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Brandages, Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton
Healing in Style
Brandages, offered in a wide variety or logos and patterns, were created with one goal "to heal in style". According to the website, they are not available yet, but I can guarantee that when they are, they will have quite the following. (And I just might be one of them!) Anything to make the world a little prettier, right?
[Photo credit: Brandages]
Schnelle Couture October 31, 2011 at 3:58 PM
omg that's too funny. I have to admit, I'd probably buy them as silly as they are.
OMG. Speechless.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and leaving me a lovely comment! Your support truly makes my day. Hope you come back soon! xoxo
Mom Talk Tuesdays: Balance & the Working Mother
the perfect summer dress
modern mother's day brunch
a whole lotta leopard
shop along with me
C.Wonder
Skimm with Me
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BLOG DESIGN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Measles jab link to child death, illnesses
Parents from across China converged on Beijing this week to call for compensation for the death of at least one child and severe illness in others linked to compulsory measles vaccinations rolled out nationwide last year.
Parents from the eastern provinces of Shandong and Anhui, Heilongjiang in the northeast, and the southwestern megacity of Chongqing displayed photographs and posters detailing their children's reactions outside government offices in Beijing on Monday, drawing a crowd of bystanders.
A mother from Chongqing surnamed Wen said that her 13-month-old son was taken to hospital with a high fever after receiving the injection in September 2010. He died two days later.
Wen said she didn't believe local health experts, who had performed an autopsy on her son and had then denied his death was linked to the vaccine.
"My child weighed seven pounds eight ounces when he was born, and he was always very healthy," she said. "How come he was bleeding from the stomach after [the vaccine] was given?"
"I'm just an ordinary farmer .. .but I know that this definitely was connected to the vaccine. He had a high fever the very next day," Wen said. "By day three, he was gone."
"On the TV, they said that the vaccines are very safe. I believed them ... Now they just avoid responsibility," she said.
Promises not kept
Last September, authorities at the Longcheng No. 1 High School near Beiliu city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region stopped administering the measles injections after the death of one pupil.
Luo Yunfeng, a third-year student at the school, died suddenly following a high fever just two days after receiving the vaccine, teachers said at the time.
A number of parents following the case online at the time said they were waiting to see the results before allowing their children to have the injection.
Back in Beijing, Zhang Lin, whose two-year-old son developed a blood disorder after receiving the injection during a nationwide measles vaccination campaign this time last year, said health ministry officials came out to meet the parents, but with little result.
"They met with us and discussed it with us," Zhang said. "But they said the health ministry wasn't in charge of this and told us to go back to our hometowns."
"When the health ministry announced the measles vaccinations they promised compensation for any abnormal effects caused by the vaccine, but they said it was safe," Zhang said.
Zhang said the promises had not been kept.
"There has been no way to get compensation. We have been trying for more than a year now, and all we get is empty words," he said.
"At the very least we want them to give us the medical costs back for our child," he said. "We can't even touch my son, and his life is still in danger."
Millions of children targeted
Health ministry officials launched the free measles vaccination program from Sept. 11-20, 2010 in a bid to eradicate the disease and reassure the public that the vaccines were safe.
Targeting 100 million Chinese schoolchildren, the campaign was the brainchild of disease control czar Hao Yang, who has said he wants to eliminate filariasis and measles by 2012.
A parent surnamed Li from the northeastern city of Harbin said his two-year-old son had been in hospital seven or eight times after suffering a reaction to the measles vaccine, and had been in critical condition on a number of occasions.
"Back in my hometown, they won't even give me a diagnosis," Li said. "They are still keeping me waiting."
"I don't think there's much chance of winning redress there, but now the health ministry is saying we should go back [and fight it there.]"
"We are not going back," Li said. "This vaccine caused our child's sickness, and no one has given me a response. They are just passing the buck."
A parent from Henan surnamed Zhang said his 11-year-old son had been given the injection by his school without his parents' knowledge, and had suffered blood poisoning and been sick at home ever since.
"Now it's as if my child is made of glass," Zhang said. "We don't know if they can treat this ... and now we have no money left. We have borrowed all of our relatives' money."
"All we can do is hope that the leaders will take our case seriously and give us a satisfactory response."
Pharmaceuticals poorly regulated
China's pharmaceutical industry is highly lucrative but poorly regulated, resulting in a string of fatalities blamed on counterfeit or shoddy medications in recent years.
An investigative report in the China Economic Times last year said that improperly stored vaccines administered by Shanxi health officials for encephalitis, hepatitis B, and rabies between 2006 and 2008 had killed four children and sickened more than 70 others, with tainted vaccines being used as late as March 2009.
Reported by Ding Xiao for RFA's Mandarin service, and by Fung Yat-yiu for the Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.
Wednesday 5th October 2011 @ 16:32
Incomplete report. How many children died of measles per year before the vaccination was made mandatory?
Title: Measles jab link to child death, illnesses
Author: Luisetta Mudie
Date Added: 20th Sep 2011
Key vaccine report published
NHS England given deadline to explain cuts to specialist care
Cases of shingles down by a third in England
Dengue vaccine scare
Only three smear tests needed if HPV vaccinated
New vaccine for typhoid
Measles 'eliminated' in the UK
One jab for childhood vaccines
Meningitis vaccine uptake low
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Hebron University participates in the 2nd international conference on
“Perspectives on language Literature and translation” at Zarqa University in Jordan 28-29 March, 2012.
Professor Ahmad Atawneh represented the English Department of Hebron University by presenting a research paper in the conference under title:
“The Psychology of language and power in the Middle East: The case of Gaza War”
He also gave an academic speech on behalf of the conference participants in the opening session after the speech of the Ministry of Culture in Jordan and that of the President of Zaraqa University. He also chaired the first session on Thursday.
The sessions on the first day were concluded by a meeting of the Association of Professors of English at the Arab Universities where the associations had elections of a new board of representative from Arab Countries. Professor Atawneh was nominated by Professor Jihad Hamdan, the president, and was elected Vice President and representative of Palestinian Universities in the Association APE TAU.
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Rha Goddes
Rha Goddess is a performing artist and social/political activist. Her work has been internationally featured in several compilations, anthologies, forums and festivals. Ms. Goddess' debut project, Soulah Vibe, received rave industry reviews from Ms. Magazine, The Source, XXL, Interview, etc.. Time Magazine called it "...one of the year's coolest records." As Founder and CEO of Divine Dime Entertainment, Ltd., she was one of the first women in Hip Hop to create, independently market and commercially distribute her own music world wide. In May 2000,Essence Magazine recognized Ms. Goddess as one of 30 Women to Watch in the new millennium. In 2002, BAM's prestigious Next Wave festival's NextNext series, chose her as one of six artists deemed to be influential in the next decade. Her activist work includes Co-founding the Sista II Sista Freedom School for Young Women of Color, and being the former International Spokeswoman for the Universal Zulu Nation. Ms. Goddess has also been an encore featured keynote in the Women & Power Summit at Omega Institute along with Iyanla Vanzant, Eve Ensler, Anita Hill, and Eileen Fisher, Jane Fonda, Alice Walker, Eve Ensler, and Marion Woodman. Ms. Goddess' current projects include being the Founder and Project Director of The Next Wave of Women & Power/"We Got Issues!" and working on a modern trilogy entitled, Meditations With The Goddess. Low, Part I of the Meditations Trilogy, premiered at the 2006 Humana Festival for New American Plays.
rubberbanddance company
Rennie Harris - Puremovement
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Overview of Hypothalamic Hamartomas
by HopeForHH | Apr 10, 2015 | Research
Management of hypothalamic hamartomas: progress due to alignment of the stars Introduction
Harold L. Rekate, M.D., Neurosurg Focus 30(2) 2011 Journal of Neurosurgery
The evolution of treatment for hypothalamic hamartoma: a personal odyssey
Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld, M.D., M.S., F.R.A.C.S., Neurosurg Focus 30(2) E1 2011 Journal of Neurosurgery
ABSTRACT:The prognosis for patients with hypothalamic hamartoma has improved dramatically over the last 20 years, for 3 main reasons. First, because of improved understanding of the anatomy and pathophysiology of these varied lesions. Second, due to advances in brain imaging and refinements in microsurgery, including the anterior transcallosal interforniceal approach, endoscopic, and skull-base approaches. And third, because of increasing experience with stereotactic radiosurgery, interstitial radiotherapy, and radiofrequency lesioning. Patients with hypothalamic hamartoma should be managed in comprehensive epilepsy centers where the treatments are individualized and concentrated in the hands of surgeons who can perform the full range of surgery, including approaches to the third ventricle. Total seizure-freedom rates of 52% to 66% have been achieved with surgery.
Gelastic Seizures Associated with Hypothalamic Hamartomas
An Update in the Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis and Treatment, Tellez-Zenteno and others, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2008, Vol 4(6) 1021-1031 © 2008 Dove Press
Surgical Management of Hypothalamic Hamartoma in Patients with Gelastic Epilepsy
Addas and others, Neurosurg. Focus 25(3) E8 2008 © 2008 Journal of Neurosurgery
ABSTRACT: Gelastic epilepsy (GE) associated with hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) is now a well-characterized clinical syndrome consisting of gelastic seizures starting in infancy, medically refractory seizures with or without the development of multiple seizure types, and behavioral and cognitive decline. It has been postulated that the development of the HHGE syndrome is a result of a progressive epileptic encephalopathy or secondary epileptogenesis, which is potentially reversible with treatment of the HH. A variety of surgical options for the treatment of HHs exist, including open and endoscopic procedures, radiosurgery, interstitial radiotherapy, and stereotactic radiofrequency thermocoagulation. Surgical treatment can result in seizure freedom in up to 50% of patients and can be accompanied by significant improvements in behavior, cognition, and quality of life. Partial treatment of HHs may be sufficient to reduce seizure frequency and improve behavior and quality of life with less risk. A component of reversible cognitive dysfunction may be present in some patients with an HH-GE syndrome.
Introduction to [Hypothalamic Hamartomas]
John Kerrigan, Semin Pediatr Neurol 14:49-50 © 2007 Elsevier Inc
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60,000. That's how many residential real estate transactions have collectively crossed the desks of our Managing Brokers and the rest of our Management Team. They are seasoned professionals and industry leaders committed to the success of our Associates and the interests of our clients.
Maureen McEnearney Dunn
Dave Hawkins
Jon Wolford
Candice Bower
Andy Hill
Michael Day
Glenn Lewis
Trudy McCullough
Mike McEnearney
Deniz Artemel
Jeanne Choi
John McEnearney - Founder
John McEnearney, Founder of McEnearney Associates, passed away at the age of 87 on October 8, 2014. An admired and respected real estate legend in the community, John’s devotion and loyalty to the company and its Associates, clients and customers is a testament to the major contributions and success of the firm throughout the years.
A graduate of the Naval Academy, John founded the company in 1980 following a distinguished 27-year career in the United States Navy. In the real estate industry, he was an innovator who raised the bar for professionalism and integrity. He was a pillar of the community, a mentor, leader and friend. With a singular focus on providing exceptional service to clients, John built the company from a single office with 20 agents into one of the largest residential real estate firms in the United States.
He created a legacy of service and commitment that continues to inspire the Associates of McEnearney, every day. Read More >>
Maureen McEnearney Dunn - President
1320 Old Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA 22101
As the President of McEnearney Associates, Maureen is a committed and influential leader in all aspects of the Washington DC real estate market. A dedicated professional, she is responsible for overseeing our eight residential sales offices with over 350 Sales Associates and 60 staff members, as well as our three Property Management offices, our award-winning Relocation Department and our Commercial Division.
Maureen's duties include the development of education and training programs for all Associates, planning and implementing growth and expansion strategies, and technological enhancements that support the company and our Sales Associates' efforts on behalf of our clients. Additionally, Maureen has been instrumental in the firm's extensive involvement with community and charitable organizations.
Maureen is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the Virginia Association of REALTORS® (VAR), the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®, the Northern Virginia Technology Council, as well as the Chambers of Commerce for Alexandria, Arlington, McLean and Fairfax County
For eight years, Maureen served on the Board of Directors for the 'Friends of the McLean Community Center', holding the positions of Secretary, Vice-President and Co-President, and was instrumental in the fund raising efforts to expand Community Center services. Prior to her children heading for college, she was active in Churchill Road Elementary, Cooper Middle, and Langley High schools.
Maureen grew up in Springfield, Virginia, one of six children, and has experienced the huge growth of Northern Virginia since 1965. She moved to McLean in 1981 with her husband Terry (a McLean 'native') and raised two children, Catherine and Chris, who both graduated from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Maureen is a 1976 graduate of UVA herself, and has an MA from George Mason University.
Maureen helped our founder and her father, John McEnearney, open the McLean office of McEnearney Associates in 1986 and was the office manager there for two years. She was then the co-Managing Broker for five years, the firm's General Manager for 14 years and the company's President since 2007. Maureen has been involved in every aspect of the Real Estate business since 1983.
David Howell - Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer
4315 50th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20016
Before joining McEnearney Associates in 1996, David was the owner and Principal Broker of his own real estate company for 12 years. David was the Managing Broker of our McLean office from 1996 - 2010 and was named our Chief Information Officer in September 2010. In that role, he is responsible for the firm's technology, market information, and public relations, and is the author of our MarketWatch newsletter. He is also Principal Broker for McEnearney Associates for Maryland and Washington, DC.
A recognized real estate industry leader, David was President of the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS (NVAR) in 1995 and was named REALTOR of The Year for NVAR in 1998. David was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MRIS) and served as that organization's Chairman 1996-1997 and 2011-2012. He is also a founding member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Bright MLS the mid-Atlantic region's MLS and the largest in the country.
David has served as Chairman of NVAR's Professional Standards Committee and as an RPAC Trustee. He was also a member of the Virginia Association of REALTORS Board of Directors, their Strategic Planning Committee and their Presidential Advisory Group on Growth. He was on the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a business/citizen group advocating funding and construction of long-neglected major transportation projects, the Mount Vernon Community Children's Theater and with his wife, was Fundraising Co-Chair for the new Equestrian Center at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
David's wife Margaret-Mary is the Human Resources Director for McEnearney Associates, and they have seven children (three of whom are spouses of their three married children!) and one grandson. David is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas, with BA degrees in Economics, Managerial Studies and Political Science.
Dave Hawkins - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, Alexandria Office
109 S. Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Dave Hawkins is the Managing Broker of the McEnearney Associates Old Town Alexandria office, the top-selling real estate office in Northern Virginia since 1998 and the top-selling office in the state of Virginia for the last five years. He is also the Managing Broker for our Commercial Department. He is proud of the continued success achieved by a wonderful team of people - outstanding agents with the support of the best staff in the business. Together, they have created a magnet for clients and REALTORS® alike, attracting serious professionals who want to be part of something very special.
Dave graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977, and moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he became a sales agent at Webster Realty. He worked in residential, commercial, land, and new homes sales before and taking over as manager in 1981. When McEnearney Associates acquired Webster Realty in 1982, Dave continued to run the office until 1994. He then joined the Old Town office as the assistant manager to company founder John McEnearney. Dave has been the managing broker in Old Town since 1996. He is a member of the National Association of REALTORS®, the Virginia Association of REALTORS®, and the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS®, and has served as director of NVAR as well.
Real estate is a business about people, and Dave lives by that. He doesn't believe in hiring good agents. He hires good people. Like effective teachers, people who exhibit fortitude, patience, and flexibility make excellent realtors. Dave also looks for people who are self-starters and strong organizers, as well as those who can balance the demands of multi-tasking and listening to clients. You can't teach people to care about their clients - Dave identifies the candidates who demonstrate empathy from the outset.
A person who is willing to work hard to achieve clients' goals can succeed in this business. Dave is dedicated to the skills training, productivity, and professional growth of those who are willing to make that commitment to real estate. The company's in-house marketing and technical teams provide agents with support at every step. McEnearney Associates guards its stellar reputation by educating our REALTORS® and emphasizing the highest professional and ethical standards in the field.
Agents are on the front lines of the business, dealing with clients and situations where emotions often run high. They need a manager on whom they can call and rely. They need a calm space where they can vent, collect themselves, and strategize. Dave is on-call all the time. He makes it his job to be available to agents whenever they need support. Dave also works with agents to identity problems and overcome the obstacles that block steady sales achievement. By having the right tools to do their job, agents can and will achieve a consistent record of success.
The real estate market is cyclical, characterized by ups and downs. The market generally reflects the mindset of the public, including the ways in which buyers and sellers are thinking about home values. Coaching agents on how to manage their business during these ups and downs is vital. Dave actively encourages agents to put some money away during good times. He also teaches agents how to prospect for new clients year-round in order to maintain a steady business. Dave is always available for anyone and everyone who seeks his input.
Alexandria is a fabulous area for professionals. It's an old seaport with a small-town feel, set in the midst of the exciting, growing Washington, D.C.-region. Both personally and professionally, Dave and his wife Amy immensely enjoy being part of this community. He is an avid runner and tennis player, cycles on the nearby trails, and ventures to the Potomac for kayaking trips with his sons. He has been a Boy Scout leader for ten years, and also plays guitar. While Dave is a vocal proponent of all that Alexandria and the Metropolitan area have to offer, he remains an ardent North Carolina Tar Heels fan.
Jon Wolford - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, McLean Office
Leadership for Jon started early. Whether leading the team down the field or acting as senior class president, you could count on Jon to always be out in front. After attaining a Bachelor of Science in business administration from nearby Shepherd University, Jon came home and began his real estate career at an early age in 1985.
5 years in sales including 3 in residential and 2 in land and commercial prepared him well as he took leadership of a residential sales office and spent 20 of the next 25 years running as many as 3 offices at once while earning many respected awards.
McEnearney Associates has always been a leader in sales, service & integrity, so it was no surprise Maureen Dunn asked him to lead the McLean Sales office. Like fellow managers' David Howell and Candice Bower, Jon's resume includes a year leading the Board of Directors at his local Association of Realtors. Many years’ service on local, state and national boards, trustee positions and more earned membership in Omega Tau Rho, the Honor Society of the National Association of Realtors for outstanding accomplishments in the field of real estate.
Our successful sales Associates expect the best. With Jon's leadership, the McLean and Vienna staff delivers quality results every day. Whether you need a coach, a counselor, conflict resolution expert or someone with incite & foresight - you can always count on Jon because he is always there when it counts!
Candice Bower - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, Leesburg & Middleburg Offices
107 N. King Street, Leesburg, VA 20176
Candice Bower is the Managing Broker of both our Leesburg and Middleburg, Virginia offices, and was responsible for opening both of these operations in 2009 (Leesburg) and 2010 (Middleburg). These are our two newest offices. She has worked in the real estate industry in Maine, Massachusetts and Northern Virginia for 27 years. During that time, she has sold land, leased and sold commercial office and retail space, and for the past 16 years, residential properties. Candice has had extensive training, including Dale Carnegie's Public Speaking and Management courses, Brian Tracy's, Strategic Planning, and John Nesbitt' s Seminar "Re-inventing the Corporation." She has participated in several Floyd Wickman's sales courses, and was mentored by Floyd in 1997. Candice has been recognized for her sales success, and has earned several awards for production, training, and achievement in the real estate industry.
As a Managing Broker, Candice has earned the reputation of being extremely knowledgeable, hands-on in support and training, and a successful recruiter, and is widely recognized for her superior client service. Additionally, Candice has earned the GRI, CRS, ABR, CSP and QSC professional designations.
Candice is actively involved in the real estate industries professional organizations at the local, state and national levels. She was Chairman of the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® in 2008, a member of the Virginia Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors, State Representative of the National Association of REALTORS® Risk Management Committee, President of the Women's Council of Realtors, Northern Virginia Chapter, and CRS Vice President, District 1- Virginia Chapter.
Andy Hill - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, Washington, D.C. Office
4315 50th Street, NW Washington, DC 20016
Andy Hill was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He began his real estate career in 2001 when he joined his mother Sue Hill to form the Andy and Sue Hill real estate team. After spending the first five years of his career at W.C & A.N. Miller, the Andy and Sue Hill team joined McEnearney Associates Realtors in the summer of 2007. For the past decade they have specialized in helping their clients buy and sell homes in Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. and were consistently one of the top producing teams within the firm. In the spring of 2017 Andy joined the management team as the Assistant Managing Broker for Maryland and D.C. One of the first things Andy did was to develop individualized mentoring programs for the firm’s new agents. In addition he became one of the instructors in the company wide training program. In the summer of 2017 Andy was named the Managing Broker for Maryland and Washington, D.C. While he continues to work with agents to improve and grow their business he and his team are running the day-to-day operations of three offices and working to expand McEnearney’s footprint in the D.C. and Maryland markets.
Michael Day - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, Alexandria Office
Michael is the Managing Broker in the Old Town Alexandria Office. He has been in this position since 2007 after starting his management career with another local real estate company in Alexandria. Michael feels his role as a Managing Broker is to support the agents in many aspects in the real estate business, and to ensure that the client's needs are paramount. He understands the importance of helping agents develop their business through business and marketing planning creation. He also coaches the agents in lead generation and strategic negotiation.
Michael is an Associate Broker in Virginia and DC. He is licensed in Virginia to teach the Principles of Real Estate course and is a certified Continuing Education Instructor; he is also a designated Certified Brian Buffini Mentor. Michael facilitates the "100 Days to Greatness" course held in the Old Town office annually. Michael has earned an MBA from Marymount University in 1999.
In addition to being a Top Producing agent with McEnearney, Michael has owned and operated a property management company. Understanding the value of providing outstanding service to clients is the best way to build and sustain a successful real estate career. Michael gets this and is successful at imparting this with the agents at McEnearney Associates.
Glenn Lewis - Executive Vice President and Managing Broker, Arlington Office
4720 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207
Glenn is the Managing Broker of the Arlington Office and serves as Executive Vice-President of the firm. A fifth generation Alexandrian, Glenn began his real estate career within the city limits where he was frequently seen walking along King Street stopping to reminisce with shop owners and locals along the way much like his ancestors before him.
He jumped feet first into the real estate business some 30 years ago as a property manager where he learned first-hand the importance of listening, patience, and balance. Really listening to the needs of others is paramount in the industry. Patience – an absolute must, and balance, with all the demands of being a real estate professional, you have to take time for yourself which can be as simple as taking in a good movie or relaxing with a book. Make time for…YOU!
Glenn’s gentle manner and sense of humor served him well during his enviable sales career earning him Life Member, NVAR Top Producers Club as well as Life Member, NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club designations. He has held various management positions including Sales Manager of a small brokerage, Charles R. Hooff, Inc., Branch Vice President of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as well as Brokerage Manager of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty; this is in addition to various leadership positions while at McEnearney Associates, his professional home of more than two decades.
Glenn is a people person and can talk to anyone about almost anything. He welcomes people into his presence and is known to go above and beyond for his agents and is committed to further training and development. Business planning is key in any field – it is essential in real estate. He enjoys working with new and experienced agents alike.
In his spare time, Glenn and his family enjoy their cottage on the river in Westmoreland County where an afternoon of boating, bicycling, or golf carting around town provides fun in the sun and relaxation for all.
For years, he was cast in the role of Santa Claus for the annual Hopkin’s House Christmas party, a favorite philanthropy of McEnearney Associates which also gave him a reason to carry around a few extra pounds he says with a smile. He is a certified Buffini Instructor, street smart, accessible, and is a good sounding board.
The Arlington Office is centered around mutual respect and provides a positive, upbeat, work environment with a strong manager who is always available to help agents achieve their personal goals while providing unparalleled service to our clients and customers.
Trudy McCullough - Director of the Relocation Department
As an affiliate member of RELO® since 1995, Trudy experienced the exciting introduction of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® brand first hand. After 10 years of service in the marketing and relocation arena of Central Virginia, she left her hometown to begin a new chapter. Relocating to Northern Virginia in 2005, Trudy began work with her second LeadingRE member as Relocation Coordinator. In addition to assisting buyers and sellers relocate in and out of the Washington, DC Metro area, she reorganized their REO Department as the market turned. Trudy was promoted to Relocation Director in 2009 where she embraced the corporate and third party culture and made it her own. Devoting her energy to developing a close knit team of professionals, she was able to expand corporate business and was awarded the 2012 Performance Award from a major third party client. In 2013, Trudy made the decision to join her third LeadingRE affiliate, McEnearney Associates.
Trudy is a licensed Realtor in Virginia. As Director of Relocation at McEnearney Associates, Trudy earned the Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) designation in 2015, holds the Global Relocation Professional (GRP) designation through LeadingRE, and has an Associate’s Degree in Marketing. She is also a proud member of the Relocation Directors Council and Worldwide Employee Relocation Council®.
Trudy currently resides in Prince William County with her husband and son, spending most weekends supporting her son’s multiple sport teams. She serves on the WeCanRow DC Board as Membership VP and can be found rowing in the Potomac during the warmer months.
Mike McEnearney - Director of Property Management
Mike cut his teeth in academia and in the business world long before joining the firm founded by his father. Mike graduated from the University of Virginia in 1978 with a BS in Government and remained there to earn his MBA from the Darden School in 1981. He went to work for Marriott Corporation in the Corporate Planning Department and was responsible for analysis of corporate acquisitions and the sale of over billion in hotel assets through a variety of public offerings. Mike was the first employee of the Carlyle Group, one of the largest asset management firms in the world, and was responsible for the analysis of over .5 billion in acquisitions and investments made by the Carlyle Group and over million in direct investments made by its equity partners.
With that impressive background in hand, Mike joined McEnearney Associates in 1997, charged with the responsibility of growing and improving our Property Management Department. Under Mike's leadership, the department has almost tripled in size, and currently manages a portfolio of residential properties for our clients valued in excess of $350,000,000.
Deniz Artemel - Vice President of Professional Development
Deniz Artemel became the assistant to the top real estate agent in Alexandria, Virginia in 1998, marking the start of her real estate career. Recognizing Deniz’s potential, McEnearney Associates invited her to develop the position of Transaction Coordinator for the Alexandria office. There Deniz worked with 30+ of the company’s top-producing agents to manage transaction details and aid in their business development.
After three years of supporting the business of others, Deniz successfully transitioned to being a real estate agent herself and achieved the Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club in her first full year. In 2009, McEnearney offered her the job of Office Manager in its relatively new and growing Washington, DC office. She eagerly met and exceeded the demands of a busy office of leading agents.
Her various experiences in the real estate industry have prepared Deniz well for her most recent endeavor as McEnearney’s Director of Agent Support & Professional Development. Throughout her career, she has gained a true understanding of the mechanics behind our demanding industry, as well as the company that has earned and retained her loyalty. McEnearney’s admirable values, spirit of camaraderie and superior ethics have all contributed to Deniz’s commitment to the continued growth and development of the firm.
Deniz has spent most of her life in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Born in Istanbul, Turkey, she moved at an early age to Northern Virginia and has been involved in many of our metro area and Turkish communities. Her years in the travel business after college taught her a huge amount about hospitality, and fired her passion for customer service and support roles which have been her forte.
Deniz is happiest when surrounded by her family and friends. She also loves the beach and traveling the world.
Jeanne Choi - Vice President of Marketing & Communications
As a born and bred Washingtonian, Jeanne has spent her entire career as a veteran of marketing and communications specifically in the real estate industry. She began working with Madison Marquette, a premiere integrated real estate firm and pioneer in converting shopping centers into dynamic mixed-use town centers. As the Marketing and Communications Manager, she worked closely with their commercial brokerage to attract some of the best retailers to the Washington metropolitan area, including Apple, Williams Sonoma, Trader Joes, Matchbox Food Group, ZARA, and Barney’s New York. She also worked with Roadside Development on numerous development projects, including the brand development and marketing of Cityline at Tenley, Washington’s first big-box mixed-use project with 88,000 square feet of street-level retail and 204-condos units above.
Jeanne went on to form her own boutique agency, where she created and managed the integrated marketing and communications campaigns for over 50 corporate accounts. She then went on to work for one of her clients, Rappaport, as the Director of Marketing and Corporate Branding. There, she developed new and nurtured existing corporate and shopping center marketing and communications campaigns for the firm, and directed the programs for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer client relationships.
After a decade of working in commercial real estate, she transitioned into residential real estate and became the VP of Marketing and Communications for a luxury brokerage in the DC metro region. There she led all aspects of strategic development, implementation, execution, and management of their internal and external marketing and communications campaigns. In addition to implementing new marketing initiatives, Jeanne created new business strategies, such as partnership marketing, inbound marketing, behavior-based marketing automation, and advertorial campaigns.
Jeanne has degrees from The George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University. Outside of the world of marketing and communications, Jeanne enjoys running, travel, and modern art.
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Islamic finance plays larger role in sustaining economic growth
Islamic finance assets growing 7% to $ 2.2trnn in 2016, and projected to reach $3.8trn by 2022
MANAMA — With Islamic finance assets growing 7% to $ 2.2 trillion in 2016, and projected to reach $3.8 trillion by 2022, the Islamic Finance Development Report and Indicator (IFDI) 2017 sees Islamic finance play a larger role in sustaining economic growth.
Thomson Reuters – the world’s leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals – and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) – the private sector development arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) – released Wednesday the key findings of the fifth edition of the Islamic Finance Development Report and Indicator (IFDI) at the World Islamic Banking conference (WIBC) 2017 held in Bahrain.
The report studied key trends across five indicators used to measure the development of the $2.2 trillion Islamic finance industry which are: Quantitative Development, Knowledge, Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Awareness. It also compiled extensive statistics on the industry from 131 countries and highlighted the best-performing countries within each key area of performance.
The IFDI global average value, which acts as a barometer of the overall industry’s development, recovered to 9.9 in 2017 from 8.8 in 2016. This reflected improved performances in each of the five indicators. Malaysia, Bahrain and the UAE lead the IFDI country rankings for the fifth consecutive year, while the GCC remains the leading regional hub for the industry. Countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Europe, East and West Africa saw notable improvements in their IFDI values, demonstrating the continued growth of Islamic finance in non-core markets.
The report also highlighted how Islamic finance can help countries adapt to difficult economic conditions.
Nadim Najjar, Managing Director of Thomson Reuters in the Middle East and North Africa, said: “We have seen that the Islamic finance industry can serve as a strategic tool for policymakers for sustainable growth in order to cope with the aftermath of the economic slowdown that impacted markets such as the Middle East. Some markets had noteworthy improvements in their IFDI values when they have improved or introduced Islamic finance to fit their economic needs and attract investments like Morocco, Tunisia and Iraq.”
Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of ICD, said: “Incorporating Islamic finance in different strategies can be seen in the many steps taken by governments across different IFDI indicators. This was noticed when some authorities intervened in Islamic social funds management, raised literacy in the industry among potential market players through formal education systems, organized roadshows targeting potential market players, or built a roadmap to plot development of the overall industry.”
Quantitative Development, which measures the performance of Islamic financial institutions and capital markets, advanced the most of the five indicators as a partial recovery in oil prices helped Islamic financial institutions and mutual funds regain strength. Sukuk grew least of the Islamic finance sectors as some large sovereign issuers resorted to conventional bonds to ease the issuance process and lower costs. Yet even here, sukuk showed signs of promise as new players came to market and Saudi Arabia emerged as a new sovereign sukuk giant. There was also an increase in consolidation within the industry. Mergers were agreed between Islamic financial institutions in the GCC, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia that are likely to strengthen their competitive edge.
The reversion to strength after last year’s oil price-led downturn saw total Islamic finance industry assets rise 7% to $2.2 trillion in 2016 and it is expected that assets will continue to rise, to $3.8 trillion by 2022.
Governments looking to improve Islamic finance education and literacy
The Knowledge indicator, which encompasses education and research, also edged higher in the latest report. There were 677 Islamic finance education providers in 2016, of which 191 provided a total of 322 Islamic finance degrees. Governments in Bahrain, Malaysia and Indonesia made particular efforts to push Islamic finance education and literacy.
Governments improving regulatory regimes to encourage industry
As governments sought to push Islamic finance to help revive economies hit by the fall in oil prices, Governance gained the most of the five indicators. Each of its Regulation, Shariah Governance and Corporate Governance sub-indicators showed improvement. The number of Shariah scholars increased, and several countries began to push for external Shariah scholars and centralized Shariah boards. There were 44 countries in 2016 with specific Islamic finance regulations. Many of these pushed for takaful regulations or tax concessions for sukuk.
Corporate social responsibility another strong gainer, though disclosure still too low
The indicator for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was another strong gainer, with improvements in both performance and disclosure by Islamic financial institutions. The total CSR funds disbursed by different Islamic financial intuitions increased 17% over the year, to $683 million. The number of institutions reporting CSR activities also increased, but the global average for reporting disclosure remains low. Despite this, there are developments that will contribute to a stronger CSR in the future including interventions in managing zakat, waqf and charity by the governments of the UAE, Malaysia and Indonesia.
As governments turned their attention towards Islamic social financing, a growing number of conferences and seminars explored the common ground between Islamic and ethical finance, particularly in Europe. This helped the Awareness indicator to edge higher, despite a slowdown in growth of news articles on the industry. Other popular themes of conferences and seminars included socially responsible investing, sukuk, and microfinance. The rise in number of Islamic microfinance events was particularly noticeable in Africa.
Source: https://www.zawya.com/mena/en/story/Islamic_finance_plays_larger_role_in_sustaining_economic_growth-ZAWYA20171214050620/
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Augusta National GC
Augusta, Georgia, USA 11 Apr 2019 - 14 Apr 2019
Reed desperate for another 12 months in green
Patrick Reed (Getty Images)
On the tee: The Masters Tournament
Rose delighted to have Fooch back on the bag
DeChambeau out to emulate Willett and Garcia
Fleetwood ready to push forward at the Masters
Five things to know: Masters Tournament
Ultimate Guide to the Masters Tournament
Exclusive: Reed reflects on major triumph
Patrick Reed is not looking forward to giving back his Green Jacket this week but is confident his game is in a good place to claim another one on Sunday.
The American earned his maiden Major Championship at last season's Masters Tournament and while he has not won since his triumph at Augusta National Golf Club 12 months ago, he does not believe being a Major winner has been a burden.
He finished in the top five at the U.S. Open and top ten at the WGC-HSBC Championship before a tie for second at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai handed him second place on the 2018 Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
He has spoken in the past of his desire to be Europe's Number One but this week his focus is entirely on a successful defence of his title.
"It's been amazing," he said. "Just to actually put the Jacket on last year at this point and then to go home and actually have it set in and be able to reflect on the year and reflect on what we did here last year was just unbelievable.
"Having the Jacket always around, travelling with it and allowing other people to see it was definitely a treat.
"Knowing that I have to give the Jacket back at the end of the week, it makes me more hungry and more motivated to keep the Jacket and continue playing well and trying to win another one.
"I position the Jacket everywhere I go so every time I wake up, I see it, and every time I come home and go to bed, I see it. I use it more as motivation.
"It was a long year but we had an opportunity to win at Shinnecock (at the U.S. Open). I needed a good back nine. I came close there.
"I felt like I handled the extra obligations, the extra attention. I felt like my team and I have handled it really well. It's different, but it's a good different.
"Every time you go up to the first tee throughout the entire year they are '2018 Masters Champion', it just brings goosebumps and memories back.
"The great thing about golf is it's a work in progress. I feel like the game now is where it needs to be."
As the only course to host the same Major every season, Augusta National holds a special place in the hearts of golf fans and players alike.
The unique traditions that lie at the end of Magnolia Lane make this an event like no other and Reed is delighted to be back.
"It's a place that you feel like you can get away," he said. "Nowadays, everything's so much in the fast lane. Everything is so much in electronics.
"It's the fans coming out and experiencing such a perfect golf course, being able to actually watch golf. Not sit there and try to take photos or video people as they are hitting golf shots, so they actually get to experience it."
1 WOODS, Tiger USA 18 -13
T2 JOHNSON, Dustin USA 18 -12
T2 SCHAUFFELE, Xander USA 18 -12
T2 KOEPKA, Brooks USA 18 -12
T5 DAY, Jason AUS 18 -11
T5 SIMPSON, Webb USA 18 -11
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Frank's high energy act is a blend of observations, impressions, characters and stories that build to a frenetic pace
From his many appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman, to his weekly picks segment on the FOX NFL pre-game show with Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson, comedian/actor/impressionist Frank Caliendo has been all over Television the past few years. (Last year He even performed in front of the Vice President of the United States broadcast on C-SPAN).
Known for "dead on" impressions of famous actors (like Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Robert DeNiro), politicians (George W. Bush, Bill Clinton) and broadcasters (John Madden, David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Jim Rome), Frank, a 7 year veteran of television sketch comedy (MadTV, Hype) has his own show "Frank TV" on the TBS network.
On the Stage, Frank's high energy act is a blend of observations, impressions, characters and anecdotal stories that build to a frenetic pace. Once described by the "Hollywood Reporter" as "a combination of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey" Frank is one comedian that should not be missed.
An American comedian and impressionist.
Humorists
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Not the Law but the Lawyers are the Asses. $2 Petition Too Late to Matter
( 1 Vote )
Written by Shane D. Williams
In the House of Representatives on Friday, October 21st, Prime Minister Barrow provided very expensive legal advice to the group called “Friends of Belize” and did so free of cost. He explained to them that in order to have moved the referendum process to affect the bill they would have had to start the process much earlier. He explained, “You can't move the referendum process with respect to a constitutional amendment just before the Bill is to come back to the House for passage.”
Miraculously, the Friends of Belize claim to have garnered 21,000 signatures on a petition in one month. The organization launched the petition drive on September 12th and on October 4th Julius Espat, Standard Bearer for PUP, announced that they had received 1,600 signatures. Eight days later on October 12th, the organization presented a petition to the Governor General with 21,000 signatures.
Oceana and the Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage held huge public events and attended other national festivals during their petition drive. They launched a huge media campaign and sponsored countless small projects. Yet, it took them more than a year to collect 17,000 signatures. The so called friends are expecting Belizeans to believe that they can be more than twelve times more efficient than the coalition without mass media campaign, special events and appearances. However, their petition and move for referendum does not depend on public perception.
If their petition was delivered to the Governor General on October 12th, he would have then handed it to the Elections and Boundaries Department for verification of signees. If the petition is legitimate, the Elections and Boundaries Department would return the petition to the Governor General sometime before December 12th. Based on the Referendum Act, the Governor General would then consider a suitable date for the referendum and then make that announcement by January 12th. Therefore, if their petition is legitimate, a referendum may be called for sometime after January 12th, 2012.
However, since the purpose of their referendum is to inform the legislature on the will of the people in regards to the Ninth Amendment Bill, it wouldn’t make much sense to call a referendum on that matter now that the bill has already been passed into law. Prime Minister Barrow did not err when he said that the Friends of Belize were “wrongly advised by their lawyers” and “they completely misread the law.” He also mentioned an old saying “that the law is an ass but in this case the lawyers were the asses...” They had hoped that their move for referendum would have delayed the passage of the Ninth. However, a referendum is not a requirement for constitutional amendments and the Vellos case ruled on by the Privy Council has already made that point extremely clear. Whether a referendum will be held or not has absolutely no impact on the passage of the nationalization bill. Once properly moved, a referendum can be called at anytime. Therefore, if their goal was to derail the passage of the Ninth Amendment Bill, their petition drive in which $2 was paid for every signature seems to have been a total waste of time.
Such terribly misguiding advice is the exact reason why the lord chose to bench his local attorneys.
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Party Crashers charged with wounding
On Tuesday, July 23rd four females believed to be party crashers were before the court to answer to criminal charges. The first to be arraigned was Saysha Moody, 18, who appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano to answer to a charge of common assault and wounding upon Kendra Smith. She pleaded not guilty to both charges and was offered bail in the sum of ,000 plus one surety of the amount, which she met.
Also arraigned in court was Lyvette Brown, 19, and 21-year-old Kendra Smith, who also appeared before Magistrate Dale Cayetano where they were jointly charged wtith one count each of wounding and grevious harm as well as the use of deadly means of harm with a deadly instrument upon sisters Saysha and Sharima Moody. They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were offered bail in the sum of $3,000 each plus one surety of the same amount. Magistrate Cayetano ordered the two women to report to the Raccoon Street Police Station every Tuesday between the hours of 8:00 a.m., and 4:30 p.m., and they must not interfere with the two women while their cases are before the court. Their case was adjourned for August 29.
In a report, police say that at about 2:40 p.m., on the morning of Sunday, July 21, 2013, they visited the KHMH where they saw 5 females who were seen with various stab wounds to different parts of their bodies.
They were identified as 21-year-old Kendra Smith who was seen with cut wounds to her left wrist; 18-year-old Saysha Moody, who was seen with stab wounds to the left side of her stomach, while her sister Sharima Moody was seen with stab wounds to her left upper breast, left upper shoulder and right side of the head. Lyvette Brown, was seen with a stab wound to the right side of her face near the temple; 30-year-old Darlene Adolphus was seen with a cut wound to the left upper shoulder.
Investigations revealed that a party was being held at the Moody’s residence on Iguana Street Extension when Kendra Smith and Levette Brown, both who were uninvited guests, went to the party where Brown inflicted a cut wound to Saysha after a fight started. The others intervened and were also stabbed.
Also appearing in court was a 16-year-old minor who was charged with wounding upon Kendra Smith. She appeared in the Belize City Family Court where she pleaded not guilty and is out on bail and was handed over into the care of her mother.
The minor in an interview told us that it was Smith and Brown who came to the party and attacked them. She told us that the party was for 6 people, her sisters, a cousin and four other friends.
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December 2017 Persian Spring
Iranian state TV has broadcast what it claims is the confession of a Sweden-based Iranian national in jail in Iran, The BBC reports. The 17-minute programme purports to show 46-year-old Ahmadreza Djalali admitting he spied on Iran’s nuclear programme for Israel. Djalali, an emergency medicine specialist, was sentenced to death on the charges in October.
Appearing relaxed in the footage, Djalali says he was involved in an important defence project. He says the project brought him into contact with Iran’s top nuclear scientists, and that he regrets having betrayed their trust. At least four Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated on the streets of Tehran between 2009 and 2012, and the documentary suggests that Djalali was responsible for identifying at least two of them.
Iran has always maintained that they were killed by agents of Israeli and Western intelligence agencies. Ominously, says Kasra Naji from the BBC’s Persian Service, the documentary was credited to have been produced by the counter-intelligence department of the Iranian intelligence ministry.
In October, a court in Iran sentenced Djalali to death for spying – a charge that he and his wife previously consistently denied. Five days ago, human rights group Amnesty International said the Iranian Supreme Court had upheld the sentence “through a secret and hasty processand without allowing any defence submission”, despite repeated enquiries by his lawyers. It said Djalali had said in a letter from jail that he was being held in reprisal for refusing to use his connections in Europe to spy for Iran.
He was arrested in April 2016 while on a business trip to Iran. Amnesty says he was held without access to a lawyer for seven months, three of which were in solitary confinement. While in solitary confinement, Djalali has previously said, he was twice forced to make confessions in front of a video camera by reading out statements written by his interrogators. He says he was put under intense pressure, through psychological torture and threats to execute him and arrest his children, to “confess” to being a spy for a “hostile government”. But he said such claims were fabricated.
Revolutionary Guards Commander: Coup Militias Play Tehran Regime’s Bidding in Region
Iran Tells France’s Macron Not to ‘Blindly Follow’ Trump
Iran: Three Prisoners Hanged
Crackdown on Iranian Political Prisoners Reveals Rouhani’s True Colors
Iran Jails ‘Nuclear Spy’ Accused of Selling Secrets to U.S., European Country
UN Nuclear Inspection Chief to Visit Iran This Weekend
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MainAll NewsInside IsraelElkin: Israel Not Negotiating with Vatican
Elkin: Israel Not Negotiating with Vatican
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin dismisses reports that Israel is planning to hand over control of the Tomb of King David to the Vatican.
Shimon Cohen, 18/07/13 05:15
Visitors at King David's Tomb
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) on Wednesday dismissed recent reports that Israel is planning to hand over control of the Tomb of King David to the Vatican.
Responding to a question by MK Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), Elkin said that the Foreign Ministry has not signed nor does it intend to sign any agreement transferring all or parts of the tomb.
The Tomb of King David, located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, is also home to a church, which claims ownership of the site, more specifically of a room in the compound in which the Catholic Church claims the "Last Supper" occurred.
Several years ago, Jewish groups attempted to carry out improvements to the building, setting off protests from church leaders. More recently, the church requested permission from Israel to build a passageway through the Diaspora Yeshiva in order to enable visitors to more easily access a Christian site on the Mount.
Elkin said that there is a longstanding economic agreement between the Vatican and Israel. This agreement relates to taxes, fees, and individual claims on Vatican property and while there have been demands to include the “Last Supper” room as part of it, the Foreign Ministry has made it clear that control of the site will not be handed to the Vatican whatsoever.
Elkin added that he is unaware of any offer, not even on the part of the Vatican, to receive control of King David’s Tomb in exchange for lands owned by the Vatican around the Kinneret. Rumors of such an offer have recently appeared in hareidi-religious publications.
"Every detail regarding the Last Supper room was agreed upon in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, and since then the subject has not been opened for discussion with the Vatican," said Elkin.
Tags:Vatican, Zeev Elkin, King David's Tomb
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November 11, 2011 ● Trumpet Technique ● 1 Comment
Atlanta Trumpet Festival #8, 2011
Last weekend, I attended the 2011 Atlanta Trumpet Festival. This was the 8th year of the Atlanta Trumpet Festival and it was the 3rd festival where I performed in the adult trumpet ensemble.
If you haven't been to the Atlanta Trumpet Festival before, here's a brief rundown. The festival is open to all ages, however the participants are divided into three groups. There's a middle school ensemble, a high school ensemble, and an adult ensemble. Each ensemble rehearses a handful of tunes, which they then perform on the second and final day of the festival. In between rehearsals, the festival hosts master classes and a vendor area where participants can try a variety of trumpets and trumpet accessories. If you're in the Atlanta area and you play the trumpet, you should definitely check it out.
Following are my notes from the master classes and final concert:
LEW SOLOFF MASTER CLASS
For those who don't know, Lew Soloff is one of the most successful studio and big band trumpet players around today. He has performed with a wide range of bands including Machito, Gil Evans, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He's also fairly well known for his work with Blood Sweat and Tears. That's him playing the trumpet solo on Spinning Wheel.
Lew Soloff discussed a variety of topics in his master class, but I was naturally most interested in his thoughts on jazz improvisation. He began by saying he doesn't like the academic approach used in most classrooms. All of the emphasis on theory tends to produce students who view improvisation like a math equation. That was certainly my experience as a younger player. Since I couldn't play anything by ear back then, I relied entirely on jazz theory to decide which notes to play. This resulted in meandering solos that rarely made any sense. It's as if I decided to finish this paragraph with a bunch of random keywords. Lew Soloff improvisation jazz mouthpiece trumpet. See, the words might be right, but there's no meaning!
Lew Soloff stressed the following as key elements of jazz improvisation:
Intention: Mean what you play. Don't just play notes to play them. He gave an example of playing high notes in a solo. It's ok to play high if the notes are relevant and meaningful to your solo, but if you're only playing high to show off in front of an audience, then it's pointless. I'd say the same rule applies doubly for circular breathing.
Tone: The sound of each note should convey emotion and meaning. Miles Davis is a perfect example of a player who could play a single note and instantly evoke a somber mood. The nice thing about tone is that you don't have to be able to play high, fast, or loud in order to work on your tone.
Rhythm: In most cases, rhythm is more important than note choice. It doesn't matter what notes you play, if the rhythm is off, it won't sound good. You can read more about the importance of rhythm in my Learning to Improvise - rhythm article.
At the end of Lew Soloff's presentation, a seventy year-old festival attendee asked Lew if he has any advice for a comeback player who hasn't played in decades. This is a question that I get fairly often since I'm a comeback player myself. In my case, it was only seven years that I stopped playing the trumpet, but many of the challenges are the same regardless of how long you've been away from the horn. It was nice to hear that Lew Soloff's advice echoed what I always tell people. A comeback player should take lessons with the best teacher than can find, especially if they weren't a great player in the past. As Lew put it, lessons with a good teacher will help you "get it right this time."
ERIC YATES MASTER CLASS
Eric Yates, professor of trumpet at the University of Alabama, gave a master class on trumpet fundamentals and practice tips. He covered a lot of ground in his discussion, but the part that resonated the most with me, was how he deals with frustration in the practice room.
It's easy to get upset with ourselves when we fail to improve or when we can't play something as well as we'd like. If we're not careful, we might even find ourselves spiraling into an abyss of despair. To help him overcome these negative thoughts, Eric Yates carries an old photo of himself in his trumpet case. The photo was taken when he was just a child, smiling ear to ear as he held a cornet for the first time. Looking at that photo, Eric thinks about how far he's come as a musician, and how important music has been to his life. The photo might not erase all of his frustrations, but it does remind him to be kind and patient with himself. Anything less would be unfair to the boy in the photo.
ALPINE HORN
Like previous years, the middle school conductor, Charles Jackson, did a fantastic job of keeping things fun and exciting for the large group of middle school students. The highlight was definitely the inclusion of an alpine horn. It looked neat, but more importantly, it sounded great, thanks to the wonderful playing of the young trumpeter shown in the photo below. As soon as the tune ended, the entire audience was on its feet to show its appreciation.
PLAYING IN THE ADULT ENSEMBLE
During the nine years that I've been playing the trumpet again, my primary goal has been to become a good jazz improviser. I don't think I'm all that good yet, but I'm definitely much better now than I was when I was in college. But when it comes to playing classical music in a group, I'm about as good now as I was when I was in eighth or ninth grade. That's because I no longer practice things like following a conductor, sight reading, and sectional playing.
Aware of my shortcomings, I typically try to pick easy parts to play when I attend the Atlanta Trumpet Festival. While this tends to be a good strategy for minimizing mistakes, it can get a little boring to play nothing but "background" parts. Frankly, I don't know how French horn players do it! This year, however, I felt I was finally ready to play something more challenging at the festival. I no longer have the range to play first trumpet parts, or for that matter, second or third parts (some of these pieces had ten or more parts), but I did find some parts with prominent sixteenth note runs and other passages that were difficult for me to play. I knew I'd be pushing myself to play this music, but the challenge definitely exceeded my expectations.
The decline of my concert band chops was readily apparent when even simple things like time signatures caught me off guard. For example, one of the pieces was conducted in two. Every time we played it, I'd accidentally count to four at some point and get lost. That happened every single time, even during the final concert. Another piece went from 4/4 to 3/4 halfway through. Guess what I did there? Yep, sooner or later I'd count to four in the 3/4 section and get lost. I wonder what my ninth grade self would think if he knew that decades later I'd have trouble counting to two and three!
To say I was nervous prior to our final concert is an understatement. Sure, I was worried that I'd get lost, or that I'd crack some notes, but all of that was trivial compared to the anxiety I felt about two measures of sixteenth notes that appeared in the final tune of the adult ensemble's concert. The two measures began on a G at the top of the staff, on the and-of-four, and I was the only person playing for the first few beats. The range and speed of the run was challenging enough for me, but it was really the and-of-four part that kept messing me up. During rehearsals I don't think I ever played it correctly. It was so bad, that during our final rehearsal, the conductor stopped everyone and basically said he didn't know what else he could do to make sure I came in on time. I thought for sure he'd ask somebody else to play it.
When we started playing the final tune during the concert, I kept telling myself, "Who cares if I mess up? Nobody will notice. Besides, we're all here just to have a good time. Don't worry about it!" But then I thought about the conductor and the look of frustration he gave me earlier in the day when I couldn't play the solo. And then I thought about the ninth grade version of myself who would have nailed this on the first try. And the next thing I knew, I counted to four in the two section! We were just a handful of measures away from my solo entrance, and I had managed to lose my place in the music.
My first reaction was to panic about getting lost, but that soon gave way to laughter. It seemed hilarious to me that I was worried about being able to play a passage and now I didn't even know where it was anymore! Thankfully, the measure leading up to the solo was conducted in four so I just waited for that. One, two, three, and the conductor's arms rose to signal beat four. I took a deep breath, got ready to play, and to my amazement, I finally came in at the right time. I couldn't believe it. For the first time, I played it perfectly (note: if I didn't play it correctly, I don't want to know about it). As we approached the end of the tune, I once again thought about the ninth grade version of myself. This time, however, I knew he'd be proud. Feeling I could do no wrong, I reached the final note of the tune, took a deep breath, and totally missed it.
THANK YOU TO THE ATLANTA TRUMPET ENSEMBLE
I've now attended four Atlanta Trumpet Festivals and this year's was definitely my favorite. Of course, it wouldn't have gone so well were it not for the outstanding efforts of Kay Fairchild, her son David Fairchild, and the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble. The Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble always does a great job running the event, as they assume the roles of musicians, tour guides, and roadies to make sure it all runs smoothly. I'd also like to thank the clinicians and conductors, especially Mark Clodfelter, the adult ensemble's conductor. Thank you for not giving up on me!
All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013
Comment by Toby
inspiring stuff, we all need to care less about mistakes. All caring does is make you make more mistakes.
Trumpet Technique: « ITG 2012 and learning tunes ● Alexa Yates - GR Mouthpieces »
Trumpet Technique
My daily practice routine
The comeback journey
My embouchure - the early days
My embouchure - finding balance
My embouchure - range, endurance
Merging two embouchures
Articulation Recordings
World of Jazz Trumpet - book review
Atlanta Trumpet Festival #10, 2013
ITG 2012 and learning tunes
Alexa Yates - GR Mouthpieces
Joe Gransden lesson, trying a Monette
Articulation Recordings - Q3/04
Fast articulation
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Doctors' digest
By Dr Adam P. Levine, Honorary Research Associate and Academic Foundation Doctor and Dr Elena Schiff, Research Coordinator
It has been known for many years that IBD is more common in the Jewish population. Crohn’s disease itself is named after Dr Burrill Crohn who, while working in 1932 at Mount Sinai Hospital with Drs Ginzburg and Oppenheimer, described a series of 14 patients with the disease. All of these 14 patients were Ashkenazi Jews. At first this was thought to be a coincidence but research studies all over the world have since reported the frequency of IBD to be consistently greater amongst Jews.
It now seems that Ashkenazi Jews are approximately four times more likely to develop Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis than non-Jews living in the same country. This means of course that the vast majority of individuals with IBD in the world are not Jewish but that the Jewish population is disproportionately affected.
In Stamford Hill in the UK, for example, amongst individuals 20 years or older, the prevalence of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is approximately 20 in 1,000 of the Jewish population as compared with 5 in 1,000 of the local non-Jewish population. We expect that the same is true elsewhere in the world. Interestingly, studies in Israel have suggested that this increased risk is not apparent amongst Sephardim to the same extent.
The increased risk of IBD amongst Ashkenazim could be understood to be due to environmental factors working on an underlying genetic predisposition.
While the vast majority of IBD patients do not have a family history of the disease, it has been recognised for over 100 years that both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can sometimes affect multiple individuals in the same family. Initially thought to be a coincidence, this has been shown to be significant and confirmatory of a genetic predisposition.
Approximately 1 in 10 patients with IBD have at least one first degree relative (that is a brother, sister, parent or child) that also suffers from either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis and up to 20% may have at least one more distant relative with the disease, for example, a cousin, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, or a second cousin.
A genetic predisposition to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis has also been confirmed through comparing the relative incidence of the disease in identical and non-identical twins. When one of a pair of identical twins has IBD, approximately 30% of the time the other twin also suffers from the disease. However, if one of a pair of non-identical twins has IBD, the other twin only suffers from the disease approximately 5% of the time. This tells us that while there is certainly a genetic predisposition to IBD since identical twins share more genetic information than non-identical twins, nevertheless, genetics alone does not cause IBD. IBD therefore contrasts with other diseases in which genetics play a much stronger role such as those that are screened for by Dor Yeshorim, for example Tay-Sachs disease.
It is often asked what are the chances of having a child with Crohn’s or colitis, if one has either disease. Studies from the 1990’s suggest that if one parent has IBD the risk of having a child with IBD is approximately 7-8%. If however both parents have IBD, the risk of having a child with IBD is at least 1 in 3 (or 33 %).
Regarding the non-genetic environmental factors that contribute to an individual developing IBD, we do not unfortunately, have a very good understanding of these factors and they are rather difficult to study. Research has explored the role of stress, infections and diet but has not produced definitive answers. One strong risk factor we do know about is smoking which increases the risk of developing and the subsequent severity of Crohn’s disease although interestingly decreases the risk of ulcerative colitis.
Dr Adam P. Levine BSc (Hons), MBBS, PhD
Honorary Research Associate and Academic Foundation Doctor
Division of Medicine, University College London
Email: a.levine@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Elena Schiff Bsc, PGCert, Msc, PhD
Email: e.schiff@ucl.ac.uk
Jewish Care Event Videos
Sushi salad
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Fort Huachuca and the MQ-1C Gray Eagle / April 30, 2016 by John Nofs
I was lucky enough to visit fort Huachuca, which was a really interesting and unique experience to be part of. Special thanks to Hilary Mushkin for letting me tag along on the trip.
For those of you who don’t know Fort Huachuca is located in southern Arizona, about 15 miles north of the U.S. border with Mexico. It houses the U.S. Army Intelligence center and the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command. Fort Huachuca is also the headquarters of Army Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) and the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) and the Electronic Proving Ground (EPG).
The base has nearly 18,000 people working on it, making it one of the busiest army installations in the country. The workers are a mix of active duty soldiers and civilian employees.
Of particular importance to our group during the trip was the bases key role in training soldiers in the use of drones, or Unmanned Aerial Systems as the designation the military prefers. Students train to use a variety of UAS platforms, but our tour focused primary on the grey eagle platform.
The MQ-1C grey eagle is the successor to the well-known MQ-1 Predator UAS produced by General Atomics. It is designed as a medium altitude, long endurance UAS. The system is able to operate for up to 48 hours before needing to refuel and can be outfitted with a range of surveillance sensors. It also has four hard points for loading weapons onto, most commonly the AGM-114 hellfire missile system.
One of points that the instructors really wanted to get across in our time learning about the platform was the intense amount of training that is required before soldiers are allowed to operate the system. They also drove home the point operators of the Grey Eagles in the Army are part of a deployed platoon and operate at a Forward Operating Base as opposed to a facility here in the states. One of the main reasons for this is cost. Maintaining a satellite uplink costs nearly $10,000 per hour per system in use. Using a Line of Sight data link instead of a satellite uplink also reduces input and signal lag.
Another point they wanted to get across was that while the system is operated by a 3 man team, there is a support infrastructure behind them of image analysts. These image analysts are commonly referred to as Golfs, a reference to their 35G designation. These analysts learn to interpret the data from the camera feeds of the UAS and decide what exactly it is that the UAS is looking at.
After being able to hear from a variety of instructors, image analysts, pilots, and commanders about the Grey Eagle system we were able to actually sit down in the training simulators and take command of a virtual UAS in a mock combat environment.
I was lucky enough to be in the position of the actual pilot of the UAS, as opposed to the payload operator, meaning that I was in charge of both piloting the digital aircraft and our weapon systems. The biggest thing that struck me about the grey eagle is how easy it was to operate. Takeoff and landing are as easy as pushing a button and actually flying the craft is very similar to operating one of today’s widely available commercial quadrotors. You basically set up a waypoint map on the screen and tell the UAS to follow the points on the map. One of the instructors noted that it was so easy to fly that he had even had his daughters, both not even old enough to be considered teenagers, operate the simulators without any problems.
As I was piloting our simulated aircraft, raining pixelated hell onto lo-res sprites of enemy combatants, it was hard not to notice the degree of abstraction that actual operators must experience. Even in a simulation that is meant to mimic real world conditions as closely as possible you never get the feeling that you are looking at actual people. What you see is a small white humanoid blob that is enveloped in a white cloud upon impact and then ceases to be. Admittedly yes this was a simulation, but it was hard to shake the feeling that despite the intense amount of training and the large support network in place that is used before making decisions on how to engage targets it would be easy to simply place aside the fact that you are firing on people, not pixels.
While I feel it is an important conversation to have, I don’t want to dwell too much on the ethicality of UAS use in warfare.
After the simulations we got to take a look at the actual aircraft. I think the biggest thing that most people were surprised by was the size of the UAS. They are not small by any means, being nearly 28 ft. long and with a 56 ft. wingspan they are about the same size as a Cessna. The aircraft themselves are gorgeous and it was a joy to look at every inch of the platform.
Unfortunately due to high winds that day we were unable to witness the aircraft in action. This did however afford us the freedom to take a look at the actual ground control modules that were to be used that day. Of particular note was how well the GCM's served to isolate you from the world. Once the door shut, the outside world could have ceased to exist and you could be allowed to focus solely on the mission at hand.
In closing I’d like to once again express my gratitude for the opportunity to take a look at the Grey Eagle UAS and getting to meet the men and women in charge of training soldiers, operating aircraft, interpreting data, and commanding people behind it.
field notes, drone, drones, uas, uav, military, army, grey eagle, photo, photography May 10, 2016
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The Copyright and Performances (Application to Other Countries) Order 2016
Open Instrument without Schedules
Open Schedules only
Sound recordings – application of Part 1 of the Act – parties to the Berne Convention and WTO Members
4.—(1) This article applies to a relevant country that—
(a)is not a party to the Rome Convention or the WPPT; and
(b)satisfies either or both of the following criteria—
(i)the country is a party to the Berne Convention(1); and
(ii)the country is a member of the WTO.
(2) Where this article applies to a country, Part 1 of the Act so far as it relates to sound recordings—
(a)applies in relation to a person who is a citizen or subject of that country or a person domiciled or resident there as it applies in relation to a person who is a British citizen or is domiciled or resident in the United Kingdom,
(b)applies in relation to a body incorporated under the law of that country as it applies in relation to a body incorporated under the law of a part of the United Kingdom, and
(c)applies in relation to a sound recording first published in that country as it applies in relation to a sound recording first published the United Kingdom,
(but see paragraph (3)).
(3) The application of Part 1 of the Act by virtue of paragraph (2) is subject to the following modifications—
(a)section 18A (infringement by rental or lending of work to the public) does not apply in so far as it relates to lending;
(b)the following provisions do not apply—
(i)section 19 (infringement by showing or playing of work in public)(2);
(ii)section 20 (infringement by communication to the public);
(iii)section 26 (secondary infringement: provision of apparatus for infringing performance, &c); and
(iv)section 107(2A) and (3) (criminal liability for communicating to the public or playing sound recording)(3).
Cm. 1212; “Berne Convention” is defined in section 159(9) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Section 19 was amended by paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 1 to the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003.
Section 107(2A) was inserted by regulations 3 and 26(1)(a) of the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 and section 107(3) was amended by paragraph 9(2) of Schedule 1 to those Regulations.
PrintThe Whole Part
PDF The Whole Part
Web page The Whole Part
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Bhakti yoga is a devotional form of yoga, usually associated with Theistic Hinduism. It is therefore focused on faith, love for and worship of a personal God, such as Shiva, Shakti or Krishna. It is taught in key works like the Bhagavad Gita as one of the forms of yoga, and became a major current of Hindu yoga in the second half of the 1st millenium CE, when it was promoted and celebrated by south Indian poet saints like the Alvars and Nayanars. Forms of Bhakti yoga include the singing of hymns, stories and songs (Kirtan), dancing, prayer, bowing, and performing puja rituals.
Just as there was a shift from viewing disease as a state to thinking of it as a process, the same shift happened in definitions of health. Again, the WHO played a leading role when it fostered the development of the health promotion movement in the 1980s. This brought in a new conception of health, not as a state, but in dynamic terms of resiliency, in other words, as "a resource for living". 1984 WHO revised the definition of health defined it as "the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities".[10] Thus, health referred to the ability to maintain homeostasis and recover from insults. Mental, intellectual, emotional and social health referred to a person's ability to handle stress, to acquire skills, to maintain relationships, all of which form resources for resiliency and independent living.[9] This opens up many possibilities for health to be taught, strengthened and learned.
^ World Health Organization.Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19–22 June 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948. In Grad, Frank P. (2002). "The Preamble of the Constitution of the World Health Organization". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 80 (12): 982.
The first Hindu teacher to actively advocate and disseminate aspects of yoga, not including asanas, to a western audience, Swami Vivekananda, toured Europe and the United States in the 1890s.[204] The reception which Swami Vivekananda received built on the active interest of intellectuals, in particular the New England Transcendentalists, among them Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), who drew on German Romanticism and philosophers and scholars like G. W. F. Hegel (1770–1831), the brothers August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), Max Mueller (1823–1900), Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), and others who had (to varying degrees) interests in things Indian.[205][206]
The environment is often cited as an important factor influencing the health status of individuals. This includes characteristics of the natural environment, the built environment and the social environment. Factors such as clean water and air, adequate housing, and safe communities and roads all have been found to contribute to good health, especially to the health of infants and children.[18][29] Some studies have shown that a lack of neighborhood recreational spaces including natural environment leads to lower levels of personal satisfaction and higher levels of obesity, linked to lower overall health and well being.[30] This suggests that the positive health benefits of natural space in urban neighborhoods should be taken into account in public policy and land use.
In Iran, as of May 2014, according to its Yoga Association, there were approximately 200 yoga centres in the country, a quarter of them in the capital Tehran, where groups can often be seen practising in parks. This has been met by opposition among conservatives.[305] In May 2009, Turkey's head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ali Bardakoğlu, discounted personal development techniques such as reiki and yoga as commercial ventures that could lead to extremism. His comments were made in the context of reiki and yoga possibly being a form of proselytization at the expense of Islam.[306]
If the meaning of yoga is understood as the practice of nirodha (mental control), then its goal is "the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process)",[147] according to Baba Hari Dass. In that context, "yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state", and "as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation."[148]
Health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."[1][2] This definition has been subject to controversy, as it may have limited value for implementation.[3][4][5] Health may be defined as the ability to adapt and manage physical, mental and social challenges throughout life.[6]
^ Burd, Nicholas A.; Yang, Yifan; Moore, Daniel R.; Tang, Jason E.; Tarnopolsky, Mark A.; Phillips, Stuart M. (2012). "Greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis with ingestion of whey protein isolate v. Micellar casein at rest and after resistance exercise in elderly men". British Journal of Nutrition. 108 (6): 958–62. doi:10.1017/S0007114511006271. PMID 22289570.
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Due to the growing concerns of the high cost, health consequences, and illegal nature of some steroids, many organizations have formed in response and have deemed themselves "natural" bodybuilding competitions. In addition to the concerns noted, many promoters of bodybuilding have sought to shed the "freakish" perception that the general public has of bodybuilding and have successfully introduced a more mainstream audience to the sport of bodybuilding by including competitors whose physiques appear much more attainable and realistic.
In the last week leading up to a contest, bodybuilders usually decrease their consumption of water, sodium, and carbohydrates, the former two to alter how water is retained by the body and the latter to reduce glycogen in the muscle. The day before the show, water is removed from the diet, and diuretics may be introduced, while carbohydrate loading is undertaken to increase the size of the muscles through replenishment of their glycogen. The goal is to maximize leanness and increase the visibility of veins, or "vascularity". The muscular definition and vascularity are further enhanced immediately before appearing on stage by darkening the skin through tanning products and applying oils to the skin to increase shine. Some competitors will eat sugar-rich foods to increase the visibility of their veins. A final step, called "pumping", consists in performing exercises with light weights or other kinds of low resistance (for instance two athletes can "pump" each other by holding a towel and pulling in turn), just before the contest, to fill the muscles with blood and further increase their size and density.
The Yoga Sutras are also influenced by the Sramana traditions of Buddhism and Jainism, and may represent a further Brahmanical attempt to adopt yoga from the Sramana traditions.[129] As noted by Larson, there are numerous parallels in the concepts in ancient Samkhya, Yoga and Abhidharma Buddhist schools of thought, particularly from 2nd century BCE to 1st century AD.[139] Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is a synthesis of these three traditions. From Samkhya, the Yoga Sutras adopt the "reflective discernment" (adhyavasaya) of prakrti and purusa (dualism), its metaphysical rationalism, as well its three epistemic methods of gaining reliable knowledge.[139] From Abhidharma Buddhism's idea of nirodhasamadhi, suggests Larson, Yoga Sutras adopt the pursuit of altered state of awareness, but unlike Buddhism's concept of no self nor soul, Yoga is physicalist and realist like Samkhya in believing that each individual has a self and soul.[139] The third concept Yoga Sutras synthesize into its philosophy is the ancient ascetic traditions of meditation and introspection, as well as the yoga ideas from middle Upanishads such as Katha, Shvetashvatara and Maitri.[139]
According to Zimmer, Yoga philosophy is reckoned to be part of the non-Vedic system, which also includes the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, Jainism and Buddhism:[46] "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India [Bihar] – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."[61][note 6]
^ On the dates of the Pali canon, Gregory Schopen writes, "We know, and have known for some time, that the Pali canon as we have it — and it is generally conceded to be our oldest source — cannot be taken back further than the last quarter of the first century BCE, the date of the Alu-vihara redaction, the earliest redaction we can have some knowledge of, and that — for a critical history — it can serve, at the very most, only as a source for the Buddhism of this period. But we also know that even this is problematic... In fact, it is not until the time of the commentaries of Buddhaghosa, Dhammapala, and others — that is to say, the fifth to sixth centuries CE — that we can know anything definite about the actual contents of [the Pali] canon."[92]
As any parent knows, kiddos are very disruptive to your life and schedule, especially when they've first popped out. This thread is for those who were able to maintain an exercise regimen as new parents. What did you have to change? How did you prepare? How did you balance taking care of your tiny fleshy potato with your pursuit of fitness goals? Share what worked for you so that others can learn from your success.
Many governments view occupational health as a social challenge and have formed public organizations to ensure the health and safety of workers. Examples of these include the British Health and Safety Executive and in the United States, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which conducts research on occupational health and safety, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which handles regulation and policy relating to worker safety and health.[63][64][65]
According to Geoffrey Samuel, our "best evidence to date" suggests that yogic practices "developed in the same ascetic circles as the early śramaṇa movements (Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE." This occurred during what is called the ‘Second Urbanisation’ period.[9] According to Mallinson and Singleton, these traditions were the first to use psychophysical techniques, mainly known as dhyana and tapas. but later described as yoga, to strive for the goal of liberation (moksha, nirvana) from samsara (the round of rebirth).[78]
Unintentional weight loss can occur because of an inadequately nutritious diet relative to a person's energy needs (generally called malnutrition). Disease processes, changes in metabolism, hormonal changes, medications or other treatments, disease- or treatment-related dietary changes, or reduced appetite associated with a disease or treatment can also cause unintentional weight loss.[25][26][27][31][32][33] Poor nutrient utilization can lead to weight loss, and can be caused by fistulae in the gastrointestinal tract, diarrhea, drug-nutrient interaction, enzyme depletion and muscle atrophy.[27]
Overtraining occurs when a bodybuilder has trained to the point where his workload exceeds his recovery capacity. There are many reasons why overtraining occurs, including lack of adequate nutrition, lack of recovery time between workouts, insufficient sleep, and training at a high intensity for too long (a lack of splitting apart workouts). Training at a high intensity too frequently also stimulates the central nervous system (CNS) and can result in a hyperadrenergic state that interferes with sleep patterns.[52] To avoid overtraining, intense frequent training must be met with at least an equal amount of purposeful recovery. Timely provision of carbohydrates, proteins, and various micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, even nutritional supplements are acutely critical. A mental disorder, informally called “bigorexia” (by analogy with anorexia), may account for overtraining in some individuals. Sufferers feel as if they are never big enough or muscular enough, which forces them to overtrain in order to try and reach their goal physique.[53]
The first known appearance of the word "yoga", with the same meaning as the modern term, is in the Katha Upanishad,[10][95] probably composed between the fifth and third century BCE,[96][97] where it is defined as the steady control of the senses, which along with cessation of mental activity, leading to a supreme state.[67][note 13] Katha Upanishad integrates the monism of early Upanishads with concepts of samkhya and yoga. It defines various levels of existence according to their proximity to the innermost being Ātman. Yoga is therefore seen as a process of interiorization or ascent of consciousness.[99][100] It is the earliest literary work that highlights the fundamentals of yoga. White states:
Ascetic practices, concentration and bodily postures described in the Vedas may have been precursors to yoga.[59][60] According to Geoffrey Samuel, "Our best evidence to date suggests that [yogic] practices developed in the same ascetic circles as the early sramana movements (Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE."[9]
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The important role of nutrition in building muscle and losing fat means bodybuilders may consume a wide variety of dietary supplements.[42] Various products are used in an attempt to augment muscle size, increase the rate of fat loss, improve joint health, increase natural testosterone production, enhance training performance and prevent potential nutrient deficiencies.
Yogaśataka a Jain work by Haribhadra Suri 6th century CE "With conviction, the lords of Yogins have in our doctrine defined yoga as the concurrence (sambandhah) of the three [correct knowledge (sajjñana), correct doctrine (saddarsana) and correct conduct (saccaritra)] beginning with correct knowledge, since [thereby arises] conjunction with liberation....In common usage this [term] yoga also [denotes the soul’s] contact with the causes of these [three], due to the common usage of the cause for the effect. (2, 4).[32]
^ "application or concentration of the thoughts, abstract contemplation, meditation , (esp.) self-concentration, abstract meditation and mental abstraction practised as a system (as taught by Patañjali and called the yoga philosophy; it is the second of the two sāṃkhya systems, its chief aim being to teach the means by which the human spirit may attain complete union with īśvara or the Supreme Spirit; in the practice of self-concentration it is closely connected with Buddhism". Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit Dictionary (1899)
Yoga and Vedanta are the two largest surviving schools of Hindu traditions. They share many thematic principles, concepts and belief in self/soul, but diverge in degree, style and some of their methods. Epistemologically, Yoga school accepts three means to reliable knowledge, while Advaita Vedanta accepts six ways.[159] Yoga disputes the monism of Advaita Vedanta.[160] Yoga school believes that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as an independent identity; Advaita Vedanta, in contrast, believes that in the state of moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as part of Oneness with everything, everyone and the Universal Self. They both hold that the free conscience is aloof yet transcendent, liberated and self-aware. Further, Advaita Vedanta school enjoins the use of Patanjali's yoga practices and the reading of Upanishads for those seeking the supreme good, ultimate freedom and jivanmukti.[160]
Suicidal thoughts or actions. Topiramate, an ingredient in Qsymia, may cause you to have suicidal thoughts or actions. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you: thoughts about suicide or dying; attempts to commit suicide; new or worse depression; new or worse anxiety; feeling agitated or restless; panic attacks; trouble sleeping (insomnia); new or worse irritability; acting aggressive, being angry, or violent; acting on dangerous impulses; an extreme increase in activity or talking (mania); other unusual changes in behavior or mood.
The winner of the annual IFBB Mr. Olympia contest is generally recognized as the world's top male professional bodybuilder. The winner of the Women's Physique portion of the competition is widely regarded as the world's top female professional bodybuilder. The title is currently held by Juliana Malacarne, who has won every year since 2014. Since 1950, the NABBA Universe Championships have been considered the top amateur bodybuilding contests, with notable winners such as Reg Park, Lee Priest, Steve Reeves, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Winners generally go on to become professional athletes.
Photo Creidt: Copyright Jason Ellis AMER “THE HAMMER” KAMRA Pro Fitness Model : Transformation Coach : Fitness Author How did you get started with fitness modeling? Growing up, I’ve always had a passion for being physical and active, and therefore channelled my energy into ways which would benefit me. I started out playing competitive football and training on the field and for me it went hand in hand with lifting weights in the gym. Training in the gym has truly changed my life, and I always look to branch my skills and talents into new things I haven’t experienced before,...
^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 28 June 2012. Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 19 September 2013] pgs. 2 "In its earliest definition, in Pundarīka's eleventh-century Vimalaprabhā commentary on the Kālacakratantra, hathayoga is said to bring about the "unchanging moment" (aksaraksana) "through the practice of nāda by forcefully making the breath enter the central channel and through restraining the bindu of the bodhicitta in the vajra of the lotus of wisdom". While the means employed are not specified, the ends, in particular restraining bindu, semen, and making the breath enter the central channel, are similar to those mentioned in the earliest descriptions of the practices of hathayoga, to which I now turn."
