will provide documentation recording a person’s death.
Photographs of the destruction of a particular site are included in the database. Affidavits, photos, hospital records, student identification and transcripts of interviews with researchers are all provided when available. Over time, the Bureau aims to build on such currently scarce records in an attempt to properly scrutinise the little that is reported, and the claims being made – on all sides.
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, Human Rights, War and tagged al Qaeda, bureau of investigative journalism, cia, CIA drone program, CIA drone program Pakistan, CIA drone program Yemen, civilian casualties, drones, humanitarian law, international law, John Brennan, laws of war, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on September 30, 2013 by Stoa.
Lethal Operations Directed Against US Citizens are Lawful: secret memo
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes….The undated memo is entitled “Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa’ida or An Associated Force.” It was provided to members of the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees in June by administration officials on the condition that it be kept confidential and not discussed publicly.
Although not an official legal memo, the white paper was represented by administration officials as a policy document that closely mirrors the arguments of classified memos on targeted killings by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which provides authoritative legal advice to the president and all executive branch agencies. The administration has refused to turn over to Congress or release those memos publicly — or even publicly confirm their existence. A source with access to the white paper, which is not classified, provided a copy to NBC News.
“This is a chilling document,” said Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, which is suing to obtain administration memos about the targeted killing of Americans. “Basically, it argues that the government has the right to carry out the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen. … It recognizes some limits on the authority it sets out, but the limits are elastic and vaguely defined, and it’s easy to see how they could be manipulated.”…..
The completeness of the administration’s public accounts of its legal arguments was also sharply criticized last month by U.S. Judge Colleen McMahon in response to a lawsuit brought by the New York Times and the ACLU seeking access to the Justice Department memos on drone strikes targeting Americans under the Freedom of Information Act. McMahon, describing herself as being caught in a “veritable Catch-22,” said she was unable to order the release of the documents given “the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws while keeping the reasons for the conclusion a secret.” In her ruling, McMahon noted that administration officials “had engaged in public discussion of the legality of targeted killing, even of citizens.” But, she wrote, they have done so “in cryptic and imprecise ways, generally without citing … any statute or court decision that justifies its conclusions.”……..
“A lawful killing in self-defense is not an assassination,” the white paper reads. “In the Department’s view, a lethal operation conducted against a U.S. citizen whose conduct poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States would be a legitimate act of national self-defense that would not violate the assassination ban. Similarly, the use of lethal force, consistent with the laws of war, against an individual who is a legitimate military target would be lawful and would not violate the assassination ban.”
Excerpts from Michael Isikoff. EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans, NBC News, Feb. 6, 2012
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, War and tagged al Qaeda, assassinations, CIA drones, doctrine of self-defese, drones, international law, laws of war, targeted killings, terrorism, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on February 12, 2013 by Stoa.
Djibouti, the US Permanent Drone War Base
Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti…began as a temporary staging ground for U.S. Marines looking for a foothold in the region a decade ago (2001). Over the past two years, the U.S. military has clandestinely transformed it into the busiest Predator drone base outside the Afghan war zone, a model for fighting a new generation of terrorist groups. The Obama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the legal and operational details of its targeted-killing program. Behind closed doors, painstaking debates precede each decision to place an individual in the cross hairs of the United States’ perpetual war against al-Qaeda and its allies. Increasingly, the orders to find, track or kill those people are delivered to Camp Lemonnier. Virtually the entire 500-acre camp is dedicated to counterterrorism, making it the only installation of its kind in the Pentagon’s global network of bases.
Secrecy blankets most of the camp’s activities. The U.S. military rejected requests from The Washington Post to tour Lemonnier last month. Officials cited “operational security concerns,” although they have permitted journalists to visit in the past. After a Post reporter showed up in Djibouti uninvited, the camp’s highest-ranking commander consented to an interview — on the condition that it take place away from the base, at Djibouti’s lone luxury hotel. The commander, Army Maj. Gen. Ralph O. Baker, answered some general queries but declined to comment on drone operations or missions related to Somalia or Yemen.
Despite the secrecy, thousands of pages of military records obtained by The Post — including construction blueprints, drone accident reports and internal planning memos — open a revealing window into Camp Lemonnier. None of the documents is classified and many were acquired via public-records requests. Taken together, the previously undisclosed documents show how the Djibouti-based drone wars sharply escalated early last year after eight Predators arrived at Lemonnier. The records also chronicle the Pentagon’s ambitious plan to further intensify drone operations here in the coming months.