Malaysia's top Islamic body in 2008 passed a fatwa, prohibiting Muslims from practicing yoga, saying it had elements of Hinduism and that its practice was blasphemy, therefore haraam.[297] Some Muslims in Malaysia who had been practicing yoga for years, criticized the decision as "insulting."[298] Sisters in Islam, a women's rights group in Malaysia, also expressed disappointment and said yoga was just a form of exercise.[299] This fatwa is legally enforceable.[300] However, Malaysia's prime minister clarified that yoga as physical exercise is permissible, but the chanting of religious mantras is prohibited.[301]
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.
As the number of service sector jobs has risen in developed countries, more and more jobs have become sedentary, presenting a different array of health problems than those associated with manufacturing and the primary sector. Contemporary problems, such as the growing rate of obesity and issues relating to stress and overwork in many countries, have further complicated the interaction between work and health.
The Gita consists of 18 chapters and 700 shlokas (verses),[118] with each chapter named as a different yoga, thus delineating eighteen different yogas.[118][119] Some scholars divide the Gita into three sections, with the first six chapters with 280 shlokas dealing with Karma yoga, the middle six containing 209 shlokas with Bhakti yoga, and the last six chapters with 211 shlokas as Jnana yoga; however, this is rough because elements of karma, bhakti and jnana are found in all chapters.[118]
Serious eye problems, which include any sudden decrease in vision, with or without eye pain and redness or a blockage of fluid in the eye causing increased pressure in the eye (secondary angle closure glaucoma). These problems can lead to permanent vision loss if not treated. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new eye symptoms.
^ Gavin Flood: "These renouncer traditions offered a new vision of the human condition which became incorporated, to some degree, into the worldview of the Brahman householder. The ideology of asceticism and renunciation seems, at first, discontinuous with the brahmanical ideology of the affirmation of social obligations and the performance of public and domestic rituals. Indeed, there has been some debate as to whether asceticism and its ideas of retributive action, reincarnation and spiritual liberation, might not have originated outside the orthodox vedic sphere, or even outside Aryan culture: that a divergent historical origin might account for the apparent contradiction within 'Hinduism' between the world affirmation of the householder and the world negation of the renouncer. However, this dichotomization is too simplistic, for continuities can undoubtedly be found between renunciation and vedic Brahmanism, while elements from non-Brahmanical, Sramana traditions also played an important part in the formation of the renunciate ideal. Indeed there are continuities between vedic Brahmanism and Buddhism, and it has been argued that the Buddha sought to return to the ideals of a vedic society which he saw as being eroded in his own day."[49]
Birth defects (cleft lip/cleft palate). If you take Qsymia during pregnancy, your baby has a higher risk for birth defects called cleft lip and cleft palate. These defects can begin early in pregnancy, even before you know you are pregnant. Women who are pregnant must not take Qsymia. Women who can become pregnant should have a negative pregnancy test before taking Qsymia and every month while taking Qsymia and use effective birth control (contraception) consistently while taking Qsymia. Talk to your healthcare provider about how to prevent pregnancy. If you become pregnant while taking Qsymia, stop taking Qsymia immediately, and tell your healthcare provider right away. Healthcare providers and patients should report all cases of pregnancy to FDA MedWatch at 1-800-FDA-1088, and the Qsymia Pregnancy Surveillance Program at 1-888-998-4887.
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.[43][44][45] Other performance-enhancing substances used by competitive bodybuilders include human growth hormone (HGH), which can cause acromegaly.
SLPY offers dynamic, HEATED yoga classes that focus on balanced movement, strength, and breath. SLPY classes meet you where you are and are accessible to everyone—regardless of your age, flexibility, and experience. Built on the foundation of Baptiste yoga, our powerful flow can help you reduce stress, lose weight, heal injuries, increase focus, and much more.
The origins of yoga are a matter of debate.[44] There is no consensus on its chronology or specific origin other than that yoga developed in ancient India. Suggested origins are the Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1900 BCE)[45] and pre-Vedic Eastern states of India,[46] the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), and the śramaṇa movement.[47] According to Gavin Flood, continuities may exist between those various traditions: https://www.facebook.com/Buzzing-Offer-BusinessInvesting-650621182046830/
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In competitive bodybuilding, bodybuilders aspire to develop and maintain an aesthetically pleasing body and balanced physique.[16][17] In prejudging, competitors do a series of mandatory poses: the front lat spread, rear lat spread, front double biceps, back double biceps, side chest, side triceps, Most Muscular (men only), abdominals and thighs. Each competitor also performs a personal choreographed routine to display their physique. A posedown is usually held at the end of a posing round, while judges are finishing their scoring. Bodybuilders usually spend a lot of time practising their posing in front of mirrors or under the guidance of their coach.
Alexander Wynne observes that formless meditation and elemental meditation might have originated in the Upanishadic tradition.[93] The earliest reference to meditation is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest Upanishads.[67] Chandogya Upanishad describes the five kinds of vital energies (prana). Concepts used later in many yoga traditions such as internal sound and veins (nadis) are also described in the Upanishad.[59] Taittiriya Upanishad defines yoga as the mastery of body and senses.[94]
Classical yoga incorporates epistemology, metaphysics, ethical practices, systematic exercises and self-development techniques for body, mind and spirit.[144] Its epistemology (pramana) and metaphysics is similar to that of the Sāṅkhya school. The metaphysics of Classical Yoga, like Sāṅkhya, is mainly dualistic, positing that there are two distinct realities. These are prakriti (nature), which is the eternal and active unconscious source of the material world and is composed of three gunas, and the puruṣas (persons), the plural consciousnesses which are the intelligent principles of the world, and are multiple, inactive and eternal witnesses. Each person has a individual puruṣa, which is their true self, the witness and the enjoyer, and that which is liberated. This metaphysical system holds that puruṣas undergo cycles of reincarnation through its interaction and identification with prakirti. Liberation, the goal of this system, results from the isolation (kaivalya) of puruṣa from prakirti, and is achieved through a meditation which detaches oneself from the different forms (tattvas) of prakirti.[240] This is done by stilling one's thought waves (citta vritti) and resting in pure awareness of puruṣa.
^ Mangano, Kelsey M.; Sahni, Shivani; Kiel, Douglas P.; Tucker, Katherine L.; Dufour, Alyssa B.; Hannan, Marian T. (February 8, 2017). "Dietary protein is associated with musculoskeletal health independently of dietary pattern: the Framingham Third Generation Study". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 105 (3): 714–722. doi:10.3945/ajcn.116.136762. PMC 5320406. PMID 28179224 – via ajcn.nutrition.org.
^ Andrew J. Nicholson (2013). Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History. Columbia University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-231-14987-7., Quote: "From a historical perspective, the Brahmasutras are best understood as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years, most likely composed in its current form between 400 and 450 BCE."
If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart problems, ask your doctor what you can do. You may need to avoid certain postures, like those in which you're upside down or that demand more balance than you have right now. A very gentle program of yoga, coupled with a light aerobic activity like walking or swimming, may be the best way to start.
The Bhagavad Gita ('Song of the Lord') is part of the Mahabharata and also contains extensive teachings on Yoga. According to According to Mallinson and Singleton, the Gita "seeks to appropriate yoga from the renunciate milieu in which it originated, teaching that it is compatible with worldly activity carried out according to one's caste and life stage; it is only the fruits of one's actions that are to be renounced."[109] In addition to an entire chapter (ch. 6) dedicated to traditional yoga practice, including meditation,[113] it introduces three prominent types of yoga:[114]
Public health also takes various actions to limit the health disparities between different areas of the country and, in some cases, the continent or world. One issue is the access of individuals and communities to health care in terms of financial, geographical or socio-cultural constraints to accessing and using services.[54] Applications of the public health system include the areas of maternal and child health, health services administration, emergency response, and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases.
^ * Wynne states that "The Nasadiyasukta, one of the earliest and most important cosmogonic tracts in the early Brahminic literature, contains evidence suggesting it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. A close reading of this text suggests that it was closely related to a tradition of early Brahminic contemplation. The poem may have been composed by contemplatives, but even if not, an argument can be made that it marks the beginning of the contemplative/meditative trend in Indian thought."[73]
Making the decision to join a gym is a great first step towards improving your health and quality of life. At 24 Hour Fitness, we are here to help make your gym experience fun, effective and easy. For over 30 years, 24 Hour Fitness has been dedicated to giving people a great fitness experience while helping people of all fitness levels reach their goals. Whether your goal is to stay in shape, lose weight or get fit for an upcoming event, we are here for you. https://buzzingofferbusinessinvesting.tumblr.com/
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Daewoo Shipbuilding wins sub maintenance deal from Indonesia
By Yonhap
Published : Aug 31, 2017 - 13:40
Updated : Aug 31, 2017 - 13:40
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major shipyard in South Korea, said Thursday that it has clinched a 30 billion-won ($26.7 million) deal from Indonesia's Navy to provide maintenance and upgrade services for one of its submarines.
Under the deal, Daewoo Shipbuilding will work with Indonesia's largest shipyard, PT. PAL, on the maintenance of a submarine operated by the Indonesia's Navy by 2020.
Early this month, Daewoo Shipbuilding handed over a 1,400-ton diesel-electric submarine to the Indonesian Navy, becoming the first South Korean company to export a submarine.
This photo shows the 1,400-ton submarine that Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. delivered to the Indonesian Navy on Aug. 2, 2017. (Yonhap)
The boat is the first of three submarines commissioned by the Southeast Asian country under a 2011 deal worth $1.1 billion.
The second submarine is under construction with the plan to be completed within the year, and the third one will be assembled by 2018.
Early this week, Daewoo Shipbuilding also won a 215 billion-won deal to supply key parts for a submarine built by its local rival Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.
Since 1987, Daewoo Shipbuilding has secured deals to build 17 submarines, including the three placed by Indonesia.
Daewoo Shipbuilding has delivered 12 submarines so far, with five under construction. (Yonhap)
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Ed Sheeran rocks Incheon
After a nearly two-year delay, pop superstar Ed Sheeran finally took the stage in Korea on Sunday, electrifying 25,000 fans gathered at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon.
He dove right in as the audience collectively felt pumped up. A wait sparked by a bicycle accident seemed to have only upped the anticipation, as fans appeared happy to see their hero.
“It’s good to be back, thanks for having me!” Sheeran exclaimed after opening with his nostalgic number “Castle on the Hill.”
He then went on to perform hits like “Eraser” and “Dive” from the “Divide” album -- the most popular of his albums here -- mixed up with other works like “Bloodstream” “Don’t” and “Tenerife Sea.”
Armed only with his acoustic guitar and the ingenious use of a loop pedal, Sheeran was truly a one-man band that filled the stage with rich sounds. Even the sky worked in his favor, as planes landing and taking off from the nearby Incheon Airport provided an impromptu airshow with traces left in the clouds.
After praising fans as “the loudest in Asia,” the 28-year-old playfully challenged Incheon to see “if they can also be the quietest,” which they obliged during the ballad medley. Their patience was rewarded with the cheery tune in “Galway Girl” that followed.
An odd moment took place during “I See Fire” when Sheeran egged on the audience to sing, but encountered awkward humming and mumbling uncharacteristic of South Korean fans. Despite Sheeran’s immense popularity here, the song recorded for the 2013 film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” does not have a sizeable following among Koreans.
But they almost immediately redeemed themselves with a massive sing-along for the next song, “Thinking Out Loud” and “Photograph.” The latter brought out the British artist’s stage design that featured different images following on the main screen; it showed Sheeran’s image inside frames of photographs for this particular song.
Sheeran saved the best for last, whipping out his greatest hit “Shape of You” for the encore before wrapping up the show with “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.”
He bid farewell with “See You Next Time,” leaving fans waiting for the next time the British invasion might take place.
Despite the off-the-chart performance, one hitch after the show ailed concertgoers. Some of the paid shuttles that were supposed to take fans to different parts of the country were delayed by as much as 90 minutes, leading to complaints.
Photo credit: Private Curve
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KNOTS LANDING Episode 048 of 344: LETTING GO
Episode Title: Letting Go
Written by Sara Ann Friedman
Directed by Alexander Singer
Original Airdate: Thursday, April 1st, 1982
The Plot (Courtesy of TV.Com): Joe's girlfriend Lorraine comes to town, but they determine they want different things and it won't work. Abby, Gary and Val go to Sacramento to see Senator Riker, because if a bill doesn't pass to make Methanol legal, they will lose their business. He says there's nothing he can do. Abby sleeps with him, and then he decides to push the bill through. Val is mad at Abby and how she uses sex to get what she wants. Abby tells Val she could learn from her. Larry asks Karen away for the weekend, but she's not ready. Joe tells Karen she needs to stop living in the past and should take off her wedding ring. He shows home movies of the Fairgates, and everyone laughs and cries. Karen goes to the cemetery and talks to Sid. She says she will love him forever, but will now wear her ring on a chain to symbolize letting go of her fantasy that he's not really gone.
Okay, so we’ve been sorta all over the map the last few weeks when it comes to the quality of our KL episodes, haven’t we? We had Reunion, which I really didn’t like and, in my writeup, I believe I declared the worst episode of the series, followed then by Cricket, which was, you know, okay, nothing too great and nothing too terrible. After that, like a rush of pure adrenaline, was Best Intentions, an episode My Beloved Grammy and I both loved and thought was one of the best of the series, but then we plummeted to a new low with what is now officially the worst episode of the entire series, Silver Shadows. Following on the heels of that drip of an episode, how will Letting Go stand up? Read on.
I remembered Letting Go being an all time KL classic and one of the eps that most profoundly moved me upon first viewing. As we start, however, I had to kinda groan to myself, because already there were some aspects I had totally forgotten, and the first of those was the return of Joshua Bryant as Larry Wilson. You’ll remember this is the supposed “catch” that Abby and Karen were fighting over in Silver Shadows. Well, he’s back this ep, and it looks like now he’s officially Karen’s boyfriend, because I don’t think he and Abs have any sort of interaction this ep at all (we’ll discuss why Abs is too busy to make time for Larry and his sweaters that he keeps wrapped around his neck). We open up in the Fairgate living room with Larry and Karen sitting down together and him telling an unfunny story while Karen busts a gut. Seriously, what’s going on here? I couldn’t really understand what the story was he was telling, but I can assure you it’s not worth Karen’s manic reaction and uproarious laughter; she looks like she’s sitting through an opening night screening of Airplane!
However, all my distaste for ugly Larry (pictured below) aside, this scene does set a basis for the theme of the episode, because we get a little moment where Karen seems to catch herself laughing really hard and is sorta taken aback. Of course this shows that she’s having a really good time with this man and now her brain is saying, “But wait a minute, you’re supposed to be really sad cuz Sid died.” I think we’ve all had that moment when dealing with losing a loved one in which we, for the first time, are able to laugh and are not thinking about that loved one, at least for a couple of minutes. So based on this little scene and the thirty second preview before the opening credits, we can tell that the theme of this episode will be Karen moving on; you might even say…..letting go.
I’ve been pretty critical of certain aspects of this third season, mostly how the show feels like it’s taking forever to decide whether it’s an episodic series where this week the girl’s explore a haunted house together and this week Karen’s old fashion designer friend from New York shows up and this week Abby gets involved with a rich silent film director or whether it’s a full-on serialized drama. However, one aspect of this season I have been admiring start to finish has been the death of Sid Fairgate. We opened the season with the double whammy of The Vigil and Critical Condition and those were some amazing eps, but watching Karen go through all the processes of grief throughout the rest of the season has also felt very realistic and very true and Michele Lee has shown her ability to handle a really complex range of emotions splendidly and, not to sound like a broken record, but she totally deserved her Emmy nomination this year and really deserved to win.
Going into Letting Go, my memories played tricks on me. For one thing, I thought this was a complete Karen episode, that she was the focus start to finish as she finally came to terms with Sid’s death. In addition to forgetting about her boyfriend this week (in fact, I had kinda totally forgotten about this brief little window in the KL world where Sid has died and Mack hasn’t been introduced yet and Karen dates a few different, not very memorable men), I had also forgotten about the two other side storylines going on at the same time, one I like very much and one I could do without. Which one should we start with? Hmmm, let's disuss the one I like.
Gary and Abs are still trying to get this methanol thing off the ground (and for the life of me, I can’t remember if they ever get anything going with this or not; I know that Gary becomes very rich next season, but I think that’s because of his daddy’s death and has nothing to do with methanol, but we shall see), but now they’ve encountered another roadblock. In this case, due to some sort of law, they are not able to transport the methanol from Mexico, where it is being created, to California, where they want to use it and sell it. If they are not able to get the law rescinded or whatever, they will pretty much be out of business, so they run off to Sacramento to talk to this senator who has the power to pass a bill making the methanol legal or whatever.
I liked this storyline, though obviously not as much as the one focusing on Karen this week. But I am enjoying the slow buildup with this methanol in addition to the very slow buildup of Abs and Gary’s affair. Abs has been on the show for nearly two years now, but she still hasn’t gotten more out of Gary than a passionate make out back in Power Play. However, as she comes to the Ewing house to take Gary off to the airport, we get a sorta ominous shot of Val looking down at them from the stairs, shot from below, mixed in with the shot of Abby and Gary leaving, which is shot from above. Val’s face is not the face of a woman confident in her marriage; I think she knows that the season finale is approaching and that, any second, Gary is finally gonna slip up and fall directly into Abby’s vagina.
However, this week it’s going to be someone else falling into Abby’s vagina, in this case Senator Riker, played by Bruce Gray (pictured below). Okay, this guy has been in everything but only after looking at his IMDb did I realize what I knew him most from, and that’s a little stint he had on Queer as Folk as a much older lover for Emmett. I really liked that show (and it was created by two dudes who actually write a KL episode or two a little bit down the line!) and I really liked that storyline. Of course that’s from around 2002 so the guy would look twenty years older than he does here, and I honestly didn’t recognize him when watching this; I just thought it was some generic ‘80s white guy. Oh my, and one last thing that has to be noted, and that’s the fact that he’s not just a Transmorpher but a Super Transmorpher. He appeared in six episodes of Dallas spanning 1981 to 1991 and he played three different characters within those six episodes! Talk about a chameleon! Oh my God, but it gets even better, because as I continue to look at his IMDb, I also realize he is a Tangled Knot! He is gonna be in two more KL eps, both from 1984, Truth and Consequences as “Lawyer” and Love to Take You Home as T.J. Escott (who, based on the airdates, I’m gonna just assume is the same character). Bruce Gray, ladies and gentlemen.
Gary and Abs find this Super Transmorpher/Tangled Knot doing what all rich political white guys did in the ‘80s: playing golf. He’s like, “I’m really awful busy playing golf right now; you should come bother me later,” but Abs uses her powers to get him to listen to their story while he golfs. However, he’s not immediately won over and there is no promise that he’s gonna get this bill to pass or whatever, so Abs pays him a visit in his office late at night. We all know where this is going, right? She uses her powers of seduction on this guy and invites him out to dinner, but we all know she’s already booked a reservation at a hot tub somewhere and that this man will be pouring champagne all over her body within the hour.
A surprising highlight scene of this ep that I had completely forgotten about occurs near the end, when Val marches over to Abby’s house to confront her. Based on some time calculations she’s done, she realizes that Abs must have slept with this senator guy, and she goes to get the story from her. What a wonderful scene to demonstrate the tremendous differences between these two women who are both fighting for Gary’s affections. Val pretty much asks her straight up if she slept with the Super Transmorpher/Tangled Knot and Abs says she did, explaining to Val how you have to be ruthless, you have to do whatever it takes to get what you want. Probably my favorite little moment in this scene occurs when Val points out that Abs will never tell Gary what she did with the senator, which is obviously true. Abs will present the sudden passing of this new legal bill as a triumphant victory for her and Gary, but she’ll never tell Gary that she had to go to bed (or hot tub, if you prefer) with this man in order to get what she wanted. Why, if she told him that, perhaps Gary might view her as, you know, a prostitute, and not be as attracted to her, don’t you think? Abby thinks so, too!
Anyway, I liked this storyline because it continues to build onsomething we’ve been watching all season and because it’s going to lead us somewhere by the end of the season, but you know a storyline that does neither of those things? The story of Uncle Joe and Lorraine. Yup, that’s right, because we haven’t had enough of this plot device throughout the third season, we just have to have yet another random one-episode character come from New York (and it’s always New York!) to be a plot function throughout the course of the 48 minutes. In this case, the character is Lorraine and she is played by Julie Cobb (and I saw her and was like, “I know that actress,” and it turns out that, much like Joshua Bryant, she was also in the 1979 miniseries ‘Salem’s Lot, so it’s a reunion this week!). Okay, she comes rolling up to Seaview Circle in a cab and then Uncle Joe gets all excited and is like, “Why, it’s Lorraine, my sorta ex-girlfriend from New York that I’m having some sort of contentious relationship with! Let’s go inside and have sex and then spout all sorts of expository dialogue to each other!” That’s just what they do, and we have to watch it.
This relationship is a bore, and I was very disenchanted when I realized that an episode I had really hyped up in my mind was going to spend so much time with these two incredibly dull characters. I’ll cut Uncle Joe a break even though I still don’t like him much (and even though he is actually shown smoking a pipe in this episode). At least he’s in thirteen eps of KL, and he sorta hangs around for awhile during the end of season three and the start of season four, but Lorraine? Nope, this is all we’re gonna see of her. She is a damn plot function, only here to arrive, talk about their relationship, create some (very minor) drama, and then leave, like we’ve seen so many other characters do throughout this season. But who could possibly care about this relationship? Why should we? I wanna focus strictly on Karen getting over her grief, not waste time with Uncle Joe and his boring girlfriend!
I understand why Lorraine is here as a plot function, however. All the bad expository dialogue shared between her and Joe basically boils down to them wanting to have the kind of relationship that Karen and Sid shared throughout their marriage. However, they’re dull so I’m just gonna sorta zoom through their storyline so I can get on to the good stuff with Karen. Basically their conflict is that Joe wants kids and Lorraine doesn’t, and then they have this big talk where she says how she’s willing to have kids for Joe. Joe is like, “It shouldn’t be something you’re willing to do for someone; it should be something you want to do.” Because of this, they call their relationship quits and nobody cares, so let’s move on.
I am not shitting on this episode, just so you know. I enjoyed the Gary/Abs/Senator storyline and now I’m ready to move on to the part of this ep that I love, and that’s anytime that Karen is onscreen processing her feelings about the loss of Sid. I kinda wish this didn’t have to be instigated by Larry Wilson wanting to have sex with Karen (you don’t deserve her, Larry), but whatever, the guy’s not in anymore eps after this and the glorious Kevin Dobson is just around the corner, so I’ll forgive it. But see, when Larry invites Karen to go up to the country with him or whatever, it sets off some big feelings in Karen, like the fact that she still considers herself to be a married woman, married to Sid Fairgate. Even though she knows logically that Sid is dead and not coming back (he’s not Bobby Ewing, after all), she continues to wear her wedding ring and she hasn’t been up to the cemetery to visit his grave since his death. Her and Uncle Joe have a little talk and he says, “You are not married to Sid Fairgate anymore and it’s time to let go.”
A standout scene from this ep comes near the middle, a scene I’ve never forgotten and never will forget. See, Uncle Joe suggests they bust out some old home movies and the whole family can watch them in the living room. In a way, I guess this counts as Don Murray’s final appearance on the series, because Sid is in all of these home movies and it’s new footage, not recycling of older eps and attempting to make it look like a home movie, you understand. There’s a lot of the family at the beach, there’s some Christmas stuff, and so on and so forth. Now, this scene is long, and I say that with love. I adore how much time is spent here, because it’s a heavy thing and this is a pivotal episode.
At first we start off with no music, just the movies playing and the family sitting around and enjoying them. Present are Karen, Michael, Eric, Diana, Uncle Joe, and of course my favorite character, Lorraine. They talk and laugh over the footage they’re watching, but at a certain point the dialogue stops and the music kicks in as we mostly focus on Karen’s face while she starts to cry. This music is great, by the way, and I don’t know who to credit for it because, when I look on the IMDb page for this ep, nobody gets a credit for being the composer, which is a bit strange.
This is also a stylish scene, going back to what I wrote way back in Pilot about KL being a more visually interesting show than Dallas. In this case, we have lots of dissolves and especially half dissolves where we are seeing the footage of Sid playing out on the screen, then we’ll half dissolve to someone’s face reacting. In all honesty, it’s done maybe a bit too much in this scene, but I still like it. This is some great work from Michele, of course, as she starts to cry and laugh all at the same time she’s watching this. Really, it’s an almost perfect scene and I only wish we didn’t immediately cut from it to Uncle Joe and Lorraine talking about their relationship, but whatever.
Karen has a little scene with Larry Wilson where she explains how she liked it when he kissed her (which is just unfathomable), but she still has something to deal with and she’s not ready for a real relationship until someone interesting and dynamic and hilarious and charismatic comes along, maybe someone like Kevin Dobson! So Larry leaves the series after two eps as inauspiciously as he arrived, and I don’t care a bit, but I do care about the final scene of this ep, which is pivotal and cathartic and represents the end of a certain stage in Karen’s character.
Karen finally works up the courage to go and visit Sid’s grave, and she gets a lovely monologue where she talks to him for awhile and explains how she’s feeling and how she needs to move on. There’s so much to love in this scene, starting right off with her saying how she has a hard time talking to a grave because, for her, the grave is just a grave, a piece of stone placed in a cemetery. She points at her chest and says, “You are really in here,” and that line actually made me start to well up a little. The big moment comes when she tells Sid that she’s finally going to take off her wedding ring and she plans to wear it around her neck along with a necklace he got her for Christmas. Then she tells him how she’ll always love him but she’s got to move on with her life and she actually concludes the scene by saying, “See ya,” which I found refreshing.
I think all KL fans know the trivia that Michele is actually taking off her real life wedding ring during this scene. I won’t dwell on it, but in case you didn’t know, Michele was married to the actor James Farantino (who was in a lot of stuff, and even played George Clooney’s dad on ER; I've put a picture of him down below) and they were getting ready to divorce at this point (according to my research, the divorce is official and final by June of 1983), so she's doing the Method actress thing and using her real life divorce and the ending of that era of her life as a way to translate Karen’s feelings in this scene. Even without knowing this trivia, I still think the actual removal of the ring feels like a very important moment, like she’s reaching a new stage in her character, that she’s really ready to move on.
Now, I do love this scene, but it was maybe a little less perfect than I remembered. These are microscopic flaws and I almost feel bad talking about them, because the scene is beautiful and heartfelt and it seems almost picky to point out flaws and be like, “Well, this could be better,” but this blog is supposed to be all about putting a microscope to each KL episode, so I will say that some of the dialogue in Karen’s monologue early in the scene is a little iffy. I didn’t like her “One two three four” thing when she references talking to God, for one thing. Also, and this is just a flaw of 1980s television, really, which is not filmed like a Kubrick film but rather is just done in more of a hurry, but there are a few parts where they cut from a closeup of Karen’s face to a long shot, and it’s pretty obvious that they’ve looped in some bad ADR for these long shots, and it’s also pretty obvious that they’re inserting the long shots as a bridge to cut and trim around the scene. The longer they stay in a close-up of Karen speaking, the better, and they only cut to a long shot maybe two or three times, but each time it kind of took me out of it. I sorta wish they had just kept the camera on Michele all the way through the scene, no cutting, no editing, and just let her act.
Also, and I’m not quite sure I know how to say this, and I hope no one misinterprets this as an insult, because it’s not. I could never insult Karen or Michele Lee’s portrayal of her, which is some of the best television acting ever, but I had really hyped this scene up in my memories and I remembered it as her BEST ACTING EVER, and actually it’s not. Throughout the season, she has acted her butt off and I’ve been singing her praises all year, and now I actually think her best acting comes in the little things. This is obviously poised to be a big dramatic moment, but I think Michele’s greatest moments this season have come, say, in the smaller moments like when she was trying to cope with Sid being in the hospital and you could really read the stress in her, or even in a small quiet episode like Mistaken Motives when she found a friend in Bill Medford who could understand and relate to her grief. Does any of this make sense? My basic point is that this is not the greatest acting Michele ever does on the series, and I remembered it that way. She’s great, make no mistake about that; she’s absolutely wonderful and amazing in this scene, but my basic point is I thought this was the END ALL BE ALL of her acting in all fourteen seasons of the show, and it’s not quite.
So gosh, what an interesting episode this turned out to be. After having a bit of a love/hate relationship with KL for the last few eps, this episode that I remember just loving 100% kinda surprised me by being not quite as great as my memories made it out to be. But make no mistake, it’s still good, and certain parts, like that long scene with Sid on the home movies, transcend good and become great. But I must have completely blocked out both the presence of Karen’s forgettable boyfriend as well as that really boring subplot with Uncle Joe and Lorraine. Kill that aspect of the ep and you immediately improve things, let me tell you. But I can’t talk too poorly about an episode that has such fine acting from Michele, and when the credits roll on this one, you definitely do feel like we as the viewers are ready to move on and not think about Sid Fairgate so much, and we share in Karen’s feelings of catharsis due to that.
Oh, and one last note. The first time I watched this ep, I cried my eyes out, and I thought I would again when I watched it this time, but for some reason I was able to stay pretty dry eyed. However, I think it’s worth noting that My Beloved Grammy did cry, and pretty hard, especially at that final scene. I’m not gonna get too personal about things in this blog, but I do think that the ep made My Beloved Grammy remember when my Grampy died (this would be in 1999) and after the ep was over we sat and had a nice long chat about how long Grampy has been dead and all the feelings that brought up. That is definitely worth some praise, because I don’t think we ever finished a Dallas ep and were feeling moved enough by the ep to have a long talk about life and death based on the feelings evoked by that particular ep. KL has heart that Dallas never even attempted to have, as I’ve stated previously, and this episode is a good example of that. So all in all, more of a mixed bag than I remembered, but the good stuff really does overshadow the flaws, and this is still an episode of KL that, once you see it, you never forget.
We’re getting to the last lap of season three, with just five eps left to go, and next Thursday we will be returning to the story of Valene’s book and all the drama that entails with Exposé.
David Dolbear August 14, 2016 at 11:45 AM
I just watched Knots last year and had ALREADY forgotten about Lorraine. Just an inconsequential speck on the Knots canvas. And besides, I always thought Uncle Joe was gay. He didn't break up with Lorraine because of a kid...he broke up with her because she didn't have a dick ;)
Brett Roberts August 14, 2016 at 12:23 PM
This theory is fascinating. Uncle Joe is such a void to me, a very brief male presence who immediately becomes useless when Mack enters the picture, that I confess I have never bothered to put any thought into his private life, but now I think you may be onto something.....
Pamela Hester April 14, 2017 at 2:24 PM
I have introduced my friends to the beauty that is Knots Landing: Ages 42, 30, and 24. I feel very accomplished about this. After months of my build up, we finally reached this episode. At which 2 out of the 4 of us sat and wailed during the home videos. Anyway, we also work at a theatre, and we are doing a production of OUR TOWN. The 24 year old is playing George, and he has to get real emotional because of his dead wife. He looked at me when the scene was over and said "I should have done this" and motioned to me like he was taking a wedding ring off. I have never been more proud.
David Dolbear April 14, 2017 at 6:34 PM
Wow! That is an incredible story. Thank you for sharing!
KNOTS LANDING Episode 052 of 344: CHINA DOLLS
KNOTS LANDING Episode 051 of 344: ACTS OF LOVE
KNOTS LANDING Episode 050 of 344: NIGHT
KNOTS LANDING Episode 049 of 344: Exposé
KNOTS LANDING Episode 047 of 344: SILVER SHADOWS
KNOTS LANDING Episode 046 of 344: BEST INTENTIONS
KNOTS LANDING Episode 045 of 344: CRICKET
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Hannah & Mum
Could you start off by telling me a bit about the original photograph?
“My name is Hannah Hildreth and the photo was taken in June of last year, 2014. It was taken after Race For Life, which me and my mum both did together. I did a slightly longer course than her, so I was a little bit more puffed out, but we'd both taken part in it, so Harry took a picture of us to celebrate us getting round in one piece!”
Could you talk me through the day that it was taken?
“Well, they give you a little medal at the end, whether you walk, roll or run and I found them all the other day. I think we've done it 5 times previously, it's every year down in our local park, the Race For Life for Cancer Research. We'd always done it together, sometimes me with my friends and her friends involved as well, but it's something we'd always done. After she got diagnosed for the first time with breast cancer it became more important to us to get round it and do it together each year. The year after she got diagnosed I did it by myself because she wasn't well enough, but we'd done it every year, and this was last year.”
Is it a particularly special place, does it hold a lot of significance for you?
“It's more the picture really. I've lived here all my life, so the park's got tons and tons of memories for me with friends and family, but Race For Life in particular, that would always remind me of my mum and it's something we did together, so definitely going back there today and thinking about Race For Life is significant. I'm sure that next year when I do it, it'll be significant as well to be there in that place.”
Do you go there much now as a matter of course?
"I didn't do Race For Life this year, partly through circumstance, but I wasn't really sure if it might just be a little bit too much. It's a lovely atmosphere, but everyone has their little dedications on their backs and I just wasn't sure if it was too soon for me to be in amongst that. I don't go to the park as much as I should to be honest, but I think after today I'll go back a little bit more, because it is somewhere me and my mum would go just to get a slice of cake and a cup of tea, she really loved it, so, yeah, I should go more.”
Can you describe what's happening in the picture?
“There was a few taken that day and in a few of them my mum's got her fingers up behind my head like rabbit ears, but I'm not sure if it's in the picture I chose or not, no, well in the other two she is! We've both just done the Race For Life, we're both standing out in the grassy area, smiling and looking a bit puffed out and I think my mum has a feather boa on, which sums it up really, she'd always do some sort of silly fancy dress, feather boas and tutus and that sort or thing. A smiley happy photo really, of us doing something together.”
“It's strange, because it becomes this huge huge part of your life, it takes over your life and I think sometimes people think it's separate, but it's not.”
Was that what your mum was like, was she quite flamboyant?
“Yeah, pretty much. She was a very positive person, very happy and smiley and she definitely made an impression on everyone who met her. She was very friendly and very positive, that's the overwhelming thing that I've always thought and a lot of her friends and family, just very positive. Even during things that she had to go through like the treatment and everything like that, she maintained her sense of humour, she maintained that positivity. She wasn't a pushover, she was quite a dragon in her job, she was positive but she knew what she was talking about. I think that photo's quite a good way to sum her up, she looks smiley and happy and is wearing something a bit silly. It's a good representation.”
Do you think there are any of her characteristics that you've taken on or that you can see in yourself?
“I hope so. I'm certainly trying. I think probably when I was younger if I sounded like my mum or said things like my mum I would not want that, I think most people think 'Oh God I sound like my mother', but now I think if I do ever do things that she used to do or find myself saying little phrases then I'm encouraging it and trying to make that a part of what I actually do every day. I think she was much better at being positive than I am, I can get a bit grumpy or a bit stressed, but I'm definitely trying to think about all of those positive things that she had going for her and try and adopt them. I'm not sure I would completely notice everything, I think other people around me would know more, would say I'm more like her than I think I am, if that makes sense. I'm definitely trying to keep the positivity. She was very driven as well, she was very strong and kept going no matter what really and I would say I definitely try to take that on as well. I think she helped me to be a lot stronger and I think in the situation I'm in now, it's definitely helped, her always being very strong, it kind of makes me think I can do this.”
It sounds to me like she was a great role model for you?
“Definitely. She used to say she was the accidental career girl, she sort of want to just have babies and have a family, but she started off as a nurse, then trained as a midwife, and then she went and got her degree when I was about 9 or 10, whilst working as well. Then she became an ultrasonographer, so she did scans for people who were having babies, then she became the manager of that department. She never really set out to have this big career, but she did and she worked very hard. We didn't have a huge amount when I was younger, so she did have to work a lot, it wasn't really how my how my parents planned it but things happen. She definitely was a big inspiration to me and made me think I could do things and get out there because she was, even though she had me to look after and the house was falling apart and we had too many cats! It was all a bit crazy, but it all worked and she worked very hard to make it work.”
What was it like when I asked you to find a photograph, did you know immediately which one to choose or were there a few to choose from?
“It was tricky actually, I wasn't really sure because I'd say there's, well not exactly a gap, but there's a lot of photos of us when I was younger, because that's what you do, you take photos of babies and toddlers and there's a lot of pictures of us then, but none of them were really in a specific place. We definitely did used to do quite a few things together, but we didn't really take photos of them, it never really occurred to us that much to document things, so I didn't really have a lot between when I was maybe about 9 or 10 up until my twenties, there wasn't really a lot of photos of us together in that time. We'd go to the beach, but there was no one pin-pointed place and I was inclined to choose one of when I was younger, but when I went through the photos and I couldn't really find anything that fit, and then I thought, oh yeah, Race For Life, that would be good, because there's quite a bit of back story to it.”
What was it like today going back to re-take it, how did you feel standing in that spot?
“It felt like a positive thing really. It's a beautiful day today and the park is a lovely place, no matter what you're going back there for it's just such a nice relaxed place. I love being outdoors and so did she, whether it was the woods, the park or the beach. It was a nice thing to do, it didn't make me feel sad, it just felt like a nice way to, I don't know really, kind of honour the memory I suppose, it's just a nice little thing to do. It was a positive experience.”
Have photographs of your mum been something that are important to your memories, something you've gone back to or had up in the house?
“Yeah. They've definitely been really important to me. I've had quite a few family members send me photos that I hadn't seen before and when she passed away, the funeral directors had this service called 'Much Loved', which was a little tribute page you can set up, everyone can upload photos and memories and things like that, it's a really nice idea, and lots of people put photos up that I'd never seen before and I really enjoyed that. Even at the funeral we had a big slideshow of photos going the whole time. I really enjoy looking photos, I value them and I've tried to put quite a few up in this house and once we move house and I own somewhere and making holes in the walls isn't as stressful then I will definitely have plenty of photos up.”
Would you say what we've done today has been a valuable experience?
“Definitely, I think so, yeah. It's nice to do something that is focussed on what's happened and focussed on my mum but is still a nice positive thing to do. I visit the cemetery, it's in a wooden natural area, which is lovely, so I do that quite regularly, and I might chat to my husband or some of my friends about my mum. It was her birthday on the 1st November, which was quite difficult, we had a meal with some of her friends, which was really nice. For the past six months we've been doing lots of fundraising for the hospice where she stayed, and we raised £10,000, that was our target and we managed to do that, so it's been good to have something to focus on that, well it wasn't like I was was trying to take my mind off the grief, it was part of it, but a positive part of it, and this is very much the same as those experiences, it's not 'I have to pretend everything is fine and I'm doing something else', I can talk about it freely and it's a positive, nice experience, so it's been really good.”
We talked earlier today about talking with friends and how it can be difficult for them to know what to say. Has it surprised you how people have responded?
“It was a very difficult thing. I kind of always knew that it was going to be tricky. I'm 26 and most of my friends are a similar age, if not a little bit younger, and even when my mum was poorly the first time, it was difficult for friends to talk to me, so I already had some experience of it, knowing that it's not anybody's fault if they don't know how to talk to you. That being said, when things are bad, it can be quite difficult sometimes. Because I've had to take time out of uni, I've ended up feeling quite isolated and as much as I've had my husband who's been absolutely amazing, it can be difficult. Sometimes even just going out for a cup of tea or just going for a quick walk can make all the difference and I think, because everyone else's lives have continued, and they're going to work and they've got their own commitments, and that's completely understandable.
I've lost quite a lot of confidence when I'm with my friends, I've lost quite a lot of confidence overall I think, just generally, so I'm not very good at instigating, I'm not very good at being the one to say 'Hi, can we hang out', and sometimes I've just got upset and just wanted someone to call or come over. I've had some friends who've been absolutely amazing, my best friend in particular has just been there pretty much every day, I think we've literally spoken every day since. We used to speak a lot anyway, but she really has always made the effort to check in with me and I've always felt like I can say, 'actually, no I'm not great today', where as some people, I guess, if they say 'how are you', I'm not sure they're always ready for the response 'I'm not ok'. Sometimes they go, 'Oh, I wasn't expecting that, I don't know what to say', but I think it has been something I've definitely struggled with, and I think it's been something I'm sure my friends have struggled with as well, I've no doubt that a lot of my friends have felt like they don't really know what to say and it must have bothered them too. It's difficult.
People don't talk about it, they freeze up a little bit, people don't want to talk about it happening. I think a lot of the time people don't want to talk about it because they don't want to imagine that it could happen to them, and that I understand, it's a scary subject, when it's someone you know that it happens to and you go 'Woah, that could happen to me', then they just shut down! When you're the person in the situation, I think sometimes it can be very isolating and quite lonely and it can be a bit tricky, definitely.”
In those situations, there are a lot of relationships that you've had for a long time, people have come alongside you and looked after you, but we talked earlier about how it could take very little, just to take the step to genuinely ask how you are and not be afraid of the answer?
“Yeah, I think it can be tricky, sometimes if I say I'm not feeling great people will send what I'm come to call closed messages, and again, it's nothing that they're doing wrong, and often it's a lovely message saying nice things, but it's signed off very like, 'Anyway, goodbye xxxx', this kind of thing, and a lot of the time it would be nice to have a bit of dialogue. Some messages it doesn't feel like I could write back and go, well actually I'm feeling like this... So it's been tricky to get a back and forth going about anything. People don't know how to react to you saying 'I'm not so great', but I think, the people who've been honest with me and have gone, 'I don't know what to say, I don't know what to do, what can I do?', that has actually been a lot more useful. Even just the people who've been really honest. People think they have to be, almost, well the way that people talk isn't the way they'd usually talk and I've had people just be like, 'this is rubbish isn't it, this is really crap', or something slightly stronger than that, and it's really refreshing, because you're like, 'Yeah, it is!', and it's just nice to have that rather than anything that's too serious or too heavy. I think when people have been a lot more direct and asked 'what an I do?', because I've had it when people have not known what to say, and I don't know what to say either to be honest!
Right after my mum got diagnosed I was like, 'I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know what to say either, baaaa!', so it's good to have an honest conversation and I think the people who had that approach probably felt a lot more comfortable talking to me about it, and I felt a lot more comfortable just being honest and going, my head's everywhere, I don't know what's going on. So yeah, I think sometimes people don't realise that you're not scary and you haven't changed at all, you're still the same person, you're just having a rubbish time. It's a difficult one!”
With that dynamic, if you're trying to have these conversations over texts or facebook compared to face-to-face, do you think there's a limit there to what you can portray?
“I think so, yeah, I think I've come to not like emoji's very much! The emoji heart is, well, people like the emoji heart, and sometimes it's lovely and if it comes from someone who I have lots of other contact with, it's great, but sometimes, I don't know, with the 'like' button as well, people like something and it's lovely and it does still feel like support, but perhaps not the same as a little 'hope you're ok', or even just a little message to ask if you're alright or to say 'I saw this, that doesn't sound very positive'. A heart is lovely, but a 'How are you?' goes a lot further and it's a lot more personal, and I think text and messages are good, and they're something I've relied upon a lot with family as well, because a lot of them don't live locally, so sometimes it's nice just to have a little check in, but I do think face-to-face can be a lot better. People don't really have a chance to feel awkward, if you're just there, they can see you, they know that you're not throwing yourself on the ground and screaming and crying, you're normal, you're ok. That's something I've tried to do a lot, I've tried to talk about my mum to people, just to show people that I can do it, that I'm ok, it's alright to mention. She was my mum for 26 years, so of course she's going to come up in conversation quite regularly!”
Is there anything else you wanted to share or feel like we've missed out?
“I'm not sure. I think what we've spoken about has been one of the biggest obstacles that I've faced really to be honest. I think communication with other people and feeling like I'm supported is definitely one of the most difficult things. It's probably one of the most lasting things, even though other things have got better over the last 8 months, actually, what's the date today, is it the 13th? So it's 9 months tomorrow. A lot of things have got better, but finding a way to communicate with people and still keeping my friendships strong, that's definitely been quite difficult. Like I said earlier, I've lost a lot of confidence in myself, and I get quite anxious now a lot of the time as well in certain situations, and I think I've almost been worried about keeping, well just being normal I guess. In some situations I'll think I'm really boring or that I can handle this, and it makes me worry.
My dad is wonderful, my step-mum is wonderful, Harry is wonderful, but apart from that I don't have a huge family down here, so my friends really are super important to me. Just trying to keep those relationships going, that's been one of the things that has definitely worried me and affected me. Just being able to talk about it. It's strange, because it becomes this huge huge part of your life, it takes over your life and I think sometimes people think it's separate, but it's not. I'd have people go, 'Well I didn't want to mention it because you might not have wanted to think about it', and I'm like well, unfortunately, it would be lovely if I could switch it off, but I can't. It can be quite isolating and I think talking about it is really important, it's good, it's a healthy thing to do, it's just been difficult for me to find ways to do that. I feel like I'm being depressing, I feel like it's hard to chat someone leisurely and then suddenly bring it up and be like, well actually, I'd really like to talk about this thing that's happened. It's very difficult and that's when you need people to go, 'How are you doing with everything', not just how are you, but how are you doing with this huge life changing situation that's just happened? And then you can go, well actually, this...
I think it's very important to try and find ways for people to talk about it, and encourage people to talk about it, because it's probably the most helpful thing for anyone in this situation to do. I can't think of anything else that's helped me more than just being able to chat about it and remembering things as well. I think from talking to a few people in my situation, you start to worry that you're going to forget things, forget how they sounded or you're going to forget things they said or your memories are going to get hazy if you don't keep talking about them.”
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For other uses, see Wars of the Roses (disambiguation).
Framed print after 1908 painting by Henry Payne of the scene in the Temple Garden from Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 1, where supporters of the rival factions pick either red or white roses
22 May 1455 – 16 June 1487
(32 years, 3 weeks and 4 days)
England, Wales, Calais
Initial Yorkist victory
• House of York reigns for most of the period
• Extinction of the House of Lancaster
• House of Tudor inherits the Lancastrian claim
Eventual Lancastrian victory
• Final Yorkist defeat
• End of the Plantagenet dynasty
• Establishment of the Tudor dynasty
• End of the middle ages in England
• Strengthening of the English monarchy under the Tudors
• Dawn of the English Renaissance [1][2][3]
House of Lancaster
House of Tudor
Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of France
House of York
Duchy of Burgundy
Henry VI
Margaret of Anjou #
Prince of Wales †
Duke of Somerset
Duke of Exeter#
Andrew Trollope †
Earl of Northumberland †
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Pembroke
Duke of Buckingham †
Baron de Ros
Earl of Shrewsbury †
Lord Audley †
Baron Clifford †
Baron Neville †
Earl of Wiltshire
Earl of Devon †
Earl of Warwick †
Marquess of Montagu †
Thomas Neville
Earl of Richmond #
Robin of Redesdale
Baron Willoughby Edward IV#
Richard III †
Duke of York †
Earl of Warwick[4]
Lord Montagu[4]
Earl of Salisbury
Earl of Kent#
Thomas Neville[4]
Duke of Norfolk#
Earl of Rutland †
Duke of Clarence
Lord Hastings
Baron Howard †
Earl of Lincoln †
Viscount Lovell
1st St Albans
Blore Heath
Ludford Bridge
Mortimer's Cross
2nd St Albans
Ferrybridge
Towton
Hedgeley Moor
Edgecote Moor
Losecoat Field
Buckingham's rebellion
Bosworth Field
Stafford & Lovell rebellion
Stoke Field
The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487, but there was related fighting before and after this period between the parties. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following the Hundred Years' War, unfolding the structural problems of feudalism, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of King Henry VI which revived interest in Richard of York's claim to the throne. Historians disagree on which of these factors to identify as the main reason for the wars.[5]
With the Duke of York's death in 1460, the claim transferred to his heir, Edward. After a series of Yorkist victories from January–February 1461, Edward claimed the throne on 4 March 1461, and the last serious Lancastrian resistance ended at the decisive Battle of Towton. Edward was thus unopposed as the first Yorkist king of England, as Edward IV. Resistance smoldered in the North until 1464, but the early part of his reign remained relatively peaceful.
A new phase of the wars broke out in 1469 after The Earl of Warwick, the most powerful noble in the country, withdrew his support for Edward and threw it behind the Lancastrian cause. Fortunes changed many times as the Yorkist and Lancastrian forces exchanged victories throughout 1469–1470 (and Edward was even captured for a time in 1469). When Edward fled to Flanders in 1470, Henry VI was re-installed as king on 3 October 1470, but his resumption of rule was short lived, and he was deposed again following the defeat of his forces at the Battle of Tewkesbury, and on 21 May 1471, Edward entered London unopposed, resumed the throne, and probably had Henry killed that same day. With all significant Lancastrian leaders now banished or killed, Edward ruled unopposed until his sudden death in 1483. His 12-year-old son reigned for 78 days as Edward V. He was then deposed by his uncle, Edward IV's brother Richard, who became Richard III.
The ascension of Richard III occurred under a cloud of controversy, and shortly after assuming the throne, the wars sparked anew with Buckingham's rebellion, as many die-hard Yorkists abandoned Richard to join Lancastrians. While the rebellions lacked much central coordination, in the chaos the exiled Henry Tudor, son of Henry VI's half-brother Edmund Earl of Richmond, and the leader of the Lancastrian cause, returned to the country from exile in Brittany at the head of an army of combined Breton and English forces. Richard avoided direct conflict with Henry until the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. After Richard III was killed and his forces defeated at Bosworth Field, Henry assumed the throne as Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter and heir of Edward IV, thereby uniting the two claims. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, granddaughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
Shortly after Henry took the throne, the Earl of Lincoln, a Yorkist sympathizer, put forward Lambert Simnel as an imposter Richard of York, younger brother of Edward V. Lincoln's forces were defeated, and he was killed at the Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487, bringing a close to the Wars of the Roses.
1 Name and symbols
2 Summary of events
3 Origins of the conflict
3.1 Disputed succession
3.1.1 House of Lancaster
3.1.2 House of York
3.2 Henry VI
4 Early stages
4.1 Start of the war
4.2 Act of Accord
4.3 Death of Richard, Duke of York
5 Middle stages
5.1 Edward's claim to the throne
5.2 Yorkist triumph
5.3 Edward IV
5.4 Warwick's rebellion and the death of Henry VI
6 Later stages
6.1 Richard III
6.2 Buckingham's revolt
6.3 Henry VII
7 Aftermath
8 In literature
9.1 Family tree
10 Armies and warfare
10.1 Chronological list of battles
11.1 Bibliography
Name and symbols[edit]
The White Rose of the House of York
The Red Rose of the House of Lancaster
The name "Wars of the Roses" refers to the heraldic badges associated with two rival branches of the same royal house, the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. Wars of the Roses came into common use in the 19th century after the publication in 1829 of Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott.[6][7] Scott based the name on a scene in William Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4), set in the gardens of the Temple Church, where a number of noblemen and a lawyer pick red or white roses to show their loyalty to the Lancastrian or Yorkist faction respectively. It is often suggested by literary critics[citation needed] that Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has strong allegorical references to the conflict with York represented by the White Queen and Lancaster represented by the Red Queen.
The Yorkist faction used the symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the Lancastrian red rose was introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, when it was combined with the Yorkist white rose to form the Tudor rose, which symbolised the union of the two houses;[8] the origins of the Rose as a cognizance itself stem from Edward I's use of "a golden rose stalked proper." [9] Often, owing to nobles holding multiple titles, more than one badge was used: Edward IV, for example, used both his sun in splendour as Earl of March, but also his father's falcon and fetterlock as Duke of York. Badges were not always distinct; at the Battle of Barnet, Edward's 'sun' was very similar to the Earl of Oxford's Vere star, which caused fateful confusion.[10]
Most, but not all, of the participants in the wars wore livery badges associated with their immediate lords or patrons under the prevailing system of bastard feudalism; the wearing of livery was by now confined to those in "continuous employ of a lord", thus excluding, for example, mercenaries.[11] Another example: Henry Tudor's forces at Bosworth fought under the banner of a red dragon[12] while the Yorkist army used Richard III's personal device of a white boar.[13]
Although the names of the rival houses derive from the cities of York and Lancaster, the corresponding duchy and dukedom had little to do with these cities. The lands and offices attached to the Duchy of Lancaster were mainly in Gloucestershire, North Wales, Cheshire, and (ironically) in Yorkshire, while the estates and castles of the Duke of York were spread throughout England and Wales, many in the Welsh Marches.[14]
Summary of events[edit]
Important locations in the Wars of the Roses
Tensions within England during the 1450s centered on the mental state of Henry VI and on his inability to produce an heir with his wife, Margaret of Anjou. In the absence of a direct heir, there were two rival branches with claims to the throne should Henry die without issue, being the Beaufort family, led by Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and the House of York, headed by Richard of York. By 1453, issues had come to a head: though Margaret of Anjou was pregnant, Henry VI was descending into increasing mental instability, by August becoming completely non-responsive and unable to govern. A Great Council of nobles was called, and through shrewd political machinations, Richard had himself declared Lord Protector and chief regent during the mental incapacity of Henry. In the interlude, Margaret gave birth to a healthy son and heir, Edward of Westminster.
By 1455, Henry had regained his faculties, and open warfare came at the First Battle of St Albans. Several prominent Lancastrians died at the hands of the Yorkists. Henry was again imprisoned, and Richard of York resumed his role as Lord Protector. Although peace was temporarily restored, the Lancastrians were inspired by Margaret of Anjou to contest York's influence, and a deadly feud between the two branches of the royal family ensued.
Fighting resumed more violently in 1459. York and his supporters were forced to flee the country, and Henry was once again restored to direct rule, but one of York's most prominent supporters, the Earl of Warwick, invaded England from Calais in October 1460 and captured Henry VI yet again at the Battle of Northampton. York returned to the country and for the third time became Protector of England, but was dissuaded from claiming the throne, though it was agreed that he would become heir to the throne (thus displacing Henry and Margaret's son, Edward of Westminster, from the line of succession). Margaret and the remaining Lancastrian nobles gathered their army in the north of England.
When York moved north to engage them, he and his second son Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. The Lancastrian army advanced south and released Henry at the Second Battle of St Albans but failed to occupy London and subsequently retreated to the north. York's eldest son Edward, Earl of March, was proclaimed King Edward IV. He gathered the Yorkist armies and won a crushing victory at the Battle of Towton in March 1461.
After Lancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 1464, Henry was captured once again and placed in the Tower of London. Edward fell out with his chief supporter and adviser, the Earl of Warwick (known as the "Kingmaker"), after Edward's unpopular and secretly conducted marriage with the widow of a Lancastrian supporter, Elizabeth Woodville. Within a few years, it became clear that Edward was favouring his wife's family and alienating several friends closely aligned with Warwick as well.
A near-contemporary Flemish picture of the Battle of Barnet in 1471
Furious, Warwick tried first to supplant Edward with his younger brother George, Duke of Clarence, establishing the alliance by marriage to his daughter, Isabel Neville. When that plan failed, due to lack of support from Parliament, Warwick sailed to France with his family and allied with the former Lancastrian Queen, Margaret of Anjou, to restore Henry VI to the throne.
This resulted in two years of rapid changes of fortune before Edward IV once again won complete victories at Barnet (14 April 1471), where Warwick was killed, and Tewkesbury (4 May 1471), where the Lancastrian heir, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales was killed or perhaps executed after the battle. Queen Margaret was escorted to London as a prisoner, and Henry was murdered in the Tower of London several days later, ending the direct Lancastrian line of succession.
A period of comparative peace followed, ending with the unexpected death of King Edward in 1483. His surviving brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, first moved to prevent the unpopular Woodville family of Edward's widow from participating in the government during the minority of Edward's son, Edward V, and then seized the throne for himself, using the suspect legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage as pretext.
Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the Lancastrian kings who had inherited their claim, defeated Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. He was crowned Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, to unite and reconcile the two houses. Yorkist revolts, directed by John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln and others, flared up in 1487 under the banner of the pretender Lambert Simnel—who claimed he was Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of George of Clarence), resulting in the last pitched battles.
Though most surviving descendants of Richard of York were imprisoned, sporadic rebellions continued until 1497, when Perkin Warbeck, who claimed he was the younger brother of Edward V, one of the two disappeared Princes in the Tower, was imprisoned and later executed.
Origins of the conflict[edit]
Disputed succession[edit]
In the early middle ages, the succession to the crown was open to any member (Ætheling) of the royal family. From the 9th century, the term was used in a much narrower context and came to refer exclusively to members of the house of Cerdic of Wessex, the ruling dynasty of Wessex, most particularly the sons or brothers of the reigning king. According to historian Richard Abels "King Alfred transformed the very principle of royal succession. Before Alfred, any nobleman who could claim royal descent, no matter how distant, could strive for the throne. After him, throne-worthiness would be limited to the sons and brothers of the reigning king."[15] Alfred himself succeeded to the throne in preference to the sons of his brother the previous king, who were underage at the time. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Edgar the Ætheling received the appellation as the grandson of Edmund Ironside, but that was at a time when for the first time in 250 years there was no living ætheling according to the strict definition.
William the Conqueror's son King Henry I of England died in 1135 after William Adelin (William Ætheling), his only male heir, was killed aboard the White Ship. Following the White Ship disaster, England entered a period of prolonged instability known as The Anarchy. However, following the ascension of Henry of Anjou to the throne in 1154 as Henry II, the crown passed from father to son or brother to brother with little difficulty until 1399.[16]
The question of succession after Edward III's death in 1377 is said to be the cause of the Wars of Roses.[17] He had five surviving legitimate sons: Edward, the Black Prince (1330–1376); Lionel, Duke of Clarence (called 'Lionel of Antwerp' 1338–1368); John, Duke of Lancaster (called 'John of Gaunt'; 1340–1399); Edmund, Duke of York (called 'Edmund of Langley' 1341–1402); and Thomas, Duke of Gloucester (1355–1397). Although Edward III's succession seemed secure, there was a "sudden narrowing in the direct line of descent" near the end of his reign.[18] His eldest son Edward, the Black Prince, had died the year before. Edward III was succeeded on the throne by the Black Prince's only surviving son Richard II, who was only 10 years old.[19] Richard's claim to the throne was based on the principle that the son of an elder brother had priority in the succession over his uncles. Since Richard was a minor, had no siblings, and had three living uncles at the time of Edward III's death, there was considerable uncertainty about who was next in line for the succession after Richard.[20]
If Richard II died without legitimate offspring, his successors by primogeniture would be the descendants of Lionel of Antwerp, Edward III's second son. Clarence's only daughter, Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, married into the Mortimer family and had a son, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (1374–1398), who technically had the best claim to succeed. However, a legal decree issued by Edward III in 1376 introduced some complexity into the question of who would ultimately take the throne. The letters patent he issued limited the right of succession to male heirs, which placed his third son, John of Gaunt, ahead of Clarence's descendants because the Mortimer line of descent passed through a daughter.[18]
Richard II's reign was marked by increasing dissension between the King and several of the most powerful nobles.[21] In 1399, the exiled Gaunt's son Henry of Bolingbroke. Richard's government had become highly unpopular beyond his strongholds in Cheshire and Wales. Throughout his reign, Richard had repeatedly switched his choice of the heir to keep his political enemies at bay[22] and perhaps to reduce the chances of deposition. Nevertheless, when Bolingbroke returned from exile in 1399, initially to reclaim his rights as Duke of Lancaster, he took advantage of the support of most of the nobles to depose Richard and was crowned King Henry IV, establishing the House of Lancaster on the throne.
House of Lancaster[edit]
The House of Lancaster descended from John of Gaunt, the third surviving son of Edward III of England. Their name derives from John of Gaunt's primary title of Duke of Lancaster, which he held by right of his spouse, Blanche of Lancaster. They had received explicit preference from Edward III in the line of succession because they formed the most senior unbroken male line of descent from him.
Henry IV's claim to the throne was through his father, John of Gaunt. At the onset of Richard II's reign, Gaunt was the official heir presumptive, but due to the intrigues of his turbulent rule, the succession was unclear by the time of his deposition. Therefore, an argument could be made that the legitimate king of England was not Henry IV, but instead was Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, the son of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March. However, there was little support at the time for his counter-claim. Certainly, many people believed it to be the case. As Henry's initial popularity waned, the Mortimer family's claim to the throne was a pretext for the major rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in Wales, and other, less successful, revolts in Cheshire and Northumberland. There were uprisings in support of the Mortimers' claim throughout Henry IV's reign, which lasted until 1413.
A peculiarity of Henry IV's seizure of the throne is demonstrated in the way he announced his claim. He was vague, and he resigned himself to mentioning that he was the rightful heir of Henry III, who had died more than a century before, perhaps subtly implying that all English kings ever since (Edward I, Edward II, Edward III and Richard II) had not been rightful monarchs. Henry IV seems to have been exploiting a legend that Henry III's second son Edmund "Crouchback", 1st Earl of Lancaster, was his eldest son but had been removed from the succession because he had a physical deformity, which gave origin to his nickname. Since Henry IV was Edmund's descendant and heir through his mother Blanche of Lancaster, he was the rightful king. There is no evidence for this legend, and Edmund's nickname did not stem from a deformity.[citation needed]
An important branch of the House of Lancaster was the House of Beaufort, whose members were descended from Gaunt by his mistress, Katherine Swynford. Originally illegitimate, they were made legitimate by an Act of Parliament when Gaunt and Katherine later married. However, Henry IV excluded them from the line of succession to the throne.[23]
Henry IV's son and successor, Henry V, inherited a temporarily pacified nation, and his military success against France in the Hundred Years' War bolstered his popularity, enabling him to strengthen the Lancastrian hold on the throne. Nevertheless, one notable conspiracy against Henry, the Southampton Plot, took place during his nine-year reign. This was led by Richard, Earl of Cambridge, who attempted to place Edmund Mortimer, his brother-in-law, in the throne. Cambridge was executed for treason in 1415, at the start of the campaign that led to the Battle of Agincourt.
House of York[edit]
The founder of the House of York was Edmund of Langley, the fourth son of Edward III and the younger brother of John of Gaunt. Their family name comes from Edmund's title Duke of York, which he acquired in 1385. However, the superiority of their claim is not based on the male line, but on the female line, as descendants of Edward III's second son Lionel of Antwerp. Edmund's second son, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, who was executed by Henry V, had married Anne de Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer and sister of Edmund Mortimer. Anne's grandmother, Philippa of Clarence, was the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp. The Mortimers were the most powerful marcher family of the fourteenth century.[24] G.M. Trevelyan has written that "the Wars of the Roses were to a large extent a quarrel between Welsh Marcher Lords, who were also great English nobles, closely related to the English throne."[25]
Anne Mortimer's husband Richard, Earl of Cambridge
Anne de Mortimer had died in 1411. When her brother Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, who had loyally supported Henry, died childless in 1425, the title and extensive estates of the Earldom of March and the Mortimer claim to the throne thus passed to Anne's descendants.
Richard of York, the son of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer, was four years old at the time of his father's execution. Although Cambridge was attainted, Henry V later allowed Richard to inherit the title and lands of Cambridge's elder brother Edward, Duke of York, who had died fighting alongside Henry at Agincourt and had no issue. Henry, who had three younger brothers and was himself in his prime and recently married to the French princess, Catherine of Valois,[24] did not doubt that the Lancastrian right to the crown was secure.
Henry's premature death in 1422, at the age of 36, led to his only son Henry VI coming to the throne as an infant and the country being ruled by a divided council of regency. Henry V's younger brothers produced no surviving legitimate issue, leaving only distant cousins (the Beauforts) as alternative Lancaster heirs. As Richard of York grew into maturity and questions were raised over Henry VI's fitness to rule, Richard's claim to the throne thus became more significant. The revenue from the York and March estates also made him the wealthiest magnate in the land.[14]
Henry VI[edit]
From early childhood, Henry VI was surrounded by quarrelsome councilors and advisors. His younger surviving paternal uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, sought to be named Lord Protector and deliberately courted the popularity of the common people for his own ends[26] but was opposed by his half-uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort. On several occasions, Beaufort called on John, Duke of Bedford, Humphrey's older brother, to return from his post as Henry VI's regent in France, either to mediate or to defend him against Humphrey's accusations of treason.[27] Henry VI's coming of age in 1437 brought no end to the noblemen's scheming, as his weak personality made him prone to being swayed and influenced by select courtiers, especially those whom he deemed his favourites. Sometime after, Cardinal Beaufort withdrew from public affairs, partly due to old age and partly because William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, rose to become the dominant personality at court.[28] Suffolk and the Beauforts were widely held to be enriching themselves through their influence on Henry and were blamed for mismanaging the government and poorly executing the continuing Hundred Years' War with France. Under Henry VI, all the land in France won by Henry V and even the provinces of Guienne and Gascony, which had been held since the reign of Henry II three centuries previously, were lost.
Opposition to Suffolk and Beaufort was led by Humphrey of Gloucester, and Richard of York. Humphrey felt that the lifetime efforts of his brothers, of himself, and many Englishmen in the war against France were being wasted as the French territories slipped from English hands, especially since Suffolk and his supporters were trying to make large diplomatic and territorial concessions to the French in a desperate attempt for peace. In this, Gloucester enjoyed little influence, as Henry VI tended to favour Suffolk and Beaufort's faction at court due to its less hawkish and more conciliatory inclinations. The Duke of York, Bedford's successor in France, and at times also described as a skeptic of the peace policy, became entangled in this dispute as Suffolk and the Beauforts were frequently granted large money and land grants from the king, as well as important government and military positions, redirecting much needed resources away from York's campaigns in France.
Suffolk eventually succeeded in having Humphrey of Gloucester arrested for treason. Humphrey died while awaiting trial in prison at Bury St Edmunds in 1447. Some authorities date the start of the War of the Roses from the death of Humphrey. At the same time, Richard of York was stripped of the prestigious military command in France and sent to govern the relatively distant Ireland, whereby he could not interfere in the proceedings of the court. However, with severe reverses in France, Suffolk was stripped of office and was murdered on his way to exile. Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (Cardinal Beaufort's nephew), succeeded him as leader of the party seeking peace with France. The Duke of York meanwhile represented those who wished to prosecute the war more vigorously, and criticised the court, and Somerset in particular, for starving him of funds and men during his campaigns in France.
In all these quarrels, Henry VI had taken little part. He was seen as a weak, ineffectual king. Also, he displayed several symptoms of mental illness[29] that he may have inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France. By 1450 many considered Henry incapable of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a king.
In 1450, there was a violent popular revolt in Kent, Jack Cade's Rebellion, which is often seen as the prelude to the Wars of the Roses.[30] The rebel manifesto, The Complaint of the Poor Commons of Kent written under Cade's leadership, accused the crown of extortion, perversion of justice, and election fraud. The rebels occupied parts of London, and executed James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye, and Sele, the unpopular Lord High Treasurer, after a hasty trial. After some of them fell to looting, they were driven out of London by the citizens. They dispersed after they were supposedly pardoned but several, including Cade, were later executed.[31] After the rebellion, the rebels' grievances formed the basis of Richard of York's opposition to a royal government from which he felt excluded.[30]
Two years later, in 1452, Richard of York returned to England from his new post as Lieutenant of Ireland and marched on London, demanding Somerset's removal and reform of the government. At this stage, few of the nobles supported such drastic action, and York was forced to submit to superior force at Blackheath. He was imprisoned for much of 1452 and 1453[32] but was released after swearing not to take arms against the court.
The increasing discord at court was mirrored in the country as a whole, where noble families engaged in private feuds and showed increasing disrespect for the royal authority and the courts of law. In many cases, feuds were fought between old-established families, and formerly minor nobility raised in power and influence by Henry IV in the aftermath of the rebellions against him. The quarrel between the Percys—long the Earls of Northumberland—and the comparatively upstart Nevilles was the best-known of these private wars and followed this pattern, as did the Bonville–Courtenay feud in Cornwall and Devon.[33] A factor in these feuds was the presence of large numbers of soldiers discharged from the English armies that had been defeated in France. Nobles engaged many of these to mount raids, or to pack courts of justice with their supporters, intimidating suitors, witnesses, and judges.
This growing civil discontent, the abundance of feuding nobles with private armies, and corruption in Henry VI's court formed a political climate ripe for civil war. With the king so easily manipulated, power rested with those closest to him at court, in other words, Somerset and the Lancastrian faction. Richard and the Yorkist faction, who tended to be physically placed further away from the seat of power, found their power slowly being stripped away. Royal power and finances also started to slip, as Henry was persuaded to grant many royal lands and estates to the Lancastrians, thereby losing their revenue.
In 1453, Henry suffered the first of several bouts of complete mental collapse, during which he failed even to recognise his new-born son, Edward of Westminster. On 22 March 1454, Cardinal John Kemp, the Chancellor, died. Henry was incapable of nominating a successor.[34] To ensure that the country could be governed, a Council of Regency was set up, headed by the Duke of York, who remained popular with the people, as Lord Protector. York soon asserted his power with ever-greater boldness (although there is no proof that he had aspirations to the throne at this early stage). He imprisoned Somerset and backed his Neville allies (his brother-in-law, the Earl of Salisbury, and Salisbury's son, the Earl of Warwick), in their continuing feud with the Earl of Northumberland, a powerful supporter of Henry.
Henry recovered in 1455 and once again fell under the influence of those closest to him at court. Directed by Henry's queen, the powerful and aggressive Margaret of Anjou, who emerged as the de facto leader of the Lancastrians, Richard was forced out of court. Margaret built up an alliance against Richard and conspired with other nobles to reduce his influence. An increasingly thwarted Richard (who feared arrest for treason) finally resorted to armed hostilities in 1455.
Early stages[edit]
Start of the war[edit]
The Lancastrian siege of London in 1471 is attacked by a Yorkist sally.
Richard, Duke of York, led a small force toward London and was met by Henry's forces at St Albans, north of London, on 22 May 1455. The relatively small First Battle of St Albans was the first open conflict of the civil war. Richard's aim was ostensibly to remove "poor advisors" from King Henry's side. The result was a Lancastrian defeat. Several prominent Lancastrian leaders, including Somerset and Northumberland, were killed. After the battle, the Yorkists found Henry hiding in a local tanner's shop, abandoned by his advisers and servants, apparently having suffered another bout of mental illness. (He had also been slightly wounded in the neck by an arrow.)[35] York and his allies regained their position of influence. With the king indisposed, York was again appointed Protector, and Margaret was shunted aside, charged with the king's care.
For a while, both sides seemed shocked that an actual battle had been fought and did their best to reconcile their differences, but the problems that caused conflict soon re-emerged, particularly the issue of whether the Duke of York or Henry and Margaret's infant son, Edward, would succeed to the throne. Margaret refused to accept any solution that would disinherit her son, and it became clear that she would only tolerate the situation for as long as the Duke of York and his allies retained the military ascendancy.
Henry recovered and in February 1456 he relieved York of his office of Protector.[36] In the autumn of that year, Henry went on royal progress in the Midlands, where the king and queen were popular. Margaret did not allow him to return to London where the merchants were angry at the decline in trade and the widespread disorder. The king's court was set up at Coventry. By then, the new Duke of Somerset was emerging as a favourite of the royal court. Margaret persuaded Henry to revoke the appointments York had made as Protector, while York was made to return to his post as a lieutenant in Ireland.
Disorder in the capital and the north of England (where fighting between the Nevilles and Percys had resumed [37]) and piracy by French fleets on the south coast was growing, but the king and queen remained intent on protecting their positions, with the queen introducing conscription for the first time in England. Meanwhile, York's ally, Warwick (later dubbed "The Kingmaker"), was growing in popularity in London as the champion of the merchants; as Captain of Calais he had fought piracy in the Channel.[38]
In the spring of 1458, Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to arrange a reconciliation. The lords had gathered in London for a Grand Council and the city was full of armed retainers. The Archbishop negotiated complex settlements to resolve the blood-feuds that had persisted since the Battle of St. Albans. Then, on Lady Day (25 March), the King led a "love day" procession to St. Paul's Cathedral, with Lancastrian and Yorkist nobles following him, hand in hand.[37] No sooner had the procession and the Council dispersed than plotting resumed.
Act of Accord[edit]
Ludlow Castle, South Shropshire
The next outbreak of fighting was prompted by Warwick's high-handed actions as Captain of Calais. He led his ships in attacks on neutral Hanseatic League and Spanish ships in the Channel on flimsy grounds of sovereignty. He was summoned to London to face inquiries, but he claimed that attempts had been made on his life, and returned to Calais. York, Salisbury, and Warwick were summoned to a royal council at Coventry, but they refused, fearing arrest when they were isolated from their supporters.[39][40]
York summoned the Nevilles to join him at his stronghold at Ludlow Castle in the Welsh Marches. On 23 September 1459, at the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire, a Lancastrian army failed to prevent Salisbury from marching from Middleham Castle in Yorkshire to Ludlow. Shortly afterward the combined Yorkist armies confronted the much larger Lancastrian force at the Battle of Ludford Bridge. Warwick's contingent from the garrison of Calais under Andrew Trollope defected to the Lancastrians, and the Yorkist leaders fled. York returned to Ireland, and his eldest son, Edward, Earl of March, Salisbury and Warwick fled to Calais.
The Lancastrians were back in total control. York and his supporters were attainted at the Parliament of Devils as traitors. Somerset was appointed Governor of Calais and was dispatched to take over the vital fortress on the French coast, but his attempts to evict Warwick were easily repulsed. Warwick and his supporters even began to launch raids on the English coast from Calais, adding to the sense of chaos and disorder. Being attainted, only by a successful invasion could the Yorkists recover their lands and titles. Warwick traveled to Ireland to concert plans with York, evading the royal ships commanded by the Duke of Exeter.[41] In late June 1460, Warwick, Salisbury, and Edward of March crossed the Channel and rapidly established themselves in Kent and London, where they enjoyed wide support. Backed by a papal emissary who had taken their side, they marched north. King Henry led an army south to meet them while Margaret remained in the north with Prince Edward. At the Battle of Northampton on 10 July, the Yorkist army under Warwick defeated the Lancastrians, aided by treachery in the king's ranks. For the second time in the war, King Henry was found by the Yorkists in a tent, abandoned by his retinue, having suffered another breakdown. With the king in their possession, the Yorkists returned to London.
In the light of this military success, Richard of York moved to press his claim to the throne based on the illegitimacy of the Lancastrian line. Landing in the north Wales, he and his wife Cecily entered London with all the ceremony usually reserved for a monarch. Parliament was assembled, and when York entered he made straight for the throne, which he may have been expecting the Lords to encourage him to take for himself as they had acclaimed Henry IV in 1399. Instead, there was stunned silence. York announced his claim to the throne, but the Lords, even Warwick, and Salisbury, were shocked by his presumption; they had no desire at this stage to overthrow King Henry. Their ambition was still limited to the removal of his councilors.
The next day, York produced detailed genealogies to support his claim based on his descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. York's claim was through the daughter of a second son, Henry's through the son of a third son. The judges felt that Common law principles could not determine who had priority in the royal succession, and declared the matter "above the law and passed their learning."[42] Parliament agreed to consider the matter and accepted that York's claim was better, but by a majority of five, they voted that Henry VI should remain as king. A compromise was struck in October 1460 with the Act of Accord, which recognised York as Henry's successor, disinheriting Henry's six-year-old son, Edward. York accepted this compromise as the best offer. It gave him much of what he wanted, particularly since he was also made Protector of the Realm and was able to govern in Henry's name.
Death of Richard, Duke of York[edit]
Ruins of Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Queen Margaret and her son had fled to the north Wales, parts of which were still in Lancastrian hands. They later traveled by sea to Scotland to negotiate for Scottish assistance. Mary of Gueldres, Queen Consort to James II of Scotland, agreed to give Margaret an army on condition that she cede the town of Berwick to Scotland and Mary's daughter be betrothed to Prince Edward. Margaret agreed, although she had no funds to pay her army and could only promise booty from the riches of southern England, as long as no looting took place north of the River Trent.
The Duke of York left London later that year with the Earl of Salisbury to consolidate his position in the north against the Lancastrians who were reported to be massing near the city of York. He took up a defensive position at Sandal Castle near Wakefield over Christmas 1460. Then on 30 December, his forces left the castle and attacked the Lancastrians in the open, although outnumbered. The ensuing Battle of Wakefield was a complete Lancastrian victory. Richard of York was slain in the battle, and both Salisbury and York's 17-year-old second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, were captured and executed. Margaret ordered the heads of all three placed on the gates of York.
Middle stages[edit]
Edward's claim to the throne[edit]
Parhelion at sunset
The Act of Accord and the events of Wakefield left the 18-year-old Edward, Earl of March, York's eldest son, as Duke of York and heir to his claim to the throne. With an army from the pro-Yorkist Marches (the border area between England and Wales), he met Jasper Tudor's Lancastrian army arriving from Wales, and he defeated them soundly at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire. He inspired his men with a "vision" of three suns at dawn (a phenomenon is known as "parhelion"), telling them that it was a portent of victory and represented the three surviving York sons; himself, George and Richard. This led to Edward's later adoption of the sign of the sunne in splendour as his personal device.