The documents point to the central role played by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which President Obama has repeatedly relied on to execute the nation’s most sensitive counterterrorism missions. About 300 Special Operations personnel plan raids and coordinate drone flights from inside a high-security compound at Lemonnier that is dotted with satellite dishes and ringed by concertina wire. Most of the commandos work incognito, concealing their names even from conventional troops on the base…
In Washington, the Obama administration has taken a series of steps to sustain the drone campaign for another decade, developing an elaborate new targeting database, called the “disposition matrix,” and a classified “playbook” to spell out how decisions on targeted killing are made.
Djibouti is the clearest example of how the United States is laying the groundwork to carry out these operations overseas. For the past decade, the Pentagon has labeled Lemonnier an “expeditionary,” or temporary, camp. But it is now hardening into the U.S. military’s first permanent drone war base.
In August, the Defense Department delivered a master plan to Congress detailing how the camp will be used over the next quarter-century. About $1.4 billion in construction projects are on the drawing board, including a huge new compound that could house up to 1,100 Special Operations forces, more than triple the current number. Drones will continue to be in the forefront. In response to written questions from The Post, the U.S. military confirmed publicly for the first time the presence of remotely piloted aircraft — military parlance for drones — at Camp Lemonnier and said they support “a wide variety of regional security missions.”….For nearly a decade, the United States flew drones from Lemonnier only rarely, starting with a 2002 strike in Yemen that killed a suspected ringleader of the attack on the USS Cole. That swiftly changed in 2010, however, after al-Qaeda’s network in Yemen attempted to bomb two U.S.-bound airliners and jihadists in Somalia separately consolidated their hold on that country. Late that year, records show, the Pentagon dispatched eight unmanned MQ-1B Predator aircraft to Djibouti and turned Lemonnier into a full-time drone base.
The impact was apparent months later: JSOC drones from Djibouti and CIA Predators from a secret base on the Arabian Peninsula converged over Yemen and killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric and prominent al-Qaeda member. Today, Camp Lemonnier is the centerpiece of an expanding constellation of half a dozen U.S. drone and surveillance bases in Africa, created to combat a new generation of terrorist groups across the continent, from Mali to Libya to the Central African Republic. The U.S. military also flies drones from small civilian airports in Ethiopia and the Seychelles, but those operations pale in comparison to what is unfolding in Djibouti.
Lemonnier also has become a hub for conventional aircraft. In October 2011, the military boosted the airpower at the base by deploying a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, which can fly faster and carry more munitions than Predators…
In March 2011, a Predator parked at the camp started its engine without any human direction, even though the ignition had been turned off and the fuel lines closed. Technicians concluded that a software bug had infected the “brains” of the drone, but never pinpointed the problem. “After that whole starting-itself incident, we were fairly wary of the aircraft and watched it pretty closely,” an unnamed Air Force squadron commander testified to an investigative board, according to a transcript. “Right now, I still think the software is not good.” …
“This [Djibouti] is not an outpost in the middle of nowhere that is of marginal interest,” said Amanda J. Dory, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Africa. “This is a very important location in terms of U.S. interests, in terms of freedom of navigation, when it comes to power projection.”
The U.S. military pays $38 million a year to lease Camp Lemonnier from the Djiboutian government…
Excerpts, Craig Whitlock, Remote US base at core of secret operations, Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2012
This entry was posted in civilian casualties, covert action, War and tagged al Qaeda, al Qaeda Arabia, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, cia, CIA assassination, clandestine operations, covert action, Djibouti, Djibouti US military base, drones, John Brennan, JSOC, kill lists, obama, targeted killings, U.S. Joint Special Operations Command, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on November 1, 2012 by Stoa.
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Help Houlaye have water so she can go to school Amman Imman announces plans for the construction of a “multi-village” solar-powered borehole water-well for 16 communities.
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WATER, HEALTH,
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HomeDebbie Kahn2019-05-28T13:29:59-04:00
Amman Imman empowers and supports Africa’s most vulnerable indigenous peoples and engages students worldwide as socially conscious leaders.
Recent research conducted by Project Drawdown claims that combining girls’ education and women’s rights, particularly in the realm of family planning, is the #1 solution for reducing climate emissions and combatting climate change.