Margaret's army was moving south, supporting itself by looting as it passed through the prosperous south of England. In London, Warwick used this as propaganda to reinforce Yorkist support throughout the south – the town of Coventry switched allegiance to the Yorkists. Warwick's army established fortified positions north of the town of St Albans to block the main road from the north but was outmaneuvered by Margaret's army, which swerved to the west and then attacked Warwick's positions from behind. At the Second Battle of St Albans, the Lancastrians won another big victory. As the Yorkist forces fled they left behind King Henry, who was found unharmed, sitting quietly beneath a tree.
Henry knighted thirty Lancastrian soldiers immediately after the battle. In an illustration of the increasing bitterness of the war, Queen Margaret instructed her seven-year-old son Edward of Westminster to determine the manner of execution of the Yorkist knights who had been charged with keeping Henry safe and had stayed at his side throughout the battle.
As the Lancastrian army advanced southwards, a wave of dread swept London, where rumours were rife about savage northerners intent on plundering the city. The people of London shut the city gates and refused to supply food to the queen's army, which was looting the surrounding counties of Hertfordshire and Middlesex.
Yorkist triumph[edit]
Edward IV
Edward of March, having joined with Warwick's surviving forces, advanced towards London from the west at the same time that the queen retreated northwards to Dunstable; as a result, Edward and Warwick were able to enter London with their army. They found considerable support there, as the city was largely Yorkist-supporting. It was clear that Edward was no longer simply trying to free the king from bad councilors, but that his goal was to take the crown. Thomas Kempe, the Bishop of London, asked the people of London their opinion and they replied with shouts of "King Edward". The request was quickly approved by Parliament, and Edward was unofficially appointed king in an impromptu ceremony at Westminster Abbey; Edward vowed that he would not have a formal coronation until Henry VI and his wife were removed from the scene. Edward claimed Henry had forfeited his right to the crown by allowing his queen to take up arms against his rightful heirs under the Act of Accord. Parliament had already accepted that Edward's victory was simply a restoration of the rightful heir to the throne.
Edward and Warwick marched north, gathering a large army as they went, and met an equally impressive Lancastrian army at Towton. The Battle of Towton, near York, was the biggest battle of the Wars of the Roses. Both sides agreed beforehand that the issue would be settled that day, with no quarter asked or given. An estimated 40,000–80,000 men took part, with over 20,000 men being killed during (and after) the battle, an enormous number for the time and the greatest recorded single day's loss of life on English soil. Edward and his army won a decisive victory, and the Lancastrians were routed, with most of their leaders slain. Henry and Margaret, who were waiting in York with their son Edward, fled north when they heard the outcome. Many of the surviving Lancastrian nobles switched allegiance to King Edward, and those who did not were driven back to the northern border areas and a few castles in Wales. Edward advanced to take York, where he replaced the rotting heads of his father, his brother, and Salisbury with those of defeated Lancastrian lords such as the notorious John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford of Skipton-Craven, who was blamed for the execution of Edward's brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, after the Battle of Wakefield.
Edward IV[edit]
Harlech Castle, Gwynedd, Wales
The official coronation of Edward IV took place on June 1461 in London, where he received a rapturous welcome from his supporters.
After the Battle of Towton, Henry VI and Margaret had fled to Scotland, where they stayed with the court of James III and followed through on their promise to cede Berwick to Scotland. Later in the year, they mounted an attack on Carlisle, but, lacking money, they were easily repulsed by Edward's men, who were rooting out the remaining Lancastrian forces in the northern counties. Several castles under Lancastrian commanders held out for years: Dunstanburgh, Alnwick (the Percy family seat), and Bamburgh were some of the last to fall.
There was also some fighting in Ireland. At the Battle of Piltown in 1462, the Yorkish supporter Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond, defeated the Lancastrian Butlers of Kilkenny. The Butlers suffered more than 400 casualties. Local folklore claims that the battle was so violent that the local river ran red with blood, hence the names Pill River and Piltown (Baile an Phuill, meaning "Town of the blood").
There were Lancastrian revolts in the north of England in 1464. Several Lancastrian nobles, including the third Duke of Somerset, who had been reconciled to Edward, readily led the rebellion. The revolt was put down by Warwick's brother, John Neville. A small Lancastrian army was destroyed at the Battle of Hedgeley Moor on 25 April, but because Neville was escorting Scottish commissioners for a treaty to York, he could not immediately follow up this victory. Then on 15 May, he routed Somerset's army at the Battle of Hexham. Somerset was captured and executed.
The deposed King Henry was later captured for the third time at Clitheroe in Lancashire in 1465. He was taken to London and held prisoner at the Tower of London, where, for the time being, he was reasonably well treated. About the same time, once England under Edward IV and Scotland had come to terms, Margaret and her son were forced to leave Scotland and sail to France, where they maintained an impoverished court in exile for several years.[43] The last remaining Lancastrian stronghold was Harlech Castle in Wales, which surrendered in 1468 after a seven-year-long siege.
Warwick's rebellion and the death of Henry VI[edit]
Middleham Castle
The powerful Earl of Warwick ("the Kingmaker") had meanwhile become the greatest landowner in England. Already a great magnate through his wife's property, he had also inherited his father's estates and had been granted much forfeited Lancastrian property. He also held many of the offices of state. He was convinced of the need for an alliance with France and had been negotiating a match between Edward and a French bride. However, Edward had married Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of a Lancastrian knight, in secret in 1464. He later announced the news of his marriage as fait accompli, to Warwick's considerable embarrassment.
This embarrassment turned to bitterness when the Woodvilles came to be favoured over the Nevilles at court. Many of Queen Elizabeth's relatives were married into noble families and others were granted peerages or royal offices. Other factors compounded Warwick's disillusionment: Edward's preference for an alliance with Burgundy rather than France and reluctance to allow his brothers George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to marry Warwick's daughters Isabel and Anne. Furthermore, Edward's general popularity was on the wane in this period with higher taxes and persistent disruptions of law and order.
Louis XI of France
By 1469, Warwick had allied with Edward's jealous and treacherous brother George, who married Isabel Neville in defiance of Edward's wishes in Calais. They raised an army that defeated the king's forces at the Battle of Edgecote Moor. Edward was captured at Olney, Buckinghamshire, and imprisoned at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire. (Warwick briefly had two Kings of England in his custody.) Warwick had the queen's father, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and her brother John executed. However, he made no immediate move to have Edward declared illegitimate and place George on the throne.[44] The country was in turmoil, with nobles once again settling scores with private armies (in episodes such as the Battle of Nibley Green), and Lancastrians being encouraged to rebel.[45] Few of the nobles were prepared to support Warwick's seizure of power. Edward was escorted to London by Warwick's brother George Neville, the Archbishop of York, where he and Warwick were reconciled, to outward appearances.
When further rebellions broke out in Lincolnshire, Edward easily suppressed them at the Battle of Losecoat Field. From the testimony of the captured leaders, he declared that Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence, had instigated them. They were declared traitors and forced to flee to France, where Margaret of Anjou was already in exile. Louis XI of France, who wished to forestall a hostile alliance between Edward and Edward's brother-in-law Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, suggested the idea of an alliance between Warwick and Margaret. Neither of those two formerly mortal enemies entertained the notion at first, but eventually, they were brought round to realise the potential benefits. However, both were undoubtedly hoping for different outcomes: Warwick for a puppet king in the form of Henry VI or his young son; Margaret to be able to reclaim her family's realm. In any case, a marriage was arranged between Warwick's daughter Anne and Margaret's son Edward of Westminster, and Warwick invaded England in the autumn of 1470.
Battle of Tewkesbury
Edward IV had already marched north to suppress another uprising in Yorkshire. Warwick, with help from a fleet under his nephew, the Bastard of Fauconberg, landed at Dartmouth and rapidly secured support from the southern counties and ports. He occupied London in October and paraded Henry VI through the streets as the restored king. Warwick's brother John Neville, who had recently received the empty title Marquess of Montagu and who led large armies in the Scottish marches, suddenly defected to Warwick. Edward was unprepared for this event and had to order his army to scatter. He and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, fled from Doncaster to the coast and thence to Holland and exile in Burgundy. They were proclaimed traitors, and many exiled Lancastrians returned to reclaim their estates.
Warwick's success was short-lived, however. He over-reached himself with his plan to invade Burgundy in alliance with the King of France, tempted by King Louis' promise of territory in the Netherlands as a reward. This led Edward's brother-in-law, Charles of Burgundy, to provide funds and troops to Edward to enable him to launch an invasion of England in 1471. Edward landed with a small force at Ravenspur on the Yorkshire coast. Initially claiming to support Henry and to be seeking only to have his title of Duke of York restored, he soon gained the city of York and rallied several supporters. His brother George turned traitor again, abandoning Warwick. Having outmaneuvered Warwick and Montagu, Edward captured London. His army then met Warwick's at the Battle of Barnet. The battle was fought in thick fog, and some of Warwick's men attacked each other by mistake. It was believed by all that they had been betrayed, and Warwick's army fled. Warwick was cut down trying to reach his horse. Montagu was also killed in the battle.
Margaret and her son Edward had landed in the West Country only a few days before the Battle of Barnet. Rather than return to France, Margaret sought to join the Lancastrian supporters in Wales and marched to cross the Severn but was thwarted when the city of Gloucester refused her passage across the river. Her army, commanded by the fourth successive Duke of Somerset, was brought to battle and destroyed at the Battle of Tewkesbury. Her son Prince Edward, the Lancastrian heir to the throne, was killed. With no heirs to succeed him, Henry VI was murdered shortly afterward, on 21 May 1471, to strengthen the Yorkist hold on the throne.
Later stages[edit]
Richard III[edit]
The restoration of Edward IV in 1471 is sometimes seen as marking the end of the Wars of the Roses proper. Peace was restored for the remainder of Edward's reign. His youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Edward's lifelong companion and supporter, William Hastings, were generously rewarded for their loyalty, becoming effectively governors of the north and midlands respectively.[46] George of Clarence became increasingly estranged from Edward and was executed in 1478 for association with convicted traitors.
When Edward died suddenly in 1483, political and dynastic turmoil erupted again. Many of the nobles still resented the influence of the queen's Woodville relatives (her brother, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and her son by her first marriage, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset), and regarded them as power-hungry upstarts ('parvenus'). At the time of Edward's premature death, his heir, Edward V, was only 12 years old and had been brought up under the stewardship of Earl Rivers at Ludlow Castle.
On his deathbed, Edward had named his surviving brother Richard of Gloucester as Protector of England. Richard had been in the north when Edward died. Hastings, who also held the office of Lord Chamberlain, sent word to him to bring a strong force to London to counter any force the Woodvilles might muster.[47] The Duke of Buckingham also declared his support for Richard.
Richard and Buckingham overtook Earl Rivers, who was escorting the young Edward V to London, at Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire on 29 April. Although they dined with Rivers amicably, they took him, prisoner, the next day, and declared to Edward that they had done so to forestall a conspiracy by the Woodvilles against his life. Rivers and his nephew Richard Grey were sent to Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire and executed there at the end of June.
Princes in the Tower, painted by John Everett Millais
Edward entered London in the custody of Richard on 4 May and was lodged in the Tower of London. Elizabeth Woodville had already gone hastily into the sanctuary at Westminster with her remaining children, although preparations were being made for Edward V to be crowned on 22 June, at which point Richard's authority as Protector would end. On 13 June, Richard held a full meeting of the Council, at which he accused Hastings and others of conspiracy against him. Hastings was executed without trial later in the day.
Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury, then persuaded Elizabeth Woodville to allow her younger son, the 9-year-old Richard, Duke of York, to join Edward in the Tower. Having secured the boys, Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells then alleged that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been illegal and that the two boys were therefore illegitimate. Richard then claimed the crown as King Richard III. The two imprisoned boys, known as the "Princes in the Tower", disappeared and are assumed to have been murdered. There was never a trial or judicial inquest on the matter. Perkin Warbeck claimed he was the younger of the Princes from 1490 and was recognised as such by Richard's sister, the Duchess of Burgundy.
Having been crowned in a lavish ceremony on 6 July, Richard then proceeded on a tour of the Midlands and the north of England, dispensing generous bounties and charters and naming his son as the Prince of Wales.
Buckingham's revolt[edit]
Further information: Buckingham's rebellion
Opposition to Richard's rule had already begun in the south when, on 18 October, the Duke of Buckingham (who had been instrumental in placing Richard on the throne and who himself had a distant claim to the crown) led a revolt aimed at installing the Lancastrian Henry Tudor. It has been argued that his supporting Tudor rather than either Edward V or his younger brother, showed Buckingham was aware that both were already dead.[48]
The Lancastrian claim to the throne had descended to Henry Tudor on the death of Henry VI and his son in 1471. Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, had been a half-brother of Henry VI, but Henry's claim to royalty was through his mother, Margaret Beaufort. She was descended from John Beaufort, who was a son of John of Gaunt and thus a grandson of Edward III. John Beaufort had been illegitimate at birth, though later legitimised by the marriage of his parents. It had supposedly been a condition of the legitimation that the Beaufort descendants forfeited their rights to the crown. Henry had spent much of his childhood under siege in Harlech Castle or exile in Brittany. After 1471, Edward IV had preferred to belittle Henry's pretensions to the crown and made only sporadic attempts to secure him. However, his mother, Margaret Beaufort, had been twice remarried, first to Buckingham's uncle, and then to Thomas, Lord Stanley, one of Edward's principal officers, and continually promoted her son's rights.
Buckingham's rebellion failed. Some of his supporters in the south rose up prematurely, thus allowing Richard's Lieutenant in the South, the Duke of Norfolk, to prevent many rebels from joining forces. Buckingham himself raised a force at Brecon in mid-Wales. He was prevented from crossing the River Severn to join other rebels in the south of England by storms and floods, which also prevented Henry Tudor landing in the West Country. Buckingham's starving forces deserted and he was betrayed and executed.
The failure of Buckingham's revolt was clearly not the end of the plots against Richard, who could never again feel secure, and who also suffered the loss of his wife and eleven-year-old son, putting the future of the Yorkist dynasty in doubt.
Henry VII[edit]
Many of Buckingham's defeated supporters and other disaffected nobles fled to join Henry Tudor in exile. Richard made an attempt to bribe the Duke of Brittany's chief Minister Pierre Landais to betray Henry, but Henry was warned and escaped to France, where he was again given sanctuary and aid.[49]
Confident that many magnates and even many of Richard's officers would join him, Henry set sail from Harfleur on 1 August 1485, with a force of exiles and French mercenaries. With fair winds, he landed in Pembrokeshire six days later and the officers Richard had appointed in Wales either joined Henry or stood aside. Henry gathered supporters on his march through Wales and the Welsh Marches and defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard was slain during the battle, supposedly by the major Welsh landowner Rhys ap Thomas with a blow to the head from his poleaxe. Rhys was knighted three days later by Henry VII.
Henry, having been acclaimed King Henry VII, strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and the best surviving Yorkist claimant, reuniting the two royal houses. Henry merged the rival symbols of the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York into the new emblem of the red and white Tudor Rose. Henry later shored up his position by executing several other claimants, a policy his son Henry VIII continued.
Many historians consider the accession of Henry VII to mark the end of the Wars of the Roses. Others argue that they continued to the end of the fifteenth century, as there were several plots to overthrow Henry and restore Yorkist claimants. Only two years after the Battle of Bosworth, Yorkists rebelled, led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, who had been named by Richard III as his heir but had been reconciled with Henry after Bosworth. The conspirators produced a pretender, a boy named Lambert Simnel, who resembled the young Edward, Earl of Warwick (son of George of Clarence), the best surviving male claimant of the House of York. The imposture was shaky because the young earl was still alive and in King Henry's custody and was paraded through London to expose the impersonation. At the Battle of Stoke Field, Henry defeated Lincoln's army. Lincoln died in the battle. Simnel was pardoned for his part in the rebellion and was sent to work in the royal kitchens.
Henry's throne was challenged again in 1491, with the appearance of the pretender Perkin Warbeck, who claimed he was Richard, Duke of York (the younger of the two Princes in the Tower). Warbeck made several attempts to incite revolts, with support at various times from the court of Burgundy and James IV of Scotland. He was captured after the failed Second Cornish uprising of 1497 and killed in 1499, after attempting to escape from prison. Warwick was also executed, rendering the male-line of the House of York (and by extension the whole Plantagenet dynasty) extinct.
During the reign of Henry VII's son Henry VIII, the possibility of a Yorkist challenge to the throne remained until as late as 1525, in the persons of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk and his brother Richard de la Pole, all of whom had blood ties to the Yorkist dynasty but were excluded by the pro-Woodville Tudor settlement. To an extent, England's break with Rome was prompted by Henry's fears of a disputed succession, should he leave only a female heir to the throne or an infant who would be as vulnerable as Henry VI had been to antagonistic or rapacious regents.
Aftermath[edit]
Historians debate the extent of impact the wars had on medieval English life. The classical view is that the many casualties among the nobility continued the changes in feudal English society caused by the effects of the Black Death. These included a weakening of the feudal power of the nobles and an increase in the power of the merchant classes and the growth of a centralised monarchy under the Tudors. The wars heralded the end of the medieval period in England and the movement towards the Renaissance. After the wars, the large standing baronial armies that had helped fuel the conflict were suppressed. Henry VII, wary of any further fighting, kept the barons on a very tight leash, removing their right to raise, arm and supply armies of retainers so that they could not make war on each other or the king. The military power of individual barons declined, and the Tudor court became a place where baronial squabbles were decided with the influence of the monarch.
Revisionists, such as the Oxford historian K. B. McFarlane, suggest that the effects of the conflicts have been greatly exaggerated and that there were no wars of the roses.[50] Many places were unaffected by the wars, particularly in the eastern part of England, such as East Anglia.[51] It has also been suggested that the traumatic impact of the wars was exaggerated by Henry VII, to magnify his achievement in quelling them and bringing peace. The effect of the wars on the merchant and labouring classes was far less than in the long-drawn-out wars of siege and pillage in Europe, which were carried out by mercenaries who profited from long wars. Although there were some lengthy sieges, such as those of Harlech Castle and Bamburgh Castle, these were in comparatively remote and less populous regions. In the populated areas, both factions had much to lose by the ruin of the country and sought a quick resolution of the conflict by pitched battle.[52] Philippe de Commines observed in 1470:
The realm of England enjoys one favour above all other realms, that neither the countryside nor the people are destroyed, nor are buildings burnt or demolished. Misfortune falls on soldiers and nobles in particular...[53]
Exceptions to this claimed general rule were the Lancastrian looting of Ludlow after the largely bloodless Yorkist defeat at Ludford Bridge in 1459, and the widespread pillaging carried out by Queen Margaret's unpaid army as it advanced south in early 1461. Both events inspired widespread opposition to the Queen, and support for the Yorkists.
Many areas did little or nothing to change their city defenses, perhaps an indication that they were left untouched by the wars. City walls were either left in their ruinous state or only partially rebuilt. In the case of London, the city was able to avoid being devastated by convincing the York and Lancaster armies to stay out after the inability to recreate the defensive city walls.[54]
Few noble houses were extinguished during the wars; in the period from 1425 to 1449, before the outbreak of the wars, there were as many extinctions of noble lines from natural causes (25) has occurred during the fighting (24) from 1450 to 1474.[55] The most ambitious nobles died and by the later period of the wars, fewer nobles were prepared to risk their lives and titles in an uncertain struggle.[citation needed]
The kings of France and Scotland and the dukes of Burgundy played the two factions off against each other, pledging military and financial aid and offering asylum to defeated nobles and pretenders, to prevent a strong and unified England from making war on them.
In literature[edit]
Chronicles written during the Wars of the Roses include:
Benet's Chronicle
Gregory's Chronicle (1189–1469)
Short English Chronicle (before 1465)
Hardyng's Chronicle: first version for Henry VI (1457)
Hardyng's Chronicle: second version for Richard, duke of York and Edward IV (1460 and c. 1464)
Hardyng's Chronicle: second "Yorkist" version revised for Lancastrians during Henry VI's Readeption (see Peverley's article).
Capgrave (1464)
Commynes (1464–98)
Chronicle of the Lincolnshire Rebellion (1470)
Historie of the arrival of Edward IV in England (1471)
Waurin (before 1471)
An English Chronicle: AKA Davies' Chronicle (1461)
Brief Latin Chronicle (1422–71)
Fabyan (before 1485)
Rous (1480/86)
Croyland Chronicle (1449–1486)
Warkworth's Chronicle (1500?)
Key figures[edit]
Family tree from the 1548 Descriptio Britanniae, Scotiea, Hyberniae, et Orchadvm.
Kings of England
Henry VI (Lancastrian)
Edward IV (Yorkist)
Edward V (Yorkist)
Richard III (Yorkist)
Henry VII (Tudor of Lancastrian ancestry, married the Yorkist heiress)
Prominent antagonists 1455–87
Yorkist
Elizabeth Woodville Queen consort of Edward IV
Anne Neville, Queen consort of Richard III
Jacquetta Woodville, Lady Rivers, Mother of Elizabeth Woodville and mother-in-law of Edward IV
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ('The Kingmaker')
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury
John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu
William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent
Bastard of Fauconberg
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
Lancastrian
Margaret of Anjou Queen consort of Henry VI
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII
Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter
Sir Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ('The Kingmaker'), formerly a Yorkist and father of Queen Anne
Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset
Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset
Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset
John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford
Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, half-brother of Henry VI
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Family tree[edit]
The above-listed individuals with well-defined sides are coloured with red borders for Lancastrians and blue for Yorkists (The Kingmaker, his relatives and George Plantagenet changed sides, so they are represented with a purple border)
[note 1] Edward
[note 2] Lionel
[note 3] John
of Gaunt
Richard II Philippa
Mortimer Elizabeth
Mortimer Joan
Beaufort Henry IV
Bolingbroke John
Conisburgh Anne
Mortimer Henry
Percy Eleanor
Neville Richard
Neville William
Neville Henry V Catherine
of Valois Owen
Tudor John
Beaufort Edmund
Plantagenet Cecily
Neville Henry
Percy Richard
Neville John
Neville Thomas
Neville Margaret
of Anjou Henry VI Edmund
Tudor Margaret
Beaufort Henry
Edward IV George
Plantagenet Isabel
III Anne
Neville Edward of
Edward V Elizabeth
of York Henry VII
^ Fourth son. Thomas of Woodstock being the youngest
^ Firstborn son
^ Second son
^ Third son
The hinge point in the succession dispute is the forced abdication of Richard II and whether it was lawful or not. Following that event, Richard's legitimate successor would be Henry Bolingbroke if strict Salic inheritance were adhered to, or Anne Mortimer if male-preference primogeniture, which eventually became the standard form of succession (until the Succession to the Crown Act 2013), were adhered to.
Armies and warfare[edit]
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Following defeat in the Hundred Years' War, English landowners complained vociferously about the financial losses resulting from the loss of their continental holdings; this is often considered a contributory cause of the Wars of the Roses.[59] The wars were fought largely by the landed aristocracy and armies of feudal retainers, with some mercenaries.
At the end of the Hundred Years' War, large numbers of unemployed soldiery returned to England seeking employment in the growing armies of the local nobility. England drifted toward misrule and violence under the weak governance as local noble families like the Nevilles and Percies increasingly relied on their feudal retainers to settle disputes. It became common practice for landowners to bind their mesnie knights to their service with annual payments.[60]
Half of an indenture contract, the randomly cut (or indented) edge proves a match to the counterpart document
Edward III had developed the contract system where the monarch entered into formal written contracts called indenture with experienced captains who were contractually obliged to provide an agreed-upon number of men, at established rates for a given period. Frequently the landed nobility acted the principal or main contractor. Knights, men at arms and archers were often sub-contracted.[60] A lord could find men amongst his tenantry who included landless men and others who would crave the security of maintenance and livery. Skilled archers could command as high a wage as knights.[61] As baronial armies grew in size, the rule of law was weakened.
Support for each house largely depended upon dynastic factors, such as blood relationships, marriages within the nobility and the grants or confiscations of feudal titles and lands. Given the conflicting loyalties of blood, marriage, and ambition, it was not uncommon for nobles to switch sides; several battles (such as Northampton and Bosworth) were decided by treachery.[citation needed]. The armies consisted of nobles' contingents of men-at-arms, with companies of archers and foot-soldiers (such as billmen). There were sometimes contingents of foreign mercenaries, armed with cannon or handguns. The horsemen were generally restricted to "prickers" and "scourers"; i.e. scouting and foraging parties.
Much like their campaigns in France, it was customary for the English gentry to fight entirely on foot.[62] In several cases, noblemen dismounted and fought amongst the common foot-soldiers to both inspire them and due to the fact that, as proven by the experiences of battles on the continent, heavy cavalry is of limited tactical value when both sides possess large numbers of skilled Longbowmen.
It was often claimed that the nobles faced greater risks than the ordinary soldiers as there was little incentive for anyone to take prisoner any high-ranking noble during or immediately after a battle. During the Hundred Years' War against France, a captured noble would be able to ransom himself for a large sum but in the Wars of the Roses, a captured noble who belonged to a defeated faction had a high chance of being executed as a traitor. Forty-two captured knights were executed after the Battle of Towton.[63] The Burgundian observer Philippe de Commines, who met Edward IV in 1470, reported,
King Edward told me in all the battles which he had won, as soon as he had gained a victory, he mounted his horse and shouted to his men that they must spare the common soldiers and kill the lords, of whom none or few escaped.[53]
Even those who escaped execution might be declared attainted therefore possess no property and be of no value to a captor.[64]
Chronological list of battles[edit]
First Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455)
Battle of Blore Heath (23 September 1459)
Battle of Ludford Bridge (12 October 1459)
Battle of Sandwich (15 January 1460)
Battle of Northampton (10 July 1460)
Battle of Worksop (16 December 1460)
Battle of Wakefield (30 December 1460)
Battle of Mortimer's Cross (2 February 1461)
Second Battle of St Albans (17 February 1461)
Battle of Ferrybridge (28 March 1461)
Battle of Towton (29 March 1461)
Battle of Piltown (early 1462)
Battle of Hedgeley Moor (25 April 1464)
Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464)
Battle of Edgecote Moor (26 July 1469)
Battle of Losecoat Field (12 March 1470)
Battle of Barnet (14 April 1471)
Battle of Tewkesbury (4 May 1471)
Battle of Bosworth Field (22 August 1485)
Battle of Stoke Field (16 June 1487)
^ Wagner & Schmid 2011.
^ Guy 1990, a leading comprehensive survey
^ McCaffrey 1984.
^ a b c Later defected to the Lancastrians.
^ Grummitt 2012, pp. xviii–xxi.
^ Goodwin 2012, p. xix.
^ During Shakespeare's time people used the term Civil Wars: cf. e.g., the title of Samuel Daniel's work, the First Four Books of the Civil Wars
^ Goodwin 2012, p. xxi.
^ Boutell 1914, p. 228.
^ Cokayne 1910, pp. 240–241.
^ Bellamy 1989, p. 19.
^ Boutell 1914, p. 26.
^ a b Rowse 1966, p. 109.
^ Abels, Richard (2002). "Royal Succession and the Growth of Political Stability in Ninth-Century Wessex". The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History. 12: 92. ISBN 1 84383 008 6.
^ Wagner 2001, p. 206.
^ Mortimer 2006, p. 320.
^ a b Saul 2005, pp. 153–154.
^ Bennett 1998, p. 584.
^ Bennett 1998, pp. 584–585.
^ Rowse 1966, pp. 14–24.
^ Mortimer 2007, appendix 2.
^ Seward 1995, p. 39.
^ a b Wagner 2001, p. 141.
^ Griffiths 1968, p. 589.
^ Royle 2009, pp. 160–161.
^ Goodwin 2012, p. 20.
^ Goodwin 2012, pp. 60–70.
^ Rowse 1966, pp. 123–124.
^ Rowse 1966, p. 125.
^ Farquhar 2001, p. 131.
^ Pollard, A.J. (2007). Warwick the Kingmaker, London, pp. 177–178
^ Bennett 1998, pp. 580.
^ Baldwin 2002, p. 43.
^ "BBC War of the Roses discussion". In our Time Radio 4. 18 May 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
^ Redstone, Vincent B. (1902). "Social Conditions of England during the Wars of the Roses". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. New Series. 16 (1): 159–200. doi:10.2307/3678121.
^ Sadler 2011, p. 14.
^ a b Wise & Embleton, p.4
^ Lander 1980, pp. 363–365.
^ Terence Wise and G.A. Embleton, The Wars of the Roses, Osprey Men-at-Arms series, p. 4, from K.B. MacFarlane, The Nobility of Later Medieval England, Oxford University Press
^ Alchin, Linda. "Lords and Ladies". King Henry II. Lords and Ladies, n.d. Web. 6 February 2014. http://www.lordsandladies.org/king-henry-ii.htm.
^ Barrow, Mandy. "Timeline of the Kings and Queens of England: The Plantagenets". Project Britain: British Life and Culture. Mandy Barrow, n.d. Web. 6 February 2014. http://projectbritain.com/monarchy/angevins.html.
^ Needham, Mark. "Family tree of Henry (II, King of England 1154–1189)". TimeRef.com. TimeRef.com, n.d. Web. 6 February 2014. http://www.timeref.com/tree68.htm.
^ Webster, Bruce. Wars of the Roses. p. 40. Luminarium: Encyclopedia Project: "Every version of the complaints put forward by the rebels in 1450 harps on the losses in France."
^ a b Sadler 2000, p. 3.
^ Sadler 2000, p. 4.
^ Ingram, Mike (2012). Bosworth 1485: Battle Story. The History Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-7524-6988-1.
^ Sadler 2011, p. 124.
^ Sadler 2011, pp. 9, 14–15.
Baldwin, D. (2002). Elizabeth Woodville. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2774-7.
Bellamy, John G. (1989). Bastard Feudalism and the Law. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-71290-3.
Bennett, Michael (1 June 1998). "Edward III's Entail and the Succession to the Crown, 1376–1471". The English Historical Review. 113 (452): 580–609. doi:10.1093/ehr/CXIII.452.580. JSTOR 578029.
Boutell, C. (1914). A.C. Fox-Davies (ed.). The Handbook to English Heraldry (11th ed.). London: Reeves & Turner. OCLC 2034334.
Cokayne, G. (1910). V. Gibbs (ed.). The Complete Peerage. 1. London: St. Catherine Press.
Farquhar, Michael (2001). A Treasury of Royal Scandals. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-7394-2025-6.
Goodwin, George (16 February 2012). Fatal Colours. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-0-7538-2817-5.
Griffiths, R.A. (1968). "Local Rivalries and National Politics: The Percies, the Nevilles, and the Duke of Exeter, 1452–55". Speculum. 43 (4): 589–632. doi:10.2307/2855323. JSTOR 2855323.
Grummitt, David (30 October 2012). A Short History of the Wars of the Roses. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84885-875-6.
Guy, J. (1990). Tudor England (paperback ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-285213-7.
Haigh, P. (1995). The Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses. ISBN 0-7509-0904-8.
Hicks, M. (20 April 2003). The Wars of the Roses 1455–1485 (PDF). Essential Histories. 54. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-491-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2013.
Lander, J.R. (1980). Government and Community: England, 1450–1509. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-35794-5.
McCaffrey, W. (1984). "Recent Writings on Tutor History". In Richard Schlatter (ed.). Recent Views on British History. Rutgers University Press. pp. 1–34. ISBN 978-0-8135-0959-4.
Mortimer, I. (20 June 2006). "Richard II and the Succession to the Crown". History. 91 (3, 303): 320–336. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.2006.00368.x. JSTOR 24427962.
Mortimer, Ian (2007). The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England's Self-Made King. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0-224-07300-4.
Peverley, Sarah L. (2004). "66:1". Adapting to Readeption in 1470–1471: The Scribe as Editor in a Unique Copy of John Hardyng's Chronicle of England (Garrett MS. 142). The Princeton University Library Chronicle. pp. 140–172.
Pollard, A.J. (1988). The Wars of the Roses. Basingstoke: Macmillan Education. ISBN 0-333-40603-6.
Redstone, Vincent B. (1902). "Social Conditions of England during the Wars of the Roses". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. New Series. 16 (1): 159–200. doi:10.2307/3678121.
Rowse, A.L. (1966). Bosworth Field & the Wars of the Roses. Wordsworth Military Library. ISBN 1-85326-691-4.
Royle, Trevor (2009). The Road to Bosworth Field. London: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-72767-9.
Sadler, John (2011). Towton: The Battle of Palm Sunday Field 1461. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84415-965-9.
Sadler, John (2000). Armies and Warfare During the Wars of the Roses. Bristol: Stuart Press. ISBN 978-1-85804-183-4.
Saul, Nigel (2005). The Three Richards: Richard I, Richard II and Richard III. London: Hambledon Continuum. ISBN 978-1852855215.
Seward, Desmond (1995). A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses. London: Constable & Co. ISBN 978-1-84529-006-1.
Wagner, John A. (2001). Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-358-3.
Wagner, John A.; Schmid, Susan Walters, eds. (2011). Encyclopedia of Tudor England. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-298-2. link 1 link 2 link 3
Wise, Terence; Embleton, G.A. (1983). The Wars of the Roses. London: Osprey Military. ISBN 0-85045-520-0.
Clark, K.L. (2016). The Nevills of Middleham: England's most powerful family in the Wars of the Roses. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6365-7.
Santiuste, David (2010). Edward IV and The Wars of the Roses. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 1844159302.
Weir, Alison (1998). Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-7126-6674-5. OCLC 39299754.
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1816 Georgia's at-large congressional district special election
In December 1816, a special election was held in Georgia's at-large district to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Alfred Cuthbert (DR) on November 9. Cuthbert himself had been elected in a special election in 1813.
Election results[edit]
Votes[1]
Zadock Cook Democratic-Republican 1,167 39.5%
Thomas U.P. Charlton [2] 1,130 38.3%
Moore[3] [2] 372 12.6%
Walker[3] [2] 285 9.6%
Cook took his seat in Congress on January 23, 1817.[4]
List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
^ a b c Party affiliation not given in source, presumably Democratic-Republican given the near-non-existence of the Federalist Party in Georgia in this time period
^ a b Full name not given in source
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-06. Retrieved 2015-02-19. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) footnote 7
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1816 Georgia (U.S. state) elections
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History of Galveston, Texas
Downtown Galveston as viewed from the air.
The History of Galveston, Texas, begins with the archaeological record of Native Americans who used the island. The first European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its successful revolution from Spain. The city served as the main port for the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution. Galveston was founded in 1836 by Matthew Sabo and served as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay during the American Civil War when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city.
During the mid-19th century, Galveston emerged as an international city with immigration and trade from around the U.S. and the world. The city became one of the nation's busiest ports and the world's leading port for cotton exports. Galveston became Texas' largest city and, during that era, was its prime commercial center. In 1900, the island was struck by a devastating hurricane. Even post-Hurricane Katrina, this event holds the record as the United States' deadliest natural disaster.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the city re-emerged as a major tourist destination centered on casinos and other vice businesses. Featuring venues, such as the famed Balinese Room, the city became nationally known as the sin city of the Gulf. The illegal businesses were finally closed in the 1950s, leading to a long, stagnant economic period. Many businesses relocated off of the island, though some, such as the insurance businesses and the medical school, remained.
The city gradually re-emerged as a tourist destination centered on its history and its historical buildings. New tourist attractions were established and further development of the medical school and other area businesses have revitalized the economy in recent decades.
1 Exploration and settlement
2 Golden era
3 Storm of 1900
4 Rebuilding and the "Open era"
Exploration and settlement[edit]
Bernardo de Gálvez, Count of Gálvez
Galveston Island was originally inhabited by members of the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes who used the name "Auia" for the island. In 1519, the Alonso Álvarez de Pineda expedition sailed past Galveston Island en route from the Florida peninsula to the Pánuco River. Pineda may or may not have actually seen the island, however, Spain lay claim to the entire Gulf Coast, including Galveston Island, based on the 1519 Pineda expedition.[1] Soon afterward, Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked on the island (or nearby) in November 1528,[2] calling it "Isla de Malhado" ("Isle of Doom"), and from there began his famous trek to Mexico.[3] Various Spanish explorers charting the region referred to the island as "Isla Blanca" ("White Island") and later "Isla de Aranjuez" ("Aranjuez Island").[4] In 1685 French explorer La Salle named the island "San Louis" ("Saint Louis") and the name became fixed for some time.[4]
The earliest known map of the island and the bay was made by French explorer Bénard de La Harpe in 1721, who left the island unnamed but named the bay "Port François."[3] In 1785, Spanish explorer José de Evia, during his own charting of the Gulf Coast, referred to the island as "San Luis" and the bay as "Bahía de Galveztowm" [sic] ("Galveztowm Bay"), in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez.[3] The name San Luis for the island continued to be used by the Spanish and the Mexicans (and later even by Stephen F. Austin's colony).[3][5]
The first permanent European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816 by the pirate Louis-Michel Aury as a base of operations to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain.[6] In 1817, Aury returned from an unsuccessful raid against Spain to find the island occupied by the pirate Jean Lafitte, who took up residence there after having been driven from his stronghold in Barataria Bay off the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana.[6] Lafitte organized the island's settlement into a pirate "kingdom" he called "Campeche", anointing himself the "head of government."[7] Lafitte remained at Campeche until 1821 when he and his raiders were given an ultimatum by the United States Navy: leave or be destroyed. Lafitte burned his settlement to the ground and sailed under cover of night for parts unknown.[7][8]
Following its successful revolution from Spain, the Congress of Mexico issued a proclamation on October 17, 1825, establishing the Port of Galveston, and, in 1830, erected a customs house.[9] During the Texas Revolution, Galveston served as the main port for the Texas Navy. Galveston also served as the capital of the Republic of Texas when, in 1836, interim president David G. Burnet relocated his government there.[9] In 1836, Michel Branamour Menard, a native of Canada, along with several associates, purchased 4,605 acres (18.64 km2) of land for $50,000 from the Austin Colony to found the town that would become the modern city of Galveston.[10][11][12] The Congress of the Republic of Texas hired Robert C. Trimble and William Lindsey to survey this land, and they completed the surveys in 1837.[13] Menard and his associates began selling plots on April 20, 1838. In 1839, the City of Galveston adopted a charter and was incorporated by the Congress of the Republic of Texas.[12][14] By this time, the name "San Luis" for the island had been abandoned and "Galveston" had become the island's exclusive name.[3]
The city of Galveston became important in the slave trade, establishing itself as the largest slave market west of New Orleans. Census records from 1860 show a population of 1178 slaves (and two free blacks) compared to 6000 free persons living in the city.[15] The proportion of slaves, however, was somewhat less than the rest of Texas.[15] Tensions over slavery in the U.S. as a whole eventually led to the American Civil War, which Texas joined on the side of the Confederacy. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay and island on January 1, 1863, when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city, which remained in Confederate hands for the duration of the war.[16] In May 1865, the Lark successfully evaded the Union blockade off of Galveston Harbor and headed for Havana, becoming the final Confederate ship to slip through the blockade from any Southern port.[17] In the late 1890s, the Fort Crockett defenses and coastal artillery batteries were constructed in Galveston and along the Bolivar Roads.[18]
Juneteenth, which is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, owes its origins to the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation upon the return of Union forces to Galveston in 1865.[19] Galveston was the first city in Texas to provide a secondary school and public library for African Americans.[20]
Golden era[edit]
Map of Galveston in 1871
At the end of the 19th century, the city of Galveston was a booming metropolis with a population of 37,000. Its position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade in Texas, and one of the largest cotton ports in the nation, in competition with New Orleans.[21] Between 1838 and 1842, 18 newspapers were started to serve the island's rapidly growing population (The Galveston County Daily News is the sole survivor).[22] A causeway linking the island with the mainland was finished in 1860, which paved the way for railroad expansion.[23]
During this golden era of Galveston's history, the city was home to a number of state firsts that include: the first post office (1836), the first naval base (1836), the first Texas chapter of a Masonic order (1840), the first cotton compress (1842), the first parochial school (Ursuline Academy) (1847), the first insurance company (1854), the first gas lights (1856), first Roman Catholic hospital (St. Mary's Hospital) (1866),[24] first Jewish Reform Congregation (Congregation B'nai Israel) (1868), the first opera house (1870), the first orphanage (1876), the first telephone (1878), the first electric lights (1883), the first medical college (now the University of Texas Medical Branch) (1891), and the first school for nurses (1890).[12][25]
The Beach Hotel catered to vacationers until a fire in 1898.
Galveston was also home to the first Roman Catholic Cathedral in Texas. In 1839, Rome created the prefecture apostolic of Texas, which was later elevated to a vicariate apostolic on July 10, 1841. Then, on May 4, 1847 Pope Pius IX approved the creation of the Diocese of Galveston and named St. Mary's Church the Cathedral for the entire state of Texas.[26]
During the mid 19th century, Galveston, though not a large city by world standards, emerged as an international city with immigration and trade from around the U.S. and around the world. The island has sometimes been called the "Ellis Island of the West" as it was the primary point of entry for European immigrants settling in the western United States.[27] German immigration during this period was so great that the German language became a commonly used language on the city's streets.[28] The immigrants were not simply the poor or the oppressed seeking refuge but many of the educated, middle class. The Galveston Weekly News described one 1849 ship's arrival as carrying members of the "wealthy class" including lawyers and merchants and many skilled workers.
The later 19th century was a high point in the history of civil rights for African Americans. Reconstruction for a time limited the power of former slaveholders in Texas. Leaders, such as George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cuney, worked to establish educational and employment opportunities for blacks and organize black voters to support the Republican Party, then the main party supporting black rights in the South. Cuney's efforts led to higher employment and higher wages for blacks in the city, especially on the wharves, and eventually led to combined black and white trade unions during the 1890s and early 1900s.[29] Cuney himself rose to the chairmanship of the Texas Republican Party, the most powerful position held by any black American in the 19th century.
Galveston Grand Opera House
Storm of 1900[edit]
Memorial marker along The Strand indicating a building that survived the 1900 hurricane.
Main article: 1900 Galveston hurricane
In 1900, the island was struck by a devastating hurricane.[30] Even post-Hurricane Katrina, this event holds the record as the United States' deadliest natural disaster.[30][31] In the early morning of September 8, high surf, despite prevailing winds out of the north, heralded the oncoming storm. By noon, low-lying areas near the Gulf and the Bay side of the city were flooding and the winds increased. Near 4 p.m. a storm surge approximately 15 feet (5 m) high slammed into the coast. Wind speeds reached approximately 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) (an estimate, since the anemometer was blown off the U.S. Weather Bureau building).[30] Isaac Cline was the bureau's chief meteorologist. An account of the events surrounding the hurricane, based on his personal records, is given in Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson. The city was devastated, and an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people on the island were killed.[30] After the storm, the city decided to shore up its defenses against future storms by constructing a permanent concrete seawall along a large portion of the beach front (1902–1904). The entire grade of the city was raised some 17 feet (5 m) behind the wall to several feet near the Bay (1904–1910).[32]
Rebuilding and the "Open era"[edit]
Further information: Open Era of Galveston
Busy Dock Scene, Galveston, ca. 1912.
Despite attempts to draw new investment to the city after the hurricane, Galveston has never fully returned to its previous levels of national importance or prosperity. Development was also hindered by the construction of the Houston Ship Channel, which brought the Port of Houston into direct competition with the natural harbor of the Port of Galveston for sea traffic. To further her recovery, and rebuild her population, Galveston actively solicited immigration. Through the efforts of Rabbi Henry Cohen and Congregation B'nai Israel, Galveston became the focus of an immigration plan called the Galveston Movement that, between 1907 and 1914, diverted roughly 10,000 Eastern European, Jewish immigrants from the crowded cities of the Northeastern United States.[33] Additionally numerous other immigrant groups, including Greeks, Italians and Russian Jews came to the city during this period.[34] This immigration trend substantially altered the ethnic makeup of the island, as well as many other areas of Texas and the western U.S.
Though the storm stalled economic development and the city of Houston grew into the region's principal metropolis, Galveston regained some of its former glory. Recognizing the need for Galveston to diversify from the traditional port-related industries, in 1905, William Lewis Moody, Jr., a member of one of Galveston's leading families, founded the American National Insurance Company. Two years later, Mr. Moody would further invest in Galveston by establishing the City National Bank, which would later become the Moody National Bank.[35][36]
A military facility by the US Army Coastal Artillery on Galveston Island was established in the late 1890s and construction, which was disrupted by the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, was completed in the early 1900s, with the facility being named Fort Crockett in 1903. During the First World War, Fort Crockett served as a US Army artillery training center. Troops bound for France were trained in the use of several types of artillery. During the 1920s and early 1930s, Fort Crockett housed the United States Army Air Corps' (USAAC) 3rd Attack Group (an ancestor to USAF's 3rd Wing). At this time, the 3rd Attack Group was the only USAAC group devoted solely to attack aircraft. During the Second World War, focus was placed on defense against German U-boats, and the fort also served as a prisoner of war camp. Following the war, Fort Crockett served for several years as an army recreational center.[37]
The Galveston–Houston Electric Railway was established in 1911 and ran between the city and Houston. The railway was recognized as the fastest interurban line in 1925 and 1926.[38]
Stewart Title building in Downtown Galveston
During the 1920s and 1930s, the city re-emerged as a major tourist destination.[39][40] Under the influence of Sam Maceo and Rosario Maceo, the city exploited the prohibition of liquor and gambling in clubs like the Balinese Room, offering entertainment to wealthy Houstonians and other out-of-towners. Combined with prostitution, which had existed in the city since the American Civil War, Galveston became known as the sin city of the Gulf.[41] Galvestonians accepted and even supported the illegal activities, often referring to their island as the "Free State of Galveston."[42][43] The island had entered what would later become known as the open era.[44] Aside from the vice-oriented entertainment the city hosted many legitimate entertainment venues and events. One of the most famous was the annual "Pageant of Pulchritude" beauty contest.[45][46][47] This event became the first international contest and attracted participants from England, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, and many other nations until its demise in 1932.[46]
The 1930s and 1940s brought much change to the Island City. KLUF radio began broadcasting in 1937.[48] During the World War II, the Galveston Municipal Airport, predecessor to Scholes International Airport, was redesignated a U.S. Army Air Corps base and named "Galveston Army Air Field". The United States Army Corps of Engineers, using funds made available by Congress through the Civil Aeronautics Authority, constructed three 6,000-foot (1,800 m) long, hard-surface runways at the airport to accommodate army aircraft.[49] In January 1943, Galveston Army Air Field was officially activated with the 46th Bombardment Group serving an anti-submarine role in the Gulf of Mexico. Later it was replaced by the 10th anti-submarine squadron, flying RM-37 Lockheed Venturas.[50]
Postcard view of Beach Boulevard, early 1940s
In 1942, William Lewis Moody, Jr., along with his wife Libbie Shearn Rice Moody, established the Moody Foundation, with the purpose of benefiting present and future generations of Texans." The foundation, one of the largest in the United States, would play a prominent role in Galveston during later decades, helping to fund numerous civic and health-oriented programs.[51]
The end of the war drastically reduced military investment in the island. Increasing enforcement of gambling laws and the growth of Las Vegas put pressure on the gaming industry on the island.[52] Finally, in 1957, Texas Attorney General Will Wilson and the Texas Rangers began a massive campaign of raids which wrecked gambling and prostitution in the city.[53][54][55][56] As these vice industries crashed, so did tourism taking the rest of the Galveston economy with it.[57] Neither the economy nor the culture of the city was the same afterward.[58] Civic leaders made several failed attempts at new ventures including the failed Oleander Bowl football tournament and the Pelican Island Bridge for access to a new industrial park which never materialized.[58] Nevertheless, key non-entertainment sectors such as insurance, banking, and the medical school helped to keep the economy viable.
Strand Historic District
The economy of the island entered a long, stagnant period. Many businesses relocated off of the island. By 1959, the city of Houston had long out-paced Galveston in population and economic growth. Recognizing this, the Reverend Wendelin J. Nold, fifth bishop of the Galveston Diocese, was permitted by the Vatican to erect a Cathedral of convenience in Houston, naming Sacred Heart Church as co-cathedral. The diocese was then re-designated the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. Galveston and St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica still remained the home of the diocese, but now the bishop could more easily access the rapidly growing Roman Catholic population in Houston.[59][60]
Beginning in 1957, the Galveston Historical Foundation began its efforts to preserve historic buildings.[61] The 1966 book The Galveston That Was helped encourage the preservation movement. Restoration efforts financed by motivated investors, notably Houston businessman George P. Mitchell, gradually created the Strand Historic District and reinvented other areas. A new, family-oriented tourism emerged in the city over many years.
The 1960s saw the expansion of higher education in Galveston. Already home to the University of Texas Medical Branch, the city got a boost in 1962 with the creation of the Texas Maritime Academy, predecessor of Texas A&M University at Galveston; and by 1967 a community college, Galveston College, had been formed to help provide affordable education to the community.[62][63]
In the 2000s, property values rose after expensive projects were completed[64] and demand for second homes increased.[65] This led some middle class families to move from Galveston to other areas such as League City, Texas City, and La Marque. The city population remained relatively the same from 2000 to 2005 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.[66] In 2007 The Associated Press compiled a list of the most vulnerable places to hurricanes in the U.S. and Galveston was one of five areas named. Among the reasons cited were low elevation and the single evacuation route off the island which is blocked by the fourth largest city in the United States, Houston.[67]
Hurricane Ike made landfall on Galveston Island in the early morning of September 13, 2008 as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) [68] Ike produced waves and a rising storm surge of about 14 feet (4.3 m), which went around the famous Galveston Seawall, flooding the city via the storm sewers, and the unprotected "bay side" of the island, before the first winds or drop of rain.[69][70] The storm left Galveston without electricity, gas, water pressure and basic communications. The Balinese Room, an historic nightclub, formerly a notorious illegal gambling hall, which was located on a 600-foot (200 m) pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico was destroyed in the storm.[71] The island has since re-established services and the population has returned but some damage remains. Discussions are currently under way to build a so-called Ike Dike which would protect Galveston and the bay.[72] As of 2009[update] the project is still in the conceptual stage and no funding has been allocated.
The project was still under discussion in 2017 although the Sierra Club and other environmentalists were warning about the risk to marine life in the area. Several groups were providing their own recommendations on the technical aspects and design of the storm-surge protection system.[73][74]
History of Houston
History of the Galveston Bay Area
^ "Galveston Island". Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Donald E. Chipman (2008-01-18). "The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association". www.tshaonline.org. pp. article "MALHADO ISLAND". Retrieved 2008-09-30.
^ a b c d e David G. McComb. Table of Contents and Excerpt, McComb, Galveston. Galveston, A History – University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-72053-4. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ a b Barker, Eugene C.; Duncalf, Frederick; Dunn, W. E.; Gutsch, Milton R.; Manning, William R.; Marsh, Frank Burr; Ramsdell, Chas. W.; Riker, Thad W.; Cunningham, C. H., eds. (1918). "The History of Galveston 1518–1900". The Texas History Teachers' Bulletin. 7–14. Austin, TX: University of Texas. pp. 53–54.
^ Manso Porto, Carmen (1997). Cartografía histórica de América: catálogo de manuscritos (siglos XVIII-XIX). Madrid, Spain: Real Academia de la Historia. pp. 122–124. ISBN 84-89512-02-7.
^ a b Harris Gaylord Warren. "Aury, Louis Michel". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ a b Harris Gaylord Warren. "Lafitte, Jean". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Jimmie Walker. "The Legend of Jean Lafitte". Kemah Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ a b "Port of Galveston". World Port Source. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Menard, Michel Branamour". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ "The Galveston Collection". Texas Archival Resources Online, University of Houston. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ a b c "History of Galveston". Isaac's Storm, Random House. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Lindsey, William F." Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
^ "Galveston Island". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ a b Cotham (1998), p. 2–3.
^ Alwyn Barr. "Galveston, Battle of". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Galveston Weekly News, April 26, 1865". Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M University. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Galveston Laboratory Home". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
^ Teresa Palomo Acosta. "Juneteenth". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "African American Heritage". Galveston Historical Foundation. Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Edward Coyle Sealy. "Galveston Wharves". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
^ "The History of Galveston". Wyndham Hotels. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "Galveston Causeway". AllBusiness.com. Retrieved 2009-09-13. [dead link]
^ "The CHRISTUS legacy Answering the call". Christus Health. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "History: Galveston's Colorful Past". Galveston Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
"The History of Galveston". Wyndham Hotels. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
Barrington, Carol; Kearney, Sydney (2006). Day Trips from Houston: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler. Globe Pequot. p. 241. ISBN 0-7627-3867-7.
^ "The History of The Mother Church of Texas". St. Mary Cathedral Basilica. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
Tara Dooley (2008-03-30). "The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston began in a wood-frame church during the Republic of Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
Tara Dooley (2003-01-04). "At 155, Galveston's St. Mary's still battles the storms". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Gateway on the Gulf: Galveston and American Immigration, 1845–1915". Humanities Texas (Teacher Institutes). Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Hardwick (2002), pg. 28–29
^ Obadele-Starks, Ernest (2001). Black Unionism in the Industrial South. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 39–44. ISBN 0-89096-912-4.
^ a b c d John Edward Weems. "Galveston Hurricane of 1900". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ Joe Strupp (4 September 2000). "Nation's deadliest natural disaster". Editor & Publisher. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
^ "Galveston and Texas History Center". Rosenberg Library, Galveston. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "Galveston Movement". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Hardwick (2002), pg.13
^ "Annual Financials report, 2004–2005" (PDF). The Moody Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "American National Announces Fourth Quarter 2007 Results" (PDF). American National Insurance Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2011. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Darst, Maury. "Fort Crockett". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historial Association. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
^ Rieder, Robert A. "Electric Interurban Railways". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
^ "Galveston Hotel – Hotel Galvez to Reopen October 15". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "Preserve America Community: Galveston, Texas". Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ David G. McComb. "Galveston, TX". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ John Nova Lomax (2009-03-03). "Is Casino Gambling in the Cards for Galveston?". Houston Press. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "The Press: Gambling in Texas". Time Magazine. 1952-01-12. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Melosi, Martin V.; Pratt, Joseph A. (2007). Energy metropolis: an environmental history of Houston and the Gulf Coast. University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-4335-2.
^ * Stein, Elissa (2006). Beauty Queen: Here She Comes... Chronicle Books. p. 37. ISBN 0-8118-4864-7.
^ a b "Miss United States Began In Galveston". The Islander Magazine. 2006.
^ Cherry, Bill (25 October 2004). "Miss America was once Pageant of Pulchritude". Galveston Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009.
^ Jack Alicoate, ed. (1939), "Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States: Texas", Radio Annual, New York: Radio Daily, OCLC 2459636
^ Maury Darst. "Galveston Army Airfield". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
^ "46th Bombardment Group, WWII, World War II, Army Air Forces". Army Air Corps Library and Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
^ Robert E. Baker. "Moody Foundation". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Utley Robert Marshall (2007). Lone Star Lawmen. Oxford. p. 218.
^ James G. Dickson, Jr. "Attorney General". Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ "The Daily News: Headlines". The Galveston County Daily News. Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ Sitton, Thad (2006). The Texas Sheriff: Lord of the County Line. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-8061-3471-0.
^ "Grande Dame of the Gulf". Texas Monthly: 169. December 1983.
^ Melosi, Martin V.; Pratt, Joseph A. (2007). Energy metropolis: an environmental history of Houston and the Gulf Coast. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 202. ISBN 0-8229-4335-2.
^ a b Paul Burka (1983-12-01). "Grande Dame of the Gulf". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
^ Julia Dunn (1989-11-04). "Bishops celebrate 200th birthday". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Richard Vara (2008-03-30). "The cradle of Texas' Catholicism, The state's first cathedral in need of major repair". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ "The History of Galveston College". Galveston College. Archived from the original on 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ Rhiannon Myers (2007-11-14). "Students brave the simulated seas". The Galveston County Daily News. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
^ Novak, Shonda. "Growth Wave Hits Galveston." Austin American-Statesman. Saturday July 22, 2006.
^ Harvey Rice (2007-02-22). "Workers in Galveston increasingly can't afford to live there". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ Marty Schladen (2006-07-23). "Forces drive people off island". The Galveston County Daily News. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ "Where's the next New Orleans?: Galveston, New York City, Miami among top 5 places most vulnerable to a powerful hurricane this season, AP finds". Decatur Daily (Associated Press). 2007-06-01. Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ "Ike Insured Damage Estimates Range from $6B to $18B". Texas / South Central News, Insurance Journal. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
^ Mike Carney; Oren Dorell (2008-09-12). "Hurricane Ike: Galveston says 25% ignored evacuation order". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
^ Ben Casselman (2008-09-12). "As Waters Rise, Many Decline To Leave Galveston Island". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
^ "Historic Balinese Room Nightclub & Live Music". Balinese Room. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ Ben Caselman (2009-06-04). "Planning the 'Ike Dike' Defense, Houston-Area Leaders Envision a 60-Mile Barrier Against Hurricane Flooding". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
^ "Environmentalists skeptical of Ike Dike". houstonchronicle.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
^ news, ted oberg, oberg investigates, investigative reporter, eyewitness (20 June 2017). "9 years after storm, 'Ike Dike' still under discussion". abc13.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
Cotham, Edward Terrel (1998). Battle on the Bay: the Civil War struggle for Galveston. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71205-8.
Hardwick, Susan Wiley (2002). Mythic Galveston: reinventing America's third coast. JHU Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-8018-6887-4.
"Galveston". Texas State Gazetteer and Business Directory. St. Louis: R.L. Polk & Co. 1884.
George E. Waring, Jr.; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office (1887), "Texas: Galveston", Report on the Social Statistics of Cities: Southern and the Western States, Washington DC: Government Printing Office, pp. 315–322
"Galveston". Texas State Gazetteer and Business Directory. Detroit: R.L. Polk & Co. 1890.
Directory of the City of Galveston. 1906.
Ellis A. Davis; Edwin H. Grobe (eds.). "(Galveston)". New Encyclopedia of Texas. Dallas: Texas Development Bureau – via Internet Archive. circa 1926?
Federal Writers' Project (1940), "Galveston", Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State, American Guide Series, New York: Hastings House – via HathiTrust
Paul T. Hellmann (2006). "Texas: Galveston". Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-135-94859-3.
History of Galveston, Texasat Wikipedia's sister projects
Definitions from Wiktionary
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
The early history of Galveston, by Dr. J. O. Dyer, published 1916, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
History of Galveston
Bio of Isaac Monroe Cline
"Historical Maps of Texas Cities: Galveston". Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas at Austin.
Items related to Galveston, Texas, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)
City of Galveston
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_Galveston,_Texas&oldid=893807293"
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Lawrence M. Friedman
For other people named Lawrence Friedman, see Lawrence Friedman (disambiguation).
Lawrence M. Friedman (born April 2, 1930) is an American law professor, historian, expert in American legal history, and author of nonfiction and fiction books. He has been a member of the faculty at Stanford Law School since 1968.[1]
Friedman received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago in 1948 and his J.D. and LL.M from the University of Chicago Law School (where he was on the staff of the University of Chicago Law Review) in 1951 and 1953, respectively. Admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1951, he was associated with the firm of D'Ancona, Pflaum, Wyatt, and Riskind in Chicago from 1955 to 1957. At the time, his practice area was trusts and estates. Friedman taught at Saint Louis University School of Law as Assistant Professor of Law (1957–60) and as Associate Professor of Law (1960–61). He then moved to the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he was Associate Professor of Law (1961–65) and then Professor of Law (1965–68). Friedman was a Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford Law School from 1966 to 1967 and moved to Stanford in 1968. He holds courtesy appointments with Stanford's department of history and political science.[1]
Friedman is the recipient of six honorary law degrees: LL.D. degrees from the University of Puget Sound Law School (1977), John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York (1989), University of Lund (Sweden) (1993), John Marshall Law School (1995), and University of Macerata (Italy) (1998), and a D.Juris. from the University of Milan (Italy) (2006).[1]
Friedman is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[1] He has been the President of Law and Society Association and the Research Committee on Sociology of Law[1].
In 2007, Brian Leiter found that Friedman was the most-cited law professor in the field of legal history, with 1890 citations between 2000 and 2007.[2]
Friedman has said that he was influenced by his colleague James Willard Hurst, who was at the Wisconsin Law School at the same time as Friedman. Hurst was twenty years older than Friedman, and Hurst is often credited as the founder of the discipline of American legal history.
Friedman is internationally recognized in the field of legal history. He is regarded as one of the founders of the Law and Society movement in North America and an influential figure within the sociology of law.
Friedman's legal and historical writings are unusual in their appeal to a broad audience. A History of American Law was first published in 1973. In 2016, it ranks number 21 in the Amazon.com rankings of bestsellers in the category of legal reference.
Friedman is also a fiction writer. He has published at least eight mystery novels, generally murder mysteries involving a San Mateo attorney named Frank May. Friedman publishes his fiction writing as "Lawrence Friedman" and his nonfiction writing as "Lawrence M. Friedman."
Selected bibliography[edit]
Friedman has published thirty-four books of nonfiction. Among his most significant works are:
The Big Trial: Law As Public Spectacle, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2015.
Inside the Castle: Law and the Family in 20th Century America, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011 (co-authored with Joanna L. Grossman).
Guarding Life's Dark Secret: Legal and Social Controls over Reputation, Propriety, and Privacy, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007.
A History of American Law, 3rd ed., New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
American Law in the 20th Century, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002
The Horizontal Society, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
Crime and Punishment in American History, New York: Basic Books, 1993.
The Legal System: A Social Science Perspective, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1975.[1]
Selected titles among his eight novels:
A Heavenly Death. QP Books. 2014.
Death of A Schemer. QP Books. 2015.
^ a b c d e "Lawrence M. Friedman curriculum vitae" (PDF). Stanford Law School. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 18, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ Leiter, Brian. "Most Cited Law Professors by Specialty, 2000-2007." Leiter Rankings 18 December 2007.
SNAC: w6q653n2
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lawrence_M._Friedman&oldid=902171116"
American legal scholars
Legal historians
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Stanford Law School faculty
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Stephen Bocskai
(Redirected from Stephen Bocskay)
Prince of Transylvania
The native form of this personal name is Bocskai István. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Prince of Hungary
Sigismund Rákóczi
Bocskai István
Kolozsvár, Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
(now Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Kassa, Royal Hungary
(now Košice, Slovakia)
St. Michael's Cathedral
Gyulafehérvár, Transylvania
(now Alba Iulia, Romania)
Margit Hagymássy
György Bocskai
Krisztina Sulyok
Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay (Hungarian: Bocskai István; 1 January 1557 – 29 December 1606) was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, which developed into the Principality of Transylvania in the 1570s. He spent his youth in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian, who was also the ruler of Royal Hungary (the western and northern regions of the medieval kingdom).
Bocskai's career started when his underage nephew, Sigismund Báthory, became the ruler of Transylvania in 1581. After the Diet of Transylvania declared Sigismund of age in 1588, Bocskai was one of the few members of Sigismund's council who supported his plan to join an anti-Ottoman coalition. Sigismund made Bocskai captain of Várad (now Oradea in Romania) in 1592. After the pro-Ottoman noblemen forced Sigismund to renounce his throne in 1594, Bocskai supported him in his bid to regain it, for which Sigismund rewarded him with estates confiscated from the leaders of the opposition. On Sigismund's behalf Bocskai signed a treaty concerning the membership of Transylvania in the Holy League in Prague on 28 January 1595. He led the Transylvanian army to Wallachia, which had been occupied by the Ottomans. The Christian troops liberated Wallachia and defeated the retreating Ottoman army in the Battle of Giurgiu on 29 September 1595.
After a series of Ottoman victories, Sigismund abdicated in early 1598. The commissioners of Maximilian's successor, Rudolph, took possession of Transylvania and dismissed Bocskai. Bocskai then persuaded Sigismund to return, but Sigismund once again abdicated in March 1599. The new prince, Andrew Báthory, confiscated Bocskai's estates in Transylvania proper. Andrew Báthory was dethroned by Michael the Brave of Wallachia. During the following period of anarchy, Bocskai was forced to stay in Prague for several months because Rudolph's officials did not trust him. He rose up against Rudolph after his secret correspondence with the Grand Vizier, Lala Mehmed Pasha, was captured in October 1605.
Bocskai hired Hajdús (irregular soldiers) and defeated Rudolph's military commanders. He expanded his authority over the Partium, Transylvania proper, and nearby counties with the support of the local noblemen and burghers who had also been stirred up by Rudolph's tyrannical acts. Bocskai was elected prince of Transylvania on 21 February 1605, and prince of Hungary on 20 April. The Ottomans supported him, but his partisans thought that the Ottomans' intervention threatened the independence of Royal Hungary. To put an end to the civil war, Bocskai and Rudolph's representatives signed the Treaty of Vienna on 23 June 1606. Rudolph acknowledged Bocskai's hereditary right to rule the Principality of Transylvania and four counties in Royal Hungary. The treaty also confirmed the Protestant noblemen and burghers' right to freely practise their religion. In his last will, Bocskai emphasized that only the existence of the Principality of Transylvania could secure the special status of Royal Hungary within the Habsburg Monarchy.