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Debbie Kahn2019-07-10T23:17:56-04:00
Portrait of Ariane Kirtley, initiator of Marcher sur l’eau, and FAMAE “PRECIOUS WATER!” challenge laureate
Ariane Kirtley, initiator of Marcher sur l’eau, and FAMAE “PRECIOUS WATER!” challenge laureate The “Marcher sur l’eau” project has as a goal to increase the resilience of 40,000 people living in the Sahel who are suffering from one of the world's most serious water shortage. We will be implementing a “sustainable management of wetlands/agroforestry” [...]
The “Water is Education” Borehole-well
Building Hope. Giving Education. Providing Opportunities. Families in the Azawak walk up to 30 miles a day searching for water. Children have little to no time for education. Parents migrate to neighboring countries to look for a livelihood. We are raising money to build the "Water is Education" borehole-well to provide water to 40,000 and [...]
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Background: The primary need in the Azawak is water. Half of the children under five die due to reasons linked to lack of water, or poor quality water. Given the depth of the water table, which starts at 200 meters, very few technologies work in the Azawak. Deep boreholes ...
Background: Niger in general suffers from severe food insecurity. In the Azawak, the abundant livestock, utilized for trade and for milk, curtailed food shortages in the region. In fact, the Azawak used to be the best pastoral land of West Africa, and the wealthiest region. Most of the livestock has ...
Background: Access to any sort of health care is almost nonexistent in the Azawak. There are few health posts, and those that exist are held by non-qualified government staff (people with no medical background). Typically, getting to one of these centers takes several days by donkey. The only two ...
Background: Access to water makes it possible for livelihood activities to begin. Prior to having a borehole, people spent all their time looking for water, and had no time to take on “jobs” or engage in other activities that would allow them to make revenue. Extreme poverty overshadows each of ...
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Be a student leader in the fight against climate change — and for access to education!
Join our worldwide movement to raise €340K/$385K to build the “Water is Education” borehole!
40,000 people will to gain access to clean water, and as many as 5,000 children will be able to attend school.
Wells of Love empowers students as stewards for our earth and humanity. Our “Heroes of Compassion” gain awareness about global concerns such as food, water, human rights and climate change — issues that directly impact the vulnerable indigenous populations Amman Imman serves. We provide support for students as they enact group and individual projects to help our communities. They are positioned to become environmental advocates, humanitarian leaders and compassionate philanthropists.
Uniting young people of all ages, from preschoolers to university students, as caring philanthropists capable of turning their empathy into direct action.
Increasing awareness among students about some of the most crucial humanitarian and environmental issues of our time.
Connecting cultures through reciprocal exchanges that nurture friendships and promote international understanding.
Transforming perspectives and attitudes as youth become leaders who make a positive, tangible impact in the world.
Empowering youth as activists as they raise funds and awareness for some of the world’s most underserved and vulnerable populations.
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In September 2005 Amman Imman founder and Executive Director Ariane Kirtley began her work in the pastoral region of the Azawak, Niger as a Fulbright Scholar conducting public health research. There, she witnessed children traveling up to 30 miles a day searching for water, often in vain. She met with families who had spent their life resources hand digging over 300 feet into the ground, yet never reaching water despite the many years of labor. She spoke with fathers who had lost their traditional way of life as herders…..
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Bishop Verot Announces Varsity Head Coach for the Girls Varsity Soccer Team
April 30, 2019 Comments (0)
Bishop Verot Catholic High School is pleased to announce Mr. Eric Lamboy will return to Bishop Verot to lead the Girls Soccer team beginning next season. He previously worked with the Verot Girls Soccer program from 2006 to 2009. He holds a USSF National C License in coaching and NSCAA diplomas in both Youth and Advanced Regional coaching and State and Regional goalkeeping.
Coach Lamboy’s extensive coaching career includes two years at Cape Coral High School, three years at Bishop Verot, and over 15 years with the Cape Coral Soccer Association’s Competitive Soccer League. During his tenure with CCSA, Coach Lamboy also served as a head trainer for the Excel Program. He currently serves on the coaching staff for ODP and FYSA. He has had several players go on to play on the state, regional, and national ODP teams, the Elite Clubs National League, and at the collegiate level.
Coach Lamboy shared, “I am very excited to return to Bishop Verot and accept the challenge of running the Girls Soccer Program. With my over 16 years of experience coaching youth soccer, I am confident Bishop Verot will continue to see great success in the program.”