2.1 Councillor
2.2 Captain of Várad
2.3 Turmoil
3 Uprising and reign
3.1 First successes
3.2 Elected prince
3.3 Peace treaties
3.4 Last months
Stephen was the sixth or seventh child of György Bocskai and Krisztina Sulyok.[1][2] His father was a Hungarian nobleman whose inherited estates were located in Bihar and Zemplén Counties.[3] Stephen's mother was related to the influential Török and Héderváry families.[4][5] One of her two sisters was the wife of István Dobó.[4] Dobó was made Voivode of Transylvania by Ferdinand I, King of Hungary, in 1553, shortly after Isabella Jagiellon (who had administered the eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary on behalf of her son, John Sigismund Zápolya) was forced to leave her realm.[6] György Bocskai accompanied Dobó to Transylvania and received new estates in the province from Ferdinand.[3][7]
Stephen was born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) on 1 January 1557.[8][9] At that time, his father was being held in prison because Isabella Jagiellon had returned and ordered the imprisonment of Ferdinand's supporters.[10] A few months after his son's birth, György Bocskai was released.[11] He and his family settled in Kismarja, which was the center of his estates in Bihar County.[12] He converted from Catholicism to Calvinism in the 1560s.[13] He died in 1570 or 1571.[14][11]
Stephen Báthory, who succeeded Zápolya in 1571, protected the interests of György Bocskai's orphaned children.[11] At Báthory's request, Ferdinand I's successor, Maximilian, restored to them their father's former estates in Zemplén County.[11][3] The teenager Stephen Bocskai may have already moved to Maximilian's court – it is known that a son of Krisztina Sulyok was reportedly living in Vienna in 1571[11] – but it is certain that he was living in the royal court when his elder brother, Jeromos, died in 1572, because he hurried back to Kismarja from Vienna to console his mother.[15] Initially, he served as a page in the royal court.[15] He received a salary from 1574.[15] He again came back to Kismarja in the summer of 1575 to see his ailing mother and to administer his estates.[15] About a year later, he returned to Vienna where he was made a steward.[15]
After being elected King of Poland in late 1575, Stephen Báthory adopted the title of prince of Transylvania and charged his brother, Christopher Báthory, with the government of the principality.[16] Christopher was the husband of Bocskai's sister, Elisabeth.[17] Maximilian, who had a very tolerant attitude towards the ideas of the Reformation, died on 12 October 1576.[18] His devout Catholic son, Rudolph, succeeded him.[19] Before long, Bocskai left Prague and settled in the Principality of Transylvania.[19] He was not appointed to higher offices during Christopher's rule.[20] He was only made the commander of a troop of 32 horsemen and 20 foot soldiers in Várad.[21]
Councillor[edit]
The dying Christopher Báthory appointed Bocskai to the council that was set up to administer Transylvania during the minority of the son of Christopher Báthory and Elisabeth Bocskai, Sigismund, in the spring of 1581.[21][22] As the youngest member of the regency council, Bocskai had little chance of influencing the government, then dominated by Sándor Kendi and Farkas Kovacsóczy.[22] Bocskai and Dénes Csáky decided to go to Kraków to convince Stephen Báthory to make their ally, János Ghyczy, the sole regent for Sigismund.[23] However, before their departure for Poland, Stephen Báthory set up a new regency council, confirming Kendi and Kovacsóczy's position.[24][25] Bocskai was appointed head of Sigismund's court, but he renounced the office because his relationship with the regency council remained tense.[24] He only retained his membership in the royal council.[26]
A bastion of Bocskai's castle at Nagykereki
Bocskai married a wealthy widow, Margit Hagymássy, in late 1583.[27][22] Her dowry included the fortress of Nagykereki and the nearby villages.[27][26] Stephen Báthory dissolved the regency council and appointed Ghyczy to administer Transylvania on Sigismund's behalf in May 1585.[26][28] Bocskai retained his seat in the royal council.[22] After Stephen Báthory died in December 1586, Bocskai went at least twice to Poland to negotiate the implementation of Báthory's last will.[29] During his visits, he realized that most Polish noblemen did not want to continue Báthory's policy and Transylvania could no longer expect support from Poland.[26]
Ghyczy fell ill in early 1588.[30] The 16-year-old monarch's cousins, Balthasar Báthory and Stephen Báthory (the namesake of his late uncle), persuaded the Diet of Transylvania to declare the prince of age in December 1588.[31][32] Bocskai again retained his membership in the royal council.[33] Political rivalries gave rise to the spread of gossip about Balthasar's attempts to dethrone Sigismund.[34] Some rumours also circulated about Bocskai, either describing him as Sigismund's most faithful councillor or accusing him of a conspiracy against the Báthory family.[35] Bocskai established a strong relationship with the commanders of the army around that time.[35]
Captain of Várad[edit]
See also: Battle of Giurgiu
The fortress of Várad (now Oradea in Romania) in 1598 (an engraving by Joris Hoefnagel)
Influenced by his Jesuit confessor, Alfonso Carillo,[36] Sigismund Báthory decided to turn against the Ottoman Empire.[37] His cousins sharply opposed his plan, which outraged Sigismund.[37][38] He replaced Stephen Báthory with Bocskai, making the latter captain of Várad and ispán (or head) of Bihar County in May 1592.[38] The captains of Várad were the commanders of the strongest army in the principality.[39] Sigismund, who was a devout Catholic, ordered the Calvinist Bocskai to protect the Catholics in his new seat.[40] Bocskai continued the reconstruction of the fortress, which protected the most important route between Transylvania and Royal Hungary.[41]
The Ottoman Sultan, Murad III, ordered the Grand Vizier, Koca Sinan Pasha, to invade Royal Hungary in August 1593.[42][43] In the same month, Ferenc Wathay (who was the cousin of Bocskai's wife) visited Bocskai in Várad.[44] In his memoir, Wathay mentioned that his commander, Ferdinand Hardegg ("the king's representative"), had ordered him to meet Bocskai.[44] Young Transylvanian noblemen hurried to Royal Hungary to fight against the Ottomans, but most Transylvanian politicians wanted to avoid war with the Ottoman Empire as long as Poland remained neutral.[45][46] Sigismund did not abandon his plan to fight against the Ottomans, but only Bocskai and Ferenc Geszthy, who was the captain of Déva (now Deva in Romania), supported him in the royal council.[47]
Crimean Tatars stormed into Hungary and pillaged the Partium in June 1594, forcing Bocskai to stay in Várad.[48] Sigismund Báthory convoked the Diet, but the delegates of the Three Nations of Transylvania refused to declare war against the Ottoman Empire.[46][49] Taking advantage of the prince's failure, Balthasar Báthory persuaded him to abdicate in late July.[50] Sigismund went to Kővár (now Remetea Chioarului in Romania), and then announced that he wanted to move to Italy. Ferenc Kendi and Kovacsóczy prevented Balthasar from securing the princely throne for himself.[51][52]
Bocskai's nephew, Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania
Bocskai and the other commanders of the army hurried to Kővár,[52] where they and Friar Carillo convinced Sigismund to change his mind.[53] Bocskai and his troops accompanied Sigismund back to Kolozsvár, forcing the delegates of the Three Nations to again pay homage to him on 27 August.[52] A day later, fifteen leaders of the opposition were arrested at the prince's order.[51][54] In a few days, many of them (including Balthasar Báthory and Farkas Kovacsóczy) were executed or murdered.[51] Years later, Sigismund Báthory told Ferenc Nádasdy that Bocskai had forced him to order their execution.[55] Most historians also say that Bocskai was responsible for the purge, which made him his nephew's most influential advisor.[55][56]
Bocskai was made ispán of Inner Szolnok and Kraszna Counties.[55] Many estates confiscated from the executed noblemen were granted to him during the following years, making him one of the wealthiest landowners of the principality.[57] For instance, he seized the fortresses at Marosvécs in Transylvania proper (now Brâncovenești in Romania), and Szentjobb and Sólyomkő in Partium (now Sâniob and Șinteu in Romania).[58]
Sigismund Báthory sent Bocskai as his plenipotentiary to Prague in November 1594 to start negotiations with the representatives of the anti-Ottoman Holy League.[59] He signed a treaty regarding the membership of Transylvania in the League on 28 January 1595.[46] The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph (who was also the king of Hungary), acknowledged the independence of Transylvania and promised his niece, Maria Christina, to Sigismund Báthory.[46][60] Bocskai went to Graz, where he married Maria Christina as his nephew's proxy on 6 March.[61] Upon his return to Transylvania, the Diet confirmed the treaty on 16 April.[62][63] Bocskai accompanied Maria Christina from Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) to Gyulafehérvár (present-day Alba Iulia in Romania) in July.[64]
Sigismund Báthory made György Borbély Ban of Karánsebes (now Caransebeș in Romania), ordering him to invade the nearby Ottoman territories.[65] Bocskai dispatched his deputy in Várad, György Király, to support Borbély's campaign.[65] The Transylvanian army forced the Ottomans to abandon the fortresses along the Maros (Mureș) River before the end of October.[66] However, Koca Sinan Pasha had meanwhile invaded Wallachia and captured Bucharest and Târgoviște.[67] The Wallachian ruler, Michael the Brave, who had acknowledged Sigismund Báthory's suzerainty, was forced to retreat towards Transylvania.[68][69] The grand vizier decided to transform Wallachia into an Ottoman province and made one of his commanders, Hasan Pasha, beylerbey (or governor) of Wallachia before he started to retreat in October.[70][67]
To be able to provide military assistance to Michael of Wallachia, Sigismund Báthory promised the Székely commoners, who had earlier been reduced to serfdom, to restore their liberties if they joined his campaign on 15 September.[66][63] More than 20,000 Székelys took up arms, enabling Sigismund to muster an army about 35,000 strong.[70] Although the prince personally led the army to Wallachia, Bocskai was the actual commander of the campaign.[67] After Michael the Brave and Sigismund's other vassal, Ștefan Răzvan of Moldavia, joined the campaign, their united troops laid siege to Târgoviște on 16 October.[67] Two days later, Bocskai personally led the decisive attack against the fortress, forcing the Ottoman soldiers to abandon it and try to break through the besiegers.[67] The Ottomans were either killed or captured.[71] The Ottoman garrison abandoned Bucharest without resistance and the main Ottoman army retreated to Giurgiu on the Danube.[70][72] By the time Sigismund's army reached the Danube, most Ottoman soldiers had crossed the river, but those who had stayed behind in Wallachia were massacred on 29 October.[72][73] On the following day, the Ottoman fortress at Giurgiu was also occupied.[70] After returning to Transylvania, Sigismund Báthory revoked his decision about the liberation of the Székelys on 12 December.[73]
In January 1596 Sigismund Báthory left for Prague to start negotiations over the continuation of the war against the Ottomans.[74] He charged Bocskai with the administration of Transylvania.[74] Bocskai soon had to face the Székely commoners.[66][75] Their leaders threatened those who accepted serfdom with impalement.[75] Bocskai sent troops to Székely Land, ordering the punishment of the ringleaders.[66][76] His lieutenants overrode his instructions and put down the rebellion with extreme cruelty during the "Bloody Carnival" of 1596.[76]
Sigismund Báthory returned from Prague in March 1596.[73] He personally led his troops against the Crimean Tatars and Ottomans who had broken into the Partium.[77] During his absence, Bocskai administered the principality.[77] After a series of Ottoman victories, Sigismund started negotiations regarding his abdication with the representatives of Rudolph.[66][78] The agreement was signed in December 1597, but Rudolph did not send his representatives to take possession of Transylvania for months.[79][80] During the transition period, the Catholic Chancellor of Transylvania, István Jósika, accused Bocskai of initiating a plot to seize Transylvania for himself, but Friar Carillo stood by Bocskai.[79] Bocskai persuaded Sigismund Báthory to have Jósika imprisoned shortly before his official abdication.[81][82] The prince also awarded him the title of baron on 29 March 1598.[83]
Turmoil[edit]
The Diet of Transylvania swore fealty to Rudolph on 8 April 1598.[82][84] Rudolph appointed three commissioners (István Szuhay, Bartholomeus Pezzen, and Miklós Istvánffy) to administer Transylvania until the arrival of his governor, Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria.[66][82] The commissioners did not trust Bocskai and deprived him of his offices.[85] Having been in correspondence with his nephew, Bocskai knew that Sigismund Báthory was already regretting his abdication.[85][86] Bocskai mustered his troops at Szászsebes (now Sebeș in Romania) to secure Sigismund's return.[85] After Sigismund came to Transylvania, Bocskai convoked the Diet and persuaded the delegates to swear fealty to him on 21 August.[87] Jósika was executed and the commissioners were expelled.[88]
The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph, who was also the ruler of Royal Hungary, an engraving by Aegidius Sadeler (1603)
Rudolph's commander, Giorgio Basta, who planned to murder Bocskai
Bocskai was again made the supreme commander of the Transylvanian army,[66] but his former deputy, György Király, did not obey him and allowed Rudolph's troops to take possession of Várad.[89] An Ottoman army broke into the Partium, laid siege to Várad, and pillaged Bocskai's nearby estates in October.[90] Sigismund made contact with his cousin, Andrew Báthory (who was the brother of the murdered Balthasar) and offered him possession of Transylvania.[91] He kept his negotiations with Andrew secret because Bocskai had always been a strong opponent of the pro-Ottoman policy represented by Andrew.[92] To get rid of his uncle, Sigismund dispatched him to Prague to start new negotiations with Rudolph in late 1598.[92]
Bocskai was still in Prague when Sigismund abdicated in favor of Andrew in March 1599.[93][94] He returned to Transylvania as Rudolph's envoy and refused to swear fealty to Andrew.[95] He settled in his fortress at Szentjobb in August.[96] Andrew summoned him to the Diet, accusing him of the murder of Balthasar.[96] After Bocskai ignored the prince's summons, his estates were confiscated in October, but this order could only be executed in Transylvania proper because the Partium was controlled by the emperor's supporters.[97] Bocskai was planning to invade Transylvania, but Michael of Wallachia (whom Andrew wanted to replace with one of his brothers) was quicker and broke into the principality.[98] The Székelys joined Michael, who routed Andrew in the Battle of Sellenberk on 28 October.[94] Michael entered Gyulafehérvár, and Székely peasants murdered Andrew.[99]
After learning of Michael's victory, Bocskai hired Hajdús (irregular soldiers, famed for their cruelty) and hurried to Kolozsvár.[97] He thought that Michael was willing to withdraw from Transylvania and urged Giorgio Basta, the commander of Rudolph's army, to send new commissioners to Transylvania to put an end to the anarchy.[100] Michael took possession of Transylvania proper, and the Diet acknowledged him as Rudolph's representative.[99] Exposed to plundering raids by German, Wallachian, and Székely troops, Transylvania plunged into anarchy.[101] Bocskai returned to the Partium, but Rudolph ordered him to join Michael in Gyulafehérvár on 26 November.[102] Michael tried to take advantage of Bocskai's presence to persuade the garrisons of the fortresses to swear fealty to him, but Bocskai did not want to be Michael's underling.[97] After he realized that Michael did not want to restore his Transylvanian estates to him, he again left Transylvania proper and settled in Szentjobb in early 1600.[102][97]
Bocskai sent letters to Rudolph in Prague, describing Michael as an uneducated trickster and tyrant who wanted to establish an empire of his own, but Rudolph's new commissioners, David Ungnad and Mihály Székely, did not trust him.[103] Ungnad referred to him as "the Pestilence" in his secret correspondence.[104] The Transylvanian noblemen held Bocskai responsible for the anti-Ottoman policy that had contributed to the destruction of the principality.[105] Instead of seeking Bocskai's assistance against Michael,[106] they persuaded Basta to expel Michael from Transylvania in September.[99] Sigismund Báthory, who had again decided to return, tried to convince Bocskai to support him.[106] Bocskai gave his nephew's envoy over to Rudolph's official, Pál Nyáry, but this did not earn him the trust of Rudolph's commissioners.[106] Basta was even planning to kill him to prevent him from further actions.[106] On 25 November, the Diet of Transylvania confiscated Bocskai's estates and banished him from the principality.[106][107]
Bocskai went to Prague to clear himself of the charges in January 1601.[108][109] Michael of Wallachia also came to Prague and persuaded Rudolph to allow him to return to Transylvania, while Bocskai was forbidden to leave Prague.[108] Michael and Basta routed Sigismund Báthory on 3 August, but Basta had Michael murdered thirteen days later.[110][111] Basta's mercenaries regularly pillaged Transylvanian towns and villages during the following years.[112][113] Bocskai returned to the Partium before the end of 1601, but he was again summoned to Prague in April 1602.[108] He was made the emperor's counsillor,[108] but he could leave Prague only in late 1602.[114] He again settled in Szentjobb and made several attempts to secure the restoration of his confiscated Transylvanian estates, but Basta sharply opposed his plan.[114][115]
From 1603, Rudolph's officials confiscated the estates of wealthy noblemen in both Royal Hungary and Transylvania through legal proceedings.[116][117] After Giacomo Barbiano di Belgiojoso, the captain of Kassa, confiscated the St. Elisabeth Cathedral from the Lutherans and gave it to the Catholics in early 1604, Rudolph prohibited the Diet of Hungary from discussing religious issues.[118][119] Belgiojoso wanted to borrow 20,000 florins from Bocskai in the spring of 1604, but Bocskai denied the loan.[120] In retaliation, Belgioso ordered the collection of the tithe on Bocskai's estates even though the estates were exempt from the tax.[120] Belgioso also imprisoned Bocskai's nephew, Dénes Bánffy, and only released him after Bocskai had paid a ransom.[120][121]
The leader of the Transylvanian noblemen who had fled to the Ottoman Empire, Gabriel Bethlen, sent a letter to Bocskai urging him to rise up against Rudolph, but Bocskai refused.[122] To reward Bocskai for his loyalty, Rudolph restored to him almost all his estates in Transylvania proper on 2 July 1604.[123] Bocskai visited Transylvania and realized that the towns and villages had almost completely been destroyed during the previous years.[123] His experiences convinced him that only an autonomous Transylvania supported by the Ottomans could secure the restoration of the freedom of Hungary.[124] On his way back from Transylvania, on 20 September he learnt that Hajdús had seized a letter about his alleged correspondence with the Grand Vizier, Lala Mehmed Pasha, from Gabriel Bethlen.[125][126] Fearing reprisals, Bocskai hurried to Sólyomkő and pretended that gout had paralysed him.[127] Actually, he ordered his castellans to make preparations for resistance, but one of them revealed Bocskai's plans to Cipriano Concini, the deputy captain of Várad.[128]
Uprising and reign[edit]
Further information: Bocskai Uprising
First successes[edit]
Concini led his 600 soldiers to Szentjobb and captured the fortress on 2 October.[128][125] The castellan of Bocskai's other castle, Nagykereki, hired 300 Hajdús, enabling him to defend the fortress against Concini.[129][130] Belgioso sent an army against Bocskai, but Bocskai's agents convinced the Hajdús to desert from Belgioso's army, which enabled Bocskai to defeat Belgioso near Álmosd on 15 October.[131][132] Belgioso withdrew from the Partium towards Kassa, but the predominantly Protestant townspeople did not allow him to enter the town.[133] The mayor of the town, Johann Bocatius, persuaded the burghers to let Bocskai's Hajdús come to the town on 30 October.[134]
Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) in 1617
Bocskai issued a proclamation to the noblemen from Kassa, reminding them of the tyrannical acts of Rudolph and his officials.[135] The delegates of the counties and towns of Upper Hungary came to Kassa and voted the necessary funds to continue the fight.[136] Bocskai made the young Calvinist lords, Bálint Drugeth and Ferenc Mágocsy, commanders of his army, and the Catholic nobleman, Mihály Káthay, his chancellor.[137] Rudolph dispatched Giorgio Basta at the head of an army of 10,000 mercenaries against the rebels.[138] Basta's disciplined army defeated a troop of Hajdús near Osgyán (now Ožďany in Slovakia) on 17 November.[139]
Gabriel Bethlen came to Kassa on 20 November, accompanied by Lala Mehmed Pasha's envoy, who handed the sultan's ahidnâme (or charter) to Bocskai, which styled him prince of Transylvania.[140][141] Lala Mehmed Pasha also sent reinforcements to Bocskai.[140][142] Basta defeated Bocskai near Edelény on 27 November, but he could not capture Kassa and withdrew to Eperjes (now Prešov in Slovakia) in early December.[143] Bocskai sent letters to Transylvania urging the leaders of the Three Nations to support his uprising.[143] A Unitarian Székely nobleman, János Petki, was the first to join him.[144] He played a crucial role in convincing the Székelys to forgive Bocskai for the Bloody Carnival of 1596.[144] A Hajdú captain, Balázs Lippai, who had already questioned Bocskai's leadership, entered into correspondence with Basta.[145] Bocskai had Lippai captured and executed on 6 January 1605.[145] He made an alliance with Ieremia Movilă, Voivode of Moldavia, and promised the Székelys that he would restore their liberties, enabling him to secure his rule in Transylvania.[136]
Elected prince[edit]
Bocskai's princely seal
The delegates of the Transylvanian noblemen and the Székelys elected him prince in Nyárádszereda (now Miercurea Nirajului in Romania) on 21 February, but the Transylvanian Saxons and the burghers of Kolozsvár remained loyal to Rudolph's commissioners.[142][136][146] Bocskai sent proclamations, entitled Querelae Hungariae (Complaints of Hungary), to the royal courts of Europe in March, accusing Rudolph of tyranny and listing the monarch's unlawful acts that had caused the uprising.[136][147] Rudolph promised to grant an amnesty for him, but on 24 March Bocskai refused the offer.[148][149]
Basta withdrew his army from Eperjes to Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia) in early April.[148] The delegates of 22 counties from Upper Hungary and Partium assembled at Szerencs.[150] They unanimously acclaimed Bocskai prince of Hungary on 20 April.[150] Although the Transdanubian counties did not acknowledge his rule, Bocskai wanted to reunite the Kingdom of Hungary under his rule and urged the Sublime Porte to send a royal crown to him.[119]
Bocskai's army captured Nagyszombat (now Trnava in Slovakia), Sümeg, Szombathely, Veszprém, and other towns in Transdanubia and also pillaged Lower Austria, Moravia, and Silesia in May.[101][148][151] Michael Weiss persuaded the Saxons of Brassó (now Brașov in Romania) to acknowledge Bocskai's rule.[152] The burghers of Kolozsvár also swore fealty to him on 19 May.[152] Bocskai went to Transylvania in August.[148] His army captured Segesvár (now Sighișoara in Romania) on 9 September, which put an end to the Saxons' resistance.[153] The delegates of the Three Nations of Transylvania paid homage to him in Medgyes (now Mediaș in Romania) on 14 September.[142]
Peace treaties[edit]
See also: Brothers' Quarrel and Hajdúság
Crown of Stephen Bocskai (a diadem that the Grand Vizier, Lala Mehmed Pasha, gave to Bocskai)
The Ottomans took advantage of Bocskai's uprising.[154] Lala Mehmed Pasha captured Esztergom on 3 October.[148][155] Bocskai's commander, Bálint Drugeth, prevented his Ottoman allies from entering Érsekújvár (now Nové Zámky in Slovakia) when he forced the defenders of the town to give in on 17 October.[148][155] Bocskai met Lala Mehmed Pasha at Pest on 11 November.[148] The Grand Vizier styled Bocskai king and gave a royal crown to him, but he refused to accept it as a royal insignia.[148][119]
After the fall of Esztergom to the Ottomans, István Illésházy and other influential noblemen realized that only the Habsburgs were able to prevent the Ottomans from seizing new territories in Royal Hungary.[119] They persuaded Bocskai to start negotiations with Rudolph's brother, Matthias, who had decided to dethrone Rudolph.[119] Although the delegates of the eastern counties and the Hajdús still opposed the peace, the Diet authorized Bocskai to send his envoys to Vienna.[156] On 12 December, Bocskai granted collective nobility to 9,254 Hajdús and settled them in his estates in Szabolcs County.[148][157]
Bocskai's envoy, Illésházy, reached a compromise during his negotiations in Vienna on 9 February 1606.[158] The royal court was ready to restore the traditional administration of Royal Hungary and confirm most liberties of the noblemen and burghers, but was unwilling to acknowledge the independence of Transylvania under Bocskai's rule.[159] On 4 April the Diet of Transylvania authorized Bocskai to sign a treaty with the Habsburgs, but in May the Diet of Hungary ordered Illésházy to continue the negotiations with Matthias.[160]
The negotiations ended with the Treaty of Vienna, which was signed on 23 June.[119] The new treaty confirmed the right of the Protestant noblemen and burghers to freely practise their religion.[119] Bocskai was acknowledged as the hereditary prince of Transylvania, which was expanded to Szabolcs, Szatmár, Ugocsa, and Bereg Counties and the castle of Tokaj.[161][162] Bocskai confirmed the treaty in Kassa on 17 August.[161]
Bocskai was willing to mediate a peace treaty between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire.[163] On 24 November Rudolph issued a new proclamation, stating that the Principality of Transylvania could retain its independence even if Bocskai died without male issue.[164] The Peace of Zsitvatorok, which put an end to the Long Turkish War, was signed on 11 November.[164][165]
Last months[edit]
Bocskai's golden ducate, depicting the elderly prince
Bocskai had already in the spring of 1606 stated that his feet felt heavy, suggesting that he suffered from edema.[166] On 13 December, he convoked the Diet to Kassa, but four days later he made his last will.[164] He urged his successors to preserve the independence of Transylvania as long as the Habsburgs reigned in Royal Hungary.[164][167] He named Bálint Drugeth as his successor before he died in Kassa on 29 December.[164][168]
Bocskai's sudden death gave rise to rumours.[169] The Hajdús accused his chancellor, Mihály Káthay, of having poisoned him.[168][170] They also claimed that Káthay had falsified Bocskai's testament to prevent the young Gábor Báthory from seizing the throne.[170] The Hajdús attacked Káthay on the main square of Kassa and cut him into pieces on 12 January 1607.[171]
The funeral procession taking Bocskai's corpse to Gyulafehérvár departed from Kassa on 3 February.[171] Drugeth led the procession, but the Diet of Transylvania did not want to elect him their ruler.[171] Instead, they proclaimed the elderly Sigismund Rákóczi prince in Kolozsvár on 11 February.[171] Bocskai was buried in the St Michael's Cathedral in Gyulafehérvár on 22 February.[171]
As long as the Hungarian Crown is with a nation mightier than us, with the German, and the Hungarian Kingdom is also dependent of the Germans, it will be necessary and expedient to have a Hungarian prince in Transylvania, for he shall provide protection and be of use to them. If, may God grant, the Hungarian Crown were at Hungarian hands in a Hungary under a crowned king, we urge the Transylvanians neither to secede from it, nor to resist to it, but rather to make efforts, according to their abilities and with united will, to subject themselves to that Crown in the ancient way.
— Excerpt from Bocskai's last will[167][172]
Ancestors of Stephen Bocskai[173]
4. Simon Bocskai
2. György Bocskai
5. N. Kismarjai
1. Stephen Bocskai
12. István Sulyok
6. Balázs Sulyok
26. Imre Török
13. Krisztina Török
3. Krisztina Sulyok
7. Erzsébet Pethő
Bocskai's wife, Margit, was the daughter of Lestár Hagymássy (who was a lesser nobleman with estates in Zala County) and Katalin Csáby.[174][175] Margit was born around 1560.[174] Her dying mother made Lestár's brother, Kristóf Hagymássy, Margit's guardian around 1570.[174] Kristóf Hagymássy was an influential member of the royal council in Transylvania.[174] After her uncle died in 1577, Margit was put under the guardianship of Christopher Báthory (Bocskai's brother-in-law).[174]
Margit was given in marriage to the wealthy Tamás Warkócs (who was related to the Báthory family) in 1579.[27][176] Warkócs's estates were located near Bocskai's domains in Bihar County.[27] She gave birth to two sons, Tamás and György, but only György survived childhood.[27]
Her first husband died in early 1583.[176] The year of mourning for him was still up, when Margit married Bocskai in late 1583.[176] Their marriage was childless, but Bocskai loved his wife and took care of her son.[27] He was also the guardian of the sons of his widowed sister, Sára.[177] Margit Hagymássy died in September 1604.[178]
After the Treaty of Vienna, Bocskai proposed himself to Maria Christina of Habsburg, whose marriage with Sigismund Báthory had been annulled.[179] She and her mother were willing to accept the offer, but Rudolph I refuted it, saying that "the daughter of the mayor of Kassa would be fine for wife to Bocskai".[179] Bocskai did not abandon the idea of a new marriage until his death.[179]
Bocskai's statue on the Reformation Wall (Geneva, Switzerland)
Even before his death, Bocskai's partisans regarded his uprising as a war for the independence of Hungary.[180] The archivist János S. Debreceni described him as a new Gideon in December 1604.[180] Most modern historians also regard him as the leader of a national movement which was an antecedent of Rákóczi's War of Independence and the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.[181] Others state, Bocskai who was the Ottomans' ally did not take up arms for the restoration of an independent Kingdom of Hungary, because he could only hope to rule a country under Ottoman suzerainty.[182] For instance, Géza Pálffy emphasizes, most Hungarian noblemen remained loyal to the Habsburg monarch, thus Bocskai's uprising should be described as a civil war.[182]
Bocskai was also described as a champion of religious freedom.[183] The Hajdús who joined him on 14 October 1604 emphasized that they wanted "to defend Christianity, our country and dear homeland, and especially the one true faith" (that is Calvinism).[184][124] Shortly after Bocskai's death, Drugeth's priest, Menyhárt Bornemissza Váci, described him as a new Moses who could not enter the Promised Land.[185] Bocskai was the first Calvinist prince of Transylvania.[186] His statue can be found on the Reformation Wall in Geneva.[187]
Although the Peace of Vienna and the laws of 1608 were eroded and partially neutralised as time went on by the pressures of Habsburg absolutism, they nevertheless represented an important landmark in Hungary's development and a valuable set of precedents for a people adept in the use of precedents. The new laws maintained and strengthened Hungary's claim to special treatment among the lands ruled by the Habsburg Monarchy; they established, for Hungary, the principle of religious freedom and ensured that Hungary would once again – for the time being, at least – be governed by Hungarian officers of state through the Hungarian Diet, and a Hungarian treasury. István Bocskai's achievement, of which he did not live to see the fruits, was substantial.
— Bryan Cartledge: The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary[188]
Peace of Nikolsburg
Treaty of Szatmár
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
^ Benda 1993, p. 8.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 30.
^ a b c G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 17.
^ a b Benda 1993, p. 9.
^ Barta 1994, p. 258.
^ Szabó 2010, p. 22.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, pp. 26–27.
^ a b c d e Szabó 2010, p. 35.
^ Szabó 2010, pp. 28–29, 35.
^ Barta 1994, pp. 261, 263–265.
^ Benda 1993, p. 17.
^ Szabó 2010, pp. 36, 39.
^ a b Szabó 2010, p. 39.
^ a b G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 62.
^ a b c d Benda 1993, p. 18.
^ Benda 1993, p. 407.
^ a b c d e f G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 65.
^ Barta 1994, pp. 293–294.
^ a b Benda 1993, p. 24.
^ a b Szabó 2010, pp. 73–74.
^ Granasztói 1981, p. 412.
^ a b G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 106.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, pp. 107–109.
^ a b c d Barta 1994, p. 294.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 110.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, pp. 107, 111.
^ a b c G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, pp. 111–112.
^ a b c Szabó 2010, p. 78.
^ a b c G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 112.
^ Benda 1993, pp. 43–44.
^ Szabó 2010, pp. 41–42.
^ Granasztói 1981, pp. 414–415.
^ a b Granasztói 1981, p. 415.
^ a b c d e f g Barta 1994, p. 295.
^ a b c d e G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 125.
^ Pop 2005, pp. 307–308.
^ a b c d Pop 2005, p. 308.
^ a b c Granasztói 1981, p. 416.
^ Szabó 2010, p. 102.
^ a b Pop 2005, p. 310.
^ a b Szabó 2010, p. 103.
^ a b c d G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 146.
^ a b c Barta 1994, p. 296.
^ a b Cartledge 2011, p. 103.
^ Benda 1993, pp. 85, 87–88.
^ Kontler 1999, p. 161.
^ Kontler 1999, pp. 164–165.
^ a b c d e f g Kontler 1999, p. 165.
^ a b c Benda 1993, p. 118.
^ a b Benda 1993, p. 117.
^ Szabó 2010, pp. 117–121.
^ Benda 1993, pp. 124–125.
^ a b c d Granasztói 1981, p. 428.
^ a b c d e f g h i Granasztói 1981, p. 429.
^ a b c d e Granasztói 1981, p. 432.
^ a b Barta 1994, p. 299.
^ G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, pp. 17, 42.
^ a b c d e G. Etényi, Horn & Szabó 2006, p. 64.
^ Pálffy 2009, p. 7.
^ a b Pálffy 2009, p. 9.
^ MacCulloch 2004, p. 444.
^ Cartledge 2011, pp. 103–104.
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Benda, Kálmán (1993). Bocskai István [Stephen Bocskai] (in Hungarian). Századvég. ISBN 963-8384-40-9.
Cartledge, Bryan (2011). The Will to Survive: A History of Hungary. C. Hurst & Co. ISBN 978-1-84904-112-6.
G. Etényi, Nóra; Horn, Ildikó; Szabó, Péter (2006). Koronás fejedelem: Bocskai István és kora [A Crowned Prince: Stephen Bocskai and his Time] (in Hungarian). General Press Kiadó. ISBN 963-9648-27-2.
Granasztói, György (1981). "A három részre szakadt ország és a török kiűzése (1526–1605)". In Benda, Kálmán; Péter, Katalin (eds.). Magyarország történeti kronológiája, II: 1526–1848 [Historical Chronology of Hungary, Volume I: 1526–1848] (in Hungarian). Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 361–430. ISBN 963-05-2662-X.
Kontler, László (1999). Millennium in Central Europe: A History of Hungary. Atlantisz Publishing House. ISBN 963-9165-37-9.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid (2004). The Reformation: A History. Viking. ISBN 0-670-03296-4.
Pálffy, Géza (2009). "Szabadságharc volt-e Bocskai István mozgalma? [Was Stephen Bocskai's movement a war for independence?]" (PDF). História (in Hungarian). 30 (1): 7–10. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
Pop, Ioan-Aurel (2005). "The Romanians in the 14th–16th centuries from the "Christian Republic" to the "Restoration of Dacia"". In Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Bolovan, Ioan (eds.). History of Romania: Compendium. Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies). pp. 209–314. ISBN 978-973-7784-12-4.
Szabó, András (2010). "Téged Isten dicsérünk": Bocskai István, Erdély és Magyarország fejedelme ["Thee, O God, we praise": Stephen Bocskai, Prince of Transylvania and Hungary] (in Hungarian). Magyarországi Református Egyház Kálvin János Kiadója. ISBN 978-963-558-164-1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen Bocskay.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Robert Nisbet Bain (1911). "Bocskay, Stephen". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Born: 1 January 1557 Died: 29 December 1606
Regnal titles
Land of the Hungarian Crown
Title last held by
Moses Székely Prince of Transylvania
1605–1606 Vacant
Gábor Pekry Ispán of Bihar County
Pál Nyáry
Stephen Báthory Ispán of Kraszna County
1597 Vacant
Title next held by
Gabriel Báthory
Ferenc Theke Ispán of Inner Szolnok County
Boldizsár Kornis
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Bocskai&oldid=902735054"
Monarchs of Transylvania
Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Hungarian princes
Hungarian nobility
People from Cluj-Napoca
People of the Long Turkish War
1600s in Romania
16th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians
17th-century Protestants
16th-century Hungarian people
17th-century monarchs in Europe
Bocskai family
Articles containing Hungarian-language text
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Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
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EMMA runs a number of Expert Groups tackling urgent issues that go to the heart of publishing businesses such as copyright, VAT and digital-related issues.
The Expert Groups, made up of relevant experts representing Europe’s magazine media, have become a valued forum for members. They allow members to improve their knowledge of relevant developments at EU-level, and also provide an opportunity for useful exchanges of information regarding national activities.
EMMA Working Groups
E-commerce related initiatives
Converging media, AVMS
Brussels I / Rome II Regulation
LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Chairman: Prof. Dr. Christoph Fiedler
EMMA Organizer: Joy de Looz-Corswarem and Marie De Cordier
EMMA’s Legal Affairs Committee (“LAC”) is made up of legal experts from EMMA’s national associations and corporate members. Our legal experts meet four times a year to discuss a range of EU legislative initiatives which are particularly relevant to publishers’ businesses. LAC is a valued forum for members to improve their knowledge of legislative developments at EU level, explain how proposed rules would impact their businesses, and exchange information about national developments. This input is vital for facilitating a constructive dialogue with EU policy and decision makers. In between meetings, EMMA keeps members up to date with developments and conference calls are organised to facilitate further discussion. Members also have the chance to reflect their particular concerns in EMMA position papers and responses to consultations on relevant topics that are under discussion at EU level. Key EU proposals under discussion over the last year include: the proposed Regulation on Data Protection; the proposed ‘Brussels I’ Regulation (adopted at the end of 2012); and the proposed Common European Sales Law Regulation.
LAC is chaired by Prof. Dr. Christoph Fiedler, Managing Director for European Affairs and Media Policy at VDZ, the German Magazine Publishers’ Association
Advertising Restrictions
Self-regulatory initiatives
Competition in the digital era
Media pluralism
PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING COMMITTEE
Chairman: Yolanda Ausin
The Publishing and Advertising Committee ("PAC") is composed of representatives from all EMMA's national association members, as well as interested representatives from EMMA's corporate members. As the name suggests, advertising is at the core of PAC's discussions. The committee covers all proposals impacting advertising revenues, such as the introduction of mandatory information in advertising, as well as self-regulatory initiatives and proposals trying to regulate advertising content. However, many more issues are also tackled by this committee, including VAT, net neutrality, competition issues (e.g. Google) and media pluralism. PAC members meet four times a year, generally in Brussels, alongside the Legal Affairs Committee meetings and meetings of EMMA's Board. Members receive information on EU files impacting publishers, discuss positioning and arguments and also share knowledge and raise awareness of problems happening at national level. In between meetings, PAC members receive regular updates on the issues and are invited to give comments on draft position papers or answers to consultations in order to best reflect their national concerns in our EU papers.
The PAC is chaired by Yolanda Ausin, General Manager for ARI, the Spanish Magazine Association.
Review of Copyright Directive
COPYRIGHT TASK FORCE
Chairman: Open positions
EMMA has a special task force dedicated to the topic of copyright, as this issue goes to the very heart of publishers' businesses. As the future of copyright law remains uncertain, and at a time when copyright infringements are becoming an increasing threat to copyright businesses, the work of the Copyright Task Force is vital. Made up of legal experts from EMMA's national associations and corporate members, the Task Force provides an important forum for members to keep abreast of the various copyright-related developments at EU level, to discuss how proposed rules would impact their businesses, and update each other on relevant national developments. The Task Force is also appreciated by our interlocutors from the EU Institutions, who are regularly invited to join part of our meetings, as our members are able to provide them with valuable first hand information regarding their publishing businesses. This, importantly, enables policy and decision makers to get a better understanding of how their initiatives would impact the sector. The Task Force normally meets twice a year in Brussels, with regular correspondence in between. Following the departure of the Copyright Task Force's former chair (Mark Millar from Future publishing in the UK), EMMA is now in the process of finding a replacement
VAT TASK FORCE
Chairman: Marianne Berard-Quelint
EMMA's VAT Task Force was created in December 2010 when the European Commission announced the revision of the EU's current VAT Directive. The Task Force includes all EMMA members interested in VAT, both from national associations and from companies, who each bring added value to the discussion with their specific experience on this issue. The Task Force's objective is to prepare the necessary ground for a new VAT system reflecting publishers' needs, allowing Member States to apply reduced VAT rates to printed and digital magazines. The members therefore develop arguments, discuss advocacy options, gather statistics, coordinate awareness raising campaigns across the EU and share information about EU and national developments in the taxation field. Most meetings take place via webinar and are organised according to need. Given the level of activity on this topic in Brussels, this lively platform has been meeting at least four times a year. Furthermore, regular emails are used both to update participants on the latest development and gather further information on national perspectives.
The VAT Task Force is chaired by Marianne Berard-Quelin, who is Chairman, CEO and editor-in-chief of Societe Generale de Presse, a French B2B press company. Marianne is also Vice-President of the French Federation of the Specialised Press (FNPS), which is one of EMMA's national association members and Chairman of its Committee on European Affairs.
Google: EU Competition case and national approaches
Converging media
VAT for the digital press (input to work of the VAT Task Force)
Publishing Online Group
Chairman: Claudio Giua
The Publishing Online Group (POG) is EMMA's platform for digital experts from member companies and associations. Members of POG learn about legislative initiatives affecting in particular the digital business of media companies. In return they feed into the advocacy work of EMMA with their digital expertise. This knowledge, together with the real life business cases provided, are used for position papers and in face-to-face meetings with key European policy makers and stakeholders. The work of this group allows EMMA to be an active and knowledgable contributor to debates on the digital future. POG initiated the Berlin Declaration on the future of the digital press .POG members meet up to four times per year in a webinar format and once or twice per year in person.
The Publishing Online Group is chaired by Claudio Giua, Development and Innovation Director of Gruppo Editoriale l'Espresso, Italy.
Paper sourcing
FIPP-EMMA SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE
Chairman: Florian Nehm
The FIPP-EMMA Sustainability Task Force, which is the joint task force of the World Magazine Media Association and EMMA, gathers environmental experts from publishing companies and from national associations. Meetings are organised on an ad hoc basis, depending on EU activities in the field of environment and sustainability, and on member's need for information sharing. They take place either in person or virtually via webinars. This platform covers a wide range of issues, which are mostly legislative but can also relate to practical developments in the publishing value chain, voluntary environmental measures or international standards. In the focus of the discussion are methods to calculate the carbon footprint of publishing companies, recycling rates, timber imports and ISO standards. The Task Force provides for an important exchange as regards members' sustainability initiatives, allowing them to share best practice, knowledge and experience. The sometimes technical discussions also allow members to provide their expertise on the EU initiatives under discussion and to debate and develop the right approach for a sustainable and responsible publishing sector in Europe.
The FIPP-EMMA Sustainability Task Force is chaired by Florian Nehm, Head of Corporate Sustainability and EU Government Affairs of Axel Springer AG, one of Europe's leading multimedia corporations
CORPORATE ADVISORY GROUP
Chairman: Xavier Bouckaert
The Corporate Advisory Group (CAG), which meets twice a year in Brussels, provides the opportunity for EMMA's Corporate Members to meet relevant politicians. CAG is an important task force which supports EMMA's advocacy work. CAG members meet all levels of EU policy and decision makers face-to-face and have the direct business expertise that is crucial to illustrate the potential impact of legislative initiatives on magazine businesses. The EMMA team sets up a series of meetings with key players in the European Commission and the European Parliament who are involved in policy initiatives that impact magazine publishing businesses. Publishers are briefed and accompanied to meetings by a member of the EMMA team and members have the opportunity to explain in detail the business impact of policy initiatives. At the same time, publishers get a deeper insight into the thinking of the European legislators in areas relevant to the future of their business.
The Chairman of CAG is Xavier Bouckaert, COO and Director Magazines of Roularta Media Group, Belgium. Xavier is also the president of the Belgian magazine association, the Ppress.
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Home >> MoneyScience's blog: Oliver Ha...
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Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström awarded Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016
Mon, 10 Oct 2016 09:10:00 GMT
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016 to
Oliver Hart
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Bengt Holmström
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
“for their contributions to contract theory”
The long and the short of contracts
Modern economies are held together by innumerable contracts. The new theoretical tools created by Hart and Holmström are valuable to the understanding of real-life contracts and institutions, as well as potential pitfalls in contract design.
Society’s many contractual relationships include those between shareholders and top executive management, an insurance company and car owners, or a public authority and its suppliers. As such relationships typically entail conflicts of interest, contracts must be properly designed to ensure that the parties take mutually beneficial decisions. This year’s laureates have developed contract theory, a comprehensive framework for analysing many diverse issues in contractual design, like performance-based pay for top executives, deductibles and co-pays in insurance, and the privatisation of public-sector activities.
In the late 1970s, Bengt Holmström demonstrated how a principal (e.g., a company’s shareholders) should design an optimal contract for an agent (the company’s CEO), whose action is partly unobserved by the principal. Holmström’s informativeness principle stated precisely how this contract should link the agent’s pay to performance-relevant information. Using the basic principal-agent model, he showed how the optimal contract carefully weighs risks against incentives. In later work, Holmström generalised these results to more realistic settings, namely: when employees are not only rewarded with pay, but also with potential promotion; when agents expend effort on many tasks, while principals observe only some dimensions of performance; and when individual members of a team can free-ride on the efforts of others.
In the mid-1980s, Oliver Hart made fundamental contri-butions to a new branch of contract theory that deals with the important case of incomplete contracts. Because it is impossible for a contract to specify every eventuality, this branch of the theory spells out optimal allocations of control rights: which party to the contract should be entitled to make decisions in which circumstances? Hart’s findings on incomplete contracts have shed new light on the ownership and control of businesses and have had a vast impact on several fields of economics, as well as political science and law. His research provides us with new theoretical tools for studying questions such as which kinds of companies should merge, the proper mix of debt and equity financing, and when institutions such as schools or prisons ought to be privately or publicly owned.
Through their initial contributions, Hart and Holmström launched contract theory as a fertile field of basic research. Over the last few decades, they have also explored many of its applications. Their analysis of optimal contractual arrangements lays an intellectual foundation for designing policies and institutions in many areas, from bankruptcy legislation to political constitutions.
Read more about this year's prize
Popular Science Background
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Pdf 1839 kB
Illustration: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Oliver Hart, born 1948 in London, UK. Ph.D. 1974 from Princeton University, NJ, USA. Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
http://scholar.harvard.edu/hart/home
Bengt Holmström, born 1949 in Helsinki, Finland. Ph.D. 1978 from Stanford University, CA, USA. Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, and Professor of Economics and Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
http://economics.mit.edu/faculty/bengt
The Prize amount: 8 million Swedish krona, to be shared equally between the Laureates.
Further information: http://kva.se and http://nobelprize.org
Press contact: Jessica Balksjö Nannini, Press Officer, phone +46 8 673 95 44, +46 70 673 96 50, jessica.balksjo@kva.se
Expert: Per Strömberg, Chairman of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, phone +46 8 736 91 19, +46 702 91 64 50, per.stromberg@sifr.org
oliver hart, bengt holmström, sveriges riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel, nobel economics, economics, the long and the short of contracts
Event: Finance Down Under - Building on the Best from the Cellars of Finance
Starting on: Thursday 1st of March, 2018. Posted by: MoneyScience.
The Department of Finance in the Faculty of Business and Economics is pleased to continue its annual conference series.
Blog: Call for Papers - Agent-based modelling and complexity economics
MoneyScience 866 days ago
News: Banks Are Where The Liquidity Is -- by Oliver Hart, Luigi Zingales
1857 days ago - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers
What is so special about banks that their demise often triggers government intervention? In this paper we develop a simple model where, even ignoring interconnectedness issues...
All About Alpha
Blog: The Skorina Report: The ‘hoarding’ hoax, ‘excessive’ private-equity fees and other confusions
All About Alpha 1352 days ago
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Wikileaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy
Make The 21st A Century Of Love
Let's Make the 21st A Century of Love!
On which continent do you live? What is your continent's LQ (Love Quotient)?
Much has been prophesied, postulated and written about our future. Many believe that God will reveal great judgment during the 21st Century. That may very well be true. However, as long as you and I are alive we can decree, share and exhibit love, great love.
Within my domain I decree love. I believe and trust God and I ask Him to establish that love. "Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." (Job 22:28) The Holy Bible.
Are you willing to share the love of God? (All great love is Godly Love.) What a wonderful opportunity we have!!! Amidst all the fighting, trouble and turmoil of our age, we have the blessed opportunity to share great love. How absolutely wonderful!!!
We love the peoples of the world. We will share with them the love of God. How about you? Please help us make the 21st a century of Godly love.
Intermittent Stream
If no sound, please press here
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Stay Holy
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4 - 5) The Holy Bible
(April 11, 2019) - - Today, the U.S. Department of Justice published the following information:
Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer.
According to court documents unsealed today, the charge relates to Assange’s alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.
The indictment alleges that in March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on U.S. Department of Defense computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a U.S. government network used for classified documents and communications. Manning, who had access to the computers in connection with her duties as an intelligence analyst, was using the computers to download classified records to transmit to WikiLeaks. Cracking the password would have allowed Manning to log on to the computers under a username that did not belong to her. Such a deceptive measure would have made it more difficult for investigators to determine the source of the illegal disclosures.
During the conspiracy, Manning and Assange engaged in real-time discussions regarding Manning’s transmission of classified records to Assange. The discussions also reflect Assange actively encouraging Manning to provide more information. During an exchange, Manning told Assange that “after this upload, that’s all I really have got left.” To which Assange replied, “curious eyes never run dry in my experience.”
Assange is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement after the charges were unsealed. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kellen S. Dwyer, Thomas W. Traxler and Gordon D. Kromberg, and Trial Attorneys Matthew R. Walczewski and Nicholas O. Hunter of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case.
The extradition will be handled by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Tags: charged, computer, conspiracy, founder, hacking, Wikileaks
Fear Almighty God
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Psalm 111:10)
We need help from Heaven
It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law. (Psalm 119:126 - - in the Holy Bible)
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I am an extremely quiet person, and since quiet constitutions are often regarded with suspicion, I appreciate films with extremely quiet heroes.
The quiet is what I admired most about Drive, at first. There is restraint in dialogue, and stillness in composition. Even Ryan Gosling’s facial features, unusually petite, restrain themselves from reaching a size better fitting the large plane of his face (it takes one big face to know another).
And out of Gosling’s very little mouth comes a very little voice, that says… very little. This muted calm, despite bursts of gory violence, is Drive’s greatest strength. Director Nicolas Winding Refn creates a persistant monotone mood consistent with lifetime long depression or certain drugs, and in this sleepy way it felt very similar to Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void. But in its characters’ outward emotional restraint and languid physicality it also reminded me of Bresson. This isn’t too surprising as American Gigolo’s influence is clear from the beginning:
and Paul Schrader is a great Bresson admirer, Gigolo being a remake of sorts of Bresson’s Pickpocket, which also shares interesting similarities with Drive:
“The style of this film is not that of a thriller. Using image and sound the filmmaker strives to express the nightmare of a young man who’s weaknesses lead him to commit acts of theft for which nothing destined him. However, this adventure and the strange path it takes, brings together two souls that may otherwise never have met.â€
But Drive doesn’t approach either of these films unfortunately, nor would I liken it to Taxi Driver, the other movie frequently referenced in discussion of the film. If we must compare it to an eighties movie, and Drive insists that we do, I find it to be most similar to Adrian Lyne’s Nine and a Half Weeks. Not in terms of story, though Mickey Rourke too is a sexy, small voiced, mystery man, but rather in unrealized potential: They are both visually satisfying films whose quiet characters suggest complexity but are in fact emotionally simple. The first twenty minutes of both films provoke an excitement that each following second slowly dampens.
An exercise in restraint and the creation of an unusual aesthetic is interesting, but our curiosity goes a short distance if there is no humor, emotional complexity or at least an interesting intellectual idea posited behind it. For example, Drive’s soundtrack enhances its style perfectly. It is echo-y, electronic, and eighties influenced, but there are many moments when the music dilutes the power of the scene.
When Irene (Cary Mulligan) and Gosling suddenly realize their affection for each other, music plays over alternating shots of Irene at her husband’s coming home party, and Gosling paused in work, alone in his empty apartment.
The music heightens the style, but in doing so simplifies the emotion, believing that this one dimensionality is somehow powerful or refreshing in its over simplification. It is not.
When a mainstream film appears to have formal ideas, or takes steps towards something different, it’s extremely exciting. It arouses. But so welcomed is this rare exhilaration that we risk being blind to the film’s secret mediocrity. Drive is interesting. At times it is good, even very good, but unfortunately never great, a fact mourned by all those who have qualms with the film, for it seems no one takes joy in pointing out Drive’s faults.
Despite my criticism, the urge to champion the film remains, and I’m afraid this review is conflicted, for though Drive’s aesthetic is what I criticize, it is also the reason I support it.
There aren’t boatloads of Hollywood action movies with such wide releases that give the same priority to visuals in this particular way. In mainstream cinema, great characters, though also rare, are more easily found than truly dynamic images or attention payed to a precise, cohesive style. It’s important that audiences who might not have interest in, or access to, smaller movies (the audience that probably saw Drive the first weekend), have the chance to see what can be done in a film, not just in an “artsy” film that’s already been compartmentalized as inaccessible, but one full of Hollywood stars. Though Drive is not a great film, it may be a stepping stone. Dare I say, Drive is the gateway drug of movies.
Everyone involved in film in one way or another can recall the one that stirred them to action. Even if you knew everything from Philco Playhouse to Dreyer’s mother’s boyfriend’s short films, chances are it was a contemporary movie that really sparked you to do more than watch, for nothing tops the energy of newness, the realization that the creation of art is not all in the past. Thanks to my parents, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by great movies, still, it was the semi-unspectacular American Beauty that cinched the deal. This shot in particular:
I was suddenly aware of the lighting. And the shot composition. And the music. It was different. After years and years of watching greater films, it was this one that began it all. I decided I would make movies one way or another.
Soon after seeing American Beauty, I had a doctor’s appointment. As she prepared an EKG I had insisted on for imaginary heart palpitations, the nurse asked me what I wanted to do. At that time I wanted to be a DP.
Nurse: So what do you want to do?
Fourteen year old me (see above): Cinematography
Nurse: Oh! What made you decide that?
Me (trying to give shortest possible answer): Uh, some movies look better than others…
Nurse: Really? That’s so smart! (to another nurse) Did you hear that? She said she realized that some movies look better than others!
I wasn’t sure if she was making fun of me or not (no kidding genius some movies look better than others), and I still don’t know, but I think that sums it up. Some movies look better than others and those movies, though unable to move us in greater ways, still play an important role. They are simple and accessible with enough hints at an artistic sensibility to energize… for a moment.
I think Drive will most satisfy teenagers who are discovering and experimenting with the power of aesthetic and style, but who, as they grow older, will abandon it for films revealing greater truths.
Tags: Bresson, Carey Mulligan, Nicolas Winding Refn, Oscar Isaac, Paul Schrader, Ryan Gosling
Ken Baumann October 5th, 2011
Doug Bruner October 5th, 2011
I too, found a certain fascination with the movie Drive. You can find my remarks about it on my Facebook page. I found myself comparing this movie to Bullitt (1968) starring Steve McQueen and The Driver (1978) starring Ryan O’Neal. The Mustang car chase scene in Bullitt is regarded by many as the best ever put on film. And I feel that O’Neal’s performance as a get away driver in The Driver is much better than Ryan Gosling’s portrayal in Drive. Also, I feel that the violence and profanity levels in Drive were way over the top. But you are right about the production values in Drive. It has a certain haunting quality and the final scene leaves you wondering. I recommend Drive only for teenagers over the age of 17. Needless to say, this is not a date film unless as a date among law enforcement couples. As a final comment, I would suggest you see all three of the films I have mentioned and make your own comparisons.
Jim Stimpfle October 6th, 2011
Quiet! I said quiet! I’m watching! Don’t move so fast. Oh, I got it!
Damn! That moment in the elevator is a story… Ohhhh god….
Who wrote this… Powerful sad, but I left the theater with more than
When I sat down lights out…
Christopher Harn October 6th, 2011
I liked that it took the nameless wanderer paradigm and made it more intimate.
Christine October 6th, 2011
To you, “no kidding genius some movies look better than others,” but it’s kind of like acting: not everyone notices. People can’t always point out what it is that stirs their emotions in a film, whether it’s lighting or composition or the story… but they go with it. I think you need some sort of training or art background to be able to say, “…here’s why.”
The first time I ever noticed bad acting was in Ever After, upon the second watching. The first time, I loved the film. The second time, I noticed the acting.
Matt Shaw October 6th, 2011
I think it’s funny how you qualify yourself, at the end of your article, as someone who has good taste. How can you tell if you have good taste? Taste is subjective.
The two arguments you make are: the characters are too simple, and the music sometimes detracts from the film. That is your opinion. I actually found the music and simplicity absolutely refreshing. You say it isn’t? Why?
Next you say the film is good, but not great. Why? That is another subjective argument.
This post seems to not be a review, but a masturbatory exercise in how you can relate certain aspects of Drive to other films. Congratulations, you noticed similarities. That’s not very hard to do. Defending your opinion is what is hard in writing.
So, why do you think the simplicity of the characters and emotions was a bad choice in this film? Why do you think the music diluted the power of the scenes? Why do you think it is has been “compartmentalized to be inaccessible?” Why must every film have some pseudo-intellectual message or humor to be great? I don’t think Drive was ever trying to be anything but visceral.
I thought the movie was amazing. I don’t know if you have ever been in a car accident, but I have and there were a few times during the this movie where it gave me the same kind of armrest-gripping adrenaline burst. The “slow” parts feel like the equivalent of being in a daze after you have crashed going 50 mph. You are just sitting there stunned. You are almost seeing life in a different way. Then, after you have escaped death, you are a little more contemplative on life and you appreciate every.. little.. micro-emotion.. that you feel. Especially, when you fall in love.
I think Refn is a master of conjuring the visceral and I can’t wait to see his next film.
louis October 6th, 2011
@Matt Shaw:
…Are you kidding? *All* film reviews are subjective. You’re talking about this post like it’s a scientific paper with evidence that needs to be presented. And if you need proof to kartina’s “good taste” just read all of her other posts. Her “good taste” as you or knowledge of film is damn solid.
(And for the record, I loved Drive)
patrick October 6th, 2011
Crass!
Samir (@beingsamirblog) October 8th, 2011
Sort of.
I found that there was some complexity behind Gosling’s character, especially regarding the ugly violence hidden under the beautiful outside skin. Just compare his face from when he’s kissing Carey Mulligan in the elevator to after he stomps the guys face in. He’s got sweat all over and that clear and calm facial expression is completely gone.
But I totally agree that it is a gateway drug of movies. You say that for most people their gateway movie is a contemporary one, and that’s probably true but I seem to be an exception. In Seattle we have a great theater called the Cinerama and they show old 70mm movies every once in a while. When I was about 16 years old (I’m 21 now) I was a huge sci fi nerd, and I had heard of a movie called “2001: A Space Odyssey” because it was commonly described as one of the great science fiction movies of all time. They were showing it in 70mm at Cinerama one summer and I went to go see it. I left the theater confused, but also mesmerized. I had no idea what I saw, but I loved it. That started a questioning of linear storytelling and an admiration of the power of images over the power of the written word. And now I’m watching movies by people like Jean Renoir, Roberto Rossellini, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Eric October 9th, 2011
Loved it. Found the pace and visual style to be intoxicating. I was reminded of David Lynch. I appreciated a different take on story that has been told many times before. I also saw it as a visceral exercise in cinema. The tension built steadily and the payoff was worth the wait. Looking forward to a 2nd viewing.
Jesue Valle October 18th, 2011
I really need to see this film. I love quiet heroes too. Thank you again for another insightful film write-up.
Jesue V
FILM MUSIC ART blog
Salvo Triest. November 13th, 2011
When I was a teenager, long before I had ever imagined I’d be into novels, my way of getting my narrative fix was through films and films alone.Films were immediate, visceral, and most importantly, watching one usually only took little more than two hours of my life, tops. Now that I’m older, 24, I find that the written word, is more engaging than the glow of images projected onto a screen because verbal language, in the hands of a truly masterful writer, can allow one to delve far deeper into the human mind than cinema, at least at this point, can. However, when it comes to which is more powerful, the written word or the projected image, I’m going to have to go with the latter every time.
The funny thing is, this has little if anything to do with the strengths and weakness of the cinematic medium versus the literary, but everything to do with one simple fact; images, because of their concrete likeness to reality, make it easier for the human brain to react as though it were, in fact, experiencing the alternate reality that the image in question depicts. Novels, due to the completely intangible material they’re constructed of (these being words), by themselves, lack the parralel resonance to present-time reality which is one of the staying powers of film. They can, indeed, move one to tears (the beginning of Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto), make an outsider in real life feel as though they’ve known nothing but an intricate social life their entire lives (Bolano’s The Savage Detectives), evoke genuine laughter at the most inane of jokes ( Perotta’s The Abstinence Teacher), but when it comes time for the novelist to use words to evoke ACTION as though it were happening in real time, in real motion, just like on a silver screen… That’s where the medium falls short (the end scene of Patchett’s Bel Canto).
Words can be used to descrbe all they want, and they can actually do that when they’re does exist a machine called a projector that captures situations that never happened and presents them to the masses as events that physically occured outside of reality, but, technically speaking, in real life, what is the point?
It goes like this; film best captures experience, and novels best capture the internalization of that experience. Sure the evocativeness of film can sometimes blind one to the ideas behind the images, and the coziness of written language can sometimes numb one to the harsh realites that inspired many of the great novels, but that’s just how it goes. Words engage and films move; equal powers, different powers.
And besides, just as there are gateway movies, there are, too, gateway novels. Mine was Little Children by Tom Perotta.
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Oracle Buys NetSuite
Redwood Shores and San Mateo, CA —July 28, 2016—Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NetSuite (NYSE: N), the very first cloud company. The transaction is valued at $109.00 per share in cash, or approximately $9.3 billion.
“Oracle and NetSuite cloud applications are complementary, and will coexist in the marketplace forever,” said Mark Hurd, Chief Executive Officer, Oracle. “We intend to invest heavily in both products – engineering and distribution.”
“We expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive to Oracle’s earnings on a non-GAAP basis in the first full fiscal year after closing,” said Safra Catz, Chief Executive Officer, Oracle.
“NetSuite has been working for 18 years to develop a single system for running a business in the cloud,” said Evan Goldberg, Founder, Chief Technology Officer and Chairman, NetSuite. “This combination is a winner for NetSuite’s customers, employees and partners.”
“NetSuite will benefit from Oracle’s global scale and reach to accelerate the availability of our cloud solutions in more industries and more countries,” said Zach Nelson, Chief Executive Officer, NetSuite. “We are excited to join Oracle and accelerate our pace of innovation.”
The Board of Directors of NetSuite, based on the unanimous recommendation of the Transaction Committee, has unanimously approved the transaction. The Transaction Committee is composed solely of independent directors.
The transaction is expected to close in 2016. The closing of the transaction is subject to receiving certain regulatory approvals and satisfying other closing conditions including NetSuite stockholders tendering a majority of NetSuite’s outstanding shares in the tender offer. In addition, the closing is subject to a condition that a majority of NetSuite’s outstanding shares not owned by executive officers or directors of NetSuite, or persons affiliated with Larry Ellison, his family members and any affiliated entities, be tendered in the tender offer.
Oracle offers a comprehensive and fully integrated stack of cloud applications and platform services. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), visit www.oracle.com.
In 1998, NetSuite pioneered the Cloud Computing revolution, establishing the world’s first company dedicated to delivering business applications over the Internet. Today, NetSuite provides a suite of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software that runs the business of more than 30,000 companies, organizations, and subsidiaries in more than 100 countries.
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements made in this communication that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about the expected timetable for completing the transaction and the potential effects of the acquisition on both Oracle and NetSuite, are forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs, certain assumptions and current expectations and should be evaluated as such. These statements may be identified by their use of forward-looking terminology such as the words “expects,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “intends” and other similar words. Forward-looking statements include statements that may relate to Oracle’s or NetSuite’s plans, objectives, strategies, goals, future events, future revenues or performance, and other information that is not historical information. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic, business and market conditions and the satisfaction of the conditions to closing of the proposed transaction. For a more complete discussion of certain of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements with respect to NetSuite, see the discussion of risks and uncertainties in NetSuite’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, other reports NetSuite files under the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), as well as the tender offer documents to be filed by Oracle and its acquisition subsidiary and by NetSuite. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date that the press release is issued, and NetSuite undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements in this document are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Additional Information about the Acquisition and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed acquisition, Oracle will commence a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of NetSuite. The tender offer has not yet commenced. This communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of NetSuite, nor is it a substitute for the tender offer materials that Oracle and its acquisition subsidiary will file with the SEC upon commencement of the tender offer. At the time that the tender offer is commenced, Oracle and its acquisition subsidiary will file tender offer materials on Schedule TO with the SEC, and NetSuite will file a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC with respect to the offer. THE TENDER OFFER MATERIALS (INCLUDING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CERTAIN OTHER TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS) AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT SHOULD BE READ CAREFULLY AND CONSIDERED BY NETSUITE’S STOCKHOLDERS BEFORE ANY DECISION IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE TENDER OFFER. Both the tender offer statement and the solicitation/recommendation statement will be made available to NetSuite’s stockholders free of charge. A free copy of the tender offer statement and the solicitation/recommendation statement will also be made available to all stockholders of NetSuite by contacting NetSuite at IR@netsuite.com or by phone at 650.627.1000, or by visiting NetSuite’s website (www.netsuite.com). In addition, the tender offer statement and the solicitation/recommendation statement (and all other documents filed with the SEC) will be available at no charge on the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov) upon filing with the SEC. NETSUITE’S STOCKHOLDERS ARE ADVISED TO READ THE TENDER OFFER STATEMENT AND THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT, AS EACH MAY BE AMENDED OR SUPPLEMENTED FROM TIME TO TIME, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BEFORE THEY MAKE ANY DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE TENDER OFFER BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND THE PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION.
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Cardinal Cañizares Writes About Usus Antiquior and Liturgical Reform
The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has written a preface to the Spanish edition of a recent book by Fr. Nicola Bux, The Reform of Benedict XVI, which will be presented in Toledo this Thursday. In this outstanding preface, the Prefect of the dicastery charged with the sacred liturgy quite frankly recognizes that the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council have often not been completely successful, that a false spirit of rupture was at work. While this may seem obvious to most NLM readers, it should be considered that until a rather short time ago, to express such a view was still anathema. Thus, to have it puclicly stated by the man given he highest authority in matters liturgical by the Holy Father is quite significant. What we see here, then, surely is the "setting of the tone", the "laying of the foundations" for an actual reform of the reform, in the cautious and gentle, yet determined manner which clearly is the modus operandi of our Holy Father.
The Cardinal again stresses - like Cardinal Castrillón has often done - that Pope Benedict's intention in issuing Summorum Pontificum was above all to open up the treasure of the traditional liturgy to all the faithful. He makes concrete suggestions how the usus antiquior might be integrated into the life even of parishes and communities which do not regularly celebrate it, and among these suggestions is also, very significantly, Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum, when many had (wrongly) claimed that Summorum Pontificum did not allow for the rites of the Sacred Triduum to be celebrated according to the usus antiquior outside of personal parishes and the like. He asserts that the traditional form of the Roman rite - as well as other Western and Eastern rites in the extent possible - should be part of theoretical and practical seminary education. Cardinal Cañizares also finds strong words of comfort for the priests and faithful who after the reforms were being vilified either for being attached to the usus antiquior or for celebrating the reformed liturgy in a spirit of continuity.
All in all a very remarkable text. Here is the preface in my translation:
Only a few months have passed from the publication of this book until this present Spanish edition. However, the significance of certain events which occurred during this time has greatly changed the "climate" around its theme, especially due to the atmosphere of controversy that has been created following the lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated twenty years ago by Monsignor Lefebvre. This gesture of gratuitous mercy by the Holy Father in order to aid their full integration into the Church, which shows by deeds that the Church does not renounce its tradition, has led to the "traditional Mass" being linked to a disciplinary problem and, worse still, a political one.
Consequently, there is a risk of distortion of the deeper meaning of the Motu Proprio of 7 July 2007, a gesture of extraordinary ecclesial common sense with which has been recognised the full validity of a rite that has nourished spiritually the Church in the West for centuries.
Undoubtedly, a deepening and a renewal of the liturgy were necessary. But often, this has not been a perfectly successful operation. The first part of the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium has not entered into the heart of the Christian people. There was a change in the forms, a reform, but not a genuine renewal, as called for by the conciliar Fathers. Sometimes changes have been made simply because of a desire for change with respect to a past perceived as totally negative and obsolete, conceiving the reform as a rupture and not as an organic development of the tradition. This created reactions and resistance from the beginning, which in some cases crystallized in positions and attitudes that led to extreme solutions, and even to concrete actions which meant canonical penalties. It is urgent, however, to distinguish the disciplinary problem arisen from attitudes of disobedience of one group form the doctrinal and liturgical problem.
If we truly believe that the Eucharist is really the "source and summit of Christian life" – as the Second Vatican Council reminds us – we cannot admit that it is celebrated in an unworthy manner. For many, accepting the conciliar reform has meant celebrating a Mass which in one way or another had to be "desacralised". How many priests have been called "backward" or "anticonciliar" because of the mere fact of celebrating in a solemn or pious manner or simply for fully obeying the rubrics! It is imperative to get out of this dialectic.
The reform has been implemented and it has mainly been experienced as an absolute change, as if an abyss should be created between the "before" and the "after" the Council, in a context where the term "preconciliar" was used like an insult. Here also the phenomenon occurred which the Pope notes in his recent letter to the bishops of 10 March 2009: "Sometimes one has the impression that our society needs at least one group for which there need not be any tolerance; which one can unperturbedly set upon with hatred." For years this was the case in good measure with the priests and faithful attached to the form of Mass inherited throughout the centuries, who were often treated "like lepers", as the then Cardinal Ratzinger bluntly put it.
Today, thanks to the Motu Proprio, this situation is changing notably. And it is doing so in large part because the intention of the Pope has not only been to satisfy the followers of Monsignor Lefevbre, nor to confine himself to respond to the just wishes of the faithful who feel attached, for various reasons, to the liturgical heritage represented by the Roman rite, but also, and in a special way, to open the liturgical richness of the Church to all the faithful, thus making possible the discovery of the treasures of the liturgical patrimony of the Church to those who still do not know it. How many times is the attitude of those who disdain them not due to anything other than this ignorance! Therefore, considered from this last aspect, the Motu Proprio makes sense beyond the presence or absence of conflicts: even if there were not a single "traditionalist" whom to satisfy, this "discovery" would have been enough to justify the provisions of the Pope.
It has also been said that these dispositions were an "attack" against the Council, but this shows an ignorance of the Council itself, whose intention to give all the faithful the opportunity to get to know and appreciate the multiple treasures of the liturgy of the Church is precisely what this great assembly ardently desired: "In faithful obedience to Tradition, the Sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way." (SC, 4).
Moreover, these dispositions are not a novelty; the Church has always maintained them, and when occasionally this has not been the case, the consequences have been tragic. Not only have the rites of the East been respected, but in the West dioceses such as Milan, Lyon, Cologne, Braga and various religious orders have preserved their various rites peacefully through the centuries. But the clearest precedent of the current situation is undoubtedly the archdiocese of Toledo. Cardinal Cisneros put up every means to preserve as "extraordinary" in the archdiocese the Mozarabic rite which was about to become extinct. Not only did he make print the Missal and Breviary, but he created a special chapel in the Cathedral, where still today this rite is celebrated daily.
This variety did not ever mean, nor can it mean, doctrinal differences, but on the contrary, it highlights a profound fundamental identity. Among the rites presently in use it is necessary that there also be this same unity. The current task, as this book of Don Nicola Bux tells us, is to show the theological identity between the liturgy of the various rites that have been celebrated over the centuries and the new liturgy, fruit of the reform, or else, if this identity has been blurred, to recover it.
The reform of Benedict XVI, then, is a book rich in data, reflections and ideas, and from among the many topics treated in it, I would like to emphasize some points:
The first is about the name by which to call this Mass. The author proposes to call it in the oriental manner "Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great." That is perhaps better than to say simply say "Gregorian", as this can lead to a twofold ambiguity (which could be avoided in any case with the designation "Damaso-Gregorian“). It is also more convenient than "traditional Mass", where the adjective is in danger of being contaminated by a burden of either controversy or "folklore"; or more convenient than "extraordinary form", which is a too extrinsic denomination. "Usus antiquior" has the defect of being a merely chronological reference. On the other hand, "usus receptus" would be too technical. "Missal of St. Pius V" or "Blessed John XXIII" are too limited terms. The only drawback is that in the Byzantine rite there already is a liturgy of St. Gregory, Pope of Rome: that of the presanctified gifts used in Lent.
Secondly, the fact that the use is "extraordinary" must not mean that it should be used only by priests and faithful who adhere to the extraordinary form. As Father Bux proposes, it would be very positive if someone who usually celebrates in the "ordinary" form would also, "extraordinarily", do so in the "extraordinary" form. This is a treasure that is the heritage of all and to which, in one way or another, everyone should have access. Therefore one could propose it especially for occasions when there is some particular richness of the old missal of which one could benefit (especially if in the other calendar there is nothing special foreseen): for example, for the time of Septuagesima, for the four Embertides or for the Vigil of Pentecost, and maybe even in the case of certain special communities, both of consecrated life and of brotherhoods or fraternities. Celebrations in the "extraordinary" form would also be of great usefulness for the offices of Holy Week, at least some of them, because all the rites preserve during the Sacred Triduum ceremonies and prayers that go back to the most ancient times of the Church.
Another point which it is necessary to emphasise is the attitude of Benedict XVI: it is not so much a novelty or change of direction of government; rather it brings to its concretisation what John Paul II had already launched with initiatives such as the papal document Quattuor abhinc annos, the consultation of the committee of Cardinals, the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei and the creation of the Commission of the same name, or the words addressed to the Congregation for Divine Worship (2003).
Something which it is urgent to take into account is the ecumenical impact of these discussions: the criticism directed toward the rite received from the Roman tradition also extends to the other traditions and above all to that of the Orthodox brethren. Almost all the attacks of those opposed to the reintroduction of the old missal are precisely against the places we have in common with the Eastern! A sign that confirms this fact are the positive expressions of the recently deceased patriarch of Moscow on the publication of the Motu Proprio.
It is not one of the least important aspects of this book that it helps us become aware of the various aspects of the situation in which we currently find ourselves. Our generation is faced great challenges in liturgical matters: to help the whole Church to fully follow what the Second Vatican Council has indicated in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium and what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the liturgy; to treasure what the Holy Father – when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – has written on the subject, especially in his most beautiful book The Spirit of the Liturgy; to enrich oneself by the way in which the Holy Father – assisted by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations, which is presided over by Monsignor Guido Marini, and a consultor of which is the author of this book – celebrates the liturgy. These papal liturgies are exemplary for the whole Catholic world.
Finally, I add that it would be of great importance that all this be expounded profoundly in the seminars as an integral part of the formation for the priesthood, to provide a theoretical and practical knowledge of the liturgical riches, not only of the Roman rite, but also, in the extent possible, of the various rites of East and West, and thus create a new generation of priests free of dialectic prejudices.
Hopefully this valuable book by Don Nicola Bux may serve to know better the intentions of the Holy Father and to discover the riches of the inheritance received and, at the same time, to enlighten us in our action. Let us ask the Lord to know how to interpret, as Paul VI said, the "signs of the times".
+ Antonio Cardinal Cañizares
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Archbishop Apostolic Administrator of Toledo
Thanks to Secretum meum mihi for the Spanish original. A PDF of the original can also be found on the Spanish website of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, which collaborated in producing this edition.
Labels: Cardinal Cañizares, reform of the reform, usus antiquior
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Governments Should Plan for Climate Change Migrants
Article | January 8, 2015 | Alister Doyle | Scientific American
Governments need to plan better for rising migration driven by climate change, experts said on Thursday, citing evidence that extreme weather and natural disasters force far more people from their homes than wars.
Projections by leading climate scientists of rising sea levels, heatwaves, floods and droughts linked to global warming are likely to oblige millions of people to move out of harm's way, with some never able to return.
The issue is politically sensitive at a time when economic austerity is straining the generosity of host governments and anti-immigrant sentiment is rising in many countries, especially in Europe.
"Natural disasters displace three to 10 times more people than all conflicts and war in the world combined," said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council which runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in Geneva.
IDMC data show that 22 million people were displaced by extreme events in 2013, led by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, three times more than the number displaced by conflicts. In many other years, the ratio was much wider.
In the early 1970s, the total number of people displaced was only about 10 million. Extreme events also include earthquakes and tsunamis, unrelated to the weather.
"Many more people in a growing population live more exposed to more extreme weather," Egeland told a conference in Oslo about migration and climate change.
Chaloka Beyani, the United Nations' special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, told Reuters that governments should step up planning for migrants.
"For the future we are looking more to planned relocations for people who are prone to frequent hazards," he said.
Sea level rise of 19 cm (8 inches) since 1900, caused by factors including a thaw of glaciers from the Andes to the Alps and of Greenland's ice sheet, aggravates storm surges in many coastal regions, according to the U.N. panel of climate experts.
The panel's scenarios point to a further rise of 26 to 82 cm by the late 21st century. The panel says it is at least 95 percent probable that human activities, led by burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of warming.
"We don't have to wait until an island sinks in maybe 50 years time and an entire population vanishes," Beyani said. "There will have to be a planned movement and relocation."
Climate change also added reasons for people to leave home by disrupting food and water supplies. "Access to resources, constrained by climatic factors, breeds conflict," he said.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/governments-should-plan-for-climate-change-migrants/
general email: nnirrinfo@nnirr.org
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Eva Doesn`t Sleep
Gael García Bernal gives a supremely unsettling performance in the new film from visionary Argentinean director Pablo Agu¨ero, which tells the unbelievable true story of the transport of the body of the country’s beloved First Lady Eva Perón. In 1952 Eva Perón, died of cancer at the age of thirty-three. A renowned embalmer was commissioned by grieving husband Juan Perón to preserve her body for display, and Argentines flocked to be near “Evita.” Three years later, when his government was overthrown by a military coup, Perón fled the country before he could make arrangements for the transportation of his wife’s body. The military junta now in control kidnapped the corpse; so afraid were they of Eva’s symbolic power that they even made it illegal to utter her name. Thus began the two-decade journey of Eva’s body throughout Europe and eventually back to Argentina. Interspersing his film’s eerie scenes with found footage, Agu¨ero creates a resonant reconstruction of Argentina’s past both bold and original.
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Home / Berghaus / Berghaus Adventure Series tour
Berghaus Adventure Series tour
Berghaus, Leo Houlding
Berghaus has announced details of a tour of live shows for the autumn. The Berghaus Adventure Series will run from late October until early December and will see Mick Fowler and Leo Houlding entertain audiences at venues across England and Scotland.
The tour will kick off at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol, where Leo will talk about his recent adventures, including last year’s epic Asgard Project and his more recent escapades in Yosemite. In recent years Leo’s live appearances have proved to be very popular – he combines irreverence and entertainment with stunning photography and footage, and an insight into his ceaseless adventures around the world.
Mick’s first show will be at the Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester. He will have just returned from his latest expedition, which is taking him to the north side of the Xuelian massif in the Chinese Tien Shan range. Tien Shan has been off limits for many years but Mick managed to secure permits from the Chinese authorities for a four week visit during August and September. His is only the third mountaineering expedition ever to visit the area. Mick specialises in the exploration of remote, extremely challenging climbing areas and will talk about a long and varied career that has seen him labelled “the mountaineers’ mountaineer” by the Observer newspaper.
Leo Houlding comments: “I am really looking forward to being part of the first Berghaus Adventure Series. It is a real privilege to have the opportunity to share stories about my climbing career so far, and hopefully enthuse people about the outdoors and adventure. Over the years, I have been inspired by the words and images of many other climbers and I hope that I can both entertain and encourage others to explore and enjoy the world around them.”
The Berghaus Adventure Series kicks off on October 24th and runs through to December 2nd with a joint Leo and Mick lecture at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London on November 27th. For further information and tickets, visit www.planetfear.com.
Millets offers buy now, collect at Bestival service
Glastonbury 2011 Tickets to go on sale
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Wild Horse Winery Central Coast Pinot Noir 2015
BN#617647
California » Central Coast
Wild Horse Winery
Not currently available.
Our 2015 Central Coast Pinot Noir has complex aromas of ripe cherry, dark fruit, nutmeg, earth, strawberry pie, and vanilla. The flavors are fresh, balanced, and bright, including cranberry, strawberry, and vanilla. Food Pairings: Pair with salmon, garlic and herb roasted pork tenderloin, wild mushroom polenta, and baked ziti with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and goat cheese.
Vintages and ratings subject to change at any time.
All pricing and availability subject to change.
Wine which is produced and bottled under strict supervision and meets all standards to be certified Kosher.
Wine which is produced using organic practices and is free of all synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
Biodynamic designation is regulated by Demeter, an international certification organization. Biodynamic agriculture is based on the view of a farm as a self-contained organism. Certified organic vineyards must meet Demeter"s additional criteria for a period of one year before earning the designation "biodynamic."
Sustainable practices incorporate organic standards and may exceed them and include ecologically and socially sound business practices such as fair pay for farm workers and energy conservation.
Wines sealed with a screw cap as opposed to a cork, which experts report protects and preserves wine more effectively than does a cork, while also eliminating the possibility of cork taint.
All wines naturally contain some sulfites, however wines that contain less than 10 parts per million sulfites are not required to include "Contains Sulfites" on their labels.
Wines that are still in the barrel and have yet to be bottled. Futures offer the opportunity to invest in a wine before it arrives in our store.
Like futures, pre-arrivals are wines that have not yet arrived on our shelves, however they may or may not be a new release. Pre-arrivals may already be bottled and en route to our store.
The Wine Advocate is a bimonthly wine publication featuring the consumer advice of wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. Initially titled The Baltimore-Washington Wine Advocate the first issue was published in 1978. Accepting no advertising, the newsletter publishes in excess of 7,500 reviews per year, utilizing Parker's rating system that employs a 50-100 point quality scale.
Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertainment pieces. Each issue also includes from 400 to more than 1,000 wine reviews, which consist of wine ratings and tasting notes.
Since 1997, the 100% subscriber-supported IWC has also been available in French and Japanese editions.
Wine Enthusiast Magazine is a lifestyle magazine covering wine, food, spirits, travel and entertaining topics. It was founded in 1988 by Adam and Sybil Strum and reaches 686,000 readers. Its wine ratings, conducted by reviewers in major wine-producing areas of the world, are considered an influential gauge for consumers and professionals in the wine industry.
BeerAdvocate is an organization founded by brothers Todd and Jason Alström. The mission, as stated on their website, is to "Respect Beer". BeerAdvocate also has a full-color monthly magazine. It includes various articles written by, and concerning, craft brewers (both amateur and professional). The brothers also write for various journals, including Boston's Weekly Dig.
Wine and Spirits is America's practical guide to the straightforward, enlightened enjoyment of fine wine and and premium spirits. We have for 18 years served customers and marketers alike with a lively mix of wine reviews, features, profiles, food and wine pairings, new product introductions, travel pieces, history, opinion and wine business news.
Burghound.com was the first of its kind to offer specialized, and more importantly, exhaustive coverage of a specific wine region. The first Issue was released in January of 2001 and there are now subscribers in more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states. Allen Meadows spends over four months a year in Burgundy and visits more than 300 domaines during that time.
James is one of the world’s leading authorities on Australian wine, matching intelligent, honest reviews with unparalleled knowledge of, and passion for, the wine industry.
The Bottle Shop wine store in Spring Lake, New Jersey, is owned by the Murray family, who have been wine merchants in Monmouth County since 1972. Tom and Marie Murray converted a small liquor store on the Jersey Shore into a vintage wine, cheese and gourmet food shop; an endeavor reported in the New York Times in the summer of 1974. Today, their three children are continuing the tradition...
At OC Wine Mart, we are redefining your neighborhood wine, liquor & convenience store. We have a wine specialist on board who will gladly help you find the best wine for your particular occasion, whether it’s for a special dinner party, a gift, or just the right wine to pair with food, to take an everyday meal to the next level.
For thirty-five years, Connoisseurs’ Guide has been the authoritative voice of the California wine consumer. With readers in all fifty states and twenty foreign countries, the Guide is valued by wine lovers everywhere for its honesty and for it strong adherence to the principles of transparency, unbiased, hard-hitting opinions.
I rate wines using the 100-points scale. I have used this point system for close to 25 years. I still believe it is the simplest way to rate a wine, with its origins from grade school in the United States. A wine that I rate 90 points or more is outstanding (A), and worth buying. If I rate a wine 95 points or more (A+), it is a must buy.
In-house ratings from our expert staff.
View From the Cellar, an electronic wine newsletter published bi-monthly by John Gilman.
Homepage for wine writer, Neal Martin's, "Diary of a Wine Writer".
Malt Advocate magazine is America's leading whisky magazine. It's the number one source for whisky information, education and entertainment for whisky enthusiasts.
Dedicated to the wines and grapes of the Rhone Valley
Wine Review Online was originally conceived by Publisher Robert Whitley as an all-encompassing platform for the many talented wine journalists he came across in his travels as wine columnist for the Creators Syndicate.
Since launching in May 2013 Vinous has become one the fastest growing wine content websites in the world. Regular features include comprehensive reviews of new releases from Italy, California, Champagne and Burgundy, vertical tastings and retrospectives, in-depth videos shot on location, Vinous Favorites - our top picks under $25 - and Vinous Table, where we profile our top eating and drinking destinations.
ChampagneGuide.net is the web's most comprehensive guide to the wines and wine producers of Champagne. This online guide features profiles of over 160 champagne producers, from renowned négociant houses to small grower estates.
Jim Murray's Whisky Bible is the world's leading whisky guide. Each edition contains roughly 4,500 detailed, professionally analysed and easy to understand tasting notes on the world's leading and lesser known whiskies.
Whisky Advocate magazine is America's leading whisky magazine. The #1 source for whisky information, education & entertainment for whisky enthusiasts.
Decanter magazine is - quite simply - the world’s best wine magazine. Read in over 90 countries, Decanter is required reading for everyone with an interest in wine - from amateur enthusiast to serious collector.
World-renowned wine authority and Master of Wine delivers her tasting notes, wine news, intelligent and courteous members' forum, and fine wine writing aplenty plus exclusive online access to The Oxford Companion to Wine.
THE TASTING PANEL magazine is the most widely circulated trade publication in the beverage industry, reaching an audience of thousands of key decision-makers every month and growing on an international scale.
Beverage Dynamics is the largest national magazine dedicated to the needs of the off-premise beverage alcohol retailer.
PinotReport is written exclusively about Western Pinot Noir.
RateBeer is an independent world site for craft beer enthusiasts and is dedicated to serving the entire craft beer community through beer education, promotion and outreach.
Drink Spirits is a spirit ‘agnostic’ site which means that, while we have our favorite spirits, we believe that there are amazing spirits within ALL categories of distilled spirits and alcohol.
We do our best to hand pick the wines we carry and deliver them to you at a great everyday price. Whether you are looking for a everyday dinner wine or a special occasion wine, our staff will meet your needs.
The San Diego International Wine Competition takes place in San Diego, California and the director is nationally syndicated wine columnist Robert Whitley.
The International Wine Review publishes in-depth tasting reports on the world of wine for wine professionals and others deeply involved in wine.
The JebDunnuck.com website is a subscription based, bi-monthly publication dedicated to providing cutting-edge, independent commentary and reviews on the top wines and wine regions of the world.
The International Wine Report
Copyright © 2019 Owens Liquors. All rights reserved.
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shipwreck heritage
A good and just law for shipwreck heritage
By treasures | On 11/12/2011 | In Parks & Protected Sites
By Dr Edward Harris - The Royal Gazette
‘Only a small part of what once existed was buried in the ground; only a part of what was buried has escaped the destroying hand of time; of this part all has not yet come to light again; and we know only too well how little of what has come to light has been of service for our science.' - Oscar Montelius, The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times, 1888.
Standing as the only visible signpost in the west on the trans-Atlantic crossroads from the Caribbean to the Old World of Spain and the other countries of western Europe, Bermuda and its waters, being also an impediment of reefs in that eastward passage, became the burial place of many a hapless ship and intrepid mariner.
Over the course of the Age of Sail, in the case of Bermuda starting after its discovery in late 1505 by the eponymous Juan and ending with the advent of the Steam Age around the time of the American Civil War, the island become a sunken repository of shipwreck heritage, holding the remains of perhaps several hundred vessels.
Given that sea travel from the Age of Discovery onwards encircled the world, after Magellan if you will, the shipwreck heritage embedded in Bermuda's reefs is international heritage, ‘World Heritage' you might say, and thus it fell to the Island to preserve that heritage which belongs to all peoples.
For many years, we fulfilled that responsibility less than adequately, with much heritage being destroyed and not much being retained in the public domain, due to the inadequacies of a law promulgated in 1959, apparently composed with serious input from treasure hunters. The Act was slanted to their benefit and not that of the country or the world, and thus the possession of much of that shipwreck heritage passed into private hands.
That world changed with the enactment by the Progressive Labour Party government, under Premier (now Dame) Jennifer Smith, JP, MP, of the Historic Wrecks Act 2001.
That good and just law for shipwreck heritage mandates that all work carried out on the remaining sites be done by the scientific methods of archaeology and that artifacts and material found belong to the Government, which is also entitled to copies of all records made during the work. Those collections of artifacts and records are ultimately to form the ‘National Collection' of shipwreck heritage, to be preserved, studied and shared on behalf of the people of Bermuda and the wider world.
Since 1975, when shipwreck artifacts at the Bermuda Aquarium were transferred to Dockyard, the Maritime Museum (now the National Museum) became the de facto custodian of what then comprised “the national collection” and has spent several millions building an essential conservation laboratory and curating and exhibiting those collections, along with materials the Museum and associated groups, such as the Sea Venture Trust and university field schools, have excavated since 1982, when modern archaeology methods were introduced into the process of examining shipwrecks in Bermuda.
Full story...
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Abby Wambach stars at 2015 ESPYS but other nominated Florida Gators fall short
Former Florida Gators striker and U.S. Women’s National Team captain Abby Wambach played a starring role at the 2015 ESPYS on Wednesday, presenting one of the most prestigious awards of the night and taking home an honor herself.
Wambach began the evening as a presenter, standing on stage to announce Caitlyn Jenner as the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Just moments later, 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup-winning United States women’s soccer was announced as winners of “Best Team,” so Wambach took the stage a second time to lead her team and deliver their short acceptance speech.
Now the recipient of two ESPYS – she won “Best Play” in 2011 for her last-minute game-tying header in the 2011 World Cup – Wambach was the only former Gators player to bring home honors on Wednesday.
Florida softball pitcher Lauren Haeger watched as Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James, who failed to win a title in 2015, brought home “Best Championship Performance.” She was also nominated for “Best Female College Athlete” but fell to California swimmer Missy Franklin, who also bested Haeger for the 2015 Honda Sports Award.
Former Gators golfer Billy Horschel, winner of the 2014 FedEx Cup, was edged by back-to-back major winner Jordan Spieth for “Best Golfer.” Horschel was unable to attend the ESPYS as he is preparing to play in the 2015 British Open.
Abby Wambach Billy Horschel British Open ESPYs FedExCup FIFA golf Lauren Haeger soccer USA USA Soccer World Cup
4 BITS: Gators up for 2015 ESPY awards, Florida basketball players summer updates
USA wins 2015 Women’s World Cup 5-2 over Japan: Abby Wambach inspires, Gators react
FOUR BITS: Young, Noah, Wambach, Lochte
Mike The Red says:
ESPYS stands for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award. Can anyone tell me how Caitlyn Jenner qualifies for that?
“Caitlyn” Jenner gets an award but Lauren Haeger is left sitting on the sideline. You got to be kidding. This is a bad joke. Has everyone gone completely insane?
SaraGator says:
ESPN is similar to TMZ. I just hope they don’t do the same with the SEC Network. Only thing worth watching are games and documentaries.
HeadOfficial says:
The Academy Awards are given to commemorate outstanding accomplishments in the film industry over the previous year. There is also a special award called “The Lifetime Achievement” usually given to an actor or actress that was in a million movies but was never a star.
As a result of winning the 1976 Olympic decathlon, Jenner became a national hero, receiving the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and being named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.
This is for the ESPY he would have won if they existed at that time!
Give me a break. That is an absurd rationalization.
Let me try an alternate explanation. ESPY rewarded a publicity hound who attempted to make himself relevant again by mutilating himself.
Maybe you should go look at many of the people who get “lifetime achievement” Academy awards. Not Stars? Lauren Bacall, James Earl Jones, Eli Wallach, Steve Martin, Angela Lansbury, Peter O’Toole, Blake Edwards, Sidney Lumet, Sir Sidney Poitier just to name a few in the last 20 years or so. You couldn’t be further wrong in your analysis of who gets that award.
It is nothing more than the progressive fundamental change of America. There was nothing heroic or courageous about getting a boob job. By his own admission, he still has his man tool. How about someone like Lauren Hill who has been battling cancer and still trying to play college BB and compete as long as she could? There are many others who have fought through adversity and truly shown courage, this is just the political distraction of the day for them and it is really sad.
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Remote Mac Management on a Budget: Low-Cost Alternatives to Apple Remote Desktop
By Ryan Faas
VNC Servers
VNC Viewers
Desktop Transporter
Observing and controlling computers remotely is a great tool for systems administrators, help desk staff, teachers, and even home users. Apple Remote Desktop gives you that power and more, but if you only want the most basic remote observation and control features, there are low-cost and free options for Mac OS X. Ryan Faas gives you the best alternatives.
Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials
Apple Remote Desktop is a great tool for systems administrators and help desk technicians. It is a premium remote management tool with a robust feature set. It also has a price tag that could give many small businesses and organizations a bit of sticker shock. Although I am a great fan of Apple Remote Desktop and advocate its use in a number of settings (see my previous series covering Remote Desktop), I also acknowledge that for many smaller organizations and consumers, using it can be cost-prohibitive.
For those situations in which you need or want to observe, control, and have basic Mac management remotely, there is a low-cost alternative. Virtual network computing (VNC) is an open source and multiplatform protocol that has been around for quite some time. VNC enables you to remotely observe and control a computer in much the same way that Apple Remote Desktop does. It doesn’t offer any of the advanced management or interaction features that make Apple Remote Desktop a stellar product, but it does give you the basic remote control and observation features.
Because it is an open source platform, VNC comes in many flavors and is available for Mac OS X, classic Mac OS versions, Windows, and Unix/Linux. And there are Java applet solutions that can be run from a website and clients designed to run on mobile devices. Its multiplatform nature actually makes VNC a more versatile tool than Remote Desktop in some ways, although this is at the expense of many of Remote Desktop’s other features. VNC is also inherently much less secure than Apple Remote Desktop.
VNC functions by using two separate software components: a VNC server component that is installed on the remote computer to be controlled and a VNC viewer that is installed on the computer that will observe and control it. The data exchanged between the two is transmitted in unencrypted form using an IP connection that can be over a local network or clear across the world using the Internet. The unencrypted nature of this connection is what makes VNC a nonsecure solution. Adding to that is the fact that VNC servers support only a single password for all remote control sessions.
You can secure VNC communications using the SSH port forwarding feature, which creates an encrypted tunnel between the two computers for transmitting data. This approach or the use of VPN should always be used when controlling computers using the Internet to manage a remote computer.
Sitting between Apple Remote Desktop and VNC (from a price, security, and features perspective) is Desktop Transporter. Like Remote Desktop and VNC, Desktop Transporter enables you to observe and control a remote Mac using either the Internet or a local network. Desktop Transporter is not, however, based on VNC.
There are several VNC servers available for Mac OS X, including the Apple Remote Desktop client that is built into Mac OS X. Using the Apple Remote Desktop client might be the optimal solution for many users. However, other VNC servers offer an easier method enabling or disabling remote access to the computer, which can be useful in a situation in which remote management is being performed as a help desk solution, as well as more-advanced configuration options. Also there are reports of some non-Mac VNC clients, particularly Java clients not working properly with the Apple Remote Desktop client software when it is configured to act as a VNC server.
Vine Server
Vine Server(originally called OSXvnc) is probably the most popular VNC server for Mac OS X outside of the Apple Remote Desktop client. It is a fairly robust open source solution that offers a number of advanced features, including setting the port number used for VNC connections; enabling user- or system-level functionality (a system-level VNC server remains running regardless of which users log in or out of the computer); supporting limiting remote connections to only those established using an SSH tunnel; and, when paired with the Vine Viewer, allowing text and other clipboard contents to be transferred between the two computers. It also optionally supports observation and control by multiple computers and Apple’s Bon Jour networking so that remote computers on a local subnet can be automatically detected without needing to know their IP address to connect.
Share My Desktop
Share My Desktop is a free application that makes the configuration and use of the Apple Remote Desktop client as a VNC server much easier and more powerful. Share My Desktop is particularly attractive for help desk situations in which you might not want to leave a VNC server running on every computer on your network all the time because of its inherent security concerns but want to have an easy solution for allowing a technician to occasionally observe or control a computer for troubleshooting purposes. The Share My Desktop main window includes a button to turn VNC sharing on or off at a user level and it displays the computer’s IP address, VNC port number, and current password. By default, Share My Desktop creates a new random password each time VNC sharing is turned on. The simple, user-friendly interface with the required information to connect plainly displayed make it a solution that any user can operate and relay to a help desk technician. Share My Desktop also offers a system-level VNC server and a handful of additional options.
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Toyota, Honda and Hyundai used the opening days of the last Los Angeles auto show, which draws thousands of car enthusiasts in one of the world’s richest vehicle markets, to tout new fuel- cell cars. These use hydrogen in a process that creates electricity but not carbon dioxide. Automakers plan to offer these cars in California, although the rollout will be limited.
Hyundai says it has already leased its fuel-cell Tucson to about 85 customers, and Toyota says it has received expressions of interest from more than 2,000 people. Honda’s Clarity sedan will only be available in late 2016. Fuel-cell technology is expensive, and hydrogen fueling stations are still rare. Hyundai’s Tucson can be leased for $499 per month and sold only in Southern California, where there are about nine fueling stations.
Toyota’s new Mirai can run for 300 miles between charges. Bill Fay, general manager for Toyota brand sales in the United States, told Reuters that a concerted public-private push is needed to build more refueling stations.
“We need the government to support the investment in this and we hope that Honda and Hyundai will be coming in and provide some support,” Fay said. “Then I think we have some critical mass to build from and take off from there.”
California provides as much as $100 million a year to fund alternative fuel and vehicle projects, including hydrogen refueling stations.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other Tesla executives have taken shots at fuel cells and the tax-funded subsidies used to promote them. Fuel cell vehicles compete with Tesla’s electric cars as generators of credits that could help conventional automakers meet California’s complex zero emission vehicle quotas. Tesla has benefited from, and repaid, government loans. It sells clean car credits. Tesla has also built its own recharging network.
“Fuel cells are dependent on public infrastructure in a way electric vehicles will never be,” Tesla’s vice president for business development, Diarmuid O’Connell, said Friday at an appearance before the Automotive Press Association. And because much of the hydrogen used in fuel cell vehicles will be derived from fossil fuels, he said, “fuel cell vehicles are not even zero emission vehicles.”
Battery electric cars rely on an electric grid that in many regions of the United States is fueled by coal and gas, but O’Connell said the U.S. grid is getting cleaner.
Public subsidies and regulations are the key forces driving the competition between fuel cell vehicles and battery electric vehicles in California, where state regulators have mandated that up to 16 percent of vehicles, or 1.5 million cars, sold in the state by 2025 be zero emission. Currently, about 2 percent of the vehicles sold in California are electric cars.
Both fuel-cell cars and battery electric cars have limitations that discourage many would-be buyers.
Most electric battery- powered cars on the market run for fewer than 100 miles between recharging stops. Tesla’s Model S sedan and Model X sport utility can run for more than 200 miles between charges, but the average Tesla sells for over $70,000.
Low gas prices undermine demand for both technologies. Only about 67,700 electric vehicles were sold in the United States last year – about 0.4 percent of the 16.5 million new cars and trucks sold.
“The electric car that has earned one dime for its maker hasn’t been created yet,” said Johan de Nysschen, president of General Motors Co ‘s Cadillac luxury brand, on the sidelines of the show.
Still, GM plans a new electric Chevrolet model with a projected 200-mile range, and is experimenting with fuel cell technology.(Malaya)
LEASING VS FINANCING OWNERSHIP
Phl EV market is worth investing in, electric vehicle makers tell the world
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MuzikMan's Reviews And News
Music Reviews And News From Around The World
Review Service
Spins On Vinyl
Guitar Legend Carl Verheyen of Supertramp Releases New CD 'Mustang Run' Feat. Simon Phillips, Chad Wackerman, Jerry Goodman and Bill Evans
“Carl is known as a studio guitar player but he’s much more than that. His records have the great feel of a live player. He plays with a lot of feeling” - John Fogerty
Los Angeles, CA - Much to the excitement of guitar players and Supertramp fans worldwide, guitarist Carl Verheyen has released his new CD 'Mustang Run'. In his 40-plus years of playing the instrument, Carl Verheyen has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically-acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 11 CDs and two live DVDs released worldwide. Carl is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of LA’s elite “first call” session players for the past 25 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows. Carl has graced the pages of countless industry publications and been the subject of numerous articles chronicling his rise to the forefront of the modern day guitar scene.
Says Carl about his new CD release, “My goal was to break out of the mold of Carl Verheyen Band CDs and do a progressive instrumental album. I wanted the opportunity to weave thick textures of sound using dozens of instruments and tones. My motivation was the sheer joy of hearing those sounds in the air!”
“We’ve been friends for many years and Carl has always amazed me with his versatility and technique. He’s a fine player.” - Albert Lee
Carl has won numerous polls and musical honors in the US, Germany, France, Italy and the UK. A member of the smash hit British rock group Supertramp since 1985, Carl has played to millions of enthusiastic fans in sold out arenas worldwide. As the creative force behind The Carl Verheyen Band, he has released an impressive and eclectic discography that showcases his endless talents across a wide array of musical genres. Carl's musical influences are just as diverse and range from George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Alvin Lee, Leslie West to Miles Davis, John Mclaughlin, Steve Morse, Chet Atkins and Andy Summers, among others.
“Every time I start to feel good about my playing and general overall knowledge of the guitar, I will get together with Carl and see truly how far I have to go. I am proud to call him my friend. A master of the guitar and a hellava nice guy to boot.” - Joe Bonamassa
'Mustang Run' features performances by some extraordinary musicians, which includes Simon Phillips, Chad Wackerman, Jerry Goodman, Bill Evans, Jimmy Johnson, Stuart Hamm, and Gregg Bissonette. In regards to the assortment of legendary music artists that grace his new release, Carl explains, “My previous CD called 'Trading 8s' was a collaboration with some of my guitar player friends. I had Robben Ford, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson, Albert Lee and Rick Vito trading solos with me. On 'Mustang Run' I wanted that inspiration to come from the rhythm section, so I called different bass players and drummers to suit the songs. I love to play with musicians that I have a deep musical relationship with, because the studio scene in LA breeds hundreds of 'casual' musical relationships. The great players on 'Mustang Run' are all friends that I've known and performed with for years.”
“Carl Verheyen is a REAL guitar player!” - Robben Ford
A much sought after studio musician, Carl plays on other artists’ CDs whenever his busy schedule permits. He has recorded and played with a virtual who’s who of the music industry. His vast collection of movie soundtrack and television credits are enviable. Carl was heard by 67, 000,000 people as a featured soloist at the 2009 Academy Awards. He will also be heavily featured in the forthcoming film documentary about the electric guitar, 'Turn It UP!'
“Carl is a true pro and a great player/musician. He can do anything, and as one who is supposed to do this, me (ha-ha), Carl comes through with heart and soul and is really not only an awesome musician but a really good guy. That counts ALOT in this biz, especially these days.” - Steve Lukather
On the educational front, Carl has produced two instructional videos called 'Intervallic Rock Guitar' and 'Forward Motion' as well as various on-line lessons. He also has a book/CD detailing his unique “intervallic” style called 'Improvising Without Scales'. Another book entitled 'Studio City' is a compilation of all the columns Carl wrote for Guitar Magazine between 1996 and 1999. He has written a monthly column for Chitarre, Italy’s #1 guitar publication as well as Guitar World and Guitar Jam Daily, a website devoted to serious guitarists. He currently writes a monthly column for Guitar Player, contributes to other guitar publications, and blogs regularly for GuitarPlayer.com and his own site. Carl also lectures and teaches at clinics and master classes regularly when not on the road.
“Carl is so overwhelming to sit in a room and jam with, let alone his playing on records and stage. You get the impression there is no style or territory he is unable to explore.” - Brad Paisley
Carl recently co-designed a signature guitar with LsL Instruments, the “CV Special,” combining the best elements Carl seeks in his ideal guitar; they are now available for purchase worldwide. As if that weren’t enough, working closely with Dean Markley, Carl developed a line of signature strings for the electric guitar that perfectly balance the tremolo bridge of the Fender Stratocaster, the Carl Verheyen Balanced Bridge Helix HD string set .
“Carl is one of those experienced, great players that you could put in any situation and get a wonderful guitar solo. I personally love the fact that he enjoys what he does and radiates positive energy whenever I have seen him.” - Steve Morse
In support of Carl's new CD release, he will be touring Europe in the fall 2014. His band will feature bass virtuoso Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ritchie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan, Jeff Berlin), who is featured on 'Mustang Run', and master drummer/percussionist John Mader (Joe Satriani, Booker T, Electronic Arts' “The Sims”, Tony award winners “Rent”, “Lion King” and “Wicked”).
In closing Carl has this to impart, “Before I made 'Mustang Run' I pulled out about 10 CDs that I seem to listen to all the time. None of them were 'shredders' or heavy bombastic music, but none of them were 'easy listening' either. I realized they all had melodic qualities that made them endure the test of time. So my main goal: make a record the bears repeated listening. If you discover new things with each play I've done my job!”
For more info: http://www.carlverheyen.com
http://www.carlverheyen.com/store-cds/
'Mustang Run' CD preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFYlBizHAyc
“Fusioneers Disease” from the 'Mustang Run' CD, with Simon Phillips (Toto, Who, Protocol II), Cliff Hugo (Supertramp, Ray Charles) and Jim Cox (Albert Lee, Streisand, Ringo, Aerosmith, Knopfler):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwxM_aFNXso
“Spirit of Julia” from the 'Mustang Run' CD (same musicians):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlf1Cu2XS3I
Take One Step: Appreciating Carl and CVB live!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtQapyal-js
Gary Selick
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Guitar Virtuoso Scott Henderson To Release Instrumental Album For Guitar Trio "People Mover" On July 1, 2019
Los Angeles, CA – Guitar virtuoso Scott Henderson has finished his new album “People Mover,” the most ambitious project of his career! Th...
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
THE FINAL ON VINYL REVIEWS ARE HERE!!
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Senator Gillibrand Press Conference at Greenburgh Health Center
As Trump Administration Continues To Sabotage Access To Health Insurance For People With Preexisting Conditions, Gillibrand Announces Bill To Expand Access To High-Quality, Low-Cost Basic Health Program For Hundreds Of Thousands Of New Yorkers.
Legislation Would Allow New York State to Offer Its Essential Plan to More Than 400,000 New Yorkers; New York State Is One of Only Two States That Has a Basic Health Program and Has Seen Lowered Premiums and Higher Enrollment as a Result; Legislation Would Build on This Successful Program and Expand Health Care Access for Low-to-Middle-Income New Yorkers
White Plains, NY – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today visited Greenburgh Health Center in White Plains to announce the Basic Health Program Expansion Act of 2018. This legislation would allow New York State to expand access to the high-quality, low-cost Basic Health Program (BHP) to low- and middle-income New Yorkers and people across the United States who don’t qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but might not be able to pay for health insurance on their own. Under current law, New York’s BHP is only available to New Yorkers who earn up to $24,280 a year. This legislation would allow New Yorkers who make up to $48,560 to have access to this high-quality, low-cost health care option.
New York State is one of the only states that has adopted the BHP as an option to cover lower-income residents who do not qualify for Medicaid or CHIP. New York State has seen lower premiums, higher enrollment, and budget savings and participation from many health care providers and insurers as a result of participation in this program. The Basic Health Program Expansion Act of 2018 would build on the success of the current program and allow New York State to expand coverage offered through New York State’s Essential Plan to more than 400,000 low-to-middle-income New Yorkers and millions of Americans.
“No matter where I travel across our state, the number one issue I hear from New Yorkers is that they are worried about the enormous cost of health care and whether or not they will have access to affordable health care under this administration,” said Senator Gillibrand. “That’s why I’m fighting to pass the Basic Health Program Expansion Act of 2018, so we can expand access to high-quality, low-cost health care coverage for low-to-middle-income New Yorkers. I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and I will always work in Congress to support legislation that makes health care more accessible for families across our state.”
“The bill as proposed by Senator Gillibrand brings much needed hope to so many who have been overlooked and left to fend for themselves in the current health insurance environment. We enthusiastically and categorically support this bill,” said Judith Watson, RN, BSN, MPH, Executive Director, Greenburgh Health Center.
The Basic Health Program Expansion Act of 2018 that Gillibrand is fighting to pass would do the following:
Expands BHP eligibility to the state’s income eligibility levels for the Children’s Health Insurance Program in order to cover more lower-income individuals. Currently, a state’s BHP can provide coverage to individuals with incomes between 133 and 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL) who do not qualify for Medicaid, CHIP, or other minimum essential coverage. This bill would allow New York State to expand eligibility to people with incomes up to 400 percent of the FPL, which in 2018 was an income of $48,560 for an individual.
Allows states to use existing federal BHP funds for administrative and start-up costs for up to one year. Provides new flexibility for states to allow them to use existing BHP funds to help with the costs of implementing a new program for up to one year after enactment. Cost sharing and administration of a new program have been cited as barriers to implementing a BHP.
BHP benefits include all 10 of the essential benefits covered under the ACA:
Outpatient care
Maternity and newborn care
Mental health services, including drug and alcohol addiction treatment
Rehabilitative services and devices, such as physical therapy
Lab services including X-rays, CAT scans, bloodwork, ultrasounds, etc.
Preventative services
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Aronimink GC clubhouse
AT&T: What the world’s best golfers said this week about Aronimink GC
By Joe Logan
What the players are saying about Aronimink
I've talked to some of the players. Some of my good friends have already played the golf course. The golf course is in phenomenal shape.
Q. Any particular holes stick out?
DUSTIN JOHNSON: I mean, they're all good. They're all a little bit different. The greens have got a lot of undulation in them so you've got to be careful where you hit the ball on the green.
This golf course sets up for me perfect. All the bunkers, I can fly all of them with my driver. This golf course is unbelievable. I played it yesterday. The rough is thick; the greens are perfect; the fairways are like walking on carpet. I kind of joked with my caddie yesterday when we played, I could have played the last eight holes with my shoes off. This place is very beautiful. It's a great area, and I'm excited about it.
Q. Why does this suit your game, because the bunkers are not in your range?
ROBERT GARRIGUS: Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about hitting driver on every hole out here, all week, just because every shot -- if I hit it in the rough, and I'm hitting a 2-iron, I'm going to have a 7- or 8-iron out of that rough. I want to have wedge out of the rough if I miss the fairway. It seems like the golf course fits my eye really well. Just every tee shot I can hit a high cut. There's a couple holes that slope left to right but I can just take it over the left side and cut it into the fairway.
It seems like just every hole the bunkers aren't in play. Even on 9 there, I hit 4-iron in yesterday in the practice round over the green, and the member that drove me in, a volunteer, he's like, nobody is getting to that green. I'm like, you don't know who you're talking to. When you tell me I can't do something, I really try to do it.
The golf course is very, very tough. I knew its history; I knew it hosted major championship, was supposed to host another one I think around 1990. I'm probably, even so, taken aback by its difficulty. I think it's a very tough golf course. It's tough to get the ball in the fairways. They're pitched at a lot of angles from left to right and right to left. You have to work the ball well off the tee. The greens are very big but are cut up into smaller sections. There's a lot of slope, a lot of undulation, and they're already quite firm.
I think scoring is going to be very difficult. Add to that, there's probably the thickest and the longest rough we've had for a PGA TOUR event this year. So I expect scoring to be difficult. It's a tough golf course and a good test.
Q. You said at the AT&T in the past that you've liked Congressional as a course. Are these similar venues in your mind, or do you prefer one or the other?
JIM FURYK: We'll see. Time will tell on that one. I think that I've had a lot of success at Congressional. I've played well there in the U.S. Open, finished in the Top 5 in the couple of those. So it's very dear to my heart. My caddie is actually a member there, so it's dear to my heart.
I like this golf course. I'd say Congressional probably -- I don't think this -- I like the golf course and I think it suits my game. Congressional probably suits it a touch more. But I'll be anxious to see the setup and how the golf course plays once the gun goes off tomorrow. Play well here for a couple years, and I'll like it just as much as Congressional.
Q. Are you surprised at the setup, that it's this difficult? Were you looking for a little bit more of a vacation this week?
JIM FURYK: No, I don't think anyone was looking for a vacation. I just had never played the golf course. I was expecting different, to be honest with you. I had a different -- I think what I imagined in my mind. I had never been here before, and I know they renovated it. I didn't see it beforehand, so now I just see what it looks like after. I just had a little different picture of the golf course in my mind.
Like I said, it's still very good, I've just pictured it differently. The green complexes I had -- I didn't realize -- you think of old, something that's been here for -- I don't know when this club was started, but '20s, '28, so something that's been here for over 80 years, I don't imagine greens this size. Some of the slopes on the greens have a what I would consider somewhat modern feature to them. 17th green would be a perfect example of that.
So it's just not what I pictured in my head. I knew it would be a good golf course, I knew it would be tough, and it is definitely all of both of those. It's just probably a little different style than what I had projected in my head.
Q. Back to Aronimink, a course that you haven't seen before and you only have a couple days to prepare. What are the most important things to get you ready for the tournament?
JIM FURYK: I think trying to figure out where the best part -- what's the fattest part of the fairway, how is the bunkering set up, where do I need to put the ball off the tee to be able to attack the green, and then the most difficult -- a golf professional figures that out in two rounds pretty easy.
The difficult part of this golf course is figuring out the pin placements and the greens because there is a lot going on out there, and I think that goes along with the surprise. I didn't expect to see such big greens, I didn't expect to see them cut up into small areas like that; it's a Donald Ross course. I feel like you can go to Pinehurst No. 2, play it a couple times, and those greens are pretty easy. You aim at the center of the greens every time because you're afraid the ball is going to fall off the sides.
Here there's more going on. There's a lot of slope out there. The greens are giant, and like I said, they're cut into sections and you have to figure out which pins you can attack, which ones you can't. As in any Ross course, you really don't want to go over any green; you'd rather be on the front fringe or ten yards short than probably two yards long most of the time. There's a lot of those fall-offs on the back that will leave some very difficult up-and-downs.
I think learning the greens right now and pin placements and how we can attack those is probably the biggest concern for all the players.
Commissioner Tim Finchem
First of all, let me just thank the membership at Aronimink for not just hosting the event this week but doing such a phenomenal job to get the golf course prepared. It looks spectacular. I think it's going to play very well on the telecast this weekend all over the world.
Thursday, July 1, Round 1
Q. Talk about the conditions of the course.
NICK WATNEY: The golf course is perfect out there, and I played very, very steady. Was never really in much trouble, a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, a lot of opportunities, so definitely very pleased and looking forward to the rest of the week.
Brett Quigley
Q. This course is a little bit like home in the fact that it's in the northeast, got a little bit of that flavor, old-school golf course with big trees?
BRETT QUIGLEY: Definitely, big trees, big golf course, and good greens. Some undulations out there, and you've got to respect them.
Joe Ogilvie
Q. A lot of the players have heard about Aronimink, and when they got here it wasn't quite what they thought.
JOE OGILVIE: Yeah, I think that's probably fair. I think that's probably fair. They've got some -- it's an old classic-style golf course, number one. Number two, you've got holes like 17 where it's not -- 17 I wouldn't consider classic. But it's not a bad hole, it's just sort of a scary hole more than anything else. Having that left part shaved, they didn't make mowers that short back in the early 1900s.
It really fits my eye. I think it's a -- to me it looks like Baltusrol. I don't know if anybody else feels that way, but it looks a lot like Baltusrol, at least the last time we played the PGA Championship there. So you have a lot of wedges here. You've got your opportunities to make some birdies, but they could put the pins where -- they could put 18 pins where you just can't go for them. They could set this course up extremely difficult.
Philadelphia is one of the great sports cities, so it's certainly great to be here. Merion will go over fantastic for the Open obviously, but this is fantastic. This just looks like a big event.
Some golf courses look like they can hold big events. This is one of them. And I think the fans make it a big event. I'm assuming -- we don't play here obviously every year, but I'm assuming these fans are pretty educated in golf even though we don't come here year after year, so it's fun to play here.
Q. You said yesterday that Congressional maybe set up a little bit better for your game. How do you feel now seeing yourself out there? How do you feel like this sets up for your game?
JIM FURYK: I like the golf course. I just said that I'm cautious. I hadn't seen it yet in a golf tournament, and I've had a lot of good finishes at Congressional, so I have a lot of confidence to build on there. I'm kind of waiting to see how the week goes. I like the golf course. I'm comfortable here. It's good to be back in this neck of the woods, and I do like it. But you're also comparing it against a course that's very good, as well, one that I've played very well at for three or four different tournaments. It takes time to build a love for a golf course, I think.
Saturday, July 3, Round 3
Charlie Wi
Q. Describe how tough this course is.
CHARLIE WI: Well, when you're out there, it looks easy because you're hitting driver and maybe 9-iron or 8-iron to the green, but the greens are so fast and the pins are so tough that you have to be really patient out there. Watching it on TV, it's like, why can't they hit it close to the hole, they're 150 yards away, but the greens -- the conditions are so firm, it's really hard to get it close to the hole.
Q. Talk about the greens today.
JIM FURYK: I feel like it was pretty consistent. Maybe a touch quicker than they have been, maybe a touch faster, but not any firmer. I thought the course was pretty consistent with the rest of the days. I think it's been playing pretty good all week.
Sunday, July 4, Round 4
Q. You won at Sedgefield, played well here. Anything about old Donald Ross designs that you like?
RYAN MOORE: You know, I have no idea why I play well on his golf courses. You know, they seem to be fairly demanding off the tee, generous but demanding. They're not tiny little fairways, but they're sloped and they kick and bounce and can run through pretty easily. And I think I'm one of the top couple people in all-around driving for the year. So I've been driving the ball really well this year, actually getting a little bit of my distance back, but the accuracy has still been there.
I think first and foremost you really have to do that on his golf courses because the greens are so tough. If you're in the rough all day long, you're just hitting it to 30 or 40 feet on the green, and there's no such thing as an easy 30-footer, especially on Donald Ross greens.
Q. You're a little bit of a historian of the game and sort of pay homage to some of the history of the game, the way you dress and things like that. Thoughts on just an old classic course like this and other classic courses? Do you prefer these sort of setups because you guys don't play them very often?
RYAN MOORE: I love them. I wish we could be on one or two more of these a year. I think they're just great golf courses. I love just how the older architecture really built the golf course into the land. They couldn't move dirt that much, so they had to really put the golf course where things should be put. Any more we can move stuff around so much, we can just manipulate it and turn it into whatever we want. I think that's so brilliant about some of these courses, Tillinghast courses and Donald Ross courses, the way the course fits to the property and the land, I just love it personally, and I think they're so much more intelligently designed just because they had to be much more intelligently designed. We can do whatever we want anymore, so we probably don't have to think about it quite as much.
But they're just -- him and Tillinghast are probably a couple of my favorites, and they're just demanding golf courses, but they're right there in front of you. They're not tricky or anything like that. They give you a spot to hit it, and if not, you're going to pay the price, and I like that kind of golf.
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CLASSIC AIRCRAFT - THE PITTS SPECIAL
By Luzanne Keyter
There can be few aviation enthusiasts unaware of the superb aerobatic qualities of the single- and two-seat biplanes, the Pitts S-1 and S-2. Even as a seven year old girl accompanying my father to airshows, I knew they were the ones to watch.
Designed by Curtis Pitts in the USA in 1943/1944, a prototype was built and flown in 1944. The first Pitts 190 Special, an open cockpit, lightweight biplane was built in 1947 for US aerobatic display pilot Betty Skelton Erde, who was a land speed record holder and set 17 aviation and automobile records.
After a small number of the aircraft was factory built, Curtis Pitts made the plans of the Pitts 190 Special available to the public. Thus, amateurs who had the time, money, patience and ability to construct an aircraft could do so for their own requirements.
In early 1977 Pitts Aerobatics, a new company was formed at Afton, Wyoming USA after Curtis Pitts sold all sales and production rights in 1976. The factory continued to provide plans and kits for amateur aeroplane builders, but also manufactured factory built aircraft for a growing market.
Today there are five versions of the Pitts Special that are most common on the market. Firstly the Pitts S-1S Special, a single seat biplane with fixed tail wheel landing gear. Powered by a 180-hp (134-kW) Avco Lycoming IO-360 flat-four engine, it has inverted fuel and oil systems incorporated as standard.
In 1981 the single-seat Pitts S-1T Special was introduced, powered by a 200-hp (149-kW) Avco Lycoming AEIO-360-A1E engine driving a constant-speed propeller. A slightly larger two-seat version, the S-2A Special with an engine of similar power as the S-1T Special became available. The S-2B, also a two-seater, with an Avco Lycoming AEIO-540 flat-six engine of 260-hp (194-kW), is capable of unlimited aerobatics with two up.
Last of the current versions is the Pitts S-2S with is generally similar to the S-2A, but combines a slightly shortened single-seat fuselage with the power-plant of the S-2B. Tricky to fly but ultimately rewarding for the skilled pilot, the Pitts S-2S is maybe one of the finest aerobatic mounts ever designed.
Specifications: Pitts S-2B Special
Maximum speed - 210 mph (338 km/h)
Service ceiling - 22,000ft (6,400 m)
Empty - 1,150 lb (521 kg)
Maximum take-off - 1,625 lb (737 kg)
Wingspan - 20 ft 0 in (6,10 m)
Length - 18 ft 9 in (5,71 m)
Height - 6 ft 7,3 in (2,02 m)
Wing area - 125,0 sq ft (11,61 sq m)
The Gabriel Pitts Special Aerobatic Team, led by aviation icon Scully Levin, makes use of the Pitts S-2B and is a regular feature at most airshows in South Africa. Fellow team members include Arnie Meneghelli, Steward Lithgow and Ellis Levin.
Aircraft Technical
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Jim Hady
Below you can see all known star ratings for wrestling matches featuring in Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Please note that ratings are given to the overall match; not to the performers within them. Therefore, high or low ratings may reflect aspects of the match including booking, length and performance of partners/opponents, over which the performers may have little or no control. Please also note that a match that received a particular rating many years ago may have been judged on a different criteria from today's.
Following the same rating system devised in part by Jim Cornette, matches are rated from the lowest rating of -***** (-5) through to the highest rating of ***** (+5), with a small number of matches being rated above that theoretical maximum. Matches with a rating of zero stars are referred to as a "DUD" and an average match tends to score around a ** (2) rating. All ratings can only be considered subjective and this page is designed purely for reference purposes.
Promotion Search: All
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Sorry. No title matches for Jim Hady yet.
No matches for Jim Hady found
this page (http://www.profightdb.com/wrestler-star-ratings/jim-hady-4960.html)
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Women's Rights: Progress and Challenges
by Daniel Dromm Queens Ledger
Mar 26, 2012 | 11255 views | 0 | 316 | |
As we celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month this March, we should reflect on the progress of women in the United States and here in Queens. Many groups and individuals throughout the borough have dedicated themselves to working for women’s rights. One important element of this movement is ensuring that women are free from violence because of their gender.
Over the past generation, this country has made great strides addressing gender-based violence. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), first passed in 1994, was one groundbreaking step. With the passage of my resolution this past Wednesday, the City Council has joined the chorus of voices across the country calling for the reauthorization of VAWA.
Significantly for Queens, the proposed version that Congress is now debating strengthens protections for immigrants who have survived gender-based violence. Much work remains, and we must continue to address retrogressive practices such as blaming the victim.
Another serious issue facing many immigrant women is sex trafficking in which criminals and their networks illegally trade or sell individuals into commercial sexual exploitation. Traffickers exploit the vulnerability of their victims, such as their youth, gender, or sexual orientation, and benefit from the language and cultural barriers that prevent them from reaching out for help.
In 2007, an anti-trafficking statute was passed by the New York State Legislature. Despite its laudable intent, the current law must be revised and strengthened to ensure that tough measures are in place against traffickers and that survivors have access to the services they need.
I have joined with advocates to introduce a City Council resolution calling on Albany to improve the way New York addresses sex trafficking.
One important way to improve the law is to address the connection and the distinction between the crime of prostitution and the scourge of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking, which is akin to slavery, should not be conflated with prostitution, which encompasses individuals who choose to engage in commercial sex work.
The result of such conflation is that survivors of trafficking are being arrested and prosecuted for prostitution. Treating trafficking survivors as prostitutes is a deplorable practice of police and prosecutors looking for easy, cosmetic salves for a complex problem. Calling for stronger laws to combat prostitution in the name of combating sex trafficking is similarly misguided.
The psychological, physical, and sexual torture endured by these survivors is devastating enough. For our government to arrest, fine, and imprison them is unconscionable.
Effectively combating trafficking requires an approach that targets the traffickers and their criminal networks, no matter how far they reach. Most important, efforts need to be centered on empowering and rehabilitating survivors. As a crucial first step, publicity campaigns should be aimed at reaching those ensnared in trafficking.
Another key component is improving how the police address the issue. The police department needs to draft, with the input of experts in trafficking, and promulgate regulations that officers must follow when they make an arrest for prostitution.
When an arrest for prostitution is made, officers should be required to ask if the person is a victim of sex trafficking. I continue to explore ways to work with the police to ensure sex trafficking survivors are not labeled as criminals.
As invaluable and equal members of our community, women deserve to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed. March gives us time not only to consider the contributions of women to our great country but also to reflect on ways to advance women’s rights.
Daniel Dromm represents the 25th District in the City Council.
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Media bias produces mental illness "Ameriphobia"
For Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, the latest scandal is that employees of his California golf course say he wanted to fire women who weren't pretty enough. That's the big scoop from the Los Angeles Times. Trump is supposed to be on the defensive, compared to a female candidate who helped orchestrate cover-ups of "bimbo eruptions" from her husband's mistresses?
That such a story about Trump can be floated with such seriousness in the press is just more evidence of the double-standard that pervades the media. This corruption is also known as political correctness, a phenomenon driving more and more people to Trump.
Another scandal, courtesy of the Washington Post, is the story headlined "Trump Foundation lacks the certification required for charities that solicit money." Is this all they've got?
Fortunately, there are two papers in the nation's capital. Washington Times columnist Kelly Riddell noted, "If Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States he'll be more thoroughly vetted by the media than Barack Obama."
While Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold has spent months looking into the esoteric financial workings of the Trump Foundation, the same paper was unwilling to write a single article on Obama's relationship with suspected Soviet agent and black Communist Frank Marshall Davis back in 2008, during Obama's first run for the White House.
This curious fact was mentioned by Riddell in her column, "A biased media in action," as another indication of the growing recognition of the media double-standard.
By contrast, "with Donald Trump nothing remains too salacious, conspiratorial, or out-of-bounds for the press," notes Riddell. Hence, hiring pretty women becomes a major scandal. It's laughable.
The good news is that more and more people are laughing at the media. The liberal media monopoly has been systematically broken over the last several decades, since Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media was formed in 1969 and started questioning what the liberal media were feeding the news consumer. Conservative and Christian talk radio, papers like the Washington Times, plus alternative media and the Internet, have given the news consumers a choice.
As a result, Gallup finds that trust in the mass media, otherwise known as the "mainstream media," has sunk to a new low. Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that just 29 percent of all likely U.S. voters trust media fact-checking of the candidates' comments.
People are very sophisticated these days, aware of media bias because they see it for themselves. They see the "Crooked Media" protecting "Crooked Hillary."
For example, despite her own health problems, obvious to anyone who takes the time and trouble to search the Internet, Mrs. Clinton sees half of Trump's "deplorable" supporters as having a mental illness. She says they are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and Islamophobic.
The name-calling won't stop the Trump movement, which demonstrated its enthusiasm for the nominee with the Trump victories even in the mainstream media's snap polls after the first presidential debate. Of course, the media were not happy with these results and immediately tried to discount them.
Whether the snap polls were scientifically valid or not, the Trump movement is a real one and it's not going away. In fact, as people see media bias becoming more and more blatant, they redouble their support for Trump in response.
In an article titled "The Trump movement is the backlash to the left's success," an honest liberal journalist, Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly, writes about how the media are moving even further to the left. He says, "During the Obama presidency, there has been a steady growth of black, brown, gay and feminist voices who have moved from the media fringe or underground into the mainstream, as syndicated columnists, cable news anchors and regular guests, and (as it has aged) even as veterans of the administration. The growth of social media, especially Twitter, has also amplified voices of the cultural and ethnic left, pushing them into the conversation on every major news story."
Longman signals his agreement with part of a column by Ross Douthat of The New York Times, who says that the Trump movement is a cultural shift to the right that "remains an advantage" for the Republican Party "and a liability for the Democratic Party" going forward. He writes that "the new cultural orthodoxy is sufficiently stifling to leave many Americans looking to the voting booth as a way to register dissent."
Whether Trump can faithfully represent that shift is a matter still to be determined.
Then there's political correctness in sports. Douthat notes that "institutions that were seen as outside or sideways to political debate have been enlisted in the culture war. The tabloid industry gave us the apotheosis of Caitlyn Jenner, and ESPN gave her its Arthur Ashe Award. The N.B.A., N.C.A.A. and the A.C.C. – nobody's idea of progressive forces, usually – are acting as enforcers on behalf of gay and transgender rights. Jock culture remains relatively reactionary, but even the N.F.L. is having its Black Lives Matters moment, thanks to Colin Kaepernick."
That all of this politically correct, unpatriotic, and divisive nonsense is forced down our throats even on weekends, when people want to relax and watch football games, is another factor driving voters to Trump. It's why media bias and phony fact-checking are having less and less effect. The American people don't like what the liberals have done to their nation and they see Trump as a way out of the madness.
The real illness, notes filmmaker Joel Gilbert, is Ameriphobia, described and illustrated in a new video showing Hillary Clinton being treated at the Donald Trump medical clinic. One cause of this terrible mental condition is prolonged exposure to liberal media bias.
The video asks, "Do you know someone Ameriphobic?" The Donald Trump Clinic for Ameriphobia is ready for them.
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Sequencing: determining the sequence of genetic letters in a piece of DNA or an entire genome. (GNN)
A laboratory technique used to determine the exact sequence of ("nucleotide") bases (A, C, G, and T) in a ("nucleic acid") molecule. The order of “base sequences” in a DNA or RNA molecule or the order of “amino acids” in a “protein.” (HGPIA) The "DNA sequence" carries the information a "cell" needs to assemble protein and RNA molecules. DNA sequence information is important to scientists investigating the functions of genes. (NHGRI) Researchers have found that DNA variations outside the “exons” can affect gene activity and protein production and lead to "genetic disorders" - variations that “whole exome sequencing” would miss. "Whole genome shotgun sequencing" determines the order of all the nucleotides in an individual’s DNA and can determine variations in any part of the "genome." (GHR) Editor’s note - “sequencing” may refer to decoding a protein, a piece of DNA, a piece of RNA, or a full genome.
Genetic Research
DNA Sequencing: the sequence of consecutive DNA letters spanning all the chromosomes of a cell from start to finish. (GNN) A multistage process that includes “cloning,” physical mapping, sub-cloning, determination of the DNA sequence, and information analysis. (MeSH) A method to determine the base sequence of DNA. The technology of DNA sequencing was made faster and less expensive as a part of the “Human Genome Project.” (NHGRI) The investigation of genetic sequences has been vital in our understanding of the genetic basis of human disease. (Brooker, 422) Also referred to as ‘DNA sequence analysis’ and ‘genome sequencing.'
Family Genome Sequencing: compares genome sequences to trace genetic disease origins. Compares the complete genome sequences of the members of a family. As the cost of genome sequencing falls, consulting the parents' genomes is helping to reveal the genes behind very rare diseases. (Lewis, 84-85)
Nanomaterial Sequencing: DNA molecule passes through 'nanopores' of a 'graphene' sheet conducting electricity differently depending on the (DNA) base passing through. (Lewis, 429)
Overlapping: an uncommon genetic arrangement where part of the... DNA sequence of one gene forms part or all of the sequence of another. (Lawrence) (During the Human Genome Project), researchers 'cut' several genomes worth of DNA into overlapping pieces of about 40,000 "DNA fragments," then randomly cut (those) pieces into small fragments. Computer "algorithms" eased the assembly of many short pieces of DNA, with overlapping end sequences, into longer sequences. (Lewis, 426)
Sanger Sequencing: widely used method of determining the order of bases in DNA. (HGPIA) Complementary copies of an unknown DNA sequence are cut into different-size pieces differing from each other by an end base. The result is a collection of partial sequences from which the end bases reveal the sequence. (Lewis, 430) The original sequencing technology. It was a breakthrough that helped scientists determine the human genetic code, but it is time-consuming and expensive. The Sanger method has been automated to make it faster and is still used in laboratories today to sequence short pieces of DNA, but it would take years to sequence all of a person’s genome. (GHR)
Whole Exome Sequencing: with next-generation sequencing, it is now feasible to sequence large amounts of DNA, for instance all the pieces of an individual’s DNA that provide instructions for making proteins. These pieces, called exons, are thought to make up 1 percent of a person’s genome. Together, all the exons in a genome are known as the "exome," and the method of sequencing them is known as whole exome sequencing. This method allows variations in the protein-coding region of any gene to be identified, rather than a select few genes. Because most known "mutations" that cause disease occur in exons, whole exome sequencing is thought to be an efficient method to identify possible disease-causing mutations. (GHR)
Whole Genome Shotgun Sequencing: laboratory technique for determining the DNA sequence of an organism's genome. The method involves breaking the genome into a collection of small DNA fragments that are sequenced individually. A computer program looks for overlaps in the DNA sequences and uses them to place the individual fragments in their correct order to reconstitute the genome. (NHGRI) Can determine the DNA sequence for nearly the entire genome of an individual. (NCIt) One of two approaches used in Human Genome Project. (This process) shatters the entire genome, then rebuilds it. (Lewis, 426-428) The first step... is to copy a genome many times, then shred the copies into fragments of DNA that can be 'read' by machines. Next, computers identify the fragments that belong next to each other in the genome and assemble them into a complete genome sequence. (GNN) Relies on breaking genomes down into small pieces that can be easily read by DNA sequencing machines. (Venter, 68) A sequencing method that involves randomly sequenced cloned pieces of the genome, with no foreknowledge of where the piece originally came from. This can be contrasted with 'directed' strategies, in which pieces of DNA from known chromosomal locations are sequenced. Because there are advantages to both strategies, researchers used both shotgun and directed strategies in combination to sequence the human genome. (HGPIA) Also referred to 'shotgun sequencing.'
RNA Sequencing: a multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, sub-cloning, sequencing, and information analysis of an RNA sequence. (MeSH) Also referred to as ‘RNA sequence analysis.’
Sequencing Timeline: new technologies that allow rapid sequencing of large amounts of DNA were developed. (GHR)
1965: Robert Holley published the sequence (77 ribonucleotides) of (alanine) "transfer RNA.” (Venter, 48)
1967: Fred Sanger determined the sequence (120 nucleotides) of a small “ribosomal RNA.” (Venter, 48)
1976: the first actual genome that was successfully decoded was an RNA virus genome - the bacteriophage 'MSa' by Walter Fiers. (Venter, 48)
1977: Fred Sanger determined the first DNA virus genome - the bacteriophage 'phi X 174' in 1977. (Venter, 48-49)
1995: (the genome of the) first free living organism, H. influenzae, was sequenced (1.8 million base pairs). (GNN)
1996: some 600 scientists around the world finished sequencing the (16 chromosomes of the) genome of baker’s “yeast” - “S. cerevisiae.” The organism that carries versions of many human genes. Yeast was the third species, after two types of bacteria, to have its genome (12.2 million base pairs) completely sequenced. (GNN)
1998: the nematode worm “C. elegans” genome was sequenced (100 million base pairs). (GNN, Genetics and Genomics Timeline)
1999: the (fruit fly) “Drosophila melanogaster” genome was sequenced (122 million base pairs). (GNN, Genetics and Genomics Timeline)
2003: The "Human Genome Project" sequenced the entire human genome (3.3 billion base pairs). (HGPIA)
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You are here: Home / BlackBerry / BlackBerry Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2014 Results
Q1 Results
Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 was $3.1 billion, up 15% from $2.7 billion in the previous quarter and up 9% from $2.8 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2013. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 71% for hardware, 26% for service and 3% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, the Company shipped 6.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 100,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
GAAP loss from continuing operations for the quarter was $84 million, or $0.16 per share diluted, compared with a GAAP income from continuing operations of $94 million, or diluted earnings per share of $0.18, in the prior quarter and GAAP loss from continuing operations of $510 million, or $0.97 per share diluted, in the same quarter last year.
Adjusted loss from continuing operations for the first quarter was $67 million, or $0.13 per share diluted. Adjusted loss from continuing operations and adjusted diluted loss per share exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $26 million ($17 million on an after tax basis) related to the Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (“CORE”) program. This impact on GAAP loss from continuing operations and diluted loss per share from continuing operations are summarized in the table below.
The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $3.1 billion as of June 1, 2013, compared to $2.9 billion at the end of the previous quarter, an increase of approximately $200 million from the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations in the first quarter was approximately $630 million. Uses of cash included intangible asset additions of approximately $335 million and capital expenditures of approximately $83 million.
“During the first quarter, we continued to focus our efforts on the global roll out of the BlackBerry 10 platform,” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of BlackBerry. “We are still in the early stages of this launch, but already, the BlackBerry 10 platform and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 are proving themselves to customers to be very secure, flexible and dynamic mobile computing solutions. Over the next three quarters, we will be increasing our investments to support the roll out of new products and services, and to demonstrate that BlackBerry has established itself as a leading and vibrant player in next generation mobile computing solutions for both consumer and enterprise customers.”
The smartphone market remains highly competitive, making it difficult to estimate units, revenue and levels of profitability. Throughout the remainder of fiscal 2014, the Company will invest in BlackBerry 10 smartphone launches, and the roll out of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, to continue to establish the new BlackBerry 10 platform in the marketplace. The Company will also invest resources to evolve BlackBerry Messenger into a leading cross platform mobile social messaging application, and launch other revenue initiatives associated with new services and emerging mobile computing opportunities. Based on the competitive market dynamics and these investments, the company anticipates it will generate an operating loss in the second quarter. The company will also continue to implement the cost savings and process-improving initiatives it started last year, in order to drive greater efficiency throughout the company, and redirect capital from these savings to areas of investment that will drive future revenue growth.
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Sound and Recording Engineer
About Nick Thomas:
Nick Thomas is a music producer and freelance sound engineer with more than 15 years experience from Key West, FL. He has been playing music and producing bands for 35 years. Being a producer and studio engineer as well as a live sound engineer makes him very versatile. His music has been heard on Fox Sports, NFL Network, MLB, and MTV. Nick has a Specialist Certificate from Berklee College of Music in Studio Production and you can listen to his tunes at https://soundcloud.com/ntproductions and you can book Nick at: https://soundbetter.com/profiles/72948-nick-thomas
68 days until the next Rocket City Jazz Orchestra performance!
Contents © 2003-2019
The Rocket City Jazz Orchestra
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State College, PA :: News :: Local News :: Read More
John Urschel Explains How Order and Chaos, Football and Math Coexist in Return Visit to Penn State
by Anthony Colucci on February 21, 2018 10:32 AM
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Photo by Cori Bugenhagen
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Penn State graduate, former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman, MIT doctoral candidate, and self-proclaimed professional mathlete John Urschel visited the Nittany Lion Inn Tuesday as part of the Penn State Forum lecture series.
As the featured speaker for February, Urschel discussed his twin careers as a mathematician and professional football player, but focused mainly on the “student” aspect of being a true athlete.
Dressed in a checkered blazer and standing in front of a screen with complex computations projected onto it, Urschel explained high-level math concepts like quantum mechanics and dynamical systems with charisma, wit, and in a simplified way that helped those in attendance understand its real-world significance.
A large part of Urschel’s lecture was told through the narrative of his own journey in mathematics. Urschel recalled an advanced course in real analysis that he took during his sophomore year of college with Professor Vadim Kaloshin.
Kaloshin challenged Urschel with demanding problems and puzzles from books like Jim Yorke’s Chaos: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Vladimir Arnold’s Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics. These challenges required extensive reading and planted seeds of a love for problem-solving within Penn State’s first ever winner of the William V. Campbell Trophy, better known as the “Academic Heisman.”
A research project with Kaloshin and graduate students studying a theoretical asteroid between Jupiter and Mars resulted in Urschel’s work being published for the first time. It was then he realized he wanted to be a mathematician.
Urschel focused on the “chaos” that Yorke discussed in his book throughout his lecture, and how math makes sense of it…to a degree.
“The interplay between order and chaos is what makes both the physical world and human experience so amazing,” Urschel said. “Order is consistent, reliable, and gives a sense of certainty, but we’re still left with a sense of mundane uncertainty of how things will work out. Through chaos theory, we have the butterfly effect, which is when a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, and then a tornado forms in Texas, and Penn State loses to Ohio State. There is only so much you can predict.”
A unicorn of sorts, given his proficiency in two domains — football and math — as polar as order and chaos, Urschel used his opportunity to speak Tuesday to explain how he balanced his two passions and offer his thoughts on the balance between academics and athletics.
“Every morning when I woke up [during his NFL career], I was so excited to work on that math problem that I had stayed up late working on or to go to practice,” he said. “There were times when I would get in bed and think ‘John, if you go to sleep right now, you’ll be able to wake up that much sooner to finish that problem.’ It’s that sort of passion and desire that makes finding time to do it, that much easier.”
Urschel volunteers in Cambridge, Mass., where he now lives, to help local students identify those passions and consider their career options. One of his favorite ways to help students think about what they want to pursue is having them do a thought experiment with two options.
The first is being a professional football player for three seasons and making a total of $2 million but not having a college degree and therefore few job prospects after football. The second is going to school to become a doctor or lawyer and making $120,000 every year for decades.
“I give them 30 seconds to think about it, and somehow, all their hands raise for the second option,” he said. “You don’t even have to tell them the narrative of the chances of making it pro. You tell them that even if you make it, you’ll still need something to fall back on.”
Anthony Colucci
Anthony Colucci is a writer for Onward State
More articles by Anthony Colucci →
Penn State Police to Begin Carrying Naloxone
by Geoff Rushton
Starting on Friday, Penn State University Police will join other local law enforcement in carrying naloxone, a drug that has been a critical tool for first responders dealing with the opioid crisis.
Often referred to by the brand name Narcan, naloxone is a medication, typically administered through nasal spray, that can reverse overdoses by blocking the effects of opiates and opioids. Penn State
... Continue Reading →
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Prayer Chain Requests
My Own Church Website
User Guide My Own Church
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St. Frances Cabrini Endowment Fund
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The Story of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Born in Lombardo, Italy on July 15, 1850
Died in Chicago, Illinois on December 22, 1917
A model of faith and possessor of unending energy despite her frail frame, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was a servant of God who dedicated herself to helping those in need.
At age 18 Frances desired to become a nun, but because of her health, she was not immediately able to achieve her goal. However, she never gave up on her dream and nine years later, in 1877, she took her formal religious vows.
Mother Cabrini, as she became known, started her ministry as a teacher in an all girls' school in Italy. Her influence grew immensely when, in 1880, she founded the Missionary Sisters of Sacred Heart, focusing on providing for children in schools and hospitals.
Saint Frances' greatest challenge came when she was approached by Pope Leo XIII to join six other nuns in starting a ministry to immigrants in New York City in 1889. It was through this work that she has become known as the "Patron Saint of Immigrants". While working for the Lord in America, Frances Cabrini became a citizen of the United States. Pope Leo XIII called her "A woman of marvelous intuition and of great sanctity".
During her 35 years of service to Christ and His Church, the scope of her ministry took her all over the world. At various times, she directed 67 institutions staffed by 1,500 nuns, establishing hospitals, orphanages and schools in South America, Panama, Spain, France and England as well as America.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, whose feast day is November 13, was the first American citizen canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on July 7, 1946. Pope Pius II remarked at her canonization, "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman."
PRAYER to Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
O Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who found in the Divine Heart of Jesus the secret of sanctity and the strength to carry His message to many nations, look kindly upon me and hear my prayer.
Inspired by Christ's charity, you went about helping many in their spiritual and temporal needs; from the glory of Heaven, where your charity is not lessened nor your power weakened, grant my petition and obtain for me the grace I so urgently desire. (Mention your request.)
From the Sacred Heart of Jesus obtain that His Kingdom may be established in this world, now divided by hatred and dissensions; secure peace among nations, conversion of the sinners, health to the sick, alleviation for the victims of war, deliverance of the souls in Purgatory, salvation for the human race redeemed by Christ Our Savior. Amen
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc.
Samuel Cardinal Stritch - Archbishop of Chicago July 7, 1946
2143 Homewood Drive
Lorain OH 44055
Phone: (440) 277-7266
Daily Mass Schedule:
Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m.
Weekend Mass Schedule:
Saturday 4:00 p.m.
Sunday 8:30 & 11:00 a.m.
© St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
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Posted on December 13, 2017 by scobo
The big day is almost upon us, so I wanted to take a moment to gather my thoughts going into Ep. VIII (TLJ). I reread my review from Ep. VII (here), and while I enjoyed that movie I think it suffered from three main flaws:
Lack of worldbuilding (e.g. new ships, alien races, Jedi lore etc.)
Rey is inexplicably overpowered and good at everything
Kylo Ren is not a sufficiently frightening villain
Yes I purposefully ignored what many consider to be the most fatal flaw of Ep. VII (TFA) which is that it was essentially just Ep. IV all over again, which is completely true. Point 1 touches on it a little. But as I’ve said before I believe that was (for good or ill) an intentional choice by a notoriously conservative Disney studio that wanted a safe bet on their 4 billion dollar investment in the franchise. It was not what a lot of fans hoped TFA would be, but it is what it is. I found TFA to be an enjoyable film that left me excited for the next one. All that being said, if subsequent installments do not take some more narrative risks and move the story along, I will consider this trilogy irredeemable.
I think with the number of new films Disney has planned, we are going to see the story expand in a lot of ways. We did get Rogue One, which I really enjoyed despite the criminally underutilized role of Forest Whitaker. (Seriously, if you cast an actor with an Oscar and a BAFTA, then he should have more screen time and be at least somewhat integral to the plot) I think most of Rogue One’s issue stemmed from the rewrites and reshoots that plagued its production, so I am just happy it turned out as well as it did.
But to address my points about Ep. VII. These are things that I think Ep. VIII must address to be successful.
There must be some more worldbuilding, and that really should include some new ships and weapons. The X-wing and TIE fighter are among the most iconic images in all of film. Even the atrocious prequels tried to forge their own identity with the Naboo starfighter and Darth Maul’s lightstaff. (Shouldn’t he have used a maul, though? Just saying.) However TFA was content to rest on their laurels and did not even bother to mine the whole cannon of ships available to the Rebels. We didn’t even see any Y-wings. And no, I don’t buy into any garbage about the Incom T70 X-wing replacing the T65 X-wing and Y-wing because it has both air-air and air-ground capabilities. Fans do not want to see incrementally upgraded starfighters on screen. We want a fantastic battle filled with beloved X-wings, Y-wings, TIEs, and cool new ships thrown in the mix.
Much has been said about Rey being a strong female lead in a scifi film (Sometimes I wonder if it escapes people’s notice that Leia was also a female lead in the original.) But she was truthfully an uncompelling character. She lives as an orphan foraging for scraps on a backwater planet, but we are expected to believe she is somehow an ace pilot, crack mechanic, lightsaber-wielding, mindtrick-using almost-Jedi, despite the fact that she didn’t even believe in the Force at the beginning of the movie. I expect that this will be addressed in TLJ, but I am also afraid it will be done in a very retcon sort of way. JJ Abrams wanted the big mystery of the film to be about Rey’s parentage, but honestly I’m not that interested in that question. She is undoubtedly tied into the Skywalker clan somehow. She is probably Luke’s daughter or niece or something. This is not that exciting of a question.How does she have all of these skills and force knowledge that she should not have? That is the real question that must be addressed. They give us some hints, and it seems likely she trained at the Jedi Academy at a very young age before Kylo turned bad and Luke went AWOL. Maybe that explains some of it, but it doesn’t explain why she remains languishing on Jakku living on scraps, or why she does not remember her time with Luke. Some have suggested that her memories were wiped with the Force, but is this really possible? In 6 prior films have we ever heard about someone having false memories implanted with the Force? Also the genesis of her amazing skillset is not presented as a mystery in TFA. We are expected to accept that, and then in TLJ it will be retconned by saying she trained with Luke when she was younger. Even if this was the plan all along, this is just bad writing. We spent the whole first film being annoyed by Rey instead of growing to like an important new character.
So I say all that to say this: Rey must be more flawed in TLJ. We need to see her struggling with the Force. We need to see her struggle with the paths of Light and Dark, and being afraid to confront the evil before her. This is also related to my complaints about Kylo Ren in Point 3.
Kylo is a weak villain. TFA revealed early on that he is Han’s son (gasp), and we know he is not really a full Sith. Rey is able to resist his mind probe, and he also loses to her in a lightsaber duel. In fact Finn, who is not even Force sensitive (that we know of), is able to hold his own for a few minutes against Kylo. I am not scared of Kylo Ren in the way that I was scared of Vader. Part of the appeal of the original Star Wars trilogy was the underdog element: a no-name farm boy from Tatooine rises up to defeat a seemingly invulnerable villain. Classic David v. Goliath. The fight between Kylo and Rey is more like a football game where Kylo is a one-touchdown favorite, but you wouldn’t be surprised to see a Rey upset.
I do not really see a way to salvage Kylo as a villain going forward. I think this is the most grievous (pun?) sin of TFA. It did not set up the rest of the trilogy on a strong foundation of a terrifying and strangely compelling bad guy. I see only two viable options: rely more heavily on Snoke, about whom we know little, or bring in a third player. This is the same mistake that was made by killing Darth Maul in Phantom Menace and then replacing him with a ho-hum Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones. It would have been much, much better for Maul to survive and haunt Obi Wan for the remainder of the trilogy. Dooku was entirely dispensable in Clones because we knew he would not be a contender when the Big Bad (Palpatine) came out in Ep. III. TLJ faces the same dilemma: they either have to introduce a new bad guy or bring out the Big Bad too early. If they do introduce a new Sith, they need to survive and remain a relevant part of the story through the next film. Possibly they can use Capt. Phasma (who did not get much screen time in TFA) to fill this role because the audience has at least already been introduced to her. This might be the best option available, but Phasma is not known as a Force user, so it will be difficult to sell her as a worthy foil to Rey and Luke.
This brings me to a final point that I hope to see in TLJ: for the love of all that is Star Wars we had better FINALLY see Jedi Master Luke at the height of his powers! Luke is supposed to be the greatest Jedi Master of all time, and he was sitting on the sidelines for all of TFA. I know that ultimately this trilogy is about Rey, Finn, and Poe, so probably the final showdown will be between Rey and Snoke. That is why this film is the perfect opportunity to see Luke go full Rambo and decimate an entire regiment of stormtroopers or something. They should save Rey’s big moment for the last film and make the climax of this one about Luke. We have been waiting forty years to see Luke kick butt and take names, and now is the time.
Final thoughts: I am completely stoked to see the new film. I do think the last one had some serious but not fatal flaws, and I think they can potentially be resolved in this episode to set up Ep. IX to conclude an excellent trilogy. On the flip side, if they don’t address these issues now, the whole thing may still go south. I am optimistic that this one will be good.
← Are prayers enough?
Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi: A Review [SPOILERS] →
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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MICHAEL KAHN ANNOUNCES HIS FINAL SEASON FOR SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
The Comedy of Errors – William Shakespeare
An Inspector Calls – J.B. Priestley
The Panties, The Partner and The Profit: Scenes from
the Heroic Life of the Middle Class – David Ives
Richard III – William Shakespeare
Vanity Fair – Kate Hamill
The Oresteia – Ellen McLaughlin
Washington, D.C. February 14, 2018— Michael Kahn today announces Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 2018-2019 Season. With two world premieres from celebrated playwrights, a multiple Tony Award-winning presentation, a dynamic adaptation of a classic novel, two Shakespeare plays and a group of acclaimed directors and artists, it is an ambitious grand finale for STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn, who will retire from the company at the end of the Season.
“It has been quite a journey since I took over as Artistic Director in 1986. I wanted this season to be a celebration of the past 32 years and I dedicate it to everyone who has been instrumental in the theatre’s development,” said Kahn. “I look forward to welcoming both familiar and new faces as we work together to continue STC’s commitment to create, preserve and promote classical theatre.”
The season will kick off this summer with the annual Free For All – STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul’s Romeo & Juliet (2015) Shakespeare’s tale of a world about to combust, saturated with passionate love and powerful hate.
The official season opens with Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Directed by Alan Paul (Kiss Me, Kate), the Bard’s madcap world will be brought to life in all its antic, anarchic glory. Audiences will delight in the confusion over two sets of twins with the same name in a place where everyone is pretty sure that everyone else is completely insane.
After captivating audiences for over 25 years, the National Theatre’s award-winning production of J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls will arrive at STC in the fall. The winner of 19 major accolades, including multiple Tony, Olivier and Drama Desk Awards, Stephen Daldry’s (The Crown, Billy Elliot) production is considered to be the most lauded and legendary production of the modern British stage. Audiences will be transported to the eerie home of the Birlings, a well-heeled British family. As they enjoy a festive evening the celebrations are suddenly punctured by a mysterious visitor: a grim inspector investigating the death of a young woman. As questions multiply and guilt mounts, the Birlings’ entanglement in the affair shatters the foundations of their comfortable lives. Existing simultaneously in 1912, post-war society and modern day, Daldry’s spectacular production is both a plea for a more just society and a warning of what’s to come if we fail to attain it.
Following the success of The Liar, The Metromaniacs, The Heir Apparent and last season’s The School for Lies, David Ives will reunite once more with Michael Kahn to stage another magical “translaptation” (part translation, part adaptation) world premiere. His play The Panties, The Partner, and The Profit: Scenes from the Heroic Life of the Middle Class found its inspiration in works by the 20th-century German satirist Carl Sternheim chronicling the rise of the Mask family from bare subsistence to vast riches.
“It’s a great honor to be invited back to STC to collaborate with Michael on his final season. Michael and I have such fun collaborating, and he has a natural instinct on how to bring my words to life on stage,” says David Ives. “I look forward to working with him on this piece, which takes three full-length plays and condenses them into a single evening, moving early 20th-century German family life into America today with what I hope is comparable comic and satiric effect. Carl Sternheim was shouting from his era right into our collective ear.”
The Panties, The Partner and the Profit: Scenes from the Heroic Middle Class is sponsored by the Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation and commissioned through a grant from the Beech Street Foundation
Following the success of last season’s King Charles III, David Muse returns to STC to direct Shakespeare’s Richard III. What does it look like when a man with no scruples stops at nothing to gain power? If you’re unsure, Richard of Gloucester will gladly demonstrate. What he lacks in looks he makes up for in bottomless ambition, ruthless cunning and rapacious zeal: the crown, at all costs. As he climbs ever higher, Richard bends the world to his will until even his mother can’t bear to own him. Shakespeare’s mesmerizing chronicle of the megalomaniac’s rampage to the throne—one of his greatest variations on history—remains an irresistible study of villainy.
Last seen in D.C. in 2016 with her adaptation of Sense and Sensibility at the Folger Theatre, The Wall Street Journal’s Playwright of the Year (2017) Kate Hamill will make her debut at STC with her adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic novel Vanity Fair. Directed by Jessica Stone, this vibrant and colorful tale about society’s foibles is a bright dance hall pageant poking fun at all our pretenses. As the wily Becky Sharp and her gentle friend Amelia scale social ladders and hurdle the whims of fate, only one question matters: how do you get what you want in life?
“Vanity Fair is a story about hypocrisy – about the lies we tell to ourselves and to others, and about the many winding paths we take to get what we want” said Kate Hamill. “I’m so honored to have Vanity Fair included in Michael Kahn’s final season. This is one of the few stage adaptations that’s ever been done of Vanity Fair because it’s an epic novel, and it really requires a theatre that’s ready to take on a big bold story with sweeping themes. I know Shakespeare Theatre Company is that theatre, and I’m so proud to have Vanity Fair there”
Closing the season is the world premiere of The Oresteia. Directed by Michael Kahn and commissioned by STC, acclaimed playwright Ellen McLaughlin’s new version of Aeschylus’ masterpiece takes the audience through ten years of war, grief and rage. As Queen Clytemnestra lies in wait for her husband Agamemnon’s return she is determined to avenge one child, only to doom the others. The sole surviving trilogy in Greek tragedy, The Oresteia chronicles a deluge of violence that can only be stopped when society peers into its own soul and sees the depths of its complicity. Her play weaves together the works of Aeschylus with stunning poetry and emotional heft. An epic interpretation of this pillar of western culture, The Oresteia makes a fitting end to Michael Kahn’s tenure as Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
“I grew up in DC and have known and admired Michael since the beginning of my career, so working at STC has been a joy for me” said Ellen McCoughlin “The theater is filled with smart, passionate people who have given their lives to this medium. The plays that make up the Oresteia trilogy are some the oldest we have, arguably the foundation of western culture; they are wonderful and mighty challenges to take on. I couldn’t be in better company on this journey.”
The Oresteia is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation.
To find out about special offers and group bookings or to become a season subscriber please call the box office on 202.547.1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org
Michael Kahn
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Michael Kahn has directed a wide variety of Shakespearean and classical works for STC, including this season’s opening production of Harold Pinter’s The Lover and The Collection. His other productions include The School for Lies, The Critic and The Real Inspector Hound, The Metromaniacs, a repertory of Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, Wallenstein, The Government Inspector, Strange Interlude, The Heir Apparent, Old Times, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Liar, Richard II, The Alchemist, Design for Living, The Way of the World, and many more. Having brought international works like Headlong’s 1984, The National Theatre of Scotland’s Dunsinane and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and Théâtre de l’Atelier’s Les Liaisons Dangereuse to the theatre, Kahn continues to demonstrate the versatility and relevance of STC’s theatre programming with this season’s productions. In 1991, he created the Free For All, which brings an STC production to audiences completely free of charge every year. In addition to leading STC, he is also the founder of the Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University and the former Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division at Juilliard. Since the 1960s, Kahn’s work has been seen by audiences across the country and the world: in New York City, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as at both the American Shakespeare Theatre and the McCarter Theatre where he served as Artistic Director concurrently. In 2003, STC performed his production of The Oedipus Plays at the Athens Festival in Greece, where it received standing ovations and critical acclaim. In the summer of 2006, the Company took Kahn’s production of Love’s Labor’s Lost to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Complete Works Festival” in Stratford-upon-Avon. Kahn was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2013 and has been recognized as an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Stephen started his career at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre and directed extensively in Britain’s regional theatres. In London, he was Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre where he headed the £26million redevelopment. He has also directed at the National Theatre, the Public Theater in New York and transferred many productions both to Broadway and the West End including his 1992 production of An Inspector Calls. His production of Billy Elliot – the Musical recently completed its first major tour of UK and Ireland as well as a hugely successful and highly acclaimed multi-award winning 11-year run in London’s West End. The production has also played on Broadway, in Holland, Japan, Seoul, Sydney, Melbourne, Chicago, Toronto and across the US. In 2009, Billy Elliot – the Musical won ten Tony awards including Best Musical, more than any other British show in Broadway history. Stephen recently directed productions of The Audience and Skylight; both were highly acclaimed and went on to win major theatre awards, completing sell-out runs in London and on Broadway. In 2017 Stephen directed The Jungle at the Young Vic, London. An intimate, immersive theatrical experience about the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe, The Jungle enjoyed rave reviews and packed houses during its run.
His first four films Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close together received 19 Academy Award® nominations and two wins. His most recent film, Trash, set in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro was nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language at the 2015 BAFTAs.
Stephen has previously directed for BBC Radio and Television and is currently Director and Executive Producer on the Netflix series The Crown written by Peter Morgan, the second season of which was released in December 2017. He is Director of the Pier 55 Performance Park in New York and was Creative Executive Producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Kate Hamill is an actor / playwright, specializing in female-centered, feminist adaptations of the classics. Playwright of the Year, 2017 – Wall Street Journal. Her plays include Sense and Sensibility (in which she originated the role of Marianne) – Winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award; Nominee, Drama League Award (Best Revival); 265+ performances off-Broadway. Other plays include Vanity Fair (in which she originated the role of Becky Sharp; Nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Pride and Prejudice (in which she originated the role of Lizzy Bennet; WSJ Critic’s Pick, Best Theater of 2017 – Huffington Post) In the Mines (Sundance Lab semi-finalist), Em (Red Bull New Play finalist), Little Fellow (O’Neill semi-finalist). Additional acting credits include: The Seagull (Bedlam; “best classical productions of 2014“ – WSJ) Cyrano (Amphibian Stage), Dreams of A West Texas Marsupial Girl (PearlDamour), Three Mutants (PearlDAmour) Upstairs (New School), Separation Rapid (Chenango River Theatre), Walk Two Moons (Theatreworks), Good Person of Szechwan; The Nameday Party (Columbia Stages), and numerous independent films. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway with Primary Stages, Bedlam, and with the Pearl Theatre Company; at A.R.T., the Guthrie Theatre, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s Rep, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Folger Theatre (8 Helen Hayes Award nominations; Winner, best production – S&S) & others. Current productions running at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arvada Center, & more. She is currently working on new adaptations of Mansfield Park, Little Women, and The Odyssey, as well as several new original plays – including Love Poem, In the Mines, and Prostitute Play. She was one of 2016’s top 20 most-produced playwrights; Sense and Sensibility was one of the top 10 most-produced plays. http://www.kate-hamill.com
David Ives
David Ives was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play for Venus In Fur, which has been produced all over the country and the world, and was turned into a film by Roman Polanski. He is also well known for his evenings of one-act comedies All In The Timing and Time Flies. Other plays include The Liar (adapted from Corneille); The School For Lies (adapted from Molière); The Metromaniacs (adapted from Alexis Piron); The Heir Apparent (adapted from Regnard); New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza; Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain); Ancient History, and Polish Joke. A Chicago native, he lives in New York City.
David Muse was STC Associate Artistic Director from 2005–2010 and is now an Affiliated Artist. At STC, Muse has directed King Charles III, Coriolanus, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew (Free For All), Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, On the Eve of Friday Morning, and Pericles (Free For All). He was also the Assistant Director on 5 STC productions, a master acting class instructor, and the director of numerous readings, galas, and special events. Muse has been Artistic Director of The Studio Theatre since 2010, where he has directed 19 productions, including The Father, Tribes, The Habit of Art, Frozen, Blackbird, and Cock. Other credits include: Arena Stage: Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune; Theatre Alliance: The Bluest Eye; New York Summer Play Festival: Patrick Page’s Swansong. He has taught acting and directing at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting, Georgetown University, and Yale University. Muse has developed new plays at numerous theatres including New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, Arena Stage, Geva Theatre, Kennedy Center, and Ford’s Theatre. He is an eight-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for outstanding direction and the recipient of a D.C. Mayor’s Arts Award. He received a BA from Yale University and an MFA from Yale Drama.