Bishop Verot Athletic Director Jason Baumgardner shared, “The Verot family is proud and excited to welcome Coach Lamboy to be the Vikings next Varsity Soccer Coach for the Girls Soccer Program. I look forward to working with him both on and off the field.”
Eric and his wife Jill, have four children - Stephanie, a Bishop Verot 2010 graduate, Emily, Dalton, and Mia. They reside in Cape Coral.
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Byford. JOHN
Darkness will descend and time will stand still.
Darkness will descend ©Byford.JOHN
Darkness will descend and time will stand still in Skegness on August 4 as we remember those who lost their lives during the First World War.
On August 4, 1914 lights across Britain started to go out as we prepared to go to war with Germany. 100 years later the lights of Skegness Illuminations will be extinguished as we remember the words of 1914’s Foreign Secretary, Edward Gray.
“The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.”
The Skegness illuminations will start to go off shortly before 10pm until the only light remaining will be the one illuminating the Clock Tower face – which will be frozen at 10pm as a mark of respect and remembrance. Lights will come back on after 11pm but the clock will remain frozen at 10pm for 12 hours to allow for continued reflection.
The act will form part of East Lindsey District Council’s involvement in the LIGHTS OUT project – part of the cultural programme 14-18 NOW initiated by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport where civic buildings, landmarks, war memorials and businesses will each have a single light illuminated amid a sea of darkness between 10-11pm on August 4. The project will complement a candlelit vigil at Westminster Abbey taking place at the same time.
Skegness Councillor and artist, John Byford, who put forward the idea of switching off the illuminations said: “This symbolic gesture will mark the moment when lights went out in 1914. Stopping the clock allows time for reflection of the past, appreciation of the present, and to consider our future.”
Mayor of Skegness, Councillor George Saxon, added: “It is fantastic that we are able to take part in this project on such a large scale in Skegness. I hope that the gesture will not go unnoticed among those who witness it. We must remember what happened in the years after 1914 and make sure that nothing like it ever happens again.”
District Council Chairman, Councillor Robert Palmer, said: “At 10pm on August 4, 1914 Britain declared war on Germany, ushering in one of the darkest periods in our history. We will be taking part in this important and poignant project to remember all of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the families left behind.”
©Byford.JOHN ~ All rights reserved. 2019
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Prince William and Kate kick off their two-day tour in Paris
By Ainhoa Barcelona
From London to Paris! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have touched down in the French capital, just hours after attending a St Patrick's Day parade at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow. Looking remarkably fresh despite their travels, William and Kate headed to the Élysée Palace for their first engagement of the day – a meeting with French President Francois Hollande. The politician and the royals, who have met on a number of occasions, were in high spirits at the reunion.
Kate looked resplendent in a chic dark green coat from one of her favourite designers, Catherine Walker, giving a nod to St Patrick's Day. She styled her brunette tresses into her trademark bouncy curls while William looked dapper in a navy suit. After the short meeting, Prince George and Princess Charlotte's parents attended a reception hosted by Her Majesty's ambassador.
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Prince William and Kate are in Paris for two days
The reception celebrated the launch of 'Les Voisins,' a celebration of UK-French links, at the British Embassy in Paris. William and Kate met young French leaders from the arts, sport, fashion, business, and voluntary sectors, as well as young military award winners. Later on Friday, the Duke and Duchess will be guests of honour at a black-tie dinner, again hosted by the ambassador.
The royals had a meeting with Francois Hollande
The couple have a jam-packed schedule. They will watch the Wales vs France Six Nations match on Saturday afternoon. A meeting with the victims and first responders from the Bataclan and Nice attacks is also one of the engagements in their varied itinerary. The focus of William and Kate's visit, which has been arranged at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is very much on the special relationship between France and a post-Brexit Britain.
But the fleeting trip will no doubt resonate with the Duke, who is marking his mother's death anniversary in August. Diana, Princess of Wales was tragically killed in a car accident in Paris twenty years ago. HELLO!'s royal correspondent Emily Nash said: "Although William has visited Paris several times since the death of his mother, this is his first official trip there on behalf of the Government. While his and Kate's visit is very much about boosting UK-French relations, it will also be a poignant one, coming in Diana's 20th anniversary year."
Kate looks festive in green Catherine Walker coat at St. Patrick's Day parade
Prince William and Kate’s poignant visit to Paris, two decades after Princess Diana’s death
A closer look at Kate and Pippa Middleton’s unbreakable bond
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