Alan Paul
STC Associate Artistic Director
STC: Romeo and Juliet; Kiss Me, Kate; Man of La Mancha (Helen Hayes nominee, Best Director); A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Helen Hayes Award, Best Director); The Boys from Syracuse; The Winter’s Tale (Free For All); Twelfth Night (Free For All); As You Like It (Associate Director); Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 (Associate Director); numerous galas, readings, and special events; Assistant Director: 13 shows. THEATRE DIRECTING: Arena Stage: The Pajama Game; Signature Theatre: I Am My Own Wife; Studio Theatre 2ndStage: Silence! The Musical (Helen Hayes nominee, Best Director), The Rocky Horror Show; MetroStage: Fully Committed; University of Maryland: The Matchmaker; Apex Theatre Company: Richard II. OPERA DIRECTING: Palm Beach Opera: The Pirates of Penzance (with Stephanie Blythe); Portland Opera: Man of La Mancha; Washington National Opera: Penny (premiere); numerous works for Urban Arias, The In Series, Strathmore Concert Hall, and the National Symphony Orchestra. Finalist for the 2013 European Opera Directing Prize (Vienna, Austria). Upcoming: 5th Avenue Theatre: Kiss Me, Kate; STC: Camelot. WEB: AlanPaulDirector.com.
Jessica Stone
Jessica Stone worked as an actress on and Off Broadway and in television and film for the last 30 years. Her Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Butley, The Odd Couple, The Smell of the Kill, Design for Living, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Grease. Her Off Broadway credits include Crimes of the Heart, Krisit, The Country Club, June Moon, Tenderloin, and Babes in Arms. She has performed in regional theatres across the country including Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Geva Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, and 10 seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Ms. Stone’s television credits include series-regular and guest-starring roles on CBS, NBC, ABC, and Hulu. Her film credits include work with Ang Lee, M. Night Shyamalan, and Kevin Bacon, among others. Concurrently, she was an assistant/associate director on and Off Broadway to Nicholas Martin, Joe Mantello, David Warren, and Christopher Ashley. Ms. Stone’s directing career began in earnest with her all-male 2010 production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her directing credits now include Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates (Huntington Theatre Company), Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood! (The Old Globe), David Lindsay Abaire’s Ripcord (Huntington Theater Company), Bad Jews (George Street Playhouse), Arms and the Man and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (The Old Globe, Huntington Theatre Company), Charlotte’s Web (Theatreworks USA), Kaufman and Larder’s June Moon and Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Ayckbourne’s Absurd Person Singular and A Funny Thing… (Two River Theater Company), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bucks County Playhouse) Ms. Stone’s upcoming productions include Dancing at Lughnasa for Two River Theater Company and Barefoot in the Park for The Old Globe. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.
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Click Fraud and How to Counteract It in Ad Campaigns
Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Excerpt
By: Boris Mordkovich and Eugene Mordkovich
Originally Published: July, 2005
Editor's Note: This is chapter 6 of the book Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook, see the bottom of this page for ordering information.
Unfortunately for any advertiser or businessperson, whether they are online or offline, fraud is a component they must all deal with, in one form or another. With offline businesses, it’s usually in the form of shoplifting or mysteriously disappearing inventory. With online business, however, the fastest-growing type of fraud concerns a phenomenon called “click fraud.”
On its most basic level, click fraud is defined as any click that is maliciously made on an advertiser’s PPC ad with the intent of depleting the amount of money in the advertiser’s account.
As a simple example, let’s assume you have a pay-per-click ad set up on Google and your keyword bid is $1 per visitor. Therefore, each time someone clicks on your ad on the results page for that specific keyword, your account is charged $1. If the amount of money in your account equals $1,000, then you can have 1,000 clicks on your ad before your account is depleted of funds.
If someone decides to target your ad via click fraud, they can use various methods to arrange to have your ad clicked on repeatedly until your $1,000 is gone. This can occur within a matter or minutes, or over a number of days or weeks, depending on what method is used and how blatant the fraudsters are about the process.
Obviously, this is an incredibly destructive type of fraud, especially since it occurs online, where many people feel they are acting anonymously. Some click fraud campaigns do not even try to hide their location or identity if they make a lightning attack on your ad; instead they wait and change their online “identity” after they had made a significant dent in your account, if not having drained it altogether.
The Growth of Click Fraud
Excessive clicking on links to websites and forms of online advertising not tied to a cost-per-click payment is nothing new to the online community. Ever since the beginning of the Internet as a commercial enterprise, excessive clicking on search engine listings was used to create a sense of “popularity” of the website. which often led to improved rankings on the search engine (Stefanie Olsen, “Exposing Click Fraud”).
It is partly because of this early type of questionable clicking that search engines began to explore different methods of ranking websites, leading eventually to today’s reliance on complex algorithms, robot crawls, the infamous Google Dance, relevancy ratings, related links, content, popularity, and so on.
Repeated clicking on pay-per-click advertising is not a recent development, but it has become a major problem for all parties involved.
This phenomenon, now referred to as “click fraud,” has been a part of the Internet for quite some time. One of the earliest successful strikes against this type of fraud was conducted by Jessie C. Stricchiola, President of Alchemist Media, Inc., who identified and successfully procured a refund on behalf of the national corporation Chase Law Group against Goto.com (now Yahoo! Search Marketing) late in the year 2001.
It wasn’t until later in 2002, however, that many companies began to discuss the issue in online articles and forums. One of the main problems with combating click fraud seemed to be that there were so many different interests involved.
Or course, advertisers were concerned that their ad dollars were being wasted. Yet, if they were also affiliates, they saw the potential of making back some of their own click fraud losses by practicing click fraud themselves.
Search engines were interested in maximizing ad revenues (which click fraud accomplished for them), yet realized that if they didn’t help control click fraud, eventually they would lose those very advertisers and their ad revenue.
In addition, some people who were involved in click fraud didn’t understand that what they were doing was wrong. This was particularly true if they were not very computer literate or had themselves been a victim of click fraud. In some cases, they had even been told they were helping the very people whose ad dollars they were depleting, because clicking on their ads increased the popularity of the website.
However, click fraud didn’t really become a huge problem until pay-per-click advertising became more prevalent. Logic dictates that if there is nothing to practice click fraud upon, it is unlikely to be a large problem. Unfortunately, the increased popularity of pay-per-click advertising has concurrently revived the practice of fraudulently clicking on paid advertising.
Although many suspected fraudulent clicks were depleting their ad accounts, it wasn’t until a few landmark cases came to light that the online advertising industry began to react to the growing problem.
Estimates of the extent of the problem today vary widely, and this is a subject of much discussion among advertisers and PPC search engines. Estimates range from a low of 10% to as much as 50% of clicks falling into the fraudulent category. The search engines usually claim that, although it is a significant problem, it falls toward the lower percentage. Developers of tools and software to counteract click fraud, however, lean toward the higher figure.
However, everyone does agree that click fraud has been a problem in the past and that it is becoming an even greater problem now. Left to flourish on its own, click fraud ultimately could bring the entire pay-per-click industry grinding to a halt, with advertisers losing enough money on their ad campaigns to drop their ROIs to negative numbers. This, in turn, could lead them to withdraw from this type of advertising altogether.
The domino effect from such a retreat could have a massive effect on search engines in general, most of which now rely on paid advertising as a prime source of income for growth in the marketplace. Both sides have a great stake in controlling and ultimately bringing click fraud statistics down to the lowest possible percentage.
As long as there are people willing to commit fraud, however, click fraud will never be completely eliminated. Advertisers and search engines agree, however, that the issue needs to be addressed now, before it gets completely out of hand.
Probably the most infamous and audacious click-fraud case, which caught the attention of the industry and alerted them to the potential danger of click fraud, involved an individual named Michael Anthony Bradley. Mr. Bradley developed a software program that he called “Google Clique.” He claimed that the program allowed clicking on pay-per-click ads in such as way as to be virtually undetectable to search engines.
Bradley told Google that if they were not interested in purchasing his software at a reported price of $100,000, he would send copies of it to at least 100 spammers worldwide. This would result in fraud in the neighborhood of at least $5 million in the course of six months. Bradley was charged with extortion and wire fraud in March of 2004.
Later in the year, another significant lawsuit brought to the forefront another type of click fraud, this time involving affiliates. On November 15, 2004, Google sued one of the advertisers on its AdSense program (which involves websites including a PPC ad on their site in return for a portion of the income earned by Google when someone clicks on that ad).
The lawsuit claimed that Auctions Expert International, a Houston, Texas-based company, “ flagrantly abused (Google) by artificially and/or fraudulently generating ad clicks…. These clicks were worthless to advertisers, but generated significant and unjust revenue for defendants.” Key to the lawsuit was the claim by Google that the site itself was set up specifically for the purpose of click fraud and was never intended to be a legitimate auction website.
Experts in click fraud are of two minds concerning these two significant cases. One side believes that businesses need to accept the fact that a certain amount of click fraud is inevitable, just as offline businesses accept the fact that they will be subject to a certain percentage of loss due to shoplifting and other means.
Those who adhere to this view generally believe that the search engines are doing all they can to identify the culprits and rectify the situation via refunds to their advertisers. They also believe that advertisers need to consider click fraud part of the cost of doing business online and that they should take whatever steps are possible to detect it (more on this later in the chapter).
Other experts, most notably Jessie Stricchiola from Alchemist Media, who is one of the earliest analysts to identify and deal with click fraud issues in paid advertising, see the problem slightly differently. They tend to view the public actions by Google against click fraud activities as a means of deflecting advertisers’ concerns. To these analysts, search engines appear to be either unable or unwilling to commit the resources needed to combat click fraud. Instead, they place the onus on the advertiser to detect and report it; then the advertiser must rely on the search engine’s judgment as to whether or not the incident is true click fraud, or not.
As for the search engines, many have begun to institute click fraud detection programs. Google itself claims that both the Bradley case and the Auctions International lawsuit show that Google is sending a warning to all who participate in click fraud that they “…have sophisticated technology that detects and eliminates fraud…. This lawsuit … demonstrates the success of our antifraud system and that we will take legal action when appropriate.” (Steve Langdon, Google spokesperson.)
These high-profile legal cases are, however, just the tip of the iceberg in terms of click fraud in general.
Continued: How Click Fraud Affects Advertisers (Part 2) >>>
Reprinted from Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook
The full book is available directly from the publisher or from Amazon.
Copyright 2005 by MordComm, reprinted with permission.
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Home / World / Tia Vargas Credits ‘Angels’ For Helping Her Save Dog Boomer
Tia Vargas Credits ‘Angels’ For Helping Her Save Dog Boomer
By Staffs on July 31, 2018
When Tia Vargas began a hike Thursday morning in honor of her son, she had no idea a new member of the family would be coming home with her.
Vargas has a 17-year-old who is overcoming substance and mental health issues at a wellness camp in Arizona. As part of the program, Vargas was encouraged to participate in challenging activities to help relate to her son who is working on conquering his own difficulties.
“One of the things it said was to figure out how many miles you can walk and double it,” she tells EastIdahoNews.com. “So I decided I was going to hike Table Rock. We hike it every year but everybody in my family was injured or couldn’t do it except my 76-year-old dad.”
On July 5, Vargas and her father began the strenuous seven mile hike outside of Driggs around 8:40 a.m. Vargas says she would run some of the distance and then turn around to meet her father, who walked the trail, and then hike back up with him.
“I did that about six times before my legs were done. I was really tired so my dad and I continued our hike,” Vargas recalls. “After a while, I saw some people walking a dog up and they asked if he was mine. He was limping so bad and a lot of times would just lay there and not want to move at all.”
Vargas was unsure who the dog belonged to but his tag said Boomer. Fellow hikers mentioned a small note had been posted on a notice board at the bottom of the mountain mentioning the lost animal.
That’s when Vargas made a life-changing decision.
“I picked up the dog, put him on my shoulders and carried him down to where my dad was,” she says. “He laughed and said, ‘You don’t think this hike is hard enough so you have to pick him up and carry him down?’”
Boomer, a 4-year-old English Springer Spaniel, weighed around 55 pounds and Vargas knew the task of carrying him to safety was all on her. There was nobody else to help.
“We had hiked up the face (of the mountain) but decided that the Huckleberry trail would be easier to go down because it’s not as steep,” she says. “But Huckleberry had snow that we have to walk over and there was debris and branches everywhere.”
Vargas, her father and Boomer got lost twice, it started to rain, and tall, sharp weeds scratched their legs during portions of the journey. They ended up on the wrong side of a river and, at one point, had to slide down snow on their rear ends.
“There came a point where I was on the verge of tears thinking, ‘I have to get this dog off. I can’t do this anymore,’” Vargas says. “I had a headache, my neck hurt, my legs were in pain – I just didn’t think I could go on.”
“I said a prayer and literally felt that somebody walked up behind me and lifted the dog off my shoulders. I felt that my ancestors or God sent me angels to help me carry that dog because it’s like the weight was gone off my neck. I kept looking behind me to see who had lifted the dog up but he was still there,” she says.
Around 6 p.m., more than nine hours after she started the hike, Vargas, her father and Boomer arrived at their truck. She took the note from the board and drove the dog home for food and rest.
Vargas called Boomer’s owners and learned they had been hiking on the Fourth of July when the dog wandered away.
“He walked out onto a snow crevice, lost his footing and fell 100 feet before rolling 200 feet,” Vargas says. “They went to find him but he was gone. They assumed he had climbed under a bush and died because there’s no way he could have survived that. He’s a miracle dog.”
But Boomer did survive and a visit to the veterinarian revealed he only had a few torn ligaments.
Vargas believes there is a reason Boomer he’s still alive, a reason why she was hiking that day and a reason she was able to carry the dog down the mountain even though she was physically exhausted.
“I have no doubt that God put me there. There’s no doubt in my mind. That dog would have died,” she says. “I was fatigued, my legs were shaky and felt like Jello and there’s no way I could have gotten him off that mountain without divine help.”
There’s one more thing Vargas believes: that Boomer is meant to join her family.
In speaking with his owners, she learned he was recently sold as a hunting dog to a family in Boise but they likely wouldn’t want him anymore with the torn ligaments. So she asked if she could keep him and they agreed.
“He’s supposed to be in our family. He’s not a quitter and I’m so glad I was there that day,” Vargas says. “We’re all here to help each other and I’m just glad I can help.”
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Review: Wild
Bonding with Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
A Fresh Look At: Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
by Jordan Brooks on December 8, 2014
Monty Python's irreverent humor and sweeping visuals allow "Life of Brian" to transcend the time in which it was made, and secure its position as an enduring and poignant satire of religion and individualism.
Monty Python’s not-so-biblical epic, “Life of Brian,” turns 35 this year and its themes of independent thinking and skepticism are still very relevant. Their follow up feature to the wildly successful, and, for all intents and purposes, canonized “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was much more harshly received, and labeled “blasphemous” by several factions of the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Though it may be controversial, “Life of Brian” is an impressive achievement in filmmaking, and one that got the “epic” dead on.
As with “Holy Grail,” “Life of Brian” derives its story, and indeed its humor, from placing everyday, relatable characters into historical situations. “Life of Brian” centers on what its title implies, the life – from birth till death – of Brain. Born mere yards from Jesus Christ, Brian is mistaken (the first time of many) for the messiah himself by the famous “three kings.” His childhood is glossed over in the beautifully animated opening titles (by Terry Gilliam, who is responsible for all Monty Python titles and inter-titles), and we catch up with Brian as he listens from the back row at Christ’s famous Sermon on the Mount. Panning slowly backwards to introduce a sense of scale, director Terry Jones shows an enormous crowd gathered to hear Christ speak. Finally reaching Brian (Graham Chapman) and his mother (Terry Jones), Christ is hardly audible, and fellow members of the crowd become agitated at not being able to hear. Making up their own versions of the speech (“Blessed are the cheese makers?”), the Pythons set up their film-long joke: people’s individual interpretations are silly. As we continue to follow Brian and his life, we never see Christ again, yet Brian himself becomes a figurehead of both a faction of Jewish freedom fighters, The People’s Front of Judea, and a newly formed gourd/sandal-based religion.
Unlike with “Holy Grail,” Terry Jones has completely taken over the director’s chair, and Terry Gilliam stepped aside for a turn at production design. Their separation greatly assists in the congruity of “Life of Brian” as there are not two different styles of direction in contrast to one another. Able to focus more fully on the performance and narrative, Jones is able to keep “Life of Brian” away from the Pythons’ predisposition to disconnected stream-of-consciousness comedy, and Gilliam’s tendency to focus on visual grandeur. Gilliam took charge (apart from brief appearances as some highly bizarre characters) of the look of he film, and capturing the magnificence of Tunisia. An amicable separation, Jones was more suited to “direct” (equal members, the Pythons were reportedly impossible to control) his fellow Monty Python members, and Gilliam, evinced by his work on his own films, was free to explore the realm of production design and imagery. Apart from infrequent lighting incongruities where the transitions are evident, Jones and cinematographer Peter Biziou typically blend the London studio and Tunisian location shots seamlessly; lending a spectacular realism to the otherwise irreverent picture.
It is from this realism that Jones and Gilliam derive a majority of the comedy in the film. By placing their modern characters within the constraints of an authentic historical epic, the Pythons are able to achieve countless more hard-earned laughs. In working to ensure the film looks like a serious period epic, The Pythons remove their comedy stylings from poorly constructed (infinitely cheaper/easier) cardboard sets to millennia-old historical ruins. Because it looks more real, the characters gain historical credibility, yet retain modern relatability through their interactions and contemporary social concerns. A recurring film-length joke, the rivalry between the People’s Front of Judea (PFJ) and the Judean People’s Front (the splitters) is a brilliant satire of the contemptuous relationship between various leftist factions of contemporary (1979) British society. Skewing historical accuracy in their favor, Monty Python’s take on the cliché “air duct heist” is re-arranged wherein the marauders infiltrating the sub-floor heating chambers of Pontius Pilate’s palace. Not only are they “Pythoning” around during a heist, they are bumbling around in ductwork like their more modern counterparts.
Working within the confines of the historical period in which the film is based, the Pythons make a complete mockery of every day culture and interaction. Whether it is at a sparsely attended children’s matinee gladiator battle, or the exclusion of women at a stoning, the Pythons work, in earnest, to put themselves in the place of their ancient counterparts. Struggling to find his way through life, Brian must work against a government that he hates (the Romans) and to win the heart of the girl he loves, Judith (played by Sue Jones-Davies). Achieving each of his distinct goals in spectacular fashion, Brian is met with near-constant, Pythonesque, divergences from his desired path. A cornerstone event of the film is Brian’s graffiti-ing of a Roman temple. In an act of defiance, Brian endeavors to paint “Romans go home” in a public space. Caught in the act, Brian is schooled by Roman guard – and schoolteacher analogue – John Cleese (an ex-Latin teacher), in the proper Latin conjugations, and ordered to repeat the task 100 times before sunrise (Gilliam would use his artistic abilities and a large piece of acrylic to accomplish Brian’s feat of protest). Not only has Brian succeeded, and far exceeded, in his intentions, but the introduction of Cleese’s “average Englishman” to the narrative brings hilarity and accessibility to the film.
Upon its release, “Life of Brian” was widely regarded as blasphemous by many religious factions of society. Monty Python has vehemently argued against this label, due to Christ’s two depictions in the film being respectful and biblically accurate. Much preferring the title “heretical,” the Pythons designed the film to be a staunch criticism of the basis of religion. Condemning “group think” and the fallacy of accurately interpreting ancient documents, “Life of Brian” is much more damning of religion as a whole than any religious figure. Taking their idea of incorrect perceptions to its (il)logical conclusion, Brian is deemed the Messiah, and small acts such as losing his sandal are praised as “foundations of his teachings.” Monty Python is not simply castigating religious beliefs, they are taking the comedic approach to informing the masses that the opinions held by priests, rabbis, and preachers do not make them any more important or genuine than personal, introspective conclusions on morality and life.
A testament to Monty Python’s dynamic ability to position flippant humor in one of the most serious historical periods, while staying, aesthetically, as true-to-period as possible, “Life of Brian” is an astounding achievement in comedy filmmaking. With sweeping shots of the Tunisian landscape, and jam packed with poignant, irreverent jokes, Monty Python’s incredible “Life of Brian” withstands the test of time; every bit as contemporary and relevant three-and-a-half decades on.
Continue Reading Issue #31
John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Carol Cleveland
Comedy, Features, Retrospectives, Reviews
Eric IdleGraham Chapmanjohn cleeseLife of BrianMichael Palinmonty pythonTerry GilliamTerry Jones
Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, john cleese, Life of Brian, Michael Palin, monty python, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Jordan Brooks is a contributor to several online publications, including his own blog focusing on streaming film. Being an avid lover of film, he has recently begun diving more deeply into film history; and is working towards becoming more educated in world cinema. He currently resides in sunny California with his girlfriend and their dog (although the real film buff in the family is definitely the dog).
Life of BrianMichael Palinmonty pythonTerry Gilliam
The Top 10 British Films
by Jess Brooman on June 9, 2014
Over the years, British cinema has certainly been influential in terms of both style and substance. At their best, British films are masterpieces of the big screen. From the realities of David Lean films, to the raw humanity of Ken Loach and Carol Reed, via the ingenious comedy of the Monty Python series and Ealing […]
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The low threshold for calling a jury in police deaths
Written by Jamie Mathieson
R (Fullick) v HM Coroner for Inner London North [2015] EWHC 3522 (Admin) 3 Dec 15
Susan Jones died after falling ill at a police station after she had attended the station voluntarily as a witness. An alcoholic, homeless and on methadone, she was vulnerable and police statements made it clear that the officers felt they owed her a duty of care: as the Chief Coroner put it, “at the very least she needed looking after”. Having given an interview, Susan was waiting for a specialist team to attend. While waiting she placed her head on the table and appeared to fall asleep, being heard snoring. She was left for some time, checked once, but not roused. Nearly two hours later, officers realised she was not breathing. An ambulance was called and CPR commenced, but she died in hospital just over a week later.
The Coroner’s initial decision not to hold her inquest with a jury was overturned by the High Court, comprising the Chief Coroner and McCombe LJ.
‘Reason to suspect’ is a low and objective threshold: suspect’ means suspicion: ‘a state of conjecture or surmise.’
Susan’s family submitted to the Coroner and again to the High Court that her case satisfied one of the mandatory provisions for a jury in s.7 Coroners and Justice Act 2009: there was reason to suspect that the death resulted from an act or omission of a police officer in the execution of their duty. Alternatively, the Coroner had a ‘sufficient reason’ to call a jury and ought to exercise her discretion to sit with one.
The High Court agreed with the family on both counts. It held that the ‘reason to suspect’ test is a low and objective threshold. ‘Suspect’ means suspicion: ‘a state of conjecture of surmise’ said Hickinbottom J in R (Davey) v HM Coroner for Leicester City and South Leicestershire [2014] ILR 260, endorsed here. This standard falls far below prima facie proof or clear evidence. If there is material which leads a coroner to suspect there is a question over whether the police ‘could or should have done more’, then there must be a jury to answer this question.
The Court also concluded that the Coroner should have found there was sufficient reason for her to exercise her discretion to sit with a jury. As determined in R (Paul and others) v Deputy Coroner for the Queen’s Household [2007] ILR 17, factors for the Coroner to take into consideration included whether the case resembled the situations covered by the mandatory provisions, and also the wishes of the family. So a Coroner does not even need to feel she has reason to suspect that a death resulted from an act or omission of a police officer. The situation need only resemble one where the death so resulted.
This case shows that ‘act or omission of a police officer’ is a provision with a scope far wider than might previously have been assumed. The provision is not solely triggered by positive acts by police officers that were potentially causative of the death, nor does it only cover police dealings with criminal suspects. A jury may be required whenever the police have had involvement with a deceased person who, like Susan, needed looking after. If there is any suspicion that officers could or should have done more to prevent a death, and the family want there to be a jury, this judgment will make it very difficult for any Coroner to justify sitting without one.
The Chief Coroner also addressed the engagement of Article 2. The Coroner had written to the family ‘I do not conduct inquests where Article 2 is engaged and those where it is not engaged in any way different, and so for this reason the inquest will certainly be Article 2 compliant’, notwithstanding the lack of a formal ruling that Article 2 was engaged.
Sir Peter was not impressed: ‘In all cases where the issue of Article 2 is raised, the Coroner should respond with clarity…Interested Persons need to know whether the Coroner considers that Article 2 is arguably engaged.’ These comments are a corrective for coroners who state that since they carry out all their inquests fully, frankly and fearlessly, the Jamieson/Middleton distinction does not matter to them.
When the engagement of Article 2 is raised as an issue, Coroners should not shirk their obligation to give a clear ruling on whether or not they agree. Article 2 engagement does not simply ‘widen’ the scope of the inquest in an intangible way. It has a material impact on funding for family representation and the form of the inquest’s conclusions. Coroners who argue that there is no need for them to rule decisively on Article 2 are likely to be given short shrift if their practice is scrutinised by the High Court.
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Wednesday, July 17, 2019 • R.I.P. Edition • Something about hobo piss.
Michael Bay Knows His Movies Suck and He Doesn't Care Because You'll See Them Anyway
Written by Jude Terror on Sunday, June 29 2014 and posted in News with Benefits
So really, it's all your fault.
As Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction destroys childhoods on its way to the first $100 million opening of the year, some interviews around the net have shed light on just how such an abomination of plot and characterization can even come to exist in the first place. First up, Age of Extinction writer Ehren Kruger talked to Slashfilm about what it's like to write for Bay:
How do you write for Michael Bay’s style?
Writing for Michael is very — he’s a very sensory director, and sometimes an “overload” director. He’s someone who is always looking to top himself, certainly from an action perspective and a stylistic perspective. So very early on we’re throwing ideas back and forth. We talk about sequences and visuals and moments. Whereas in some other films, or “ordinary” films, you might be very slavish to story and narrative first, and logical sense above all. When you’re talking about aliens, robotic machines which disguise themselves as vehicles and animals, you start to make your peace with the idea that logical sense doesn’t have to be the be-all, end-all. It needs to be amazing fun for the audience. They need to be swept up, and be promised that they’re going to see things that make it worth spending money on a ticket.
This film, and some other Transformers films, does away with, for example, some basic connective tissue between story sequences.
At moments it is quasi-experimental, yes. You have to understand, with a big summer movie like this, especially this franchise, [Michael Bay] doesn’t quite look at it like competing with movies. He looks at it like “should I go see Transformers, or spend a day at Six Flags?” There’s a big spectacle quality to it that he is promising, and that is one of the things that makes this franchise different than your X-Men, Spider-Man, or Planet of the Apes films. It’s something this series does that is its own style. That is all part of the package. Some days, it’s like writing a Cirque du Soleil show.
So logical sense is not a concern for the story of Transformers movies. That explains a lot. We thought they were just doing a poor job of making a coherent movie, but in actuality, they're just not even trying.
Next up, Bay discussed Transformers "fans" with MTV:
They love to hate, and I don’t care; let them hate. They’re still going to see the movie! I think it’s good to get a little tension. Very good.
So there you go. Michael Bay has your number, fanboys and fangirls. For all your complaining, this franchise is four movies in and it's still making a shitload of money. And as your childhood lies in the fetal position at the bottom of the shower, weeping, Michael Bay is laughing all the way to bank.
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The Science News Reporter
Meteor Turns Night Into Day In Stunning Footage Captured Over Finland
Video footage has captured the incredible moment a meteor tore through the skies of Lapland, Finland, turning night into day and causing a noticeable blast. The incident happened on Thursday, November 16, and was seen on camera by a number of locals. The meteor shines incredibly brightly, but it’s not known if it hit the ground or exploded in the atmosphere.
“So tonight whilst I was sat in our cottage, there was a huge bang and the cottage shook violently,” Tony Bateman, who recorded one of the videos and runs the website Aurora Service Tours, said in the video description.
“We run a live video stream capturing the night sky for aurora borealis purposes, I immediately think maybe that caught the show? So I rewind the video and sure enough, there it is. Absolute goosebumps at this stage. “What a night.”
The incident is thought to have happened at about 6.40pm local time in the skies of Inari in Finnish Lapland. The incident was so bright and powerful that there were some reports it was even heard in Norway and Russia.
“The lights came from all around us, like a massive explosion that lasted for some five or six seconds,” eyewitness Atle Staaleen told the Barents Observer.
While the event is impressive, meteors are not all that rare. Thousands of objects burn up in our atmosphere every year, but many are too small to be noticeable. Others take place over remote, uninhabited areas.
On some occasions, though, a meteor can streak over a populated area. In the case of this incident, the meteor looks like it either exploded in the air as a bolide, or hit Earth as a meteorite. We’re getting better at tracking meteorites, but we’re not perfect yet. The often used example is the Chelyabinsk meteor over Russia in 2013, which went undetected but injured hundreds of people when it exploded.
Thankfully, we don’t seem to have had a repeat this time around. But it’s a good reminder that there’s a lot of stuff hitting our planet, and we need to make sure we’re prepared if anything big does come our way that could pose a threat.
In August, the Andromeda galaxy will move closer to Earth : a cosmic event that only happens once every 150 million years
This August, the Andromeda galaxy will be even bigger than the moon in our sky!
The last time this cosmic event occurred was during the era of the dinosaurs… Share this information as much as you can with your friends because NO human being living today will be able to see this incredible event a second time.
This summer, don’t forget to look up at the sky in the middle of the night: the Andromeda galaxy will be shining brightly. And for a good reason since this galaxy’s apparent diameter will be larger than the Full Moon! Through a unique cosmic phenomenon, a galaxy will be visible to the naked eye and will appear to the Earth’s inhabitants to be even bigger than the moon!
This is the first time that humanity will be able to observe this exceptional phenomenon. The last time the Andromeda galaxy was so close to the Earth was exactly 150 million years ago, during the era when dinosaurs ruled its surface. Just imagine, mankind didn’t yet exist!
This unique cosmic phenomenon known as “Andro…
Tourists Break Into Eco Park And Strip Away All Its Lotus Flowers
An ecological park in southwest China has been stripped of its celebrated lotus flowers by tourists breaking into the attraction.
Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park in Sichuan province’s Lu county has been forced to close for the rest of the year due to the actions of hundreds of tourists.
The park had been closed since late March for watercourse construction and was due to reopen soon, however that is no longer possible.
Well known for its endless fields of lotus flowers which cover around 250,000 square metres, the eco park has been stripped bare in recent weeks, the South China Morning Post reports.
Since the start of the summer blossom season last month, hundreds of people have been breaking into the park to pick the flowers, forcing park managers to keep it closed for the remainder of the year.
Zhou, a member of staff, said:
We cannot control the tourists. We can just guarantee we’ve done our job well. We’ve put notes on the park gate and near the flower field and we have security p…
Dentist Accused Of Illegally Killing More Than 1,000 Jaguars
Brazilian authorities have arrested a gang of illegal poachers, including a dentist who is accused of killing more than 1,000 jaguars.
Police arrested seven men in the state of Acre on suspicion of having illegally killed thousands of endangered species, including jaguars, capybara, collared peccary and red brocket deer.
According to reports, the most active and longest-serving member of the gang was Temistocles Barbosa Freire, a dentist believed to have killed thousands of jaguars since 1987.
The jaguar, which is classified as vulnerable in Brazil, has undergone a loss of nearly 38 per cent of its habitat in the country and has undergone major declines in population in all regions, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The three largest threats to jaguars in the Amazon are: clearance of native ecosystems in which they live; the direct killing of jaguars because of real or perceived conflicts with people; and hunting of the prey that jaguar need to survive.
In this case, th…
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Can Brookings Be Dethroned?
Can the Brookings Institution, which is considered the world's #1 think tank, ever be dethroned from its top position? It seems that there are several scenarios where that could happen, although most currently seem unlikely.
Brookings loses funding or seriously mismanages its finances. [The latest publicly available data shows Brookings with around $410 million in assets and $100+ million in total revenue for the most recent year.]
A well-established think tank (domestic or international) catches up with Brookings. [Chatham House is the #2 think tank in the world and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is #3].
A new think tank, such as a crowd-sourcing think tank, makes Brookings largely obsolete.
A huge "scandal" rocks Brookings. [Think tank scandals are rare, although they not unheard of. Center for American Progress (CAP) was attacked last year for its "anti-Israel agenda.")]
Poor leadership leads to a brain-drain in scholars.
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Did Jim Tressel Interview For The Head Coaching Job At Miami In 1995?
By Dan DiLoreto | December 14, 2014
During tonight’s 30 for 30 The U: Part 2, we were subjected to all sorts of little truth nuggets. One of which came within the first five minutes of the program while the subject was the hiring of Butch Davis.
Davis said he knew that he probably wasn’t one of the first choices the University of Miami had on their wish list, but he was very grateful the other coaches they interviewed had turned the university down.
From the graphic on the screen, we knew the finalist for the job were Butch Davis (def. coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys), Sonny Lubick (Colorado State head coach) and Gary Stevens (off. coordinator for the Miami Dolphins).
The one we didn’t see on that list, but Davis claims turned down the job?
Jim Tressel.
It would make sense for the U to reach out to Tressel, right? To that point he had been head coach at Youngstown State University for the previous eight or so years and had just won his second National Championship with the Penguins. He was already the D-II coach of the year three times (’91, ’93, ’94). What more could he have accomplished at the lower level?
Well, as it turned out, another 51 wins and another National Championship. So maybe he knew what he was doing when he turned down the Hurricanes?
Because as we already know, in 2001 Tressel accepted the head coaching position at The Ohio State University and in just his second year with the team, won the 2002 National Championship against….
The Miami Hurricanes.
Talk about full circle, huh?
Related ItemsButch DavisJim TresselMiami HurricanesOhio State BuckeyesSports
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Man confesses to murdering US scientist Suzanne Eaton
A 27-year-old local man of Greece has been arrested for the murder of Suzanne Eaton, an American scientist. Suzanne Eaton was a 59-year-old molecular biologist who had worked for the world-renowned Max Planck Institute....
Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ For Theatrical Release in US
The Lion King – directed and produced by Jon Favreau is an American photo-realistic computer-animated musical drama film, which is waiting to hit the big screens on this 19th of July. The movie, is...
Turkey receives Russian missile defence system defying US
The first shipment of a Russian-made S-400 air defense missile system has been received by Turkey, defying the opposition from US. Turkish defence ministry said that on Friday, a an airbase carrying the shipment...
Brazilian President offers his son the post of US ambassador
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has offered his son the job of US ambassador. Eduardo Bolsonaro (35), the younger son of Jair Bolsonaro has been offered with this post amid a heated debate in the...
US issues inquiry on French plan to tax tech giants
Donald Tump has raised an order for investigation on the planned taxation of tech giants, which would seriously affect the American tech companies. This could be a move that results in retaliatory tariffs. Robert...
NASA’s Dragonfly mission to search for signals of life on Titan
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has came up with the Dragonfly mission to search for the presence of life in Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The mission is estimated to cost $1 billion....
A rustic sculpture of Melania Trump was made in Slovania
A rustic sculpture of US first lady, Melania Trump was made in her home town in Slovenia. The figure was cut from the trunk of a living linden tree. This was built in a...
First ever photographed black hole named “Powehi”
The first ever photographed black hole has been named “Powehi”. The name which literally translates to ’embellished dark source of unending creation’ was designated by astronomers and renowned Hawaiian language professor Larry Kimua Powehi’s...
Visa-Free Travel For Britons Even After ‘No Deal’ Brexit
The EU lawmakers, on Wednesday had approved a law that allows Britons visa-free visits even after a “no deal” Brexit. Severe disputes had been occurring over the status of Gibraltar. The law already had...
FBI says that the person claiming to be missing Timmothy Pitzen is not him
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that DNA testing confirms that the teen found in Kentucky on Wednesday who claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen, a missing child, in not him. According to the...
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TCR Asia: TeamWork Motorsport reveals drivers
After revealing its entry into the 2016 TCR Asia Series last month, Chinese Touring Car outfit TeamWork Motorsport unveiled its driver lineup ahead of the opening round of the new season, which gets underway in South Korea in two weeks time.
Experienced Macanese driver Kevin Tse and Hong Kong-based American Bill O'Brien will spearhead the team in TeamWork’s newly acquired Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR cars.
Tse is no stranger to the circuits of Asia, having competed in a variety of categories since 2005. Over ten years in the sport he has raced in and won in many different cars and categories such as Lotus Cup, Formula Geely, VW Scirocco Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup, Asian Le Mans Series, Dubai 24-Hours, and a round of the Chinese Touring Car Championship with the Ford Factory team in 2015.
Tse admitted. “TeamWork Motorsport is a new team for me, but I have known a few key personnel from the team for some time so it’s not completely ‘new’. I know there will be some intense competition this year, so right now I am trying not to think too much about results. I just want to focus on my own performance and let the results speak for themselves. I hope my experience in different cars and tracks can create an edge for us.”
With more than 30 years of racing experience - much of it in Asia - O’Brien has great knowledge in a variety of cars across many of the Asian circuits. More than just a racer, O’Brien also formed his own racing team - BlackArts Racing - in 2015 that clinched the Driver’s and Team’s titles in Asian Formula Renault 2.0 that year.
“I think my experience in racing plus TeamWork’s expertise in Touring Cars will make us a strong squad,” he explained. “I may have relatively less experience in a front-wheel-drive race car, but the racing principles are the same. I am sure once I get a good feel for the
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Top Online Poker Tips
Your Best Place for Online Poker Tips
You are here: Home / Archives for John Malkovich
The Origins Of Poker
October 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Poker is a family of various card games played by two or more player who bet on the value of their hands. Numerous versions exist with each version differing based on the number of cards dealt, specific nuances and rules, betting limitations and hand rankings.
The exact origin of poker is unknown. The first known reference to poker was in 969 AD in China. The Emperor Mu-Tsung was reported to have played a game with his wife known as ‘Domino Cards’. The Persians were known to play two games in the 16th Century including a 96-card game known as ‘Ganjifa’ and a 25-card game known as ‘As Nas’. In Europe, several versions of these early game evolved including the German game ‘Pochspiel’, as well as the French game ‘Poque’.
Unreferenced in all the different variations of card games throughout history, the modern version of poker differs greatly with a unique focus on betting. This modern version of gambling is through to have originated in around the Mississippi River in the United States of America around the mid 1700s. It is commonly believed that French colonials introduced their national game ‘Poque’ and this started the modern versions of poker that we known today.
Early versions of the game involved 20 cards (AKQJT) and four players. There was no draw and bets were made on a narrower range of combinations including one pair, two pair, triplets, full and four of a kind. There was no straight, flush or royal flush at this point. In the mid 1830s, the 52-card version was gradually adopted partly to accommodate more player and to give more scope to the recently introduced flush. Poker now reached the pages of American Hoyle. Around 1845, Poker began introducing the ‘draw’. The improved the game by allowing a second round of betting and providing initially poor hands the ability to dramatically improve. From the middle of the 19th century, poker changed rapidly and became more widespread with modern day variations all starting to take form.
The modern history of poker can be attributed to a few key events over the last decades that catapulted poker into the mainstream. The first event to publicise poker is the release of the 1998 film ‘Rounders’ starring John Malkovich, Edward Norton and Matt Damon. The next key step in the history of poker is the modernisation of poker including easily accessible televised tournaments with hole card cameras including the likes of the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. The final event that changed the history of poker forever is the victory of Chris Moneymaker, an unknown amateur player, in the 2003 World Series of Poker.
For more information about poker including srategies, books, articles and videos then please check out our websites for more information http://www.correctpoker.com and http://www.rakebackpower.com
Filed Under: Online Poker Strategy Tagged With: AKQJT, American Hoyle, Chris Moneymaker, John Malkovich
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2017 Census of Agriculture Now Underway
The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service starts mailing the 2017 Census of Agriculture to the nation's producers this week. Conducted once every five years, the census aims to get a complete and accurate picture of American agriculture. The resulting data are used by farmers, ranchers, trade associations, researchers, policymakers, and many others to help make decisions in community planning, farm assistance programs, technology development, farm advocacy, agribusiness setup, rural development, and more.
"The Census of Agriculture is USDA's largest data collection endeavor, providing some of the most widely used statistics in the industry," said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. "Collected in service to American agriculture since 1840, the census gives every producer the opportunity to be represented so that informed decisions can support their efforts to provide the world with food, fuel, feed, and fiber. Every response matters."
The census will be mailed in several phases through December. Farm operations of all sizes which produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural product in 2017 are included in the census. The census is the only source of uniform, comprehensive, and impartial agriculture data for every state and county in the nation.
NASS revised the census forms in an attempt to document changes and emerging trends in the industry. Changes include a new question about military veteran status, expanded questions about food marketing practices, and questions about on-farm decision-making to help better capture the roles and contributions of beginning farmers, women farmers, and others involved in running a farm enterprise.
"Producers can respond to the census online or by mail. We highly recommend the updated online questionnaire. We heard what people wanted and we made responding to the census easier than ever," said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. "The online questionnaire now has timesaving features, such as automatic calculations, and the convenience of being accessible on mobile and desktop devices."
The census response deadline is Feb. 5. Responding to the Census of Agriculture is required by law under Title 7 USC 2204(g) Public Law 105-113. The same law requires NASS to keep all information confidential, to use the data only for statistical purposes, and only publish in aggregate form to prevent disclosing the identity of any individual producer or farm operation. NASS will release the results of the census in February 2019.
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'Honour killings' on the rise in Canada: Expert
Tobi Cohen, Canwest News Service 06.17.2010
"We are seeing an upward trend," Dr. Amin Muhammad said. "More cases are coming to the forefront in the legal system."
Photos.com / canada.com
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More prevalent in the Muslim world, it's a phenomenon many parents here can't even begin to comprehend.
The killing of one's own child — usually a daughter — because her behaviour is believed to have brought shame to the family.
It is the fate of some rape victims, as well as women accused of infidelity or premarital sex in countries such as Pakistan. But in the West, it's increasingly popping up in courtrooms as first-generation Muslims struggle to balance the strict old-world ways of their parents with a desire to fit into a more liberal society.
On June 16, the father and brother of a slain Mississauga, Ont., teen were sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the December 2007 murder of Aqsa Parvez, a 16-year-old girl of Pakistani descent who wanted to wear western clothes and get a part-time job like her Canadian peers.
Days ago, an Afghan mother was arrested in Montreal, accused of stabbing her 19-year-old daughter after she stayed out all night in a case that's now being probed as a possible honour crime.
And then there's the case last year of Muhammad Shafia, his second wife, Tooba Muhammad Yahya, and their son, Hamed Shafia, accused of killing Shafia's first wife and three daughters, who were found in a vehicle submerged in a canal in Kingston, Ont.
Dr. Amin Muhammad is a psychiatrist at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., who is currently working on a report for the federal government about honour killings in Canada. He said there've been 13 such cases in the country since 2002.
"We are seeing an upward trend," he said. "More cases are coming to the forefront in the legal system."
Noting honour killings are not in any way condoned in the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, he suggested the idea is coming up more as a defence for murder by people hoping to take advantage of Canada's cultural sensitivity in order to receive a more lenient sentence.
He also said he suspects mental-health issues are behind most cases.
"We cannot rule out personality disorder among the perpetrators or some sort of psychopathology," he said.
"I think all such cases should be evaluated from a mental-health perspective."
Muhammad said that since the UN began cracking down on the issue of honour killings, no country is any longer officially supporting the practice.
That said, a report Muhammad published two years ago found a number of countries actually allow for a partial or full defence against criminal charges on the basis of honour killing, including: Argentina, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Guatemala, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Venezuela, Peru and Egypt.
While many recent cases in western society involve Muslims, Muhammad said honour killings have also been committed in the name of Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity.
But just as most Canadians shudder in disbelief at these stories, so too do the majority of Muslims.
Imam Zijad Delic of the Canadian Islamic Congress said there is "nothing Islamic" in taking a human life.
He calls it a personal issue more than a cultural one and suggested perpetrators of so-called honour crimes are not unlike the white, Canadian-born and bred mother who suddenly kills her children in that both are ultimately unable to deal with the challenges of domestic life.
While new Muslim immigrants struggling to integrate into Canadian society are often reluctant to talk openly about the problems they may be experiencing at home with their children, he said, the issues are being addressed in mosques and community centres.
"Last Friday, my sermon in Toronto was about Canadian-Muslim family dynamics and I had about 600 people listening," he said.
"They will not go into a public forum to talk about it but they would come to workshops and listen."
Delic said young people often approach him for guidance when facing a cultural conflict with their parents and that just as Greek and Italian families eventually found a balance between traditional and liberal values, so too will Muslims.
"We are going through the process of integration and I'm quite positive that we are at this point of time reasonably integrated," he said.
"You cannot judge Canadian-Muslim communities on the basis of what happened to Aqsa Parvez."
According to the United Nations Population Fund, an estimated 5,000 women and girls are murdered every year in so-called honour killings around the world.
The 2008 report co-written by Muhammad suggests honour killings date back to ancient societies. According to the report, Incan law allowed husbands to starve their wives as punishment for adultery, while the Aztecs permitted stoning or strangulation as punishment for such crimes.
As it's known in Pakistan, where it remains fairly common, karo-kari was only recently outlawed, though "perpetrators are rarely brought to justice," said the report.
According to the report, there are also a number of cases of fake honour killings in which stories of infidelity may be fabricated in order to get rid of somebody for financial or other reasons.
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[replay] Back Matter Interview #8: Chris Staros
When I first started writing about comics, around 2006-07, I wrote for a now-defunct website called "Independent Propaganda." The name of my column was BACK MATTER, and a fuller explanation can be found here. This interview, which was the first one I did over the phone and, thus, was forced to transcribe it afterward (not. fun.), ran not only on the Independent Propaganda site, but it was also included in our print anthology, Warrior27. I hope you enjoy:
Chris Staros is an extremely busy man. Not only is he the publisher and editor of TopShelf Productions, but Staros is also the president of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1986 in order to protect the First Amendment rights of the comic community. TopShelf is one of the leading publishers that has helped revitalize comics as a literary artform here in the United States. Since its inception in 1997, TopShelf has published a variety of books including From Hell, Tricked, Blankets, and Owly from creators as diverse as Alan Moore, Scott Morse, Craig Thompson, Ed Brubaker, and Dean Haspiel, to name but a few. Garnering critical acclaim from periodicals such as Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and The New York Times Book Review, TopShelf has earned a reputation as a publisher of smart, sophisticated graphic novels. Despite working hard to finalize the production of Lost Girls, what he calls the “most important book TopShelf has ever published,” Staros was kind enough to take the time and answer some questions by phone for Independent Propaganda. I want to thank him for his generosity and hope you enjoy what follows.
Could you tell me how the creation of TopShelf came about?
In the early nineties Brett Warnock, my business partner, and myself were both doing different things in the comic industry. He was publishing his own mini-comics as he is a cartoonist himself even though most people don’t know that anymore, and he was also publishing an anthology called TopShelf Productions, which was published under a company named Primal Groove Press. At the same time, I was doing a fanzine called The Staros Report, which was my take on the most intelligent and innovative comics out there that people should be reading. I had found that you really couldn’t find the good stuff in most of the stores; it wasn’t really being carried. Most stores carried Marvel and DC, and the literary stuff was being ignored. So I started a fanzine to tell people how to mail order the stuff. This was all pre-internet. There wasn’t an email address to be found in my publication.
So Brett introduced himself to me when he read my fanzine because he really dug it and he sent me some of his comics so I could maybe talk them up in the zine, and we just hit it off right away. We had the exact same taste in comics, the same opinions about everything, we loved the literary stuff but we weren’t judgmental. We weren’t elitist snobs about comics; we dug everything. If it was good it was good and that was it. So we formed a friendship and got to know each other on the convention circuit, and in 1997 I pitched the idea to him that we join forces and actually form a corporation. At that point he had changed the name of the company to TopShelf Productions because he liked the name of the anthology so much. I jumped on board and we ended up forming TopShelf into an actual legitimate corporation and we started publishing together. This September will mark nine years publishing. Next year will be our tenth anniversary and we’ve published about 150, 160 books so far – graphic novels and comics – and we’ve had a good time.
You mainly publish graphic novels and collections and at the time you started out it tended to go against the conventional wisdom. Did you feel at the time it was a gamble or just a natural progression of the medium at that point?
We felt in 1997 that was going to be the future of comics, the big future trend. We just made a conscious decision to say we’re just going to do graphic novels. We’re going to do things with a long shelf life. We’re going to do things and design them in such a way that they would look just as good on a shelf at Barnes & Noble or Borders as they would in a comic book store and just try to do our small part to help introduce the rest of the world to literary graphic novels. In that sense, we were one of the publishers that was sort of on the crest of that wave and we rode that wave. While that trend of everything going to graphic novels surely wasn’t a result of TopShelf’s efforts, I do believe that we have some small part in that by introducing graphic novels like From Hell and Blankets to the book trade and helping prove to them that these are viable books that are as good as anything out there and deserve attention.
You said something interesting to me once at a convention, that every book TopShelf publishes loses money with its initial print run.
That is true. I think every one of my books has lost money, except for one or two, right off the bat. There are several reasons for that. One is that the comic book market is still a small market in the world of publishing. It’s a niche market with a small group of dedicated fans. And when you publish literary graphic novels you’re limiting yourself to an even smaller market within that market. So, in some cases the demand for the product is a little bit lower than you’d like it to be because you’re selling it to a small community. In addition to that, because the resupply system for comics works so well – in other words, we have a great distributor in Diamond and they keep our books in stock and always can fill orders very quickly when they need them – that a retailer doesn’t necessarily need to take a big inventory position on a book. When a book comes out they can buy one or two copies, put them in the store, and if they sell they’ll restock them, rather than buying twenty up front and seeing how they sell. What that generally means is that you might get a thin layer of your books out and distributed in an initial solicitation. But if you believe in a title like we do when we publish something, we tend to print pretty heavy on them. We like to print between four and five thousand – and even up to ten thousand copies – of our books. That means we are investing a lot of money in the titles that we publish up front so they can stay in print for a while. And on books that we know are going to have a lot of demand we might edge up higher to that ten thousand mark. Initial orders might be kind of low on a book, but we know traditionally that certain types of authors or certain types of projects have a lot of reorder activity and a lot of convention activity and can make their money back – break even – and even make money in the long term. The interesting thing is that in this kind of a marketplace where the money is – well, that’s kind of a misnomer, I’m not sure there is any money – but where the money is made is on the back end with your back catalog. So, if we have 150 graphic novels in print and we printed pretty deep on them to begin with, then every month we’re short on the new title that we just printed, or the three new titles we just printed that month, that back catalog with all those titles like Owly, From Hell, Blankets, the Jeffrey Brown line, the Kochalka line, and the Alan Moore stuff, that’s selling every month in reorders to all these stores that are restocking all these good books they’re selling. That, in theory, will cover any shortfalls on your initial runs and help cover your operating costs and royalty expenses and all those other expenses and fill those holes in every month. In a perfect world you’d make money on the front end and the back end with publishing, but comics is such a small marketplace right now that you tend to lose money up front on everything and then try and make it up over time and hopefully your back catalog will fill in the holes around that.
Other than that point, what are some of the bumps in the road you’ve needed to maneuver around in order to keep TopShelf going these nine years?
Most of it has been financial in nature, just dealing with the cash flow aspects of the company, getting in some tight pinches. I know everybody probably remembers in 2002 we had our first book trade distributor go under right at the height of the From Hell movie and stiff us for a lot of money and kind of put us out of business in a sense. We put out that internet plea and so many orders came in that we were back in business that same day. We’ve had some distributor failures, just some general cash flow problems with sales that is always something that slows us down from time to time. And recently with the book trade getting so popular and a lot of mainstream publishers jumping into the game like Pantheon and First Second we’re also having a competitive issue right now being able to keep our cartoonists in the house so to speak because some of them are starting to take lucrative advances with other big companies to publish graphic novels. I can’t blame them for chasing the dollar but it is a bump in the road for us to try and keep everything rolling.
I knew Craig Thompson’s new work would be coming through Pantheon but I was surprised to see a new edition of Goodbye, Chunky Rice from them as well. Does that mean Pantheon will have his entire catalog or will you still be publishing some of his work?
Craig and Brett and I reached an agreement that Goodbye, Chunky Rice would move to Pantheon, his new book Habibi would move to Pantheon, but that Blankets and Carnet de Voyage would stay with TopShelf. Also, a new book by Craig called Kissypoo Garden will come out next summer from TopShelf. So he’s going to have two publishers working for him full throttle to keep his catalog alive. We’re happy with that. I can’t blame Craig at all for chasing the dollar on that one. Pantheon offered him a very substantial advance to sign with them on his new book and while we were disappointed to have Habibi go to another publisher I can understand it. As a super gigantic Elvis Presley fan I like to think TopShelf has been like a mini Sun Records, breaking new talent and helping them get started and then at some point they have to make the decision like Elvis. Maybe we’re too small to support them or a big label comes in and offers too much money and RCA picks them up. That’s sort of what happened in Craig’s case and while we were disappointed to see him go we’re really happy to continue to be the publishers of Blankets and Carnet and the new Kissypoo Garden that’s coming out soon.
Regarding submissions or projects that you’re going to publish, what are some of the factors that go into your decision making process on which to publish and which to pass on?
The publishing decisions at TopShelf are always made by myself and Brett together. Everything we publish is basically the inner section of Brett’s and my tastes in comics, the stuff that we really like. If you look at the TopShelf line, most of the things we publish are unique, cartoony, and they have a lot of heart. Those are the kind of things we look for. In general, we do not do books unless Brett and I both agree on them. We both have given each other an inarguable veto over the other so that if there’s a project one of us doesn’t want to do we can just veto it and we move on. The only rule is that the guy who pulls the veto makes the phone call. Basically, Brett and I have always had the philosophy of looking for things that are artistic, that have a lot of heart and originality to them, and that have a lot of warmth. In other words, especially early on with TopShelf, we never really worried about the commerce of things. We just always believed that if we produced things that we felt were artistic and incredible, eventually people would find us and find the book and trust in the brand and that the commerce would follow. As the company grew and Brett and I both ended up quitting our day jobs because the company got so busy – not because it was really making so much money, but because it got so busy – we needed to work it full time. And then the company started selling a lot of books, so now there is no day job that could cover our nut if the books didn’t sell. So, we live or die by the sale of books and what we generally have to do is mix up our schedule with established talent, people like Alan Moore and Craig Thompson, whose books we know will sell well in reorder and provide a steady cash flow to run the operation, with other catalog guys like Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka who we know are also very good sellers. With that, we mix in, over the course of the year, the five or six or ten projects from new talent we’re trying to break. So we might not release five books in a row by new people. We might mix it up with some others to try and sort of balance the cash flow throughout the year between books we know are going to sell well and books we are not so sure about but we hope will do well.
For aspiring creators out there. When you look over submissions, what cardinal sin do you most often see from aspiring writers and/or aspiring artists?
In general, the biggest misconception that an amateur cartoonist has is that you can sit at home, draw something, and put it in the mail and somebody’s going to discover you and sign you and you’re good to go on your first project. Generally, getting published in comics, or getting anywhere in the arts is really, honestly, about a ten year process that you’ve really got to work at for a while. So we get a lot of blind submissions to our P.O. Box every year. As small a company as TopShelf is, because of our critical reputation and the kind of things that we do, we get about a thousand submissions a year. And from those blind submissions, people we don’t necessarily know but are sending us work, we may pick up one of those. Most of the projects that we actually publish tend to be from people that are at home doing their work and creating comics, but are also producing mini-comics, visiting conventions, setting up at conventions, hanging out after conventions, getting to know people. So, not only over a year or two do I see their mini-comics get better and better, but I also get to know them, and know if I like them, and know if I could work with them. I get to see how they market their own products. Can they sell a hundred copies of their minis or self-published things at shows? Are they good marketers? Because in a company that’s as small as TopShelf –Brett, and I, and our full time guy Rob – that’s six arms and six legs. If the guy or girl that’s producing these comics can’t sell them, and is very bad behind a table and can’t market their book, then we’re still six arms and six legs. But if they are really good salespeople and they like to work shows a lot, then we’ve got eight arms and eight legs for their books. And that’s a big strategic advantage when it comes to marketing them. For example, guys like Jeffrey brown, who does Unlikely and Andy Runton, who does Owly, those guys are road warriors. They work really hard and they’ve got great personalities and people really like them and identify their personalities with their work. As a result, they’ve created large fan bases for themselves and allowed us to do a lot of press on top of that to really get their catalogs moving. So, I guess in the small press the misconception for young cartoonists is that it’s just about putting something in the mail and getting signed when really it’s a lot more of a grass roots effort to help yourself help a publisher get your works out there and get known.
The announcement that TopShelf would be publishing Lost Girls came a few years back. The social climate seems to be moving more toward it being better for publication of a book like this. Was this a factor at all in the delay or was it other factors?
We signed Lost Girls in April of 2000. At that time they [Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie] were about 2/3 of the way through this project that they had been working on for ten years at that point. It took about four or five more years for Melinda to meticulously render all of those pages that Alan had conceptualized, and honestly about a year to two years to actually design it because it’s a mammoth project. It’s a brilliant project and it needed to be treated right. And seeing as how the project had already been in development for fourteen or fifteen years it didn’t seem necessary to try and rush it. So it’s coming out this summer. It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to be controversial. But it will never be challenged as a work of art, because it’s sheer genius.
You are marketing Lost Girls not only as an important piece of literature, but also as a fine art object. Will there eventually be a softcover edition or will it remain in hardcover like Dave McKean’s Cages?
Right now there’s no plan for a softcover edition. It’s important to us that the book not be confused as a regular old book that’s got naked people in it. This is a work of art and as such needs to be packaged as a work of art. And that’s why it’s sort of packaged like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Watchmen absolute editions, except we actually went the extra mile using nicer paper, clothbound covers, and gold embossing. It’s a much slicker package than even those two, even though I loved both of those packages. We didn’t scrimp on any corners on this one, that way when you pull the volumes out and you see how much love and care went into these and you see the beautiful cream heavy stock paper that the images are printed on and it has a sort of tinge of yesteryear, which the book is set pre-World War I, you’ll understand that it is an object of art and won’t confuse it as anything else. So that’s why we’re sticking with the hardcover format.
I know Alan Moore has very definite thoughts with regards to his stories and what can be accomplished in the medium. Does he have a similarly opinionated view in the presentation and format of his work and how much input did he have in the final presentation of Lost Girls?
Alan is the reason I actually got in the business in the first place. I was a musician my whole life and discovered V for Vendetta when I was thirty years old and it just blew me away. I couldn’t believe comics could be so powerful. I thought I would get involved a little bit. One thing led to another and here I am publishing Alan, ten, fifteen years later. Obviously Alan, being who he is – the greatest comics writer I think this industry has ever known –of course has final approval over all of his projects as he well should. But he and Melinda both gave us a lot of leeway to help package it in a way that would be pleasing to them. So we ran a lot of ideas by them in the beginning and got their guidance on which way they wanted to go. But in their heads this whole time, for this last fifteen years, they always envisioned it as three separate books, oversized hardcovers and a slipcase. That’s the way they’ve envisioned the project from the very beginning and that’s the way the book was crafted as a story. It is told in three giant sections that have different feels to them even though the story moves through all of them.
From Hell, Blankets, the announcement that Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill are bringing the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen under the TopShelf banner have been some noteworthy high points. What might be some of the lesser publicized ones for you in TopShelf’s history?
One of the things that has become a runaway hit for us recently has been the Owly series of graphic novels. It’s funny, when TopShelf started, the comics industry was worried about legitimizing itself with adults, to let people know that comics was a sophisticated medium on par with film and literature and it wasn’t just superheroes. A lot of us publishers spent a lot of time helping to recreate comics’ image as something that could stand on its own with any medium. And as a collective industry, DC comics included and all the other publishers included, we’ve collectively changed the public’s opinion of what comics are. The term graphic novel now is something people are not unfamiliar with. It’s still not quite the thing to do like baseball, but we’ve definitely come a long way in this last decade or so. But there was a point a few years ago when the industry as a whole realized hey you know what, that’s all well and good that we’ve gotten people to realize that comics are intellectual but along the way we may have forgotten about the kids, like doing really good work for kids to get people into comics when they’re young so it becomes the thing to do like baseball. Nobody picks up baseball at twenty-five, they pick it up at six and they go from there. So comics really needs to be in that same mode. A lot of publishers publish comics for kids, but we decided that we would participate in doing that new wave of doing literary comics while also trying to find some key books for kids. And Andy Runton with Owly, which we’ve been publishing for a couple of years, has become one of those phenomena where a book just becomes hugely popular with kids and is becoming more popular all the time. And it’s popular with adults as well because if you have the kid inside of you still, which I do, you can’t help but love Owly because it’s so charming and so soulful. And with books like Aaron Renier’s Spiral Bound and Jef Czekaj’s Grampa and Julie and James Kochalka’s Pinky and Stinky and Monkey vs. Robot, we’ve started to develop a line of books that are respected as quality kids’ reads. That’s one of the big ones. Seeing the lines of Jeffrey Brown and James Kochalka, examples of two cartoonists who have a lot of integrity and quality about their work, becoming brands in and of themselves has been satisfying. Being a part of developing Craig Thompson as a superstar in comics, we’re very proud of that. And of course, our association with Alan Moore, as you mentioned, is huge for us not only as big fans of his work but to be the publishers of From Hell, Lost Girls, and League, and Voice of the Fire and Mirror of Love and Snakes and Ladders and The Birth Caul and his spoken word cds, is an honor. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be responsible for those types of books.
And finally, what does the future hold for you and for TopShelf?
That’s really hard to tell. I never know where we’re going to be when I look ahead. I just stare into a giant abyss and fear keeps me motivated to work fifteen hour days to make sure we’re moving forward. And generally, it’s only in retrospect as I turn around and look behind me that I see that we’ve covered a lot of ground. Ideally, things like Owly would take off into a national franchise, our science fiction books like The Surrogates would turn into films, Lost Girls would be a successful book that even though it’s controversial would be accepted as literature and not challenged in ways that would be destructive to TopShelf or to our retailers. And these things I would view as being successful. The truth is that just surviving and just being here is in some way the only kind of success that we can hope for. The fact that we’ve survived a decade in comics is just a testament to just being able to survive. Hopefully, there will be some easier times ahead where money isn’t so tight all the time, but I don’t know, it’s hard to imagine that being the case. But in the event that if we can still be here in another decade doing a twenty year follow-up that would be all the success we would need.
Labels: Back Matter, Chris Staros, chrisbeckett, writing about comics
[replay] Back Matter Movie Review #2: The Fountain...
[replay] Back Matter Movie Review #1: Pan's Labyri...
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Q&A: Provost Mark Richards’ welcome lecture asks: ‘What really killed the dinosaurs?’
Administrative affairs | Environment | Research | Science | UW and the community
Hannah Hickey
The University of Washington this summer welcomed a new provost and executive vice president, Mark Richards, who also has an appointment as a professor in the UW Department of Earth & Space Sciences. As a lead-up to his welcome lecture, Richards sat down with UW News to answer a few questions about his work to solve one of Earth’s most intriguing scientific mysteries.
The lecture is Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 3:30 p.m. in the HUB Lyceum. It will also be livestreamed and available afterward online.
How did you get into studying dinosaurs? How does it relate to your expertise in Earth sciences?
Mark Richards, UW provost and executive vice president for academic affairs
The answer is, honestly, that I really don’t study dinosaurs. I’m not a paleontologist; I’m a geophysicist. I study the events that led to their extinction.
My expertise is in flood volcanism, caused by plumes of hot rock coming from deep in the interior up to the surface in what are called flood basalts. Mantle plumes also create features like Iceland or the Hawaiian Islands chain or the Galapagos Islands.
The last four mass extinctions on Earth are all closely associated in time with huge flood-basalt volcanic events. The largest mass extinction event was 251 million years ago, when about 90 percent of all species were wiped out. That event is very closely associated with a huge set of volcanic eruptions in Russia — the Siberian Traps eruptions.
2018 Provost Welcome Lecture: “What really killed the dinosaurs?”
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 3:30 p.m.
HUB Lyceum
Only the most recent mass extinction — the K-T mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs — is associated with a meteorite impact, the Chicxulub impact. The meteorite impact coincides almost exactly in time with the extinction event. But there was also flood volcanism at that time in India, creating the Deccan Traps. Why does the dinosaur extinction coincide with a big meteorite, and is it related to the volcanism? This has been a real conundrum in the science.
The Deccan volcanism had started before the impact, so the meteorite didn’t cause the volcanism. But what I and my group have proposed, and found increasing evidence for, is that the rate of volcanism increased by a factor of two or three at the moment of impact. In this case, it looks like there was an ongoing flood-basalt event whose activity was accelerated by the meteor impact. And we propose that the acceleration of the eruptions may have contributed to the K-T extinction 66 million years ago, when 70 percent of everything in the fossil record was wiped out.
So let’s jump to the question that everyone’s inner 8-year-old wants to know, and that is the title of your talk: What killed the dinosaurs?
Not to give away the answer, but the truth is that we don’t quite know. We know that it’s one of two things — meteor impact or volcanism — and the two events may have been related. It leaves us, right now, not knowing which of those two events was the leading cause of the extinction. My own prejudice is that it probably was the impact, but we just don’t know that yet.
Have these been the only explanations for how the dinosaurs died out?
People today seem to think that we always knew there were mass extinctions. But that’s not true. Very few people realize that prior to 1980, the majority of paleontologists did not believe in mass extinctions. They had all sorts of other explanations for how species had disappeared. Dinosaurs were fairly large and rare as animals go, so it’s not entirely obvious from the fossil record that they died off suddenly. There are some people even today who maintain that the dinosaurs died off gradually.
But in 1980, Walter Alvarez and his group at the University of California, Berkeley, published this amazing paper with evidence of an asteroid impact at the time of the K-T extinctions. That paper and the huge controversy surrounding it gave a lot of paleontologists the idea that there could be at least one major event that could trigger extinctions across the globe. When later in 1991 scientists discovered the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán, Mexico, people became very convinced that mass extinction events were possible.
Since then, paleontology has gotten better and better, and it’s now clear that there are at least five, and possibly six, mass extinction events in the past 600 million years of Earth’s history. The four that have happened since 260 million years ago are very clear in the fossil record.
How do you carry out your research?
What I’ve been studying is the causal mechanism of the K-T mass extinction. I’m mainly concerned about the volcanic processes, and how they change the conditions for life on Earth. That involves understanding the nature and timing of the Deccan eruptions.
“Mark Richards, former dean at UC Berkeley, named provost at the UW” –UW News
“UW’s new provost plumbs one of Earth’s most fascinating mysteries” –Seattle Times
“If you think you understand the death of the dinosaurs, you’re wrong” –KQED
For the last four years, our team has been going to India to the Deccan Traps lavas to obtain samples. Prior to the work that we’ve done, the dating had only been precise to about half a million years. But by using the latest methods for argon-argon isotopic dating, we can now date samples to a precision of about 30,000 years. This new technique has allowed us to say with increasing precision exactly when each lava sequence was laid down in layered rock formations that are about 3.5 kilometers (more than 2 miles) in total thickness.
We can also say rather precisely when the Chicxulub impact occurred. And we see profound changes in the nature of the volcanism in India just at that time. The Chicxulub impact caused a magnitude-11 earthquake, which we think triggered accelerated volcanism almost halfway around the world.
We had a very precise hypothesis that we were testing, and it’s turned out to be spectacularly confirmed. That doesn’t happen very often in science.
What should people expect from your talk?
The talk is designed for a general audience. I’m going to minimize the technical slides, and emphasize the places traveled, the adventure of it all, the people I’ve worked with, and highlight the most important scientific aspects on the way.
It’s unusual to introduce a provost with a research talk. Was that a deliberate choice?
Yes. I very much want the faculty and students here to feel that I’m part of the academic mission of the university, and not just someone who lords over their budgets. (Yes, you can actually keep that line.)
The role of provost is mysterious to many people. How do you like to describe it?
Officially, the provost is the chief academic and budget officer for the campus. It’s a huge amount of responsibility, especially for a place this large and complex. So, one way to think about it is that the president and the provost are both chief administrators, with the president as the boss and the provost beneath.
The president is a much more outward-looking person, who is the face of the university and is more publicly and politically visible. The provost is the person who’s more inwardly focused and looking at the running of the enterprise. President Ana Mari Cauce and I talk every day, and we don’t make major decisions without consulting each other. It’s really a partnership.
How do you balance your research with being provost, and why do you think it’s important to do both?
I’ve had a lot of practice. I was dean for 12 years at Berkeley, and managed to keep my research going during that time. It’s mainly an issue of time management.
I think it’s important, if you’re in a position like dean or provost, for faculty to see you as a colleague. The main way to be seen as a colleague is to be a teacher or a researcher. Keeping a research program, which you can schedule during “off-hours,” is much more possible than maintaining a regular teaching schedule.
On the provost front, any areas that people should look for as initial priorities?
Some things that I think need renewed attention at the UW — in no particular order — are support for graduate students and restoration of infrastructure and facilities. Affordability for undergraduate students and the overall undergraduate experience, and diversity across all aspects of the university community, especially among the faculty are also significant priorities.
Anything else you would like to say to the university community?
It’s an exciting university that is innovative and flexible, and I’m really happy to be here.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Mark Richards • paleontology • Q&A
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We are the organization we are today because of the expertise, time, and energy of our members. What role will you play in moving NCTE forward?
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NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children
NCTE Children's Poetry Awards Committee
Standing Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity
Standing Committee on Global Citizenship
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Advisory Committee
Standing Committee on Literacy Assessment
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children's Literature Committee
Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines Committee
Promising Young Writers Advisory Committee
Public Language Awards Committee
Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English
Standing Committee on Research
To select the recipients of the annual George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language and The Doublespeak Award.
The NCTE George Orwell Award, established in 1975, recognizes writers who have made outstanding contributions to the critical analysis of public discourse.
The NCTE Doublespeak Award, established in 1974, is an ironic tribute to public speakers who have perpetuated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive, euphemistic, confusing, or self-centered.
CHAIR, Allison Berryhill (2020)
(Atlantic High School, IA)
Kristina ByBee (2020)
(Arizona State University, Tempe)
Michelle Devereaux (2020)
(Kennesaw State University, GA)
Stephanie F. Reid (2020)
John Ritchie (2020)
(Washburn Rural High School, Topeka, KS)
Executive Committee Liaison, Leah Zuidema
(Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA)
NCTE Staff and Administrative Liaison, Patrick Owen
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Avoiding Diabetes
Category: Newsletter Library, Illness Prevention
The worldwide type 2 diabetes epidemic has been thoroughly documented.1,2 Yet despite extensive study and analysis, there has been little actual progress in slowing the spread of this chronic disease. Numerous medications such as metformin and glyburide are available to help counter the severe problems
Could your lifestyle be making you sick?
What is your lifestyle? Not whether you are married or where you live, but rather, how are you choosing to live your life? What choices are you making to keep yourself and your family healthy and well? It is startling to learn that some of the most prevalent causes of illness, disease, and death - including
Diabetes and Obesity
Like Scylla and Charybdis, the twin sea monsters of Greek mythology, diabetes and obesity are the twin medical monsters confronting America's children. Diabetes and obesity have even been featured as the story line in a recent episode of Law & Order, a show well-known for focusing on issues that matter.
Fate Or Choice
We all know some people who get sick all the time. They're just getting over one thing when here comes the next round of illness. We also know people who just seem to be full of energy. Those people never get sick or so it seems. What are the key differences between these North and South Poles of health?
Health Care Breakthroughs - Hope or Hype?
Health care breakthroughs are big business. We know this because such news is reported in the Business Section of newspapers and magazines. Discussions relate primarily to the potential impact on the company's share price and revenues. Possible benefits to patients are a secondary concern compared to
Let the Flu Go Around You
Since mid-Fall TV commercials have been trumpeting the horrors of the "flu season". "It's never too soon to begin fighting this year's bug" they blare. Public health announcements urge us to get our "yearly flu shot", as if this is something we've got permanently scheduled in our Blackberries. All the
Lowering the Risk Factors of Obesity, Diabetes, and Heart Disease
We're in the middle of several deadly epidemics in the United States. Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are affecting more and more people every year. Recent statistics show that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Thirty percent of American children are obese. Approximately 21 million
Managing Your Symptoms
Most of us are procrastinators. We let things go until the last minute. Papers, magazines, and books pile up on the desk until the process of finding what we're looking for resembles an archeological dig. Our garages look like our desks. Stuff fills the garage just like stuff covers the desk. Eventually,
Is it possible that ups and downs with respect to our health and well-being are yet another reflection of the ebb and flow of all things? Aren't ups and downs part of the natural process of life? If ups and downs are natural, should you really be concerned with the downs? Isn't disease merely the normal
The Bottom Line on the Bird Flu
It’s hard to turn on the television or listen to the radio without hearing about the dangers of an impending pandemic of the Avian Flu (often called the ‘bird flu’). Day after day, the media interview expert after expert who claim that the bird flu is going to cause massive
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The Pinnacle of Journalism?
4,100 Massachusetts Students Prove ‘Small Is Better’ Rule Wrong
I think this title sucks, but what about the message?
Claim: Brockton High School has moved from being unsuccessful to successful in spite of its size, “proving” that size doesn’t matter (tee hee). This contradicts “certain education circles” that believe small schools are a useful reform tool (to be transparent, I fall into this category…I personally find it much easier to build a positive learning community in a place where people know each other).
After reading, I think the message it also pretty lousy. In a two page article, the following is the evidence given for how the school was previously unsuccessful: “[a decade ago] only a quarter of the students passed statewide exams. One in three dropped out.”
Pretty damning. Evidence of improvement? This is it. All of it. “In 2001 testing, more students passed the state tests after failing the year before than at any other school in Massachusetts. The gains continued. This year and last, Brockton outperformed 90 percent of Massachusetts high schools.”
Don’t get me wrong. This is an improvement worth commending. Regardless of where you stand on the importance or measure of state assessments, it’s no small feat to make this kind of improvement. But the skeptic in me didn’t linger long in this success. What about the dropout rates? Here’s an interesting article from the local newspaper that appears to contradict the “one in three dropped out” fact and claim that, in fact, the drop out rate was lower in 1997-1998 than last year (about 3.5%). I guess it is possible that both of these statements are “correct” since drop out rates are notorious for statistical meddling.
Most of the remainder of the article talked about how these reforms were put in place which, again with the transparency thing, some of which made me cringe. The sole example of a math lesson: “Bob Perkins, the math department chairman, used a writing lesson last week in his Introduction to Algebra II class. He wrote ‘3 + 72 - 6 x 3 – 11’ on the board, then asked students to solve the problem in their workbooks and to explain their reasoning, step by step, in simple sentences. ‘I did the exponents first and squared the 7,’ wrote Sharon Peterson, a junior. ‘I multiplied 6 x 3. I added 3 + 49, and combined 18 and 11, because they were both negatives. I ended up with 52-29. The final answer was 23.’ Some students had more trouble, and the lesson seemed to drag a bit.”
Really? Drag a bit? Please shoot me now. Oh, keeping with the theme of transparency, I should say that I think this ‘lesson’ is worse than useless from a mathematical or a writing perspective. Alas.
“It had become dogma that smaller was better, but there was no evidence,” said Mr. Driscoll, who since 2007 has headed the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees federal testing.
Nice logic buddy. Test scores now > test scores ten years ago imply large school = good. Ergo, small school ≠ better.
Ack. Apology for all the snark.
Labels: media, reform, standardized test scores
Sue VanHattum September 27, 2010 at 7:23 PM
hee hee. don't apologize. sometimes we need snark. like, you know, when we're up against the big media machine version of things.
I think I like this sentence the most: "In 2001 testing, more students passed the state tests after failing the year before than at any other school in Massachusetts." Coupled with the sentence "Brockton ... is the largest public school in Massachusetts" things start to sound very iffy.
If you put the sentences together you get: "At the largest school in Massachusetts, the quantity of students who changed their grade from failing to passing was larger than at any of the other, smaller schools." All things being equal, wouldn't that be the case regardless of any reform movement?
Avery September 27, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Yes, this could have been a much longer post/rant. I didn't even notice at first that the Times typesetters messed up the exponent in the expression and wrote it as 72 instead of 7 squared. But dag nabbit, test scores are up (or test scores elsewhere are down).
Jason Buell September 27, 2010 at 10:49 PM
Warning: Rant to follow.
What stuck out for me was the "reading and writing in all subjects, including gym." This sort of thing bothers me to no end. Were the English teachers asked to incorporate physical education in their class? In math/sci the debate is usually math/sci for its own sake or for future job/economy prospects. PE (and art, music, pretty much any of the non Big 4 subjects) has to suffer through debates about whether there is any value in it at all. Yeah, we'll do PE but we're going to give you something that's actually valuable while you're running around giving the football coach a job. And you can take art, but only if it's integrated in with history. And music, but only because it's been shown to boost reading and math levels. Now I'm not arguing against interdisciplinary learning. The walls we set up to segregate subjects are mainly BS anyway. Remove the walls and the subjects will naturally weave together. Don't force it through this crap and certainly don't create some ELA/Math hegemony with the rest of the subjects tithing to the masters.
Maybe this is what is meant by, "the exception that proves the rule."
Mike September 30, 2010 at 6:40 AM
I feel like, with high stakes testing, all of these schools are so encouraged to cheat that you can't really trust any scores coming out of them.
I don't see how small schools really help much unless you have one building to a school, which is certainly not the case in most urban settings, where you are typically allocated a floor of a building. I'm more of a proponent of smaller class sizes, so that the teacher can actually monitor what's going on and provide individual attention. This is not to mention the reduced stress in the teacher's life that comes along with not having to deal with 35 adolescents screaming at you.
@Mike: I wouldn't go as far to say that there was cheating involved. I would go as far to say that good test scores do not necessarily mean a good school and, in my opinion, there was a lot of evidence in this article that they have a long way to go.
I think you're right that it's more difficult for small schools to be effective when they share a building, but there are still a number of advantages and I've seen schools with completely different cultures than the one on the next floor. The significant advantage I see in the small school model is that you know all the kids. You can build positive relationships with them before you find them in the halls screwing around and have to yell "Hey! Guys! You there! The one in the blue shirt. Stop that." No one wants that to be your first interaction with a kid. That said, there are some clear disadvantages of small schools: cost is the big one and lack of extra-curricular activities is another.
As for small classes, one difficulty I see is that if you're a teacher going from a class of 35 to a class of 20 you also need to change the way you teach. Otherwise, many of the advantages of a smaller class are lost.
It's always infuriating to read media coverage about education. I think it virtually never doesn't drive me crazy. Be that as it may, one good thing about the article:
It made explicit mention of the fact that a school made significant changes that have energized the faculty with a sense of common purpose and improved the school's outcomes, without a major change in personnel. Nobody acts like this is even possible anymore.
Check out the letters to the editor responding to the article. I for one am pretty psyched that during the first two weeks of the release of Waiting for Superman, this kind of talk is part of the conversation.
Avery October 4, 2010 at 2:27 PM
These are good letters that really highlight the positives from this article. Clearly things have changed for the better. I still don't believe, though, that the underlying premise of the school being "much improved" holds water. I remain concerned that none of the letters addressed (or at least none of the published letters addressed) the fact that an exemplar math lesson focused on sixth grade content being done in an Algebra II class. More importantly, though, I believe the subject of mathematics is being misconstrued. The whole point of using abstract symbols to represent an expression is to
1. avoid the tediousness of writing this all out in words
2. make it easier to manipulate
I MIGHT, in some cases, see how the process of writing out your work could be helpful for students to check their work and/or understand these procedures on a deeper level but I'd bet you a quarter that almost every student who was asked to do this would do the problem using symbols and then write out the English version because that's what they're supposed to do, not because it is helpful in any way. Finally, I am very skeptical of the assumption that this "writing" in math class makes students better writers.
Nuy Keroppi 910 April 12, 2019 at 8:17 PM
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For an apple and I'll let you paint this fence
Confessions of a Math Teacher
Beliefs and Attitudes about Mathematics
Fun with Data Fitting
My first day
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Elton John Suggests Taron Egerton Covers Album
Elton John suggested that actor Taron Egerton should record an album of covers featuring multiple versions of John’s 1983 hit “I’m Still Standing.”
The idea came up as the pair discussed the upcoming movie Rocketman, in which Egerton plays John and also sings all the songs on the soundtrack.
Speaking on Elton John’s Rocket Hour on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio, the singer said, “For those of you who don't know, in 'Rocketman' I don't sing anything. Taron has recorded, re-recorded, all the songs that are in the movie, and sings them quite brilliantly.’” He then asked Egerton, “Did you find it difficult to sing them?”
“I think I would have found it harder if it wasn't for the fact that you were so encouraging,” the actor replied. “I think that was a big part of what was an enabler and facilitated me to feel kind of relaxed enough to do them in the way that we have, and, of course, Giles Martin, who produced them, who is just the most incredible man. … I owe a lot of it to him, I think.”
You can watch a clip from the show below.
John recalled how he heard Egerton sing “I’m Still Standing” on the soundtrack to the 2016 animated movie Sing. “I didn't get involved in any of it," he explained.
"I just let you go ahead. ... I knew you could sing because I heard 'I'm Still Standing.' You've redone that in this film, so I think you should do an album of 10 different versions of 'I'm Still Standing.’”
Listen to Taron Egerton in ‘Sing’
Describing Rocketman as a “musical fantasy,” Egerton told John it differed from last year's Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody “in the sense that we sing some of yours and Bernie [Taupin]’s songs, not only as performance pieces but as legitimate pieces of musical theater.”
“It's not Bohemian Rhapsody where the brilliant Rami Malek, who played Freddie, lip-synced," John added. "You're actually doing the whole thing. I can't congratulate you enough.”
Rocketman opens on May 31, with advance screenings announced for May 18.
Everything You Wanted to Know About the 'Rocketman' Movie
Next: Elton John Albums Ranked
Source: Elton John Suggests Taron Egerton Covers Album
Filed Under: Elton John, Rocketman
Categories: Movies, News
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68-94. never saw that coming. what a season. it wasn't all ugly, but it was mostly ugly. let's start with the problems we had before the season even began.
the biggest problem going into 2012 was left field. it was a concern from the jump and an ongoing issue all year. i think it was unfair to count on Shelley Duncan and hope he would turn his good September 2011 into a respectable full season both offensively and defensively. and bringing in Johnny Damon, who had no spring training under his belt, wasn't the answer either. not getting Willingham was the dumbest thing ever. it's right up there with actually believing Sizemore was going to come back and play well. so not.
then we had the 3rd base issue. Hanny was not supposed to be anything more than a backup platoon guy. he was not supposed to be our regular starter at the hot corner, and after a while, he got worn out. it was disappointing that Chiz didn't have a strong enough spring to take control of that job. but i do give him credit for how well he did right before he got injured, and then how great he played when he came back from the injury. sadly for the Tribe, by that time it didn't matter who was manning 3rd because too many other problems had arisen and taken us out of contention.
1st base could have used some help also. i was really excited about having Kotchman's glove over there, but we needed someone else who could swing the bat. platooning with Santana didn't quite work because what we lost defensively with Kotch on the bench, we didn't even make up for offensively, as Santana really struggled with his bat in the first half of the season. and Matt LaPorta certainly didn't pan out. the guy ended up being nothing more than a Triple A slugger, putting up good numbers only in Huntington Park. huge disappointment and now that CC trade can be deemed a fail. love Brantley, obviously, but he was not the big piece the Indians wanted when that deal was made. throwing Shelley or Lopez or Hanny at 1st wasn't a great solution either. the sad fact is our corner infielders were nothing to brag about.
we also didn't exactly have strong backups for any fielding position. if we had issues with the starters at 1st, 3rd, and left field, what does it even matter who the heck backed those guys up? we also didn't have a decent bat/arm to put in center or right when Brantley and Choo needed a day of rest. sorry to Cunningham, EZ, and Donald, but those names in the starting lineup didn't thrill anybody. and poor Kip and Cabby on the infield. once again, Cabby faded out in the second half, which could partly be attributed to playing a little too much in the first half. and Kip was not immune to the hardships of a first full year in the big leagues. he could have used some more days off as well. given who we had to work with, it took just about everyone playing to perfection on a nightly basis in order to be competitive. and for us, that just wasn't realistic.
to go along with the problems we had going into the season, we also developed other problems as the season got underway. first it was our hitting, or lack thereof, by many of our regular guys. then our starting pitching fell apart. we also did nothing at the trade deadline, much to the dismay of fans everywhere. although, by that time we probably could have used five new faces and bats, and even that may not have helped us break out of our slump and avoid those horrid losing streaks. let's start with dissecting the pitching.
finishing the year with a 5.25 ERA is nothing to be proud of. clearly our starting rotation was doing something wrong. at one point we had more Columbus kids in the rotation than veterans, never a good sign. between unexpected injuries, guys who just lost it, and guys who really never had it, it's amazing we were able to stay in 1st place in our division for as long as we did.
our ace, Justin Masterson, looked great on Opening Day. but over time, he became inconsistent and when he got beat, he really got beat. he was getting pounded by lefties, he couldn't stay out of the big inning, and just about every game he lost was a blowout. now i'm not saying an ace has to be perfect, put up nothing but 0s, and win every game he starts. but an ace is supposed to set the tone for the rest of the rotation and should be able to stop the bleeding before we flat line. an ace should not be 2nd in the AL in wild pitches. Masterson has a lot to work on for next season if he's still going to be our #1 guy.
when your ace is struggling, the #2 should be able to pick the team back up. Jimenez was NOT that guy. i've never been shy about expressing my unhappiness with the acquisition of Ubaldo. we traded for an ace type caliber pitcher, and what he displayed this season wouldn't even satisfy most teams for the backend of their rotation. he lost 17 games, led the AL in wild pitches, let just about everyone steal bases off him, rarely pitched deep into games, etc. since the All Star Break, he was 1-10 with an ERA of 6.96. does that resemble an ace to you? the scarier thing is, we have another year with this guy, and i don't see any signs of him becoming more reliable or consistent.
before Lowe's time with the Indians was over, he went from the top to the bottom. he was a first half of the season wonder. at one point, Derek was the best guy in the rotation. and then later, we saw why the Braves got rid of him. but he did what we brought him in here to do. he pitched decent in the first few months before he faded out. i don't have any issues with this acquisition, although i did have a problem when they waited a little too long to get rid of him. unfortunately, Roberto Hernandez was not ready to come back when Lowe began to lose it. so we had to plug a Columbus kid into the #3 spot and hope for the best. that's usually not how top of the line major league rotations operate.
poor Josh Tomlin. who expected him to still have elbow problems this year, and who thought he'd end up having Tommy John surgery? it was obvious something was wrong with him when he kept giving up all those hits and 2- and 3-run homers. Josh is a good pitcher, and what we saw this season was not his normal self. now we won't see him be a factor in our rotation again until 2014. why couldn't they just have done the surgery when he went on the DL last year? alas, it put another hole in our rotation, and gave another Columbus Clipper an opportunity to begin to prove himself in the bigs.
Gomez started out strong. he rightfully earned that 5th spot in spring training, as no other guy really came close to pitching as well as he did. but, as with most of the rest of our rotation, he fizzled out after a while. insert another Clipper here.
the last of the bunch all had their ups and downs. McAllister did well to start and then began to tire out. Kluber struggled in the beginning, then finished the year strong. Seddon pitched much better after we put him in the bullpen. Huff had some good outings at a point in the year when looks can be deceiving. and when Hernandez finally got back, we only saw a small sample size before he sprained his ankle. but it was enough to know that while his name may have changed, his delivery was the same. any combination of these guys in our starting rotation for an extended period of time was not going to help us make a run for the division.
when we were lucky enough to get a good start from Masterson or anybody else, there were countless times when our hitters did not back them up with much, or any, run support. pitching match ups pit our ace against other teams' aces quite often, and we'd end up losing games even after seeing a quality start from whoever took the mound. in turn, some losses came unfairly to our pitchers, but i will dive deeper into our offensive woes in a bit.
in total, we allowed 845 runs. a team like the Indians needs to have reliable starting pitching in order to be competitive. we got into all those losing streaks because our starting pitching failed us. bottom line, our entire rotation underperformed this season, and we cannot expect to contend when that is happening. some of these guys, the capability is there, but fans are losing patience waiting for everyone to reach their full potential and get themselves turned around.
another unexpected problem arose as a result of the first unexpected problem. because our starters were not getting deep into games, we ended up overworking arguably the best weapon of our team—the bullpen. consequentially, our strength became weakened. you can't go to your bullpen in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th innings as much as we did and still expect all those guys to remain sharp. on several occasions, when we finally had the ability to use our Smitty-Vinnie-Rage trio, usually one of them would be rusty due to not getting into games regularly. so, through no real fault of their own, there were times when they would either make the game interesting, or straight up blow the lead.
and speaking of blowing leads, no one should have been panicked after Chris Perez blew the Opening Day game. it was most likely because he was over-hyped and didn't get a normal amount of work in during spring training. losing Game 1 was disappointing, but it didn't mark the end of the season as we knew it. (lots of other things did that.) Chris had 39 saves this year. he was basically a rock. let's not even think about how many more save opportunities he could have had if our starters had pitched better. maybe he should thank his lucky stars that he finished the season with the 39 saves that he did.
coming out of spring training, i openly disliked Asencio. i felt he would be our weakest link in the pen, and over time he proved me right. Wheeler also wasn't helping the bullpen's ERA any. eventually, we DFA'd both those guys. Tomlin in the bullpen was a disaster, but as i covered above, that was due to his elbow ailment, and he wasn't part of the mafia for long. as the season went on, many a Clipper got his chance up here as a reliever. again, there is some nice potential with Allen and Barnes, and the acquisition of Esmil Rogers may have been the best of the entire year. going into next year, i see another strong bullpen mafia as long as the starters don't force them to be overused and wear them out.
now let's move on to the other side of baseball: the offense. so many guys struggled this season and, inconveniently for us, at the same time. when we started losing game after game, guys were pressing, trying to hit home runs instead of putting good swings on pitches and just getting themselves on base. strike 3 was called way too much, and a few specific players were more prone to it than others. we rarely managed to get guys home when they were in scoring position, and the fact that we might have loaded the bases with less than 2 outs was never feared by the opposition. we left 1,162 runners on base. fail.
blowout games were few and rare, as getting blown out was more our speed. most of the games we won were by close margins. we only scored 667 runs and that's why we had the worst run differential in the AL. we averaged a measly 3.6 runs after the All Star Break, and honestly i'm shocked it was even that high. the team's batting average for the year was .251, we had a .324 OBP, and we were shut out in a total of 12 games.
remember all those times we faced a rookie pitcher or a pitcher making his big league debut, and then lost because we couldn't hit against him? we also had a tendency to make sub-par pitchers look like Cy Young winners. it was an all too familiar pattern, or as i always say, it was classic Tribe.
the team as a whole sucked against left-handed pitching, finishing with a whopping .234 average against the south paws. our heavy left-handed lineup was rendered useless quite often against lefty starters, as is evidenced by our 18-35 record. and teams always had the option to counter in late innings with a left-handed reliever in hopes of shutting us down. the arguments to having so many left-handed hitters on the team—Progressive Field is a good left-handed hitter's park and most of the teams we're going to face in the AL have more right-handed pitchers—fell flat. no right-handers down on the farm were hitting well enough to help us, and knowing that we don't have any amazing prospects there does nothing to reassure fans that things are gonna get better in the near future.
should i continue on and mention our lackadaisical defense? okay well first off, left field was a mess all season. Choo had a few mental mishaps in right and came off to some people as not even caring towards the end of the season. one infielder would commit an error, and then inexplicably, someone else would mess up, resulting in 2 or 3 errors in 1 inning several times. this, in turn, negatively effected the psyche of the guy on the mound. more than one ball ended up in the photo bay area or outfield when we were trying to pick off or throw out a base runner. (on the flip side of that, we displayed some ugliness on the base paths ourselves.) players were looking like total newbies on the field at times. it was unacceptable, oftentimes embarrassing, and really just brutal. this team has a laundry list of things to improve on for 2013.
before the season began, i listed a few reasons why this season would be better than last. specifically, here is what i was banking on for 2012.
what can make a difference this year that we didn't have last year:
--Kipnis will be in our lineup for a full season
--Brantley hopefully will be healthy all season and we won't lose out on his bat in August and September
--Choo should have a bounce back season and be much more like the Choo from 2009-2010 than the guy we saw in 2011
--we have better defense at 1st base this year (sorry LaPorta lol) and may end up with more run production coming from that corner too
and who knows, if we manage to get a better outfielder in a couple months and if Jimenez actually turns into the player we traded for, this team could be in a pennant race.
my prediction for the Tribe's 2012 season, assuming everyone plays to the max of their abilities and we don't get hit with too many major injuries, is 84-78. last year i said we'd finish 82-80, and we were 80-82.
Hoynsie says 86-76, Livy: 76-86, D-Man: 84-78, Terry: 76-86, Bud Shaw: 84-78.
basically we got a total of 2 of those things this year. Kip did decent, he was a thief on the base paths and was tied for the most RBIs on the team. but he also had some defensive issues and was pressing at the plate at times in the second half. that batting average was not pretty. now that his first full season's out of the way, next year we can probably count on him to perform the way i hoped to see from him this year.
Brantley's bat was in our lineup in August and September. well, most of September. he was playing hurt in the second half again this year, except this time his numbers didn't take a nose dive. he was a very consistent hitter, hitting righties and lefties well, and led the team with his .288 batting average.
Choo was not much like the guy from 2009-2010. yes his OPS was over .800, and he led the team in doubles and runs scored, but his home runs were below what he's capable of. he didn't come close to being a 30-30 guy. not to mention how now he can only hit well in the leadoff spot and nowhere else. his defense was lazy at times and he also needs some serious work against left-handed pitching.
the production we got from 1st base was laughable. yes defense is important, and i realize we were extremely fortunate to witness Kotchman digging all those balls out of the dirt. but when you look at all the top offensive 1st basemen in the league, we looked pretty pathetic.
the better outfielder never came, and Jimenez was still an erratic mess and pitched nothing like a #2 guy. after all was said and done, we should consider ourselves very lucky that we didn't end up finishing the year in the AL Central cellar.
my optimism was cute, and my hopes of building on last year were not all that far-fetched, but the lack of moves made by the front office combined with the unforeseeable collapse of our starting pitching killed the dream. nobody thought we'd lose over 90 games. we are not a 94 loss team. it was upsetting and sad that things turned out this way, but the positive to pull from all of it is that there's really nowhere to go now but up. right?
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SEC Seeks Comments on Mom-and-Pop Access to Hedge Funds
By Paul Ausick June 19, 2019 11:53 am EDT
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday issued a request for comment on a concept release document that the agency says is intended to “simplify, harmonize, and improve the exempt offering framework,” governing who may and who may not put money into certain kinds of investments. Exempt offerings under SEC rules are not subject to the same registration and reporting requirements as common stock offerings.
If the agency ultimately broadens its definition of exempt offerings, small investors may have the opportunity to invest in hedge funds and private equity funds, opportunities that are currently available only to institutional and wealthy individual investors. Under existing SEC rules, hedge funds may not generally accept investments from individuals who earn less than $200,000 annually or whose net worth is less than $1 million.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV in April, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton distilled the argument for allowing hedge funds to seek capital from small investors: “Our retail investors, people who aren’t qualified investors, aren’t having access to those investment opportunities and over some periods of time those investment opportunities perform better. We want to make sure retail isn’t left behind.”
Clayton seems to want to allow mom-and-pop investors to get in on a hot initial public offering like the recent Beyond Meat IPO that has jumped by around 600% since becoming available in early May. Those investments are generally only available to institutions and other wealthy investors. Conversely, should the proposed change go into effect, then small investors can be subject to big losses, too. For example, from July to December of last year, IPO investors in EverQuote lost 75% of their investment.
Typical hedge fund investors also benefit from a lot of expensive advice that is not generally available to small retail investors. How many mom-and-pop investors are aware of a hedge fund’s fee structure or the fees that go along with an investment in a private equity fund? How many know that once they put their money in, they won’t be able to get it back for at least two to three years? Small investors are also more likely to be pummeled with offers from funds that have a long line of promises with no intention of making good on any of them.
The SEC’s concept release is a 211-page document that is just the first step in what could be a years-long path to changes in the rules governing exempt offerings and who may invest in them. It’s fairly certain that hedge funds and private equity firms will be solidly behind ideas that expand their reach into a pool of capital that currently excludes them. Who, then, will stand up for small investors is the big question.
For small investors who think they are missing out on the big returns coming out of hedge funds and private equity firms, they can currently invest in five exchange-traded funds (ETFs) owned by the country’s largest hedge fund, or they can invest in ETFs that follow the same investing strategies as large hedge funds.
15 Great Dividend Stocks Retirees Should Own in 2019
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By Paul Ausick
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Read more: Investing, Government Regulation, Hedge Funds, private equity, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
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The Sacrament of Bingo
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/bingo-game-church-sacrament/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%202019-03-23&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
$100 antique discovered at garage sale auctioned off for $2.1 million at Sotheby’s
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/100-antique-discovered-at-garage-sale-auctioned-off-for-21-million-at-sothebys-2019-03-22
Thanks mum and dad! Baby buffalo comes within seconds of being eaten by a lion... before its parents charge the predator and scare it off
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6838539/Botswana-baby-buffalo-comes-seconds-eaten-lion.html
20 Nutrition Facts That Should Be Common Sense (But Aren't)
https://www.ecowatch.com/nutrition-facts-2632115678.html
NEPOTISM OFF THE RAILS
With ThriveNYC, Chirlane McCray clearly flunked management test
https://nypost.com/2019/03/22/with-thrivenyc-chirlane-mccray-has-clearly-flunked-her-management-test/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Greens’ recipe for more New York gas shortages
https://nypost.com/2019/03/21/greens-recipe-for-more-new-york-gas-shortages/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Scientists develop 'safe' new method for creating hydrogen gas to power electric cars that could help to slash emissions and production costs
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6840625/Scientists-develop-safe-new-method-creating-hydrogen-gas-power-electric-cars.html
Homeland Security warns of worrying flaw that could let hackers easily take over cardio defibrillators after they've been implanted and rewrite the commands
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6840637/DHS-warns-hackers-defibrillators-theyve-implanted-rewrite-commands.html
Floods show national security threat posed by climate change
https://nypost.com/2019/03/22/floods-show-national-security-threat-posed-by-climate-change/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Mainstream media stunned as Mueller report filed with no new indictments planned
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mainstream-media-stunned-mueller-report-152236518.html
NBC reporter caught grooming his hair with spit during live shot
https://nypost.com/2019/03/22/nbc-reporter-caught-grooming-his-hair-with-spit-during-live-shot/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Judge scrutinizes Trump's policy shift on asylum seekers
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-policy-sending-asylum-seekers-mexico-faces-judge-051738144.html
North Korea abruptly pulls its staff out of liaison office with the South near DMZ border on 'higher-level' instructions, in fresh blow to peace efforts after Kim's summit with Trump collapsed
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6838099/Seoul-North-Korea-withdrew-staff-liaison-office.html
Kim Jong-un 'purges his personal photographer for damaging his "supreme dignity" by blocking a crowd's view of him for just THREE seconds'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6838193/Kim-Jong-purges-personal-photographer-blocking-crowds-view-just-three-seconds.html
Water is now ‘gold’ for desperate Venezuelans
https://nypost.com/2019/03/22/water-is-now-gold-for-desperate-venezuelans/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Venezuelan power struggle creates diplomatic duel abroad
https://start.att.net/news/read/category/news/article/the_associated_press-venezuelan_power_struggle_creates_diplomatic_duel-ap
The wisdom of Trump's lawyers, and the accountability that must follow Mueller's report
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/435394-the-wisdom-of-trumps-lawyers-and-the-accountability-that-must-follow
Explainer: How much of the Mueller report must U.S. attorney general disclose?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-disclosure-explainer/explainer-how-much-of-the-mueller-report-must-u-s-attorney-general-disclose-idUSKCN1R32S2
Mueller Report Fizzles. Prepare For The Reckoning.
https://townhall.com/columnists/markdavis/2019/03/22/mueller-report-fizzles-prepare-for-the-reckoning-n2543579?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/23/2019&bcid=3cb4e56ddeac8885c78e874bb1d8f1a4&recip=27077809
Why are 2020 Democrats so weird? (And other commentary)
https://theweek.com/articles/830443/why-are-2020-democrats-weird
Trump’s McCain Insults Stir Republicans’ Better Angels
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-21/trump-s-mccain-insults-cause-isakson-and-others-to-protest
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When your employees go to work abroad you need to think about their potential liability to income tax and national insurance, but be careful because there are different rules for each.
Income tax.
The tax liability will depend on how long the employee is to be working outside of the UK. If the employee is to work on a full time contract overseas for at least a year, he will be treated as not resident, and not ordinarily resident in the UK and not subject to UK tax on his overseas earnings, if both of the following conditions apply:
Whole tax year – The employment abroad and the absence for the UK must last for a whole tax year. So to get the best out of these rules the employee should leave the UK shortly before 6 April (the start of the tax year), and not return permanently until after the following 5 April.
Visits to the UK – While working abroad the employee can visit the UK but those visits should not exceed 182 days in total per tax year. Where the employee is abroad for more than a year the visits to the UK should average-out at less than 91 days per tax year since the date of departure from the UK. Although only a maximum period of four years is looked at for this averaging calculation. To be on the safe side restrict all visits the UK to less than 91 days per tax year.
The employee should complete the HMRC form P85 when he leaves the UK, which can be downloaded from the HMRC website. When this form is submitted to HMRC request that the employee’s PAYE code is set to NT, so his salary can then be paid without UK income tax deducted. However the employee may become liable to pay income tax in the country where he is working, so you need to get local tax advice specific to that country.
When the employee returns to the UK after completing his overseas duties he should complete the HMRC form P86 to tell the tax office he is now permanently back in the UK.
National Insurance.
Where the employee has been living and working as an employee (as opposed to being self-employed) in the UK before he goes abroad, the liability to national insurance will continue for 52 weeks after he leaves. This means that you as the employer, and your employee, both have to pay class 1 NICs for 52 weeks while the employee works abroad. However, there may be a special agreement (known as a reciprocal agreement) for social security contributions between the UK and the country where your employee will be working, which will determine where social security contributions (such as national insurance) should be paid.
Where the employee is going to work in an EEA country (basically the EU plus some others) or a country which has a reciprocal agreement with the UK, you as the employer should complete two HMRC forms: CA 3821 and CA3822.
It can be to the advantage of the employee to remain contributing to the UK national insurance fund to ensure that their rights to certain benefits and to the state retirement pension are not reduced. Once the 52 week period has ceased, the employee can carrying on paying UK national insurance in the form of class 2 contributions. If the only reason for paying these contributions is to achieve the maximum UK state retirement pension, the employee should check whether he is likely to achieve that based on his UK earnings alone. The number of years of contributions required to achieve the maximum state pension is now 30 years.
We can help you complete the necessary HMRC forms when your employee goes to work abroad, so please contact us.
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Kirk Dunston on Uncritical Faith in Science
"Should We Have Faith in Science?" by Kirk Durston at Evolution News and Views (July 27, 2015).
Go Jul 27, 2015
Many people today regard 21st-century science as a shining, monolithic spire of truth rising above the landscape of human ignorance and superstition. As a result, I often talk with people who fully apply all their critical thinking skills, and their full Internet-scouring abilities, to see if they can discover a weak link in evidence for the truth of Christian beliefs, but who have a complete, unquestioning faith in science. … As a scientist, I am increasingly appalled and even shocked at what passes for science. It has become a mix of good science, bad science, creative story-telling, science fiction, scientism (atheism dressed up as science), citation-bias, huge media announcements followed by quiet retractions, massaging the data, exaggeration for funding purposes, and outright fraud all rolled up together. In some disciplines, the problem has become so rampant that the “good science” part is drowning in a mess of everything else. ¶ To distinguish between good science and the other rubbish in 21st-century “science,” one must first understand what constitutes good science. Good science, properly practiced, requires very little faith and can be trusted insofar as we can trust anything that human beings try to do well.
Naturalism and Scientism
Yuval Noah Harari on What Drives Science
"The Myth of Pure Science: It's all about political, economic, religious interests" by Yuval Noah Harari at Salon.com (February 16, 2015).
Go Mar 31, 2015
In academic circles, many are naive enough to believe in pure science. They believe that government and business altruistically give them money to pursue whatever research projects strike their fancy. But this hardly describes the realities of science funding. ¶ Most scientific studies are funded because somebody believes they can help attain some political, economic or religious goal. For example, in the sixteenth century, kings and bankers channelled enormous resources to finance geographical expeditions around the world but not a penny for studying child psychology. This is because kings and bankers surmised that the discovery of new geographical knowledge would enable them to conquer new lands and set up trade empires, whereas they couldn’t see any profit in understanding child psychology.
Noah J. Efron on Opposing Narratives of Science and Religion
Noah J. Efron, "That Christianity Gave Birth to Modern Science" in Galileo Goes to Jail (Harvard University Press: 2009), pp. 79-80.
Go Feb 16, 2015
A Newtonian might put it this way: for every myth there is an equal and opposite myth. Consider popular accounts of Christianity’s relations to science. Everyone is familiar with the myth that popes, bishops, priests, ministers, and pastors all saw it as a sacred duty to silence scientists, stymie their inquiries, and stifle their innovations. Lately, a new account of Christianity’s link to science has been put forth, opposite in attitude to the first but equally bold and, in the end, equally wrong. In this account, not only did Christianity not quash science, but it and it alone gave birth to modern science and nurtured it to maturity. And the world is a far better place for it.
Darwin’s Doubt
Stephen C. Meyer (HarperOne: June 3, 2014), 560 pages.
Go Jun 03, 2014
When Charles Darwin finished The Origin of Species, he thought that he had explained every clue, but one. Though his theory could explain many facts, Darwin knew that there was a significant event in the history of life that his theory did not explain. During this event, the “Cambrian explosion,” many animals suddenly appeared in the fossil record without apparent ancestors in earlier layers of rock. In Darwin’s Doubt, Stephen C. Meyer tells the story of the mystery surrounding this explosion of animal life—a mystery that has intensified, not only because the expected ancestors of these animals have not been found, but because scientists have learned more about what it takes to construct an animal. During the last half century, biologists have come to appreciate the central importance of biological information—stored in DNA and elsewhere in cells—to building animal forms. Expanding on the compelling case he presented in his last book, Signature in the Cell, Meyer argues that the origin of this information, as well as other mysterious features of the Cambrian event, are best explained by intelligent design, rather than purely undirected evolutionary processes.
Creation and Design
Stephen C. Meyer
Dennis R. Danielson on Copernicus and Scientific Superiority
Dennis R. Danielson, "The Copernican Demotion of Humans" in Galileo Goes to Jail (Harvard University Press: 2009), pp. 57-8.
Go Jan 01, 2009
In the hands of some, the myth of earth’s dethronement appears more than a mere anachronism or disinterested misunderstanding. For when Fontanelle and his successors tell the tale, they are openly “very well pleased” with the demotion they read into the accomplishment of Copernicus. But a trick of this supposed dethronement is that, while purportedly rendering “Man” less cosmically and metaphysically important, it actually enthrones us modern “scientific” humans in all our enlightened superiority. And often it insinuates, without warrant, that scientific advance is inevitably accompanied by an abandonment of the quest — a quest that may encompass what is sometimes called religion — to grasp humankind’s possible purpose or significance within the universe as a whole. By equating anthropocentrism with the now plainly untenable geocentrism, such modern ideology dismisses as nugatory or naïve the legitimate and still-open question about the role that earth and its inhabitants may play in the dance of the stars. Instead it offers, if anything at all, a role that is cast in exclusively existential or Promethean terms, with humankind lifting itself up by its own bootstraps and heroically, though in the end pointlessly, defying the universal silence.
Scott D. Sampson on Interpretive Paleontology
Audio Interview, "An Eco-Evolutionary Dance Through Deep Time" at The Edge (June 6, 2004).
The bones were the same, nothing had changed. But people started to look at the dinosaurs differently. Same fossils. New ideas… People keep forgetting that paleontologists are really limited. We have a bunch of bones and teeth — for the most part — to work with. So really it’s the ideas that drive the science. The ideas, of course, are driven by the biases of that particular moment. So we went from a lizard bias to a bird bias, and now the pendulum is actually swinging, once again, back to the middle.
Michael Crichton on Scientific Consensus
"Aliens Cause Global Warming", lecture at the California Institute of Technology (Jan. 17, 2003).
I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had. Let’s be clear: The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period… I would remind you to notice where the claim of consensus is invoked. Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agrees that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way…
Pearcey and Thaxton on Scientists’ De Facto Realism
Nancy R. Pearcey and Charles B. Thaxton in The Soul of Science (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), p. 56.
The majority [of scientists] continue to be naive realists, blithely assuming that science yields reliable facts. And given that the number of working scientists far exceeds the number of science historians, that makes realism the dominant view in science today. It is a view, moreover, that appears to be buttressed by the everyday experience of the bountiful practical benefits of science. When science works so well, it is difficult not to conclude that it bears at least some
relation to a world that really exists.
Nancy R. Pearcey
Pearcey and Thaxton on Tendentious Science Histories
Nancy R. Pearcy and Charles B. Thaxton in The Soul of Science (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), p. 46-7.
In The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers Carl Becker argues that histories written in the eighteenth century were designed with one purpose in mind — to discredit Christianity. Enlightenment philosophers knew they were engaged in a cultural battle for people’s hearts and minds. In Becker’s words, they felt themselves “engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Christian philosophy and the infamous things that support it — superstition, intolerance, tyranny.” Their historical accounts were intended as weapons in the struggle. ¶ These histories would generally open with the Greco-Roman world, praised as a golden age of reason; move to the Middle Ages, denounced as a dreary period of ignorance and oppression, and end with the contemporary age, the Enlightenment, heralded as a revival of ancient wisdom and rationality. Clearly, this was no attempt at objective, fact-base history.
Inventing the Flat Earth
Jeffrey Burton Russell (Praeger: Jan 1991), 160 pages.
Neither Christopher Columbus nor his contemporaries thought the earth was flat. Yet this curious illusion persists today, firmly established with the help of the media, textbooks, teachers―even noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earth is Russell’s attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages, examining what Columbus and his contemporaries actually did believe, and then moves to a look at how the error was first propagated in the 1820s and 1830s and then snowballed to outrageous proportions by the late 19th century. But perhaps the most intriguing focus of the book is the reason why we allow this error to persist. Do we prefer to languish in a comfortable and familiar error rather than exert the effort necessary to discover the truth? This uncomfortable question is engagingly answered.
Phillip E. Johnson on Darwinists Craving to Be Right
Darwin on Trial, (InterVarsity Press, 1991), 154.
Darwinists took the wrong view of science because they were infected with the craving to be right. Their scientific colleagues have allowed them to get away with pseudoscientific practices primarily because most scientists do not understand that there is a difference between the scientific method of inquiry, as articulated by Popper, and the philosophical program of scientific naturalism. One reason that they are not inclined to recognize the difference is that they fear the growth of religious fanaticism if the power of naturalistic philosophy is weakened. But whenever science is enlisted in some other cause — religious, political, or racialistic — the result is always that the scientists themselves become fanatics. Scientists see this clearly when they think about the mistakes of their predecessors, but they find it hard to believe that their colleagues could be making the same mistakes today.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Karl Popper (Routledge: March 29, 2002, orig. 1934), 544 pages.
This is the book where Popper first introduced his famous "solution" to the problem of induction. Originally publish in German in 1934, this version is Popper’s own English translation undertaken in the 1950s. It should go without saying that the book is a classic in philosophic epistemology — perhaps the most important such work to appear since Hume’s "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding." Popper argues that scientific theories can never be proven, merely tested and corroborated. Scientific inquiry is distinguished from all other types of investigation by its testability, or, as Popper put, by the falsifiability of its theories. Unfalsifiable theories are unscientific precisely because they cannot be tested. ~ Greg Nyquist at Amazon.com
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Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Killings, arrests under new State of Emergency
Ethiopia arrests 30 journalist, bloggers and activists
Joint civil society letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister-designate on recent arrests of journalists and human rights defenders
You are here: Home / Home / Ethiopian government must protect citizens from ethnically targeted attacks
Ethiopian government must protect citizens from ethnically targeted attacks
17th September 2018 by Admin
The Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) condemns the violent and brutal attacks against innocent residents of Addis Ababa and the neighboring town of Burayu. On September 15, 2018, ethnic Oromo and Addis Ababa youths were involved in violent clashes over the choice of flags in different parts of the capital, including Piazza and Kuasmeda.
The Oromia Region Police Commissioner announced today that 23 people were killed during clashes since Friday. Federal Police also reported today that at least 600 people who were involved in the violence have been arrested. Police also confirmed that five more people were killed today, September 17 during clashes between security forces and protestors in Addis Ababa who were marching in protest of the killings and violence of the prior two days.
The clashes began on September 14, 2018 during preparations for the welcoming celebration for the delegation of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an armed group based in Eritrea for more than 20 years. The OLF which until recently was on the government’s terrorist list, returned to Ethiopia as a result of negotiations undertaken by the new administration as part of the ongoing political reform taking place in the country.
According to sources on the ground, the violent clashes between the two groups began in northern Addis Ababa when Oromo youth groups faced resistance from residents while attempting to replace the green, yellow and red Ethiopian flag with the flag of the OLF, which symbolises the Oromo resistance movement. Oromo youth traveling with the OLF flag also painted road sides, pavements, fences and other public properties on their way to the capital. Local newspapers reported that on Friday, the informal youth groups from Oromia known as Qerroo marched to Piazza in an attempt to take down the statue of Menelik II, located at the heart of the capital.
The violence spread to Autobis Tera, Merkato, Kuas Meda and Piazza, and as a result, dozens of people were wounded from both sides, and a few were hospitalised. Victims have claimed that the Federal and Oromia Regional Police forces failed to act in time to stop the violence and to take all necessary measures to prevent the attack from happening in the first place.
“Authorities should take steps to protect residents from such acts of violence and ensure that ethnically fueled violence is prevented”, said Yared Hailemariam, Executive Director of the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia. “We urge authorities to conduct transparent and timely investigations into recent events and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.”
On September 15, 2018, large numbers of OLF supporters gathered at Addis Ababa Meskel Square to take part in a welcoming ceremony of leaders of the Front. While on their way home, hundreds were reportedly clashed with residents several parts of the capital. On Sunday morning, September 16, clashes continued in the town of Burayu, an Oromia regional state town on the outskirts of the capital. It was reported by the Oromia regional police commissioner that at least 23 were killed in Burayu and surrounding villages.
According to The Reporter, the clashes began on Thursday, September 13, 2018 involving different residents from different ethnic backgrounds. Groups of youth in the town were attacking non-Oromos, and local media report that many have been displaced and women have been raped.
Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE)
https://www.facebook.com/AHREthio.org/
https://twitter.com/ahrethio
https://ahrethio.org/
Filed Under: Home
Scores killed across Ethiopia in recent demonstrations
Arbitrary Detention of Activists Signals Prevailing Rights Violations
AHRE Joint Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review 33rd Session of the UPR Working Group
Statement on the Federal Prosecutor’s decision to drop charges against 62 political prisoners
Ethiopia: Stop an Ethnic-based displacement and evictions
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St. Patrick Catholic School Receives $10,000 to Create STEM Classroom
Theo Helm on Wednesday, 28 February 2018.
Thanks to generosity of the Florida Citrus Sports and the College Football Playoff Foundation, St. Patrick students will be able to explore more STEM opportunities
Mr. Keith Galley (second from right) was honored at halftime of the Citrus Bowl.
When Notre Dame played LSU in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on New Year’s Day, Notre Dame walked off the field with more than just a rousing victory. St. Patrick Catholic School, a Notre Dame ACE Academy in Largo, Florida, walked away with the means to start its first STEM classroom.
“This will give students an opportunity to explore coding, engineering and robotics, which are areas we haven’t been able to explore before this gift." - Mr. Keith Galley
Thanks to the generosity of Florida Citrus Sports and the College Football Playoff Foundation, St. Patrick received $10,000 for a much-needed STEM classroom. Each organization gave $5,000 to the school.
“We are so appreciative of the support from Florida Citrus Sports and the College Football Playoff Foundation,” said St. Patrick Principal Keith Galley, who was honored alongside four Orlando-area educators at halftime on the field at Camping World Stadium. “This gives our students an experience they would never otherwise have.”
The school will use the gift to start a classroom within its media center specializing in science, technology, engineering, and math. The school will equip the space with a 3D printer, an interactive whiteboard and smart projector, and robotic and coding kits.
St. Patrick is one of 15 Notre Dame ACE Academies, a network of Catholic schools run in collaborations between the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) and partner (arch)dioceses. ACE works with the Diocese of St. Petersburg to support St. Patrick. The school serves about 170 students, and 80 percent of them qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. More than 90 percent of students receive some level of financial aid in order to attend.
Principal Galley and his family with ACE's Executive Director, John Staud, in Orlando. “This will give students an opportunity to explore coding, engineering and robotics, which are areas we haven’t been able to explore before this gift,” said Galley, a graduate of ACE’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. “It will play a major part in preparing them for college and graduate degrees.”
“Florida Citrus Sports is thrilled to contribute to first-class institutions like St. Patrick and Notre Dame’s ACE program,” Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan said. “Honoring the teaching profession and inspiring matching contributions with the stage provided by college football are goals of ours. A great New Year’s Day game feels extra special when 170 students at St. Patrick Catholic School get the STEM classroom they deserve.”
ACE and the College Football Playoff Foundation have worked together to raise awareness and resources for ACE through the Extra Yard for Teachers initiative. The partnership has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for ACE over the past three years, including $300,000 in matching funds from the College Football Playoff Foundation.
“This gift from Florida Citrus Sports and the College Football Playoff Foundation opens up new opportunities for the children who need them most,” said John Staud, ACE’s executive. “It continues the great partnership between the Foundation and Notre Dame Athletics.”
Florida Citrus Sports is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to increasing community spirit and pride, promoting tourism, stimulating economic development and ultimately benefiting charities, educational institutions and the quality of life in Central Florida through its signature events, which include the Citrus Bowl, the Camping World Bowl, and the NFL Pro Bowl.
The College Football Playoff Foundation (CFP) Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which serves as the charitable arm of the College Football Playoff. The Foundation is committed to supporting education across the country, primarily through teachers and the Extra Yard for Teachers. The mission of Extra Yard for Teachers is to elevate the teaching profession by inspiring and empowering quality teachers.
The Notre Dame ACE Academies were established to strengthen and sustain existing parish and diocesan Catholic elementary schools using research-proven methods to address every aspect of schooling, including classroom instruction, Catholic school culture, resource management, and leadership development.
Share this story. . .
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EHU Performing Arts
Edge Hill University Performing Arts Department was established in 2003, building upon the success of the long standing Drama Department. At that time the department offered courses in Drama and Drama, Physical Theatre and Dance. Two years later the department moved into a £5m centre. The department offers eight undergraduate programmes and three MA programmes. The University has recently invested a a further £2M in foyer and catering facilities and the refurbishment of its main theatre; The Rose Theatre.
This brief chronology of rapid change is significant. It tells you something of the character of the department. The department prides itself on embracing change and being forward looking. We are determined to build a department which is independently minded, offering courses which question the nature of performance, and make the creation of new performance a central feature of study. Our courses are intended to provide opportunities to develop and educate the performance innovators of the future.
If you would like to work with EHU Performing Arts, please join The Mandy Network to get alerted to future job vacancies.
EHU Performing Arts Jobs
For details of known EHU Performing Arts vacancies, please check our jobs board for more information
Francesco Di R...
Mandy Aldridge
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Growing up, I definitely considered myself more computer nerd than outdoor enthusiast. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I would have never imagined that I would be capable of taking on an adventure like the one that we are about to undertake.
While I’ve always been at home in the ocean (by virtue of growing up near the beach in Wollongong, about one hour south of Sydney), it wasn’t until my uni years that I caught the travel bug. After getting my first full-time job I switched to part-time study to finish my Commerce degree. With the extra income I forced myself out of my comfort zone taking a number of solo overseas trips. This included my first overseas trip as a contributor to a Fijian community tourism project, Tribewanted.
Fiji became a home away from home for me during the late 2000s, on a little island off the west coast of Vanua Levu called Vorovoro. In hindsight, taking part in Tribewanted was a significant milestone in my transition to outdoor enthusiast, exposing me to travellers from across the world, where was able to soak up lots of wisdom and experience from local Fijians and globetrotters alike.
Within a year of Tribewanted’s completion, I had graduated from uni, accepted a graduate position with PwC in Sydney, and starting dating Leigh. Our relationship opened up a whole new world of opportunities for travel and exploration.
Born and raised near Sydney in a small town on the outskirts of the Royal National Park. Growing up so close to the Royal National Park meant that as a child, nature was always a part of my life. Our family back yard was (and still is) half bush which meant unlimited access to explore and develop a curiosity for the natural world. I was an overly keen girl guide, loved learning new skills and going on outdoor adventures. However during my teens, this love of the outdoors took a back seat as other hobbies and interests stole focus.
After finishing school I went on to study Commerce at University. It was during my university years that I developed a keen interest in, and what would later turn out to be, a fully fledged love for travel. I took my first overseas trip to Singapore with a group of girlfriends and, having been well and truly bitten by the bug spent my semester breaks travelling through India, Nepal and Tibet. Following graduation I undertook my first solo travel adventure. This was where the love affair really took off. What started as 4 weeks in Southern Africa quickly turned into 4 months through Mozambique, Madagascar, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Lesotho. This trip not only crystalised my love for travel but reignited my passion for outdoor adventure. I learnt to scuba dive, went bungee jumping, white water rafting and hiked through the Drakensberg Mountains.
Crashing back to what I saw as ‘reality’, I graduated university with a major in Accounting and soon after pursued a graduate role with PwC. Kicking off my career in the business world, it was at PwC that the all encompassing, dedication to the corporate ladder climb began. It was also here that I met Adam.
The Trees
Meeting at a mutual friends birthday in 2010 we bonded over a shared love for travel and adventure. This bond quickly grew into a love for each other and what has now been 9 years of shared adventure by each others side. Together we have embraced the big and the small, scaling Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu, diving off Sipadan in Borneo, spotting Komodo Dragons in Indonesia and playing foster parents to numerous street kittens and pound puppies who have come through our door.
In 2012 Adam decided to pursue his love for the outdoors, taking 12 months unpaid leave from corporate life to complete a Certificate III in Outdoor Recreation. From here on out we spent many a weekend hiking, camping and adventuring. Finding relief from corporate life and the concrete jungle in the National Parks and forests on the outskirts of Sydney.
In 2014 Leigh came across an article in her health fund’s magazine about walking holidays on long distance hiking trails. It was here, in the least likely of places that she first read about the Pacific Crest Trail. A 4,265km journey from Mexico to Canada. The article was quickly torn from the magazine and posted on the refrigerator with the thought of “what an incredible adventure, I would love to do that one day”.
Along side the PCT the article also featured the Larapinta Trail. Research began and quickly our next holiday was set. In July of 2015 we hiked 234km through the West MacDonnell Ranges from Mount Sonder to Alice Springs. Larapinta was a challenging but rewarding trail. We walked into Alice Springs in a state of euphoria and our love for long distance hiking was born. In 2016 we tackled Victoria’s Great Ocean Walk, spending New Years Eve walking the 100km iconic coast line from Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles. Our hunger for long distance hiking continued to grow and we were again on the look out for a new adventure.
In late 2017 Leigh’s role as Finance Manager to a tech start up came to an end when the company closed down. It was a challenging time dealing with the winding down of a business and facing the loss of a job she really enjoyed after years of dissatisfaction in the corporate world. It was during this time that we started to seriously consider the idea of thru-hike. The timing was lining up for us with Adam coming up to 10 years long service with PwC the following year. The timing however, was not lining up for our dream trail, the PCT. With the PCT season running from April to October our window of availability was the complete opposite time year.
Whilst on a much needed mini break in New Zealand, Adam came across a coffee table book, ‘A walking guide to New Zealand’s Long Trail – Te Araroa’ at our B&B. With much research, open minds and embracing the notion that everything happens for a reason, we committed to embarking on a thru-hike of the TA.
After much planning we set out from Cape Reinga on 17th October 2018 and after 148 days, walked into Bluff on the 13th March 2019. The TA was an epic adventure, teaching us a lot about life and ourselves. The trail challenged us mentally and physically and affirmed our love for adventure and the outdoors.
The decision to continue the adventure came naturally, as we neared the end of our TA journey we decided to extend our career break from 6 months to 1 year and with our newly gained trail legs, set out to walk from Mexico to Canada on the PCT.
2 Comments on “Our Story”
Polly Kornie
This is beautiful guys! Thanks for letting us follow along on your journey – I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Leigh Foster
Thank you Polly! I hope we get to catch each other on the trail.
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Isabel Bishop
Mrs. I. B. Wolff
Mrs. Harold G. Wolff
born Cincinnati, OH 1902-died New York City 1988
Painter and printmaker. Her preferred subjects were nudes, interiors, and urban landscapes—often Union Square in New York City—inhabited by shoppers and working people. She was a member of the Fourteenth Street School of social realist painters, which included Kenneth Hayes Miller, Reginald Marsh, Morris Kantor, and Moses and Raphael Soyer.
Joan Stahl American Artists in Photographic Portraits from the Peter A. Juley & Son Collection (Washington, D.C. and Mineola, New York: National Museum of American Art and Dover Publications, Inc., 1995)
Hoping to become an illustrator, Bishop came to New York in 1918 and enrolled in the School of Applied Design for Women. In the early 1920s she transferred to the Art Students League to study painting with Kenneth Hayes Miller and Guy Pène du Bois. In 1934 she leased a studio at Union Square, where she observed and recorded the everyday activities of the derelicts and working-class people of the city. Subject matter was always important to Bishop, and she studied Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, and Chardin for their ideas of structure and composition. By the 1930s, her impeccably drawn figures brought Bishop recognition as one of the outstanding urban realists of the "Fourteenth Street School," a loosely affiliated group named for the area where Bishop, Reginald Marsh, and the Soyer brothers, among others, lived and portrayed the local scene. In later years Bishop turned from painting the female nude, a primary theme during the 1950s and 1960s, to portraying groups of figures in motion.
Virginia M. Mecklenburg Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press for the National Museum of American Art, 1987)
Isabel Bishop moved to New York in 1918 hoping to become an illustrator. But she loved the energy and artistic life of the city, and rather than take commissions from others, she decided to paint her own experiences. Bishop established a studio in Union Square in Manhattan, and worked there for the rest of her life, commuting every day from her home in Riverdale. She created paintings that show the ebb and flow of life on the streets of New York as seen from her fourth-story window. Her images capture fleeting moments of people walking and chatting, which she described as “never heroic, never in the ‘grand manner.’” (Lunde, Isabel Bishop, 1975)
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.
Read more about Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection
February 28, 2014 — August 16, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and F Streets, NW)
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection presents some of the most treasured artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection, including works by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Arthur Dove, Nancy Grossman, Edward Hopper, Wolf Kahn, Ya
Read more about Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection
oil on fiberboard
Card Player
pen and ink, ink wash, and pencil on paper
Artist's Table
Students Walking
Abrams Original Editions
etching and aquatint on paper
Noon Hour
aquatint and etching on paper
oil on wood
Subway Station under Grand Central
Student and Two Girls
Students, Entrance to Union Square
oil on plywood
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713 88 910 105 116 128 137
1416 1513 168 1710 1811 1915 209
2120 227 2310 2412 2519 2610 2715
← 04/20/2019
Holidays Calendar for April 21, 2019
04/22/2019 →
Public Holidays → Iran
Birthday of Muhammad al-Mahdi
Birthday of Muhammad al-Mahdi is a public holiday in Iran observed on the 15th day of the Islamic month of Sha'ban. Mahdi is believed by Shias to be the final Imam of the Twelve Imams.
Public Holidays → Brazil
Tiradentes Day in Brazil
Tiradentes Day is a national holiday in Brazil celebrated on April 21. It marks the death anniversary of Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, who was a leading member of the Brazilian independence movement Inconfidência Mineira.
Religious Holidays → Eland, Albania, Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, Bulgaria, Curacao, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, French Polynesia, Vatican City, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Madagascar, Micronesia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Sint Maarten, Sudan, South Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Suriname, Syria, Sweden, Zimbabwe
Easter in Western Christianity
Easter is one of the most significant holidays in Christianity. It describes the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, as described in the four canonical Gospels. Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, following a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance named Lent.
Palm Sunday in Eastern Christianity
Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It is a movable feast celebrated by all Christian denominations that commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as described in the four canonical Gospels.
Religious Holidays → Israel
Passover, also known as Pesach, is one of the most significant Jewish holidays. It commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt and the story of the Exodus. This festival commences on the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar and lasts for seven days in Israel and for eight days in the diaspora.
Religious Holidays → Armenia
Easter in Armenia
Easter is the most significant Christian holiday because it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, which is considered the foundation of the Christian faith. It is celebrated by all denominations, including the Armenian Apostolic Church. Easter in Armenia is traditionally called Zatik.
Religious Holidays → Bangladesh
Mid-Shab'an (Lailat al-Baraa)
Mid-Shab'an is observed by Muslims on the 15th day of the month of Shab'an. The preceding night is known as Laylatul Bara'ah (Lailat al-Baraa) or Shab-e-barat. It is commemorated with a festive vigil with prayers which lasts all night long.
Professional Days → Kazakhstan
State Security Service Day in Kazakhstan
State Security Service Day is a professional holiday celebrated in the Republic of Kazakhstan on April 21. It was officially established in 2014 by a presidential decree.
Professional Days → India
Civil Service Day in India
Civil Service Day is an Indian professional holiday celebrated annually on April 21. Its main goal is to emphasize the importance of the work that civil servants perform so that their country could prosper.
Ecological Observances → Kenya
National Tree Planting Day in Kenya
Traditional tree planting events are organized in many countries around the world, but the dates mostly do not coincide. For instance, National Tree Planting Day is celebrated in Kenya every year on April 21.
Cultural Observances → Vietnam
Vietnam Book Day
Vietnam Book Day is an annual nationwide observance held on April 21. It was established in 2014 by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. This holiday focuses on raising public awareness about the importance of books and encouraging reading in the community.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → United Kingdom, Falkland Islands
Queen's Birthday in the UK (Flag Day)
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her birthday twice. On the first, second, or third Saturday in June, the sovereign's official birthday is traditionally celebrated with various events. The Queen's actual birthday, April 21, is not a big holiday in the United Kingdom, but it still is an official flag day.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → Ireland
Anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland
The leaders of the Irish independence movement, Irish republicans, mounted the rising to end British rule in Ireland during Easter Week in 1916. The rising lasted from April 24 to 29 and it is known as the Easter Rising. Nowadays the Irish annually commemorate the anniversary of the Easter Rising during Easter Week.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → Indonesia
Kartini Day in Indonesia
Kartini Day, also referred to as Women Emancipation Day, is an Indonesian holiday that commemorates Raden Ajeng Kartini. She was the first Indonesian feminist and is considered a national heroine of Indonesia.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → Mexico
Heroic Defense of Veracruz in Mexico
On April 21, Mexicans celebrate Heroic Defense of Veracruz (Heroica Defensa de Veracruz). It is a civic holiday, which means that it is observed nationwide, but is not a paid non-working day.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → North Korea
Kang Pan-sok’s Birthday in North Korea
On April 21, North Koreans celebrate the birthday of Kang Pan-sok, the mother of the North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, grandmother of his successor Kim Jong-il, and great-grandmother of the current supreme leader of the DPRK Kim Jong-un.
Anniversaries and Memorial Days → Italy
Rome Foundation Day
Rome Foundation Day is a semi-official holiday celebrated in the Italian capital on April 21 or the closest weekend. The celebration includes a costumed procession and a symbolic opening of the city gates.
Unofficial Holidays → USA
National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day
Chocolate goes well with everything, especially nuts. If you're looking for a special treat, they pick up a handful of chocolate covered cashews. By the way, April 21 is National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day.
UN Observances
World Creativity and Innovation Day
World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) is a United Nations observance held annually on April 21. It was officially established by the General Assembly in 2017 to emphasize the importance of creativity and innovation for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Other Observances → Russia
Day of Local Self-Government in Russia
Day of Local Self-Government in Russia is celebrated on April 21. It was established by President Vladimir Putin on June 2012 and first held in 2013.
Festivals on April 21, 2019
Chris Owens French Quarter Easter Parade in New Orleans, USA
Gay Easter Parade in New Orleans, USA
New York Easter Parade in New York, USA
Historic French Quarter Easter Parade in New Orleans, USA
Weifang International Kite Festival in Weifang, China
Stuttgart Spring Festival in Stuttgart, Germany
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, USA
New York International Auto Show in New York, USA
Dead by Dawn Film Festival in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran, Iran
National Folk Festival (Australia) in Canberra, Australia
Splashy Fen in Underberg, South Africa
Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival in Istanbul, Turkey
Fiesta San Antonio in San Antonio, USA
Wairarapa Balloon Festival in Masterton, New Zealand
← More Festivals
2018 Died: Verne Troyer, American actor, stunt performer, and comedian best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series and Griphook in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
2016 Died: Prince (stage name of Prince Roger Nelson), American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. Prince was renowned as an innovator.
2012 A head-on collision of two trains occurred near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. 117 people were injured, one of whom died in a hospital.
2010 Ukraine and Russian signed the Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, also known as the Kharkiv Pact.
2003 Died: Nina Simone (born Eunice Kathleen Waymon), American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, and activist primarily associated with jazz music.
1999 Died: Buddy Rogers, American actor and jazz musician, the third husband and widower of silent film legend Mary Pickford who was 12 years his senior.
1993 Former Bolivian dictator Luis García Meza Tejada was sentenced to 30 years in jail for fraud, theft, murder, and human rights violation.
1989 Died: James Kirkwood, Jr., American playwright, author, and actor best known for his 1975 musical A Chorus Line that earned him several awards.
1988 Died: Jean-François Lyotard, French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist who is best known for his articulation of postmodernism.
1979 Born: James McAvoy, Scottish stage, film, and television actor who is notable for starring in The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, X-Men: First Class and its sequel.
1971 Died: François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc, Haitian politician and statesman who served as the 40th President of Haiti from 1957 to 1971.
1970 Born: Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedian, and voice artist who is best known for participating in the series MADtv and The King of Queens.
1967 A coup d'état took place in Greece. A group of right-wing army officers quickly seized power and established a military junta that was later named The Regime of the Colonels.
1965 Died: Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist who was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the F region of the ionosphere.
1963 The Universal House of Justice of the Bahá'í Faith was elected for the first time. It is the supreme governing institution of this religion.
1963 Born: John Cameron Mitchell, American actor, writer, singer, and director best known for creating the cult musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
1962 The Century 21 Exposition, also known as Seattle World's Fair, opened in Seattle, Washington. It was the first World Fair in the US since the Second World War.
1960 Brasília was officially inaugurated to serve as the new national capital of Brazil. The city was founded specifically for this purpose. It was built in 41 months.
1958 Born: Andie MacDowell, American actress and model who is known for her roles in the films Groundhog Day, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Michael.
1949 Born: Patti LuPone, renowned American actress and singer, best known for her work in stage musicals. She has won two Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards.
1947 Born: Iggy Pop, American rock musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor whose music has encompassed a number of styles over the years.
1946 Died: John Maynard Keynes, British economist whose ideas have considerably influenced on the development of modern macroeconomics.
1925 The Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals was first published in the Italian newspaper Il Mondo. It established the foundations of Italian Fascism.
1918 Died: Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, German fighter pilot who is considered the top ace of the First World War.
1910 Died: Mark Twain (pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens), American author and humorist best known for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
1864 Born: Max Weber, German philosopher, sociologist, and political economist who is considered to be one of the three creators of sociology.
1837 Born: Fredrik Bajer, Danish writer, pacifist politician, and teacher who was Awarded the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Klas Pontus Arnoldson.
1836 The decisive battle of the Texas Revolution, the Battle of San Jacinto, took place. The Texian Army led by General Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans.
1816 Born: Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters. Her best known work is the 1847 novel Jane Eyre.
1555 Born: Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter, printmaker, and etcher. Hist best known works include Lamentation of Christ and Saint Sebastian.
1509 Henry VIII ascended the throne of England following the death of his father, Henry VII of England. He was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
1142 Died: Peter Abelard, French scholastic philosopher, theologian, logician, and composer. He contributed to the development of conceptualism.
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Anatomy of Progress – Anniston High School
Melissa Crook February 26, 2019
John Richey
When the principal of Anniston High School abruptly resigned in September 2016, the school was in an unenviable position. The school had recently been placed on the Alabama State Department of Education’s Failing Schools List. Assistant Principal, Mr. Charles Gregory, a retired Staff Sergeant in the United States Army and thirteen-year veteran of Anniston High School, became the interim principal for the year and eventually became the permanent principal in the summer of 2017. Mr. Gregory and his staff quickly began making changes, one of the most important being a renewed emphasis on the instruction of students.
This change was built on the four academic tenets that formed the cornerstones of their renewed commitment: 1) planning instruction, 2) providing instruction, 3) adjusting instruction, and 4) enhancing instruction through differentiation and personalization. With a solid foundation established, they simply needed an instructional model that provided a rigorous and robust curriculum, challenging for both teachers and students, to move the school in this new direction. Out of this search, a successful partnership was soon to be established.
One of the most important components of this renewed focus on instruction was the Anniston City Schools’ association with A+ College Ready. Anniston High School and Anniston Middle School had been Pipeline schools with A+ College Ready since 2016; this status continued until 2018 and enabled the majority of the staff in grades six through ten at both schools to be trained and supported on the exact type of curriculum they had been seeking. Mr. Gregory believes the partnership with A+ was a ”major component” in laying the foundation for academic growth. The rigorous new curricula “placed new demands for teachers and students to perform at a higher academic level. We began to focus less on things like grade point average and more on the standards of the new curricula.”
When responding to subsequent parental concerns regarding a lack of emphasis upon such things as G.P.A., top 10 banquets, etc…, Mr. Gregory responded with a profound quotation from an anonymous philosopher: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.” According to Gregory, the new partnership “allowed us to focus on the process of learning and knowledge acquisition that would benefit our students beyond their years at our school.”
As a result of their success as a Pipeline School, Anniston High School moved to Program School status with A+ College Ready in the 2018 -19 school year and has now begun offering AP courses to its students. This year, the school offers Advanced Placement courses in literature, language, biology, statistics, computer science principles, government, and United States history.
In addition to introducing the rigorous curricula, the new affiliation with A+ College Ready lead the middle-and-high schools to initiate vertical team meetings on a regular basis. Anniston High School teachers meet weekly, and combined meetings between the middle-and-high schools take place quarterly. Ben Kochian teaches AP Language, AP Literature, and 10th grade language arts. He praised the vertical team meetings and believes they have been vital to unification and alignment. The fact that language arts teachers in all secondary grades are now using the same language means that middle-school students are now making a smoother transition into their English courses at Anniston High School.
Mr. Kochian also stressed the benefits of summer training. He said the materials and follow-up support have been vital to sustaining the momentum that began in summer training. “The trainers were masters of their crafts,” Kocian said, “and we were exposed to some of the best AP instructors in the country.” He went on to explain the importance of the professional connections made with other Alabama teachers he met at these trainings. Kocian concluded that “the growth of the students is obvious, and that has validated the sacrifices that the school has made.”
Tiffanie Hall teaches AP biology and introductory biology. According to Ms. Hall, “summer training was extremely beneficial and the fall workshops were awesome.” She was quick to point out that the new curricula required an adjustment period for parents, teachers, and students: “The students simply were not prepared, and this was difficult for all of us.” She now sees a tremendous difference in growth, achievement, and preparation for the next level. She stressed that the school “is not where we want to be, but we are moving in the right direction, and I am motivated to do more.”
Juniors Trinity Lockett and Halima Cochran are both taking AP Language and AP Biology. Halima believes the depth of these courses will benefit her by providing deeper preparation for college. Trinity believes that the critical thinking skills acquired in these much more challenging courses have helped make her a better student. Both students had recently attended their second Saturday study session, where they took the AP Language mock exam, and both were excited about their test results, which confirmed that their increased efforts are making a significant difference. On the basis of what their scores revealed, Tiffany is working diligently on “interpretation and a deeper understanding of text,” while Halima is focused on “rhetorical essays and reading between the lines of text.”
Tenth graders Amara Parker and Jackson Hicks are taking courses in which the A+ College Ready curricula are being implemented. Amara stressed that the courses have really helped develop her critical thinking skills and prepare her for future AP courses. Jackson said these courses have made him “get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself academically. I am grateful to have the opportunity to take courses of this nature.” Jackson recently saw an improvement of three points on the latest ACT diagnostic assessment offered by the school.
The epicenter of this instructional revival is the newly renovated L.I.V.E. Data Room. The school system transformed an old and unused room into the heart of instruction at Anniston High School. L.I.V.E. stands for Learning is Very Empowering and you can see this theme (along with other motivational messages) posted across the school. All instructional meetings are held here, and the academic growth of every student at Anniston High School is tracked at this location. Each grade has a designated Student Progress Tracker board that drives discussion and accountability, and the room also houses an interactive board that allows the most recent student data to be easily accessible to all stakeholders.
As a result of the hard work and dedication of the administration, teachers, and students, Anniston High School gained eight points on the most recent Report Card from the State of Alabama. The average ACT score for the school has increased steadily, and the school is no longer on the Failing Schools list. Giving full credit to the dedication of the teachers and students. Mr. Gregory is “thankful that the culture and climate are changing and that students are now taking ownership of their own learning. This process has been very refreshing, and we are excited about the future.”
Progress is defined as “forward or onward movement toward a destination”. Through enthusiasm, tenacity, and innovation, Anniston High School has raised the academic bar. While some would shy away from such a daunting task, the administration, faculty, and students here are to be commended for their efforts and the progress they have achieved.
0 Comments on "Anatomy of Progress – Anniston High School"
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The Whitewashing Of History
It's one thing to constantly put up the Republican party's dog whistle Southern Strategy racism, but it's quite another to have a Republican Congressman go on television and pitch actual white supremacy arguments during the party convention. And of course, it's Iowa Republican Steve King making an ass of himself and his state again.
Appearing on MSNBC Monday evening, King was part of a panel of four people discussing the Republican National Convention. Esquire’s Charles Pierce, one of King’s co-panelists, commented on the dominance of “loud, unhappy, dissatisfied white people” at the RNC. King objected not so much to Pierce’s factual premise as to the notion that the monochromatic nature of the GOP is a bug.
“This whole ‘white people business’ though does get a little tired,” King declared. “I’d ask you to go back through history,” he added, “and figure out where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people your talking about. Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?”
Holy hell. He actually said this.
When host Chris Hayes asked King to clarify whether the congressman was asserting that no race contributed more to society than white people, King made a slight rhetorical shift, claiming instead that “western civilization” that is “rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America, and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world” is the greatest contributor to civilization.
And I mean this, guys, he actually said this.
So....yeah. White people made the "greatest contribution" to the planet. I'm sure that's news to Africa, The Americas and Asia, with civilizations around millennia before Europe was settled. What the hell did the Egyptians, Babylonians, Mayans, Songhai, Aztecs, and Chinese ever do for the world, anyway? Probably nothing as good as Hot Pockets and TV, man.
Asshole.
And yet this guy is a sitting congressman, spouting white nationalist garbage on TV. This is your modern GOP, guys. Own up to the racism, or do something to stop it.
StupidiTags(tm): GOP Stupidity, Historical Stupidity, Racist Stupidity, Steve King Of The Melonheads, Wingnut Stupidity
It's Just A Piece Of Paper, Right?
John Nichols at The Nation reminds us that not only are Trump's ridiculous plans for the nation after his election obscenely unfeasible and heartlessly immoral, they are also strictly unconstitutional in just about every aspect. Trump's stated platform (which is now the GOP's stated platform in many cases) is a massive violation of multiple amendments in the Bill of Rights.
As Republican Party “constitutionalists” prepare to nominate authoritarian billionaire Donald Trump for the presidency this week in Cleveland, the American Civil Liberties union has determined that the candidate’s proposals would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments of the Constitution.
It is not news that Trump has, during the course of his campaign for the GOP nomination, put himself at odds with basic premises of a Bill of Rights that defends a free press, guarantees freedom of religion, and guards against torture and abuses of privacy. But when his proposals are pulled together—as the ACLU has done in a new analysis of the Republican candidate’s public statements and policy positions—the extent to which Trump would shred the Constitution in general and the Bill of Rights in particular is breathtaking.
“Taken together, his policies and positions, if put into place, would violate the Constitution and federal and international law,” says Anthony Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, which reviewed the candidate’s agenda and determined that “Trump’s proposals would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments of the Constitution.”
Trump has from the start of his campaign sparked controversy with statements, actions, and proposals that disregard the First Amendment. He and his aides have created blacklists of journalists, and the candidate has expressed an interest in rewriting libel laws in order to intimidate, punish, and potentially silence critics of powerful individuals and interests. Trump has, as well, proposed schemes to discriminate against Muslims and to spy on mosques and neighborhoods where Muslims live—with steady disregard for the amendment’s guarantee of protection for America’s diverse religious communities.
But that’s just the beginning of Trump’s assaults on the Constitution.Trump has encouraged the use of torture and blatantly disregardedprivacy protections that have been enshrined in the founding document since the 18th century. He has attacked the basic premises of a constitutionally defined separation of powers, with rhetorical assaults on individual jurists and the federal judiciary so extreme that House Speaker Paul Ryan described one such attack as “the textbook definition of a racist comment.” He has proposed instituting religious tests. He has shown open and consistent disregard for the promise that all Americans will receive equal protection under the law.
“If implemented, Donald Trump’s proposed policies will spark a constitutional and legal challenge that would require all hands on deck at the ACLU,” says Romero. “The ACLU and its more than 300 attorneys in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., stand ready to challenge and impede implementation of his unlawful proposals, should he attempt to see them through.”
It should never come to that.
I'm glad the ACLU stands ready to fight the GOP on this, but the simple fact of the matter is they are now the party of blatantly racist, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic fascism, and nominating Donald Trump will cement that for a generation. Trump never should have gotten this far, but here he is, about to be nominated as the presidential candidate of a major political party, because that party has enabled hatred and bigotry in a desperate attempt to consolidate political power.
In the short term it has been wildly successful at the state and local government level, all but wiping out the Democratic party in the South and most of the Midwest, leaving isolated pockets of resistance between the coasts.
In the long term, we're going to see that fall apart. But there's still quite a bit of damage that the GOP can do in its death throes, and the reactionary election of Trump is still not out of the question.
StupidiTags(tm): 2016 Election, GOP Stupidity, Legal Stupidity, The Donald, Wingnut Stupidity
Parts of Melania Trump's speech at the opening night of the GOP Convention appear to have directly plagiarized Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic Convention speech.
A federal judge has thrown out parts of Bill Cosby's lawsuit against his accusers for allegedly violating a settlement agreement over Cosby's sexual assault charges.
A tourist bus in Taiwan crashed and burst into flames, killing all 26 people aboard, including 24 Chinese tourists, officials are still investigating the cause of the crash and fire.
North Korea has once again fired a round of ballistic missile tests into the sea, drawing condemnation ahead of what Seoul says might be an upcoming North Korean nuclear test.
A former St. Louis Cardinals executive has received 46 months in prison for guessing the password to their rival Houston Astros' online scouting database in 2013.
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ZEPH TV
Zeph’s Pieces
“Colored Me Bad”
“Pursuing False Idols”
“Love, Lust, & Desire”
Contact Zeph
Raised on Chicago’s south side, Zeph Farmby started writing graffiti as a teenager in the early 1990s. While attending Percy L. Julian High School, he took four years of advanced art classes; cramming in as much art exposure and education as he could. During his high school years, Zeph entered countless art competitions; always winning the top award. His passion was evident. Zeph started his freelance art career long before he knew it was his true calling. At 16, he was creating logos and murals for small local businesses and had picked up some independent studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. By the time high school was over, Zeph had a list of clients that would create envy in most entrepreneurs older than him.
During his studies at the American Academy of Art, Zeph enhanced his knowledge by deepening his understanding of art history and adding to his skill set with acrylic and oil paintings, graphic design, and Illustration. However, Zeph never turned his back on his original love for Hip-Hop and continued to practice his graffiti skills in more formal art environments. It was here that Zeph hoped he’d land in the field of his dreams-creating illustrations for mainstream magazines. Prior to graduating from The American Academy of Art in Chicago, Zeph was commissioned for largescale projects for companies in the area. He would continue to create illustrations for local magazines and graphic designs for t-shirts and other promotional materials. This would become a new phenomenon for Zeph.
He continues to have a long scorecard of A-list clients who commission him for illustration and design work. Today, you can see these pieces featured in major motion films and TV shows. But, it wasn’t all glitz and glam in the beginning. After graduating with a Degree in Fine and Commercial Arts, Zeph sold T-shirts to friends and inner city boutiques. Eventually, his designs, original paintings, and graffiti work made to large retail stores, hair salons, and shops. The B.E.T. television series, “Rap City The Basement”, was one of the first shows to broadcast his work nationwide.
Continuing minor success through different freelance projects, Zeph never cleaned off his paint palette or put away his paintbrushes. Friends, family, and clients would continue to admire Zeph’s artistic abilities and commission him for paintings. Zeph would commence to brand his style and shortly thereafter constructed a company based on his talent, “I Amaze Eyez”. I-Amaze-Eyez provides an umbrella for Zeph’s various areas of expertise. Well-known art galleries all over the world have become a new wave for showcasing his passion and vision, while early works of his graffiti style continue to show up in recent pieces.
Most recently, Zeph’s art was displayed during the “Black Creativity” Art Exhibit held at the world-renowned Museum Of Science And Industry in Chicago, IL. His original works are for sale and can be found in museums, art galleries and boutiques across the United States, Canada, France, and online. Today, between his busy travel schedule and demanding clients, Zeph enjoys mentoring and coaching young artists in his home town.
Zeph is currently working in the studio in the Greater New York City area.
© Zeph Farmby | Gods Favorite Artist | Web Design by Digital 1380
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Motorsports world reacts to death of Formula One's Jack Brabham
Mike Pryson
Sir Jack Brabham receives an Engineering Heritage Award on March 16, 2014.
Australian Jack Brabham won three Formula One championships (1959, 1960, 1966) in an F1 career that spanned from 1955 until 1970. His career also included four Indianapolis 500 starts.
On Monday, Brabham died in Australia at the age of 88, and the motorsports world reacted to the loss of one of racing's all-time greats. Here's what drivers and racing organizations are saying about the life and racing career of Brabham:
Dan Gurney
“We shared the camaraderie of a closely knit team pursuing a common purpose, the racing tragedies and the glory days of the 1960s bonded us for life.
Since we retired from driving, both in the fall of 1970, we have stayed in touch. I last spoke to Jack a few months ago on the phone, we were looking forward to the golden anniversary of the first World Championship F1 victory for the Brabham marque: The French Grand Prix at Rouen, June 28, 1964, which I won for the team 50 years ago this summer.
In 1966 we both went our separate ways, I followed the trail he had blazed by trying to build, race and win with my own F I cars. I have been told that only three men in the history of autoracing have managed to do that, Bruce McLaren and I won races but Sir Jack Brabham won World Championships, he will be forever in a class all by himself.
I will miss you Jack! You showed the way!”
I think Jack Brabham was one of the most liked and respected drivers in our sport. Sincere condolences to the family.
— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) May 19, 2014
Jack Brabham in action during the 1970 British Grand Prix.
Scott Atherton, IMSA president and COO
“On behalf of the entire International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) community, I want to offer sincere condolences to the family of Sir Jack Brabham, a global motorsports icon and innovator. He was a unique personality who had success across nearly all aspects of the motorsports industry.
While all three of his sons, Geoff, Gary and David, achieved success in different eras of IMSA sports car competition, one of Jack's most notable achievements has to be when he pushed his broken race car across the finish line at the 1959 U.S. Grand Prix at Sebring to record a fourth-place finish that confirmed him as World Champion. He was one of the giants of our industry and he will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Brabham family at this difficult time.”
Our condolences to the family of Sir Jack Brabham, the 3 time World F1 Champion and motorsport legend. RIP Sir Jack pic.twitter.com/5Tyap0bGTv
— FIA WEC (@FIAWEC) May 19, 2014
Sir Jack Brabham chats with Michael Schumacher ahead of the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.
J. Douglas Boles, president, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
"Every time an Indy car runs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you can find roots that trace back to Jack Brabham's rear-engined Cooper Climax T54 that he drove to ninth place in the 1961 Indianapolis 500.
In addition to starting the rear-engine revolution at IMS, Brabham competed in four Indianapolis 500 Mile Races and designed race cars that competed in the 500. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Brabham family, especially with his son and former Indianapolis 500 competitor Geoff Brabham and his grandson and current Indy Lights competitor Matthew Brabham."
RIP Sir Jack Brabham. What an amazing driver and man #legend
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) May 19, 2014
Mark Webber, former Formula One driver
"I was saddened to hear the news of Jack's passing today – he is the epitome of a champion racing driver and a true blue Aussie. He was a trailblazer; he took the hardest road and made it easier for the rest of us to follow. When I think of Jack, I think of a tenacious individual; an absolute grafter; he did it his own way and made it stick. There were no real rules or a manual for Jack; he figured it for himself. What he achieved taking on the best in the world and winning one of his three world titles in his own machinery is the stuff of pure legends.
On a personal note, Jack was simply the biggest name in the Webber household. He was inspirational. My dad followed his career from when he raced in Australia and then did his best to keep track of Jack's progress when he moved overseas to take on the best in the world.
I was very fortunate that I was introduced to Jack before I left Australia and to be in his presence as a 17 or 18-year old as I must have been at the time, just blew me away. He provided me with endless support and advice over the years and became a close confidante - even right up until the last couple of years when, after hearing the rumours that I might move to Ferrari, he told me he would be very disappointed if I went there because for him, it was the absolute betrayal because they were his motivation – the ones he wanted to beat in his day!
Jack and Margaret were always generous with their time and I'm proud that, although I was unable to repay that support by joining him and Alan Jones as world champions, I gave him some very happy moments by winning some of the more prestigious special Grands Prix.
To Margaret, Geoff, Gary and David and their respective families, you are very much in our thoughts at this sad time. Jack was a legend in the truest sense of the word, an inspirational Aussie battler and someone who will never be forgotten."
Sorry to hear about Sir Jack Brabham. A great Australian who inspired many Aussies to pursue our dreams.
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) May 19, 2014
Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR driver, Australian native
"My condolences to the Brabham family. Jack was a pioneer in Australian motorsport and a real innovator in the racing industry. He left behind a legacy that allows drivers like me to follow their racing dreams. The ability to not only become a racing champion, but design your own cars is an amazing achievement that will inspire young drivers for generations to come."
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Patton Oswalt on Lucky Breaks and Making Chances
Home · Digital Publishing · Patton Oswalt on Lucky Breaks and Making Chances
Patton Oswalt delivered a brilliant keynote address at this years Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal a few weeks back, addressing a letter to the comedians in the room, and another to the gatekeepers of the stand-up comedy business.
Oswalt’s first letter, to his fellow comedians, could be addressing writers with the substitution of a few words. It revolves around acknowledging the enormous about of lucky breaks he’s been given in his career, about the sole path that seemed to be open to him when he started his career, about the opportunities he’s been lucky to capitalise on when they’re given to him. And he acknowledges that:
“…if you listened very carefully, you would have heard two words over and over again: “lucky” and “given.” Those are two very very dangerous words for a comedian. Those two words can put you to sleep, especially once you get a taste of both being “lucky” and being “given.” The days about luck and being given are about to end. They’re about to go away.
Not totally. There are always comedians who will work hard and get noticed by agents and managers and record labels. There will always be an element of that. And they deserve their success. And there’s always going to be people who benefit from that.
What I mean is: Not being lucky and not being given are no longer going to define your career as a comedian and as an artist.”
Technology has changed thing in the comedy industry, making it possible to find an audience without being given the opportunity by the gatekeepers. The future, Oswalt argues, lies in finding an audience instead of being granted one. To stop waiting for the lucky break, and start making opportunities for himself.
If this rhetoric sounds familiar to many of the militantly independent writers embracing epublishing, there’s an enormous amount of grace and gratitude in the way Oswalt speaks to the institutions that have fostered his career. More importantly, his advice to the gate-keepers in his second letter is no less genuine than that he gave to his fellow creatives:
“Comedians are getting more and more comfortable with the idea that if we’re not successful, it’s not because we haven’t gotten our foot in the door, or nobody’s given us a hand up. We can do that ourselves now. Every single day we can do more and more without you and depend on you less and less.
If we work with you in the future, it’s going to be because we like your product and your choices and your commitment to pushing boundaries and ability to protect the new and difficult.
Here’s the deal, and I think it’s a really good one.
I want you, all of the gatekeepers, to become fans. I want you to become true enthusiasts like me. I want you to become thrill-seekers. I want you to be as excited as I was when I first saw Maria Bamford’s stand-up, or attended The Paul F. Tompkins show, or listened to Sklarbro Country….”
Gatekeepers, Oswalt argues, should look past the panic and see the advantages of the new world: creatives love to to create. Gatekeepers love to nurture, to promote. The match-up should be obvious, but the old power dynamics have shifted and some people still need to adjust to that.
Together these two letters are a brilliant call to arms for comedians and gate-keepers alike, and the points being made are just as poignant when looked at through the lens of writers and publishing. Inspiring, compelling, acknowledging the difficulties without getting caught up in the sturm-und-drang.
Oswalt’s speech is recommended reading for anyone in the early days of their writing career, and I encourage you to check it out.
By Peter M. Ball, ,
Peter M. Ball
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Photo © Larry Perez
Guitar wizard of Kansas
From the November, 2013 issue
Google says there are an estimated fifty million people worldwide who play guitar, twenty million in the U.S. alone. Acoustic guitarist Andy McKee's 2006 solo live performance of his composition "Drifting" has been viewed on YouTube, to date, by nearly forty-eight million people. OK, I know ... not much next to Justin Bieber's "Baby," now pushing a billion views. But the "Drifting" video was made with just a single, unmoving camera unblinkingly focused for three minutes and nineteen seconds on McKee playing his acoustic guitar. I'm guessing that at least some of those millions of McKee viewers are guitar players, from beginning amateurs to seasoned professionals, who looked at "Drifting" and said, "Oh, you can do that with a guitar?"
Most of McKee's videos--they're all so plain it's obvious no digital special effects were used--have garnered viewers in the multiple millions. McKee's playing uses a set of unique digital special effects, and few guitarists are as much fun to watch. His performances are a visual delight, both hands moving over every surface of the guitar, strumming, brushing, picking, plucking, tapping, snapping, and slapping the face, back, neck and strings.
There's a saying among guitarists: the left hand is the technician; the right hand is the artist. In other words, the hand that sets the strings in motion is the one able to elicit the dynamics, the infinite tone variations that make one's playing expressive and unique. Not so with McKee. Both his hands are setting the strings--and the sound box--in motion. He uses every trick in the guitarist's book--hammer-ons, pull-offs, harmonics, slap harmonics, false harmonics, open tunings, alternate tunings, capos, banjo capos--and has added some new chapters.
The whole time McKee's arms, hands, and fingers are creating his aural and visual wizardry, the Topeka-born musician is wearing an open, aw-shucks look on his face. As if he's musing, "Andy, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."
But don't get the wrong idea; McKee is not simply a lots-of-tricks
pony. His compositions, while highly guitaristic, are no sleight-of-hand, prestidigitation shell games designed to merely manipulate or impress. They have substance, bear repeated listening, and are genuinely musically moving.
McKee comes to the Ark on November 16. He's played the Ark before, in 2010 and 2011, each time as one of a trio of guitarists with the Guitar Masters tours. No disrespect intended to the guitarists who shared those tours with him, but McKee alone is more than enough for a spectacular evening of music.
[Originally published in November, 2013.]
Restaurants with prices $10 To $20
Neighborhoods - Northwest
Welcome To The Ann Arbor Skatepark, by David Swain
Ann Arbor Observer Blogs
Everyone's a Critic
Parks And Recreation Areas in Saline
Charles Whitman House
June 2019 I Spy
Nightspots: Bel-Mark Lanes
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The Artemis Quartet
Bursting with life
by arwulf arwulf
From the April, 2015 issue
In the words of poet Jacques Prevert: "It is spring, the needle goes wild in the compass." Conditions are ideal, then, for a visit from a chamber ensemble named after an uncontainable forest goddess. On April 19 the Vienna-based Artemis Quartet will open its UMS concert at Rackham Auditorium with a work composed in 1893 by Antonin Dvorak while on vacation from his duties as director of the National Conservatory of Music in Manhattan. As summer approached, Dvorak boarded a train with his family and journeyed more than a thousand miles inland to Spillville, a tiny settlement of Bohemian immigrants in northeastern Iowa. The trip was exhausting, but Dvorak, fascinated by steam-driven locomotives and those who operated them, found it exhilarating. He was also intrigued by the landscape of North America and its people, especially those of African and Iroquois ancestry.
The string quartet Dvorak completed about two weeks after arriving in Spillville is vividly American and emphatically Czech. Its third movement, born of long walks at daybreak, is a dazzling example of the composer's interest in ornithology. When the persistent calls of a scarlet tanager permeated his study through an open window, Dvorak added its voice to the scherzo, along with what sound like goldfinches and chickadees. Ultimately he would complete fourteen string quartets. This, his twelfth, is positively bursting with life.
Dvorak's friend Peter Tchaikovsky spent many of his own summers in the Ukraine, composing at his family's estate in Kamenka, not far from Odessa. In 1869 he jotted down a melody he overheard being sung by a carpenter. Two years later, he incorporated it into his String Quartet no. 1. Soon the tune would become world famous as the "Song of the Volga Boatmen." Tchaikovsky's first quartet is nicknamed "The Accordion" because at times the ensemble does seem to respire like an enormous squeezebox.
Sandwiched between Dvorak and Tchaikovsky on the program will be the fifth and most recent quartet by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. Like
Shostakovich, whose influence is keenly felt, Vasks' music speaks for a people recuperating from the effects of totalitarian oppression. He shares Dvorak's penchant for birdsong and uses Latvian folk music as source material, but the primary energies inhabiting this composer's works are spirit, conscience, and empathy. Vasks speaks of his hope and faith that humanity may overcome its passion for self-annihilation. He grieves for the ecosystem with which we appear to be at war. In this quartet, completed in 2005, Vasks says he wishes to communicate "how we are each a part of the world and a world unto ourselves" while focusing as always upon "the existence and necessity of idealism and the love around us and in us."
[Originally published in April, 2015.]
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Current Affairs History Journalism Military Politics
The Great Betrayal Of Ireland’s Counter-Revolution
Back in 2014 I wrote about the “Great Betrayal”, the abandonment of an all-Ireland republic, an all-Ireland revolution, and an all-Ireland community through the actions of the Provisionals, the minority Collins-Griffith faction of Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army, following the signing of the “Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland” in December of 1921. In violation of their oaths as members of the government, parliament and defence forces of the 32 County Republic, in contradiction of its constitution, in contempt of three plebiscite-elections supporting the revolutionary state, the breakaway Pro-Treaty grouping gradually turned on their comrades and friends in pursuit of a policy of appeasement with the rump United Kingdom. A policy which inevitably led to the abandonment of men and women in the north-east of Ireland, in the 6 Counties, who had fought to gain the same freedoms that their fellow citizens would eventually enjoy in the 26 Counties. Despite the partial history that some would espouse, the liberation of the greater part of this island and its population was secured on the streets of Belfast and Derry as much as it was on the streets of Dublin and Cork. The years 1919 to 1921 represent not a Southern Irish War of Independence but simply an Irish War of Independence.
The journalist, Jennifer Hough, touches upon this domestic al-Nakbah in a recent opinion piece for the Irish Examiner, giving voice to a view largely rendered silent by the ideological, quasi-unionist consensus of the Irish press. Pondering on the supposed apathy that exists across the country when it comes to the demand for national reunification, Hough comes upon a memorial in Belfast to one of the seminal events of the anti-Irish pogroms of 1969, the razing of the city’s Bombay Street district:
“I’m ashamed to admit, it was the first time I’d heard of the event in 1969, which saw loyalists burn Catholics out of their homes.
Eight people died during the burning of Bombay St, 750 were injured and more than 2,000 Catholics were left homeless. Standing in that tiny memorial garden, surrounded by the names of civilians killed in their communities, it’s not difficult to understand why people reacted like they did. And indeed walking around West Belfast in general, it is very easy to understand why the IRA flourished — the people felt they had no other support or protection.
It was always easy for us in our largely middle-class trouble-free 26 counties to tut tut at what went on during the Troubles, but if the British army had set up in Galway, Cork, Athlone; if people were burnt out of their homes, do we not think the population in those areas would have responded in a similar fashion? I will freely admit that it felt good to stand with the people of West Belfast on Easter Sunday — and to honour their dead.
That doesn’t mean condoning the bloodshed, but acknowledging it, and the reasons why it happened, not least because a civilian population stood up to discrimination they faced and were met with the might of the British Empire.
It’s likely that calling Bobby Sands a terrorist is not something that would sit easy with most Irish people. If we don’t call Sands a terrorist, then can we call the rest of the people, who fought in what they considered a war, one?
Speaking to ordinary Irish people in Belfast over the weekend, what came across strongly was the feeling of being abandoned by the Republic, not just in the worst of times — but all of the time. They are a proudly Irish people… They look South to us…
One man put it bluntly: “I live in an occupied land.” At first I dismissed what he said as an old-school Republican stance. But as the weekend wore on, the statement niggled at me…
Apart from Sinn Féin, (I am not a member) Irish political parties do not entertain the notion of a united Ireland.
Is it because we’ve so blatantly abandoned our Irish population in the North that we cannot bear to face up to it?
…the Republic, through our apathy, and lack of real understanding about the horrors that Irish people in the North faced, are a stumbling block.
As we wave our tricolours proudly in honour of 1916, that feels very wrong.”
For more on the background of what can be justifiably called our own Nakba in 1921-23, and what could have been if the pro-treaty Provisionals had not abandoned the revolution, see my article on the Battle of Pettigo and Belleek in June and May of 1922, when a united Irish defence forces faced the British occupation forces for the last time.
TagsArthur Griffith • Belleek • Jennifer Hough • Michael Collins • The Civil War - Cogadh na gCarad • The Easter Rising of 1916 • The Irish Revolution • War of Independence - Cogadh na Saoirse
8 comments on “The Great Betrayal Of Ireland’s Counter-Revolution”
Derek Ó H
I don’t think Collins can be identified as counter-revolutionary. I don’t know enough about Griffith but, as they were both dead in 1922 they cannot be responsible for what came after. As for the treaty, Collins et al were in an impossible situation.
You could argue there is a terrible damage in the Irish psychie as a result of largely abandoning (or being bullied into rejecting) core elements of the Irish nation/culture/identity at different points: paganism, the language, the Six Counties, the revolution, Christianity. I’m not sure it’s that simple but it’s an interesting area.
jennifer hough’s comments are very honest. It is surprising to see a reporter finally admit “we’ve so blatantly abandoned our Irish population in the North”.
Faced with the Orange State Northern republicans/nationalists/catholics had no way out of despair other than allegiance to, and hope in, the Republic.
A further aspect of their tragedy is they did/do not realise they and their pledges were/are unwanted by successive Dublin governments.
For the latest slap in the face to Ulster’s nationalists/republicans see the President ‘s decision to pull out of a centenary celebration dinner organized by Belfast City hall on the vague pretext that “if the DUP’s not going, then I’m not”.
Note this is the first time in its history that nationalists/republicans/catholics are tending to lead in numbers in Belfast city council. What will it take for the Dublin establishment to stretch out a hand of friendship and solidariety to them.?
It would be weird for the unionists to commemorate that, because they were on the opposite side in both the rising and the war of independence. They didn’t gain anything from all those hostilities.
Kevin Broaders
‘Apart from Sinn Féin, (I am not a member) Irish political parties do not entertain the notion of a united Ireland.’ – not an entirely accurate Statement. For example, the People Before Profit Alliance is a cross-border political movement. Socialists understand that Irish unification can only sustainably come about when the Capitalists are dis-empowered by the working classes North and South.
paulculloty82
Similarly, the Green Party operates on an all-island basis. Re the article, I usually have a lot of time for ASF’s writing, but here he’s veering somewhat close to Republican SF territory. Lloyd George may indeed have been bluffing in threatening a return to war, but the Treaty terms were a vast improvement on even the Government of Ireland Act, and the consequent Dáil approval overrode the mandate of 1918, unless you take the Tom Maguire approach that such a vote converted the Dáil into “an illegal parliament”.
A chara, I’m not sure what evidence there is to suggest the British wouldn’t have engaged in all-out war. Connolly thought the materialistic Imperialists would never destroy property. They blitzed the inner-City in 1916. They could have visited immediate and terrible war on Dublin, and elsewhere.
I mentioned the president in my comment above. can I ask and even encourage readers, posters and supporters to write a letter to president higgins over his decision not to attend a civic dinner organised by belfast city Council to commemorate 1916? And maybe pass word along to friends, relatives, the diaspora and so on, asking them to do the same? https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/letter-writing-campaign-to-the-president-of-ireland/
if it is OK to stand in commemoration of the men and women of 1916, is it wrong to do the same for those who fought in the Troubles?
Maybe that’s because the IRA was and still is an illegal organisation in the south as well?
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« Third Party Submission by Norway to the WTO
GM battle in danger of trampling Africa »
Horizontal Gene Transfer – The Hidden Hazards of Genetic Engineering
By Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
Genetic engineering involves designing artificial constructs to cross species barriers and to invade genomes. In other words, it enhances horizontal gene transfer – the direct transfer of genetic material to unrelated species. The artificial constructs or transgenic DNA typically contain genetic material from bacteria, viruses and other genetic parasites that cause diseases as well as antibiotic resistance genes that make infectious diseases untreatable. Horizontal transfer of transgenic DNA has the potential, among other things, to create new viruses and bacteria that cause diseases and spread drug and antibiotic resistance genes among pathogens. There is an urgent need to establish effective regulatory oversight to prevent the escape and release of these dangerous constructs into the environment, and to consider whether some of the most dangerous experiments should be allowed to continue at all.
Key words: antibiotic resistance genes, dormant viruses, CaMV promoter, cancer, naked DNA, transgenic DNA,
Transgenic pollen and baby bees
Prof. Hans-Hinrich Kaatz from the University of Jena, is reported to have new evidence, as yet unpublished, that genes engineered into transgenic plants have transferred via pollen to bacteria and yeasts living in the gut of bee larvae(1).
If Prof. Kaatz’ claim can be substantiated, it indicates that the new genes and gene-constructs introduced into transgenic crops and other transgenic organisms can spread, not just by ordinary cross-pollination or cross-breeding to closely related species, but by the genes and gene-constructs invading the genomes (the totality of the organisms’ own genetic material) of completely unrelated species, including the microorganisms living in the gut of animals eating transgenic material.
This finding is not unexpected. Some scientists have been drawing attention to this possibility recently(2), but the warnings actually date back to the mid-1970s when genetic engineering began. Hundreds of scientists around the world are now demanding a moratorium on all environmental releases of transgenic organisms on grounds of safety(3), and horizontal gene transfer is one of the major considerations.
Some of us have argued that the hazards of ‘horizontal’ gene transfer to unrelated species are inherent to genetic engineering(4). The genes and gene-constructs created in genetic engineering have never existed in billions of years of evolution. They consist of genetic material originating from bacteria, viruses and other genetic parasites that cause diseases and spread drug and antibiotic resistance genes. They are designed to cross all species barriers and to invade genomes. The spread of such genes and gene-constructs have the potential to make infectious diseases untreatable and to create new viruses and bacteria that cause diseases.
Horizontal gene transfer may spread transgenes to the entire biosphere
Horizontal gene transfer is the transfer of genetic material between cells or genomes belonging to unrelated species, by processes other than usual reproduction. In the usual process of reproduction, genes are transferred vertically from parent to offspring; and such a process can occur only within a species or between closely related species.
Bacteria have been known to exchange genes across species barriers in nature. There are three ways in which this is accomplished. In conjugation, genetic material is passed between cells in contact; in transduction, genetic material is carried from one cell to another by infectious viruses; and in transformation, the genetic material is taken up directly by the cell from its environment. For horizontal gene transfer to be successful, the foreign genetic material must become integrated into the cell’s genome, or become stably maintained in the recipient cell in some other form. In most cases, foreign genetic material that enters a cell by accident, especially if it is from another species, will be broken down before it can incorporate into the genome. Under certain ecological conditions which are still poorly understood, foreign genetic material escapes being broken down and become incorporated in the genome. For example, heat shock and pollutants such as heavy metals can favor horizontal gene transfer; and the presence of antibiotics can increase the frequency of horizontal gene transfer 10 to 10 000 fold(5).
While horizontal gene transfer is well-known among bacteria, it is only within the past 10 years that its occurrence has become recognized among higher plants and animals(6). The scope for horizontal gene transfer is essentially the entire biosphere, with bacteria and viruses serving both as intermediaries for gene trafficking and as reservoirs for gene multiplication and recombination (the process of making new combinations of genetic material (7)).
There are many potential routes for horizontal gene transfer to plants and animals. Transduction is expected to be a main route as there are many viruses which infect plants and animals. Recent research in gene therapy indicates that transformation is potentially very important for cells of mammals including human beings. A great variety of ‘naked’ genetic material are readily taken up by all kinds of cells, simply as the result of being applied in solution to the eye, or rubbed into the skin, injected, inhaled or swallowed. In many cases, the foreign gene constructs become incorporated into the genome(8).
Direct transformation may not be as important for plant cells, which generally have a protective cell wall. But soil bacteria belonging to the genus Agrobacterium are able to transfer the T (tumour) segment of its Tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid (see below) into plant cells in a process resembling conjugation. This T-DNA is widely exploited as a gene transfer vehicle in plant genetic engineering (see below). Foreign genetic material can also be introduced into plant and animal cells by insects and arthropods with sharp mouthparts. In addition, bacterial pathogens which enter plant and animal cells may take up foreign genetic material and carry it into the cells, thus serving vectors for horizontal gene transfer(9). There are almost no barriers preventing the entry of foreign genetic material into the cells of probably any species on earth. The most important barriers to horizontal gene transfer operate after the foreign genetic material has entered the cell(10).
Most foreign genetic material, such as those present in ordinary food, will be broken down to generate energy and building-blocks for growth and repair. There are many enzymes which break down foreign genetic material; and in the event that the foreign genetic material is incorporated into the genome, chemical modification can still put it out of action and eliminate it.
However, viruses and other genetic parasites such as plasmids and transposons, have special genetic signals and probably overall structure to escape being broken down. A virus consists of genetic material generally wrapped in a protein coat. It sheds its overcoat on entering a cell and can either hi-jack the cell to make many more copies of itself, or it can jump directly into the cell’s genome. Plasmids are pieces of ‘free’, usually circular, genetic material that can be indefinitely maintained in the cell separately from the cell’s genome. Transposons, or ‘jumping genes’, are blocks of genetic material which have the ability to jump in and out of genomes, with or without multiplying themselves in the process. They can also land in plasmids and be propagated there. Genes hitch-hiking in genetic parasites, ie, viruses, plasmids and transposons, therefore, have a greater probability of being successfully transferred into cells and genomes. Genetic parasites are vectors for horizontal gene transfer.
Natural genetic parasites are limited by species barriers, so for example, pig viruses will infect pigs, but not human beings, and cauliflower viruses will not attack tomatoes. It is the protein coat of the virus that determines host specificity, which is why naked viral genomes (the genetic material stripped of the coat) have generally been found to have a wider host range than the intact virus(11). Similarly, the signals for propagating different plasmids and transposons are usually specific to a limited range of host species, although there are exceptions.
As more and more genomes have been sequenced, it is becoming apparent that gene trafficking or horizontal gene transfer has played an important role in the evolution of all species(12). However, it is also clear that horizontal gene trafficking is regulated by internal constraints in the organisms in response to ecological conditions(13).
Genetic engineering is unregulated horizontal gene transfer
Genetic engineering is a collection of laboratory techniques used to isolate and combine the genetic material of any species, and then to multiply the constructs in convenient cultures of bacteria and viruses in the laboratory. Most of all, the techniques allow genetic material to be transferred between species that would never interbreed in nature. That is how human genes can be transferred into pig, sheep, fish and bacteria; and spider silk genes end up in goats. Completely new, exotic genes are also being introduced into food and other crops.
In order to overcome natural species barriers limiting gene transfer and maintenance, genetic engineers have made a huge variety of artificial vectors (carriers of genes) by combining parts of the most infectious natural vectors – viruses, plasmids and transposons – from different sources. These artificial vectors generally have their disease-causing functions removed or disabled, but are designed to cross wide species barriers, so the same vector may now transfer, say, human genes spliced into the vector, to the genomes of all other mammals, or of plants. Artificial vectors greatly enhance horizontal gene transfer (see Box 1).(14)
Although different classes of vectors are distinguishable on the basis of the main-frame genetic material, practically every one of them is chimaeric, being composed of genetic material originating from the genetic parasites of many different species of bacteria, animals and plants. Important chimaeric ‘shuttle’ vectors enable genes to be multiplied in the bacterium E. coli and transferred into species in every other Kingdom of plants and animals. Simply by creating such a vast variety of promiscuous gene transfer vectors, genetic engineering biotechnology has effectively opened up highways for horizontal gene transfer and recombination, where previously the process was tightly regulated, with restricted access through narrow, tortuous footpaths. These gene transfer highways connect species in every Domain and Kingdom with the microbial populations via the universal mixing vessel used in genetic engineering, E. coli. What makes it worse is that there is currently still no legislation in any country to prevent the escape and release of most artificial vectors and other artificial constructs into the environment (15).
What are the hazards of horizontal gene transfer?
Most artificial vectors are either derived from viruses or have viral genes in them, and are designed to cross species barriers and invade genomes. They have the potential to recombine with the genetic material of other viruses to generate new infectious viruses that cross species barriers. Such viruses have been appearing at alarming frequencies. The antibiotic resistance genes carried by artificial vectors can also spread to bacterial pathogens. Has the growth of commercial-scale genetic engineering biotechnology contributed to the resurgence of drug and antibiotic infectious diseases within the past 25 years (16)? There is already overwhelming evidence that horizontal gene transfer and recombination have been responsible for creating new viral and bacterial pathogens and for spreading drug and antibiotic resistance among the pathogens. One way that new viral pathogens may be created is through recombination with dormant, inactive or inactivated viral genetic material that are in all genomes, plants and animals without exception. Recombination between external and resident, dormant viruses have been implicated in many animal cancers (17).
As stated earlier, the cells of all species including our own can take up foreign genetic material. Artificial constructs designed to invade genomes may well invade our own. These insertions may lead to inappropriate inactivation or activation of genes (insertion mutagenesis), some of which may lead to cancer (insertion carcinogenesis)(18). The hazards of horizontal gene transfer are summarized in Box 2.
Transgenic DNA may be more likely to transfer horizontally than non-transgenic DNA
Both the artificial vectors used in genetic engineering and the genes transferred to make transgenic organisms are predominantly from viruses and bacteria associated with diseases, and these are being brought together in combinations that have never existed in billions of years of evolution.
Genes are never transferred alone. They are transferred in unit-constructs, known as an ‘expression cassettes’. Each gene has to be accompanied by a special piece of genetic material, the promoter, which signals the cell to turn the gene on, ie, to transcribe the DNA gene sequence into RNA. At the end of the gene there has to be another signal, a terminator, to end the transcription and to mark the RNA, so it can be further processed and translated into protein. The simplest expression cassette looks like this:
Promoter — — gene —– terminator
Typically, each bit of the construct: promoter, gene and terminator, is from a different source. The gene itself may also be a composite of bits from different sources. Several expression cassettes are usually linked in series, or ‘stacked’ in the final construct. At least one of the expression cassettes will be that of an antibiotic resistance marker gene to enable cells that have taken up the foreign construct to be selected with antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance gene cassette will often remain in the transgenic organism.
The most commonly used promoters are from viruses associated with serious diseases. The reason is that such viral promoters give continuous over-expression of genes placed under their control. The same basic construct is used in all applications of genetic engineering, whether in agriculture or in medicine, and the same hazards are involved. There are reasons to believe that transgenic DNA is much more likely to spread horizontal than the organisms’ own DNA (see Box 3) (19).
Additional hazards from viral promoters
We have recently drawn attention to additional hazards associated with the promoter of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) most widely used in agriculture (23). It is in practically all transgenic plants already commercialized or undergoing field trials, as well as a high proportion of transgenic plants under development, including the much acclaimed ‘golden rice’ (24).
CaMV is closely related to human hepatitis B virus, and less so, to retroviruses such as the AIDS virus (25). Although the intact virus itself is infectious only for cruciferae plants, its promoter is promiscuous in function, and is active in all higher plants, in algae, yeast, and E. coli (26), as well as frog and human cell systems (27). Like all promoters of viruses and of cellular genes, it has a modular structure, with parts common to, and interchangeable with promoters of other plant and animal viruses. It has a recombination hotspot, flanked by multiple motifs involved in recombination, similar to other recombination hotspots including the borders of the Agrobacterium T DNA vector most frequently used in making transgenic plants. The suspected mechanism of recombination requires little or no DNA sequence homologies. Finally, viral genes incorporated into transgenic plants have been found to recombine with infecting viruses to generate new viruses (28). In some cases, the recombinant viruses are more infectious than the original.
Proviral sequences – generally inactive copies of viral genomes – are present in all plant and animal genomes, and as all viral promoters are modular, and have at least one module – the TATA box – in common, if not more. It is not inconceivable that the CaMV 35S promoter in transgenic constructs can reactivate dormant viruses or generate new viruses by recombination. The CaMV 35S promoter has been joined artificially to copies of a wide range of viral genomes, and infectious viruses produced in the laboratory (29). There is also evidence that proviral sequence in the genome can be reactivated (30).
These considerations are especially relevant in the light of recent findings that certain transgenic potatoes – containing the CaMV 35S promoter and transformed with Agrobacterium T-DNA – may be unsafe for young rats, and that a significant part of the effects may be due to “the construct or the genetic transformation (or both) (31)” The authors also report an increase in lymphocytes in the intestinal wall, which is a non-specific sign of viral infection (32).
Evidence for horizontal transfer of transgenic DNA
It is often argued that transgenic DNA, once incorporated into the transgenic organism, will be just as stable as the organism’s own DNA. But there is both direct and indirect evidence against this supposition. Transgenic DNA is more likely to spread, and has been found to spread by horizontal gene transfer.
Transgenic lines are notoriously unstable and often do not breed true (33). There is a paucity of molecular data documenting the structural stability of the transgenic DNA, both in terms of its site of insertion in the genome and its arrangement of genes, in successive generations. Instead, transgenes may be silenced in subsequent generations or lost altogether (34).
A herbicide-tolerance gene, introduced into Arabidopsis by means of a vector, was found to be up to 30 times more likely to escape and spread than the same gene obtained by mutagenesis (35). One way this may happen is by secondary horizontal gene transfer via insects visiting the plants for pollen and nectar (36). The reported finding that pollen can transfer transgenic DNA to bacteria in the gut of bee larvae is relevant here.
Secondary horizontal transfer of transgenes and antibiotic resistant marker genes from genetically engineered crop-plants into soil bacteria and fungi have been documented in the laboratory. Transfer to fungi was achieved simply by co-cultivation (37), while transfer to bacteria has been achieved by both re-isolated transgenic DNA or total transgenic plant DNA (38). Successful transfers of a kanamycin resistance marker gene to the soil bacterium Acinetobacter were obtained using total DNA extracted from homogenized plant leaf from a range of transgenic plants: Solanum tuberosum (potato), Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco), Beta vulgaris (sugar beet), Brassica napus (oil-seed rape) and Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) (39). It is estimated that about 2500 copies of the kanamycin resistance genes (from the same number of plant cells) is sufficient to successfully transform one bacterium, despite the fact that there is six million-fold excess of plant DNA present. A single plant with say, 2.5 trillion cells, would be sufficient to transform one billion bacteria.
Despite the misleading title in one of the publications,(40) a high gene transfer frequency of 5.8 x 10-2 per recipient bacterium was demonstrated under optimum conditions. But the authors then proceeded to calculate an extremely low gene transfer frequency of 2.0 x 10-17 under extrapolated “natural conditions”, assuming that different factors acted independently. The natural conditions, however, are largely unknown and unpredictable, and even by the authors’ own admission, synergistic effects cannot be ruled out. Free transgenic DNA is bound to be readily available in the rhizosphere around the plant roots, which is also an ‘environmental hotspot’ for gene transfer (41). Other workers have found evidence of horizontal transfer of kanamycin resistance from transgenic DNA to Acinetobactor, and positive results were obtained using just 100ml of plant-leaf homogenate (42).
Defenders of the biotech industry still insist that just because horizontal gene transfer occurs in the laboratory does not mean it can occur in nature. However, there is already evidence suggesting it can occur in nature. First of all, genetic material released from dead and live cells, is now found to persist in all environments; and not rapidly broken down as previously supposed. It sticks to clay, sand and humic acid particles and retains the ability to infect (transform) a range of micro-organisms in the soil (43). The transformation of bacteria in the soil by DNA adsorbed to clay sand and humic acid has been confirmed in microcosm experiments (44).
Reseachers in Germany began a series of experiments in 1993 to monitor field releases of transgenic rizomania-resistant sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), containing the marker gene for kanamycin resistance, for persistence of transgenic DNA and of horizontal gene transfer of transgenic DNA into soil bacteria (45). It is the first such experiment to be carried out; after tens of thousands of field releases and tens of millions of hectares have been planted with transgenic crops. It will be useful to review their findings in detail.
Transgenic DNA was found to persist in the soil for up to two years after the transgenic crop was planted. Though they did not comment on it, the data showed that the proportion of kanamycin resistant bacteria in the soil increased significantly between 1.5 and 2 years. Could it be due to horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance marker gene in the transgenic DNA? Although none of 4000 colonies of soil bacteria isolated – a rather small number – was found to have taken up transgenic DNA by the probes available, two out of seven samples of total bacterial DNA yielded positive results after 18 months. This suggests that horizontal gene transfer may have taken place, but the specific bacteria which have taken up the transgenic DNA cannot be isolated as colonies. That is not surprising as less than 1% of all the bacteria in the soil are culturable. The authors were careful not to rule out transgenic DNA being adsorbed to the surface of bacteria rather than being tranferred into the bacteria.
The researchers also carried out microcosm experiments to which total transgenic sugar-beet DNA was added to non-sterile soil with its natural complement of microorganisms. The intensity of the signal for transgenic DNA decreased during the first days and subsequently increased. This may be interpreted as a sign that the transgenic DNA has been taken up by bacteria and become amplified as a result.
In parallel, soil samples were plated and the total bacterial lawn allowed to grow for 4 days, after which DNA was extracted. Several positive signals were found, “which might indicate uptake of transgenic DNA by competent bacteria.”
The authors were cautious not to claim conclusive results simply because the specific bacteria carrying the transgenic DNA sequences were not isolated. The results do show, however, that horizontal gene transfer may have taken place both in the field and in the soil microcosm.
DNA is not broken down sufficiently rapidly in the gut either, which is why transfer of transgenic DNA to microorganisms in the gut of bee larvae would not be surprising. A genetically engineered plasmid was found to have a 6 to 25% survival after 60 min. of exposure to human saliva. The partially degraded plasmid DNA was capable of transforming Streptococcus gordonii, one of the bacteria that normally live in the human mouth and pharynx. The frequency of transformation dropped exponentially with time of exposure to saliva, but it was still detectable after 10 minutes. Human saliva actually contains factors that promote competence of resident bacteria to become transformed by DNA (46).
Viral DNA fed to mice is found to reach white blood cells, spleen and liver cells via the intestinal wall, to become incorporated into the mouse cell genome (47). When fed to pregnant mice, the viral DNA ends up in cells of the fetuses and the new born animals, suggesting that it has gone through the placenta as well (48). The authors remark that “The consequences of foreign DNA uptake for mutagenesis and oncogenesis have not yet been investigated (49).” As already mentioned, recent experiments in gene therapy leave little doubt that naked nucleic acid constructs can readily enter mammalian cells and in many cases become incorporated into the cell’s genome.
Horizontal gene transfer is an established phenomenon. It has taken place in our evolutionary past and is continuing today. All the signs are that natural horizontal gene transfer is a regulated process, limited by species barriers and by mechanisms that break down and inactivate foreign genetic material. Unfortunately, genetic engineering has created a huge variety of artificial constructs designed to cross all species barriers and to invade essentially all genomes. Although the basic constructs are the same for all applications, some of the most dangerous may be coming from the waste disposal of contained users of transgenic organisms(50). These will include constructs containing cancer genes from viruses and cells from laboratories researching and developing cancer and cancer drugs, virulence genes from bacteria and viruses in pathology labs. In short, the biosphere is being exposed to all kinds of novel constructs and gene combinations that did not previously exist in nature, and may never have come into being but for genetic engineering.
There is an urgent need to establish effective regulatory oversight, in the first instance, to prevent the escape and release of these dangerous constructs into the environment, and then to consider whether some of the most dangerous experiments should be allowed to continue at all.
Artificial vectors enhance horizontal gene transfer
* They are derived from natural genetic parasites that mediate horizontal gene transfer most effectively.
* Their highly chimaeric nature means that they have sequence homologies (similarities) to DNA from viral pathogens, plasmids and transposons of multiple species across Kingdoms. This will facilitate widespread horizontal gene transfer and recombination.
* They routinely contain antibiotic resistance marker genes which enhance their successful horizontal transfer in the presence of antibiotics, either intentionally applied, or present as xenobiotic in the environment. Antibiotics are known to enhance horizontal gene transfer between 10 to 10 000 fold.
* They often have ‘origins of replication’ and ‘transfer sequences’, signals that facilitate horizontal gene transfer and maintenance in cells to which they are transferred.
* Chimaeric vectors are well-known to be structurally unstable, ie, they have a tendency to break and join up incorrectly or with other DNA, and this will increase the propensity for horizontal gene transfer and recombination.
* They are designed to invade genomes, to overcome mechanisms that breakdown or disable foreign DNA and hence will increase the probability of horizontal transfer.
Potential hazards of horizontal gene transfer from genetic engineering
* Generation of new cross-species viruses that cause disease
* Generation of new bacteria that cause diseases
* Spreading drug and antibiotic resistance genes among the viral and bacterial pathogens, making infections untreatable
* Random insertion into genomes of cells resulting in harmful effects including cancer
* Reactivation of dormant viruses, present in all cells and genomes, which may cause diseases
* Spreading new genes and gene constructs that have never existed
* Multiplication of ecological impacts due to all of the above.
Reasons to suspect that transgenic DNA may be more likely to spread horizontally than non-transgenic DNA
* Artificial constructs and vectors are designed to be invasive to foreign genomes and overcome species barriers.
* All artificial gene-constructs are structurally unstable (20), and hence prone to recombine and transfer horizontally.
* The mechanisms enabling foreign genes to insert into the genome also enable them to jump out again, to re-insert at another site, or to another genome.
* The integration sites of most commonly used artificial vectors for transferring
genes are ‘recombination hotspots’, and so have an increased propensity to transfer horizontally.
* Viral promoters, such as that from the cauliflower mosaic virus, widely used to make transgenes over-express, contain recombination hotspots (21), and will therefore further enhance horizontal gene transfer.
* The metabolic stress on the host organism due to the continuous over expression of transgenes may also contribute to the instability of the insert (22).
* The foreign gene-constructs and the vectors into which they are spliced, are typically mosaics of DNA sequences from numerous species and their genetic parasites; that means they will have sequence homologies with the genetic material of many species and their genetic parasites, thus facilitating wide-ranging horizontal gene transfer and recombination.
1. Thanks to Dr. Beatrix Tappeser, Institute for Applied Ecology, Postfach 6226, D-79038, Freiburg, for this information. See also Barnett, A. (2000). GM genes ‘jump species barrier’ The Observer, May 28, 2000.
2. See Stephenson, J.R., and Warnes, A. (1996). Release of genetically-modified miroorganisms into the environment. J. Chem. Tech. Biotech. 65, 5-16; Harding, K. (1996). The potential for horizontal gene transfer within the environment. Agro-Food-Industry Hi-Tech July/August, 31-35; Ho, M.W. (1996). Are current transgenic technologies safe? In Virgin, I. and Frederick R.J., eds. Biosafety Capacity Building, pp. 75-80, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm; Traavik, T. (1999). Too Early May be Too Late, Report for the Directorate for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway.
3. See www.i-sis.org.uk
4. See Ho, M.W. (1998, 1999). Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare? The Brave New World of Bad Science and Big Business. Gateway, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin; Ho, M.W., Traavik, T., Olsvik, R., Tappeser, B., Howard, V., von Weizsacker, C. and McGavin, G. (1998). Gene Technology and Gene Ecology of Infectious Diseases. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 10, 33-59.
5. See Ho et al, 1998 (note 4) and references therein.
6. See Lorenz, M.G. and Wackernagel, W. (1994). Bacterial gene transfer by natural genetic transformation in the environment. Microbiol. Rev. 58, 563-602.
7. See Ho,1998, 1999 (note 4; Ho, et al, 1998 (note 4).
8. See Ho, M.W., Ryan, A., Cummins, J. and Traavik, T. (2000a). Unregulated Hazards: ‘Naked’ and ‘Free’ Nucleic Acids, ISIS & TWN Report, London and Penang. www.i-sis.org.uk.
9. Grillot-Courvalin, C., Goussand, S., Huetz, F., Ojcius, D.M. and Courvalin, P. (1998). Functional gene transfer from intracellular bacteria to mammalian cells. Nature Biotechnology 16, 862-866.
10. See Nielsen, K.M., Bones, A.M., Smalla, K. and van Elsas, J.D. (1998). Horizontal gene transfer from transgenic plants to terrestrial bacteria – a rare event? FEMS Microbiology Reviews 22, 79-103.
11. See Ho et al, 2000a (note 9)
12. See Doolittle, W.F. (1999). Lateral genomics. Trends Cell Biol 9, 5-8.
13. See Jain, R., Rivera, M.C. and Lake, J.A. (1999). Horizontal gene transfer among genomes: The complexity hypothesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 3801-3806; Shapiro, J. (1997). Genome organization, natural genetic engineering and adaptive mutation. TIG 13, 98-104; Ho, 1998,1999 (note 4).
14. See Ho et al, 1998 (note 4) for references.
15. See Ho et al, 2000 (note 8)
16. Reviewed in Ho et al, 1998 ( note 4).
17. Reviewed in Ho, 1998, 1999 (note 4) Chapter on “The mutable gene and the human condition”.
18. See Ho et al, 2000 (note 9) and references therein.
19. See Ho, M.W. (1999). Special Safety Concerns of Transgenic Agriculture and Related Issues Briefing Paper for Minister of State for the Environment, The Rt Hon Michael Meacher www.i-sis.org.uk
20. See Old, R.W. and Primrose, S.B. (1994). Principles of Gene Manipulation, 5th ed. Blackwell Science, Oxford; Kumpatla, S.P., Chandrasekharan, M.B., Iuer, L.M., Li, G. and Hall, T.c. (1998). Genome intruder scanning and modulation systems and transgene silencing. Trends in Plant Sciences 3, 96-104.
21. See Kohli, A., Griffiths, S., Palacios, N., Twyman, R.M., Vain, P., Laurie, D.A. and Christou, P. (1999). Molecular characterization of transforming plasmid rearrangements in transgenic rice reveals a recombination hotspot in the CaMV 35S promoter and confirms the predominance of microhomology mediated recombination. The Plant Journal 17, 591-601.
22. Finnegan, J. and McElroy, D. (1994). Transgene inactivation, plants fight back! Bio/Technology 12, 883-8.
23. Ho, M.W., Ryan, A. and Cummins, J. (1999). The cauliflower mosaic viral promoter – a recipe for disaster? Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 11, 194-197; Ho, M.W., Ryan, A. and Cummins, J. (2000). Hazards of transgenic plants containing the cauliflower mosaic viral promoter. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (in press).
24. Ye, X., Al-Babili, S., Kloti, A., Zhang, J., Lucca, P., Beyer, P. and Potrykus, I. (2000). Engineering the provitamin A (-carotene) biosynthetic pathway into (carotenoid-free) rice endosperm. Science 287, 303-305; see also Ho, M.W. (2000). The Golden Rice – An Exercise in How Not to Do Science. ISIS Sustainable Science Audit #1 www.i-sis.org.uk
25. Xiong, Y. and Eikbush, T. (1990). Origin and evolution of retroelements based upon the reverse transriptase sequences. The Embo Journal 9, 3363-72.
26. Assad, F.F. and Signer, E.R. (1990). Cauliflower mosaic virus P35S promoter activity in E. coli. Mol. Gen. Genet. 223, 517-20.
27. Ballas,N., Broido, S., Soreq, H., and Loyter, A. (1989). Efficient functioning of plant promoters and poly(A) sites in Xenopus oocytes Nucl Acids Res 17, 7891-903; Burke, C, Yu X.B., Marchitelli, L.., Davis, E.A., Ackerman, S. (1990). Transcription factor IIA of wheat and human function similarly with plant and animal viral promoters. Nucleic Acids Res 18, 3611-20.
28. Reviewed in Ho, et al, 2000 (note 24).
29. Maiss, E., Timpe,U., and Brisske-Rode, A. (1992). Infectious in vivo transcripts of a plumpox potyvirus full lenth c-DNA clone containig the cauliflower mosaic virus 35-S RNA promoter J. Gen. Virol. 73, 709-13; Meyer, M and Dessens, J. (1997). 35S promoter driven cDNA of barley mild mosaic virus RNA-1 and RNA-2 are infectious in barley plants. J. Gen. Viol. 78, 147-51.
30. Ndowora, T., Dahal, G., LaFleur, D., Harper, G., Hull, R., Olszerski, N.E. and Lockhart, B. (1999). Evidence that badnavirus infection in Musa can originate from integrated pararetroviral sequences. Virology 255, 214-20.
31. Ewen S, Pusztai A. Effect of Diets Containing Genetically Modified Potatoes Expressing Galanthus nivalis Lectin on Rat Small Intestine. The Lancet 1999, 354: 1353-1354.
32. Arpad Pusztai, personal communication.
33. Reviewed by Pawlowski, W.P. and Somers, D.A. (1996). Transgene inheritance in plants genetically engineered by microprojectile bombardent. Molecular Biotechnology 6, 17-30; See also Ho, 1998, 1999 (note 4) Chapter ” Perils amid promises of genetically modified food”.
34. See Pawlowski and Somers, 1996 (note 35), also Srivastava V, Anderson OD, Ow DW. Single-copy Transgenic Wheat Generated through the Resolution of Complex Integration Patterns. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 1999, 96: 11117-11121.
35. Bergelson, J., Purrington, C.B. and Wichmann, G. (1998). Promiscuity in transgenic plants. Nature 395, 25.
36. This possibility was not considered by the authors Bergelson et al, 1998 (note 35), although when I put this possibility to the first author by e-mail, she replied that it could not be ruled out.
37. Hoffman, T., Golz, C. & Schieder, O. (1994). Foreign DNA sequences are received by a wild-type strain of Aspergillus niger after co-culture with transgenic higher plants. Current Genetics 27: 70-76.
38. Schluter, K., Futterer, J. & Potrykus, I. (1995). Horizontal gene-transfer from a transgenic potato line to a bacterial pathogen (Erwinia-chrysanthem) occurs, if at all, at an extremely low-frequency. Bio/Techology 13: 1094-1098; Gebhard, F. and Smalla, K. (1998). Transformation of Acinetobacter sp. strain BD413 by transgenic sugar beet DNA. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 1550-4.
39. De Vries, J. and Wackernagel, W. (1998). Detection of nptII (kanamycin resistance) genes in genomes of transgenic plants by marker-rescue transformation. Mol. Gen. Genet. 257, 606-13.
40. Schlutter et al, 1995 ( note 38).
41. Timms-Wilson, T.M., Lilley, A.K. and Bailey, M.J. (1999). A Review of Gene Transfer from Genetically Modified Micro-organisms. Report to UK Health and Safety Executive.
42. Gebhard and Smalla, 1998 (note 38).
43. Reviewed by Lorenz, M.G. and Wackernagel, W. (1994). Bacterial gene transfer by natural genetic transformation in the environment. Microbiol. Rev. 58, 563-602.
44. Paget, E. and Simonet, P. (1997). Development of engineered genomic DNA to monitor the natural transformation of Pseudomonas stutzeri in soil-like microcosms. Can. J. Microbiol. 43, 78-84.
45. Gebhard, F. and Smalla, K. (1999). Monitoring field releases of genetically modified sugar beets for persistence of transgenic plant DNA and horizontal gene transfer. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 28, 261-272.
46. Mercer, D.K., Scott, K.P., Bruce-Johnson, W.A. Glover, L.A. and Flint, H.J. (1999). Fate of free DNA and transformation of the oral bacterium Streptococcus gordonii DL1 by plasmid DNA in human saliva. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 65, 6-10.
47. Schubbert, R., Rentz, D., Schmitzx, B. and Doerfler, W. (1997). Foreign (M13 DNA ingested by mice reaches peripheral leukocytes, spleen and liver via the intestinal wall mucosa and can be covalently linked to mouse DNA. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 961-6.
48. Doerfler, W. and Schubbert, R. (1998). Uptake of foreign DNA from the environment: the gastroinestinal tract and the placenta as portals of entry, Wien Klin Wochenschr. 110, 40-44.
49. Doerfler and Schubbert, 1998, (note 48), p. 40.
50. See Ho, et al, 1998 (note 4); Ho et al, 2000 (note 8).
March 22nd, 2005 | Category: Horizontal Gene Transfer
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Posted by: Dr Churchill | October 31, 2018
For a New Republic
Given the social state of division that is emerging today in our Republic — I believe that a new political definition of our Democratic Constitutional Republic is needed in America today.
I know that it is a tall order, but we must embark on this process willingly and whole heartedly, even if only in order to reanimate our Republic’s beliefs, to purify its motives, to regulate its movements, to substitute the bureaucracy of political government affairs, with the knowledge of this Republic’s true instincts, instead of its blind instincts, and in total honesty — to bring our divided “national self” together again.
We need to adapt this New Republic as an ideal for a democratic government to fit our current time and place in history. Mainly because we need to modify our institutions according to the present circumstances and the present persons that are exercising this form of self governance. Primarily we need to reassert our men and women, on the orders of the day, because such is the first duty imposed upon those who direct society in our day.
The very reason why republican representative democracy has succeeded in the United States while failing in so many other places, is the careful and considerate Constitutionally based application of the basic functional aspects of our indirect democracy. This is the whole sum of the miracle of this experiment in self governance, in these United States.
Yet, it is all a rather fine balance, because the future of the American Republic’s survival is choke-full of threats to our democracy from without, and many probable dangers of collapse from within. And all the most credible threat are centered around the belief that our democracy has a tendency to degenerate into “soft despotism” as well as pure “totalitarianism” from the Big Government complex of our tendency to dismiss the risks of developing a tyranny of the so-called majority.
And as we observe the tug of war between the two major parties, and also the strong role that religion plays in the United States, due to its separation from the government — we cannot help but wonder if those two main parties have supplanted religion as the divisive force that becomes the evil of theocracy. A blood sport indeed, because the much needed separation, that all parties and almost all political factions up to now, have found agreeable, is limited to the stand-off between church and state and is not included in the much more corrosive relationship between the “Big Government State” and the political parties. That is the most dangerous point of inflection in our Republic, except the cult of Muslim jihadists and their Islamic adherents who see the institution of total Sharia law as the only acceptable outcome of their participation in Society. In that evil tiding, they are of course joined by their natural allies, the extreme fringe of the Socialists and the Communists who espouse the dictatorship of the proletariat, and advocate for the forced convergence of our classically liberal capitalist society, to an institutional equality for all. Basically a big prison to house all voices. Indeed these are the two main minorities that seem to admire the industrialization of human beings, and want to institute fascism in order to force the reduction of people, into cog-wheels of the machine instead of human beings. Of course all of these approaches are antithetical to the United States Constitution and must be rejected out of hand, yet they have sadly gained plenty of traction amongst the know-nothing young adherents from the stoner society, and amongst the young children of the bourgeoisie who are masquerading as AntiFa black shirts, and as Hitler’s national socialist brownshirts…
And it seems that the unhealthy antagonism between democrats and the republicans, which relates to the excesses of passion for equality among men, women, and undecided, versus the ideas of individuality as supported by the natural order of variable specimens of humanity, and as found everywhere in nature amongst all the species that are divided in two sexes — foreshadows the balkanization and the totalitarian expressions of the various hate-filled divisions and the rancorous intersectionality promoted by the Democrat as well as by the Republican party of the twenty-first century.
And they both do it, only because they want to keep their flocks of sheeple separate, if they are to reduce their losses to the Free Thinking Independents that occupy the middle ground of the debate, and constitute the vast majority of American people.
Any careful analysis of the politics of our society would bear me out, and also the description of civil society as a sphere of private and civilian affairs that mirror the social paradox of social frustration increasing as social, political & economic conditions improve. Indeed the growing hatred of social, political and monetary privilege, increases in quantifiable ways, as social conditions improve. This in turn leads to the state concentrating more power to itself and the federal government and it’s debt increasing rapidly as well…
Our experiment with democracy in America is still fresh and full of the political acrimony over the abolition of slavery that tore asunder the fabric that held the United States together and led to the first American Civil War. And because the Democratic party always sought control as they were back then, the party of the plantation slave owners of the South, they carried the grudge of the South’s loss in their lust for power to this day. And this has led to today’s polarizing rivalry between the two parties, which has indeed exploded after the Civil War, hoping to litigate their differences in a nasty process of hateful violence that might well lead to another civil war that might have a different outcome or not.
Otherwise a democracy’s equality of conditions, justice and the pursuit of the American Dream, has resulted in some unfavorable consequences, such as the tyranny of the majority MSM media bias over “thought” and the preoccupation with Political Correctness, and the pursuit of material goods, along with the constant effect of isolation and alienation for individuals, who are independent of the majority opinions and refuse to think alike the masses.
Over the previous years the social and economic conditions of most Americans had slowly become more equal and the vast effort at industrialization helped i that respect to maintain the American dream as a gateway to all Americans to join the living standards of the old aristocracy. Yet today as the divisions disappear and as the modern world experienced the beneficial effects of equality — we also have the new moneyed elites, mainly bankers, digital industrialists, and others, that have retracted the development of equality. This has given rise to a number of emerging social strata.
Today’s social strata is not part of the firmly middle class Puritan Founding that established the U.S. democratic social state of equality, but rather it is a newer invention. Mind you the early settler and the founders are egalitarian because they arrived as equals in wealth, in education, and in skillsets, since they were all mostly middle class co-religionists from the old Blightey. In addition, they contributed a synthesis of religion and political liberty in America that was the “seed” of the Federal Constitution, which established the principle of sovereignty of the people in the Fundamental principles contained within the articles and the amendments, simply because this was not found in old England and they craved more Liberty and more Democracy than what they had left behind…
The aftermath of the American Revolution popularized these principles, first seen in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which developed the institutions that will join the states as well as federally govern and manage the national popular will. While the U.S. Constitution enshrines Liberty at its core — the Athenian Democracy, the Christian Bible, the English mores of the Mother of All Parliaments, the Habeas Corpus, and the Magna Carta, along with the Democratic “habits of mind” of the American people — also play a very prominent role in the protection of freedom in these shores of the New World.
And so today, in light of all that — I’m writing to you, because we are at the throes of a new Civil War, and before we embark on bloody carnage No2 maybe we should recognize that we need to cool our jets and make peace with each other. And since it seems to anyone looking that mostly it is all the conservatives that have been treated shabbily by the mass media, who are trying hard to convince everybody that the vast majority of conservatives are evil — we need to counter that nasty narrative.
Because you already know that Conservatives, like any other population group, are simply everyday people who want to love & be loved, want to live and let live, and hope that we will all get along.
And yet, every day the poor conservatives hear a steady drumbeat of truly disturbing allegations, from the media which presents all American conservatives as uneducated, jealous, racist, war-mongering, women-hating, gay-bashing, immigrant-despising, evil bigots and deplorable, or despicable hilly-billies… But the truth is, they’re nothing like what’s being portrayed by the folks on the MSM and by all the political leaders on the Left, because first, they are not uneducated hillbillies, and instead most are well educated thoughtful people who’ve read and have a certain functional understanding of many the principles of Liberty & Democracy, through the writings of John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick and John Rawls.
And contrary to popular leftist Democrat belief, conservatives aren’t single-issue voters nor are they governed by prejudice or any sort of extremism. As a matter of fact, they think about the same issues you do, but they think of them in terms of how they affect families, neighbors, country, the Constitution, the next generations, and only then, the rest of the world.
And while Conservatives, love American society, that doesn’t mean they can’t look at the rest of the world with interest, wonder, appreciation and pity. They actually love to travel, and go on far more trips aboard than the leftists do. They engage by going on international field of mission trips, and they send long-term missionaries to all corners of this earth. Conservatives do a lot of business overseas and they send help and aid to the poor folks outside the U.S. constantly. As a matter of fact Conservative philanthropy extending outside the US is almost five times as much, as that donated by those identifying as Democrats. And because they value the contributions we all make to the world and they also see that what makes America unique in a different way of living, they value things outside of America too. But they love our country and value it’s contribution to the world stage, because they truly see Americans as the saviors of the world.
A pretty big claim, right?
Well, Christian Conservatives think in grand terms, because they know that classical liberals, in the old sense of liberty, individual rights, free speech, self-determination, representative democracy, and constitutionally protected rights — all came from the United States to the rest of the world today because we are this benevolent empire, that likes to share, and this we must accept as our destiny to lead, and as our Exceptionalism — whether we like it or not.
Free enterprise capitalism, is the system all Americans like because it has reduced global poverty in the last 50 years far more so than anything human beings have done in the last 2,000 combined. This free enterprise capitalism married with the system of classical liberal democracy here in our country is the winning lotto, for all of our citizens and we best aim to protect it’s winning streak.
Also the only true religious freedom came from these shores as well as all of the innovations that have revolutionized the world — internet, satellites, space exploration, biotech, bioengineering, and even the earlier ones, like the repeating rifles, the cotton gins, the telegraph, the telephone, the light bulbs, the automobiles, the airplanes, the rocket-ships, and the microchips — they all came from here. And when tyranny threatened the globe not once, not twice, but three times, salvation came from here too.
But as wholesome Americans and conservatives to boot — we’re not blind to America’s problems either. We strive to get better each and every day, because we all know the country’s not there yet, even if we’re not sure where the “there-there” is.
And of course, Christians and Conservatives hate it that America has gotten things wrong in the past, and slavery is never far from any of our minds. But those problems don’t keep us from greatly loving our country on balance. We know America has done immeasurable good and that the world is better off with her leading at pole position, than without her.
And all conservatives are pro-woman and never want to marginalize women, because on the contrary, they value women, but the way they value women looks different from the way leftists value them. Treating them differently from men is a sign of honor, not disrespect. We all think it’s fine for women to work if they want, but we also know the woman’s role as mother in the family is irreplaceable from either a creationist or evolutionist point of view.
We believe in traditional gender and sexual roles, again, whether you ask creation or evolution, those roles are what we seem to have been dealt, and all conservatives and Christians, are very, very cautious when it comes to modifying the natural order. Seems to me that in any field other than sex, all Americans seem to applaud that idea.
But being cautious doesn’t mean to hate gays or transexuals. What the conservative Christians hate is the sensation of being forced to accept an idea solely because someone else values that idea. I know very few conservatives who dislike gays as people. I know a great many, however, who intensely dislike the pressure society is under not just to accept gay people but to approve of everything they do as well. None of us approve of everything our own fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, or daughters do. Why would we then, ask or even avail ourselves to afford other people’s infinite approval when even our own families don’t get that?
And of course, conservative Americans don’t despise immigrants, foreigners, or other countries. From what I see, conservatives actually love seeing new people come to America if they come legally, and they love America and also if they want to live in this country as Americans.
And you would have to admit that this is not wrong. Because we’ve put a lot of work as a People into this society, and we’d like to see it augmented and perpetuated, and if not, we would at least like to see it preserved.
Important to note that conservatives also don’t hate minorities. It really saddens me that even needs to be said. Yet sadly, it does…
Think about that for a second.
How many of your neighbors are conservatives?
Or work associates?
Or family members?
Do you really think that conservatives go home at night, discard the suits and dresses, and the rest of their civilized facades, and then don hoods, so they can go out to find others and talk about how much they despise people just because their skin is different color from theirs?
Do you really think that?
Please tell me you don’t, and please hear me when I say conservatives aren’t those people. Sure those people exist, but they don’t hide their racism, and they don’t find any quarter within civilized conservative society or inside any churches on American today.
We used to call these people Ku-Klux-Klan and we used to run them out of our towns as soon as we find them, and we seem to remember that it was the Democratic party that founded that organization to control the so called “Blacks” that the Conservatives had liberated from the Southern Democrat plantations during the Civil War. And now the Dems seem to want to re-litigate this Civil War for version 2.0 of the same old bloodshed. But as far as I’ve seen from my perch in America, conservatives actually don’t have much of an opinion at all about individuals, regardless of race or religion. Yet the Democrats and the Left have a judgmental opinion about everyone else, especially about those that are different than them, and about the Independent thinkers.
But there are things that raise the conservative hackles too.
And what they do view very suspiciously is the process of Society’s balkanization at the hands of the Left and the Democrats. That is the process of the grouping of individuals based on unique traits, including racial traits, and sexual choices, and then pitting those groups against each other. And that suspicion turns to downright hostility if those balkanized groups are then galvanized with rhetoric that is divisive and downright dangerous to fundamental American and Western values, whether it’s inter-sectionalism, transgenderism, black nationalism, white nationalism, Marxism, Islamism, gayderism, or transnationalism.
And this is where so many conservatives are genuinely misunderstood as bigots, because although they couldn’t care less what color, religion, or sexual orientation anyone else is — they care deeply that all those who self identify as “other” also support the basic American values such as freedom, the centrality of the individual, the worth of every man, the rule of law, equality under the law, rugged individualism, capitalism, freedom of speech and the press, religious freedom, government subject to the people, and common decency — that ultimately define all of us as Americans.
And many conservatives like Donald Trump, because they actually have good reasons for liking him. When people look at Trump they see someone who’s actually a winner and “rough metaphor” of the personification of the American dream we all love and want to live in. Because of course he is coarse, simple, strong, speaks the warrior language, and he is proud of what his country has historically stood for. Trump also puts the American people’s interests first, and refuses to back down to threats, as he always tries to solve problems with diplomacy before war. There are many examples of all of these personality traits of Donald Trump, but you really already know that, and one can only wish that you’d think about those reasons honestly before you dismiss them out of hand.
Christian conservatives see in Trump an effective leader because he’s getting done what people always wanted done. Rebuilt our Economy. Focus on regulatory rollbacks that make entrepreneurship the lifeblood of American easy again. Provide honest federal judgeships. Take strong stands against currency manipulation from our friends, our frenemies and our trading partners. Destroy and re-negotiate all lopsided trade deals. Secure America’s borders, and repeat ad infinitum, his passionate pursuit of pro-business policies.
No conservative sees in Trump someone who’s racist. As far as anyone can tell and certainly as far as anyone said before 2016, he has always been racially agnostic. In Trump no conservative or Christian sees a bigot. Instead we see a man who has been extremely pro-gay rights, and who doesn’t hate trans people, although he does believe in using biological terms to officially describe people — hardly a position worthy of controversy. Indeed in the face of our Commander In Chief, we simply don’t see a sex criminal, but a strong family man who enjoyed the company of women as a serial monogamist.
Of course one can also see, a man who’s made some pretty terrible moral decisions regarding sex in the past, but who hasn’t done that and been there? And from everything everyone has said, those decisions were all fully consensual and libertarian. He never forced women to let him grab them. He said women let him do it because this is what this type of women (Hollywood vixens) do with famous people… There’s an enormous difference. And we all know this type of women, so there is no big thing “there-there” when you talk about hoes, hookers, pole dancers, starlets, playboy strippers, or porn stars with an enormous “treasure chest.”
As for the popular lullaby of “Russia-Russia” conservatives don’t see a Russian stooge in our President, but instead see the hoax and the conspiracy theory run amok, by a sworn Democrat acting as special prosecutor, perpetuating a witch hunt. As a matter of fact, in the eyes of our President, we see a man with far too much personal pride and yes, a great deal of arrogance and a whole lot of distaste for his opponent the crooked Hillary, who paid for that opposition research that came to be called the salacious “Trump Russia dossier” that started this whole thing and keeps bedeviling our Republic plunging all of us into the second Civil War.
Trump is strong and that makes it rather improbable and perhaps impossible for him to be anyone’s stooge, and we further see someone who’s beating Moscow into the ground, intentionally and repeatedly on the international and national scene, every chance he gets.
Finally, nobody sees someone who’s mentally unstable at all. We know he’s got a temper. We know he abhors disrespect and disloyalty. We also know he makes incredibly strategic decisions on everything from how he handles international policy (NK, Iran, NAFTA) to the manipulation of a hostile media. By our lights, there’s zero evidence of his being mentally unstable in the sense he’s accused of. Mercurial, yes. Unstable, no.
I could go on and on. The point here is that while leftist Democrats have counterpoints to everything Conservatives examine here, still they desperately wish that the Liberals of today and their leftist adherents, would at least consider the fact that all others including the Independents, have their own legitimate reasons to believe what they do, and that they are not evil because of that.
There are currently more than a few hundred threats against President Trump going live on Twitter this very minute as I type this. And according to Mashable, one month after being sworn in, Trump faced 12,000 assassination tweets. Maybe that is why conservatives are now used to being careful and well armed, when they are constantly attacked and told to go crawl in a hole and die.
That started out as baffling to me too because after all, if what I wrote above described you and a bunch of people wanted you to die just for thinking those things, wouldn’t you be a little confused too?
But over time that bafflement has transformed into defensiveness and is now giving way to deep-seated anger over the hatred directed at us because of the simple values we hold.
What’s happening can’t continue. You can’t keep allowing your fellow AntiFa leftists to beat us up, and the MSM to say that those who disagree with them are the embodiment of evil, and the local leftist police to stand down and not arrest the perpetrators of that violence.
You cannot evade the repercussions of your actions for ever, and assuming that we will survive as a Republic, at some point you will be arrested and tried for your crimes.
And again, you cannot demonize and dehumanize those who think differently than you, because that’s the very definition of stupid. But you cannot do that also because we are not evil, and also because some desperate, mentally ill person on your side will believe that, and do something that makes shooting up a synagogue look like Mickey Mouse using a pea shooter and a water pistol at a party.
Conservatives can’t let those accusations get to them or goad them into responding physically, because some “conspiracy nut” will do something a lot worse than sending pitifully made “plastic bombs” to prominent liberals to provoke pity and sympathy for their cause.
As you might recall — it only took a snowball fight to spark the Boston Massacre in 1770.
Methinks that it pays to try to avoid that bloody massacre from occurring again.
But to do that we have to stop this hateful rhetoric now, and if your leaders carry on speaking like that — you have to question both their leadership capacity and the state of their mental health.
For starters, every time you hear someone in the media attack Conservatives, Christians, the sublime deplorables, or those others who voted for Trump, or the libertarian supporters who mistrust the big government, or even the regular independents thinkers like me — stop for just a second and try to remember that all of us are plainly decent people, and that these Ad-Hominem attacks target good, decent, loving people that are your neighbors and colleagues and you might know them personally.
And the personal connection will bring a fresh air of civility to your mental interior discussion, and a sense of abhorrence, when Hillary Clinton says that the conservative supporters of Donald Trump belong in a “basket of deplorables” and that they hold “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic” views. Indeed this statement came to become a singularly descriptive statement about her, and about her supporters, because she persisted saying: “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Clinton said: “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” She kept digging her own grave by saying that the other half of Trump’s supporters: “feel that the government has let them down” and are “desperate for change.”
Yet you are smarter than that, and you can distinguish the wheat from the chaff, so that you can now start thinking of the Conservatives and the Christians as different versions of yourself, and as the regular folks living across from your home, or even down the street from your house, or working in the next cubicle, or even sitting across the table with your family sharing a Thanksgiving meal — and then maybe you see them as simple humans and you stop demonizing them, and then suddenly you find yourself being unable to call them by those choice names of deplorables and sexists.
Do this and see if you can find the thinking and quiet space over Thanksgiving holiday to speak about all and sundry, and speak about anything else exclusive of politics. Please avoid talking politics over Thanksgiving so that we can give ourselves the time and space to heal and reflect, because all that divides us is rhetoric. And in these times of trials and tribulations, we need to find all that which unites us.
And by refraining from the steady crammed diet of 24/7/365 awful and hateful news on the MSM and all the channels of TV, we might regain control of our brains. And if we stay away from the political rhetoric we may also win a measure of Liberty from Hate, and the Pain that goes with it. Because if we do that, we might find a way to make this awful person Hillary who fully expected to divide the American people by hurling insults — go away for good and melt away like the bad witch riding her broom in the rain.
And for your mental health, I was hoping that some of the people who were going to either be offended by Hillary, or those who were going to go vote for her — all shall get schooled soon enough. Because these epithets she hurled against all Americans, came back like boomerangs to bang her on her empty noggin.
But to be sure, if any of your close relatives and close friends are found to be a bit conservative — I invite you to think and examine if these people match all that crap that you’ve been told by the mass media against them. And then consider the reason that these people were offended by crooked Hillary, after hearing her comments and her insults hurled against all conservatives, and realized that there was a really good reason that they didn’t vote for her.
And now go further and ask yourself this: Do these folks truly match what you yourself are telling other people about conservatives?
Do that and see how quickly you’ll arrive at the truth.
So instead of using dehumanizing rhetoric to turn President Trump and all Conservatives inane Independents into some kind of boogeymen, why don’t you stop demonizing everyone else but yourself and your faulty leaders, and instead choose to stand with other Americans and fight alongside them, in order to better our country?
God knows, we have enough enemies all around — isn’t it time to get together?
Indeed this is the only solution.
And it would be much better for our country as a whole, today and tomorrow to accept that we need various voices and opposing opinions to support our argumentative democracy, instead of only one accepted point of view.
And this is what America means for me.
This messy argumentative Republic full of opinionated people is what I like about our country, but I also like the way that we know how to pull together and help each other, to make progress for all of us, and also manage to find some succor for our compassionate hearts.
Because love goes a long way and although we all know that magnanimity is the way to a Man’s heart — this is easier said than done. As for now we need to remove the fear and to heal the hatred and the divisions, that threaten to tear us apart.
And although we all hear people saying that all politicians are liars and haters, and we have a sense of that being the case many times — we also have decent ones that stood the test of time and have done the best that they see fit.
We all hear the harpies telling us that corporations are greedy and the system is rigged agains the little guy, and we =know that to be true sometimes, yet most of the time it isn’t true. And if you feel compelled to believe all the negative stuff, then you have bigger problems to solve with your therapist than the political incivility that your mama Hillary ushered in…
But what America is to me is that we can say all these things and remain free & unmolested by the secret police, because our Republic allows us the voice of reason and sometimes the voice of treason too…
But to be able to question and argue and challenge the Status Quo; this is uniquely American way, and I wouldn’t trade it with anything else, because here we can make up our own minds in an unwritten social contract that says that when only one official “truth” prevails — everything is broken.
And when we start saying that one leader is a monster and that other person is our savior — we are on the road that’s called Tyranny.
And that would be a real pity for all of us…
Dr Churchill
Methinks that if we stick together, we can do well in this country together, but we need to work together to accomplish this, because if that doesn’t happen, the streets will eventually run red with blood, and your hands will be the cause of that bloodshed in another Civil War that will make the old one look like children’s play…
And nothing could be less American than that.
So because of all that and because our Nation has been going down on a rather dangerous path since I was seriously wounded by a would-be assassin in 2017 who identified with the Antifa terrorists — from today and going forward — I am committed to using my voice to speak out against this hate and division that threatens to tear our country apart.
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BNPD TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL “DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER” CAMPAIGN
Americans will soon celebrate the birth and freedoms of this country during Independence Day, and BNPD wants to emphasize the need to ensure a sober way home from your festivities. The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign will take place June 29- July 8. Citizens should expect to see increased enforcement on the roads and zero tolerance for impaired driving.
Lt. Connell of BNPD said the campaign is a way for the department to further protect the residents of Benton.
“It’s essential that our community members understand the safety and financial risks of drinking and driving, along with other types of impaired driving,” he said. Under no circumstances is it ever acceptable to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after you’ve been drinking. Doing so endangers you and everyone on the road with you.”
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 37,461 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2016. Of those fatalities, 10,497 deaths occurred in a crash in which the driver had a blood alcohol content over the .08 limit. Additionally, because most Independence Day celebrations are at night, the rate of alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes during the 2016 holiday was more than three times higher at night than during the day.
“With thousands of fatalities still occurring every year due to negligent behavior, we will continue to heavily patrol during the holiday season and will accept absolutely no excuses,” said Connell.
For more information on impaired driving, visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov.
To get BNPD's Official App, click on one of the following:
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Hotstar Your Ticket To The Best Of Indian Entertainment Is now Available in North America
Movies, News, Sports & Recreation, Television | November 13, 2017 | | by Stacey Yount
Hotstar, India’s largest premium streaming platform synonymous for changing the landscape of digital content consumption in India, is now available in the United States. Hotstar will treat users in the US to a highly evolved video streaming experience and attention to quality while they enjoy the best of Indian entertainment from everyone’s favourite Star TV channels.
Hotstar made a splash at New York’s iconic attraction, Times Square, where passers-by are in for a feast of colors and glamor this fortnight. Presenting a glimpse of the eclectic entertainment, the screens showcase the range of content from the hottest cricket action, Pro Kabaddi league and other premium sports, to the best in television drama and the biggest movie titles from across India.
Hotstar is your ticket to India’s leading TV shows, movies and sports available in 8 languages. In line with its offering to watch your favourite content on demand anywhere, anytime, Hotstar is available across a variety of devices and on platforms like the Apple Store, Google play store, Roku and Amazon fire stick.
Movie buffs get the latest movies on offer such as Judwaa 2 and Jolly LLB as well as blockbusters such as Pink, Bajrangi Bhaijan, Phillauri, Housefull 3, Prem Rattan Dhan Payo, Zindigi Na Milegi Dobara, A Gentleman, Jolly LLB 2, Golmaal 3, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and 2 States.
Also, apart from showcasing the content from Star’s leading channels like Star Plus, Star Bharat, Star Gold in Hindi and Star Jalsha, Star Maa, Star Vijay and Asianet amongst the regional languages, the streaming platform also has a line-up of original shows like Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, AIB and Tanhaiyan amongst others.
What is perhaps the biggest draw for all sporting enthusiasts is the upcoming Indian Premier League. With Star India’s winning bid for the IPL, Hotstar will be home to the world’s greatest cricket spectacle come April with fans having the benefit of watching cricket across multiple languages.
With all its content in High Definition, Hotstar is for the Indian who is seeking premium Indian entertainment at world class quality. Taking pride in your identity and recognizing the diversity that enriches your individuality is the message that Hotstar is giving through its brand positioning- For who you are.
ABOUT HOTSTAR:
Hotstar, India’s leading video streaming platform for Indian TV shows, movies and live sports, is now in the US and Canada. Hotstar membership offers full and unlimited access to more than 2000 movies and TV shows across 8 languages with over 60,000 hours of content, from popular Star channels, all ad-free in High Definition.
Hotstar also has the latest and most popular movies in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi languages. Catch content that you won’t see anywhere on television, Hotstar Originals includes a variety of exclusive content for Hotstar. It ranges from the most talked about stand up group AIB to your favorite characters from Sarabhai vs Sarabhai 2, cinematic renditions of leading plays and much more.
Hotstar can be accessed through us.hotstar.com, ca.hotstar.com and via iOS AppStore, Android Google Play and Roku etc. Concurrent viewing across two screens is allowed to the subscribers, making it an attractive option for family members with different entertainment needs.
Stacey Yount
View all posts by Stacey Yount →
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