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Yemen Cholera Cases Reach One Million
The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has reached one million, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says.
At least 2,226 people are believed to have died of the disease since April, although the number of new cases has declined for 14 consecutive weeks.
The ICRC said the outbreak was “amplifying the suffering of a country caught up in a brutal war”.
More than 80% of Yemenis lack food, fuel, water and access to healthcare.
The war between forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the rebel Houthi movement has killed more than 8,670 people since March 2015.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera. In severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.
The outbreak in Yemen peaked at the end of June, when more than 50,000 suspected cases were reported in one week across 22 out of 23 provinces. Since then, it has steadily declined.
The latest figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday show that 7,622 suspected cases and one associated death were reported last week.
However, WHO officials have warned that there could be a new wave of cases at the beginning of the rainy season in March if the Saudi-led coalition does not ease its blockade of Yemen and allow in more food, fuel and medicines.
The blockade was tightened after the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in November.
Read full article on BBC, November 21, 2017.
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About our Artist Society
'What makes this Society different, is that it is so affordable and embraces all ranges of interest ; student, amateur, professional. New members and groups are welcome. Everybody's effort is appreciated and anyone can exhibit' - Susan Fabian
Overview of the Society:
Hawthorn Artist Society is an incorporated association registered under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. (Registered number A0027862V with Community Affairs Victoria)
It is a not for profit organisation whose aims include:
encourage and foster all types of visual art
arrange exhibitions of works of art and facilitate meetings discussions and activities
encourage young and adult artist and to maintain an Art centre and school
co-operate with other groups or societies with similar interests.
The Society has a proud history spanning over thirty five years. During that time many hundreds of artists, including some of the most distinguished artists in Australia, have worked, studied, lectured and participated in activities at the Society’s studio.
The Society’s base is primarily local. It encourages a wide range of styles and methods of drawing and painting. The particular styles and emphasis are determined by the participants. The excellence and reputation of its leading members does attract participants from outside the municipality.
The society welcomes applications for membership from experienced artists and beginners. Membership is open to the public and regular users of the Studio are expected to become members. There are currently over 150 members.
The Society is run by its members through an elected and co-opted management committee. The management committee and other members act voluntarily and freely contribute thousands of hours work to the running of the Society.
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Relationship Health Message Board
Relationship Health
boyfriend likes to be alone
Relationship Health Board Index
Board Index > Relationship Health | 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
View Complete Thread on "I Am Starting To Get Annoyed" Here
Re: I Am Starting To Get Annoyed
I'm currently going through a similar situation. My boyfriend used to want to spend every second with me, and spend the night with me every night. He got his own place awhile ago, after moving out of his mom's, and since then he doesn't like to spend the night at my place, and he's more distant. He likes his time with his friends and his alone time, which is completely understandable, but a change for me since I was so used to him practically smothering me trying to spend every waking moment together. My boyfriend lives five minutes away, and he'll tell me how much he misses me but won't do anything about it. I don't understand that.
I also see my friends much less, because they're hard partiers, and I don't like to party as much as they do. I'd say I've changed, just like you have, rather than given up friends just because I have a boyfriend.
I totally see where you're coming from, in saying that it kinda sucks to have to give someone time away from you to miss you or want to see you. I also would like for someone to want to see me all the time period. I have mentioned to my boyfriend that if he doesn't want to hang out late at night after work and we haven't seen each other in awhile, he could at LEAST stop by and say hello. And when I used to tell him that I felt like one of his last priorities, below his friends and such, he got mad and blew it out of proportion.
It seems like a game almost. At first when my boyfriend acted distant and wanted time away from me, it bothered me and I let him know that. But now that it doesn't bother me so much (or if it does, I don't act like it) my boyfriend is wanting more time together. It's weird.
I agree with the other posters that after the honeymoon stage, and the couple is comfortable with each other, one, or both of them start taking the other for granted. That's exactly what I think is going on in my relationship. I try not to be so available to hang out with him, because I don't want him to think that it's always up to him when we see each other.
I think women think too deeply about things.
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Posted on February 21, 2019 February 21, 2019 by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
India gets veggie burger from Saudi Arabia
(Prime Minister Modi receiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Delhi airport, February 20, 2019)
Looking back at the one-day — actually, a little over half a day — first state visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Delhi on February 20 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the question surges instinctively: What was it all about? It seems like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Indeed, it has been a strange event, padded up heavily in protocol but kept as a strictly segregated affair between the Prime Ministers Office and the Ministry of External Affairs on Raisina Hill, which reminds one of the secret society of the Freemasons, so full of rituals and extensive symbolism wrapped in “bloody oaths”.
Five MOUs were signed during MBS’ state visit. Of course, the standing joke in South Block is that MOUs are not meant for implementation but are essentially photo-ops, but even then the concerned ministries are usually brought in to give the occasion an air of solemnity and formalism.
But the cavalier attitude so manifestly apparent gives away the play. Incredibly enough, our ambassador in Riyadh alone performed the ritual of signing on the dotted line for 3 out five MOUs. This cannot have a precedent in the Indian protocol during state visits.
Evidently, the MOUs are so patently inconsequential that the PMO decided that the top officials of the relevant Indian ministries — finance and investment, housing, tourism, information — did not have to waste their time over the ritual.
Equally, the verbose joint statement of 2066 words, which was issued in Delhi after the visit, only serves to give the lie away that the entire visit lacked any substantive content worth mentioning.
So, where’s the beef? (For the benefit of the uninitiated, in the urban dictionary, it’s an all-purpose catch phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event or product.) Yes, there was no beef in this Saudi burger in comparison with what Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan sought and obtained.
But a veggie burger is by no means passé. It is even healthier diet. Suffice to say, the Crown Prince’s visit was important enough for Modi to be at the Delhi airport tarmac to receive the dignitary with a warm hug and a bouquet of flowers. It needs no elaboration that Saudi Arabia is a hugely important partner country for India.
The bonhomie of the carefully nurtured bonding between the two leaders needed to be preserved, which was established at their last meeting in Argentina on the sidelines of the G20 summit in late November.
No, Modi wasn’t excessive, considering the most important single outcome of the Crown Prince’s visit — the cementing of a partnership that has been under discussion between the Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries.
Not many people would have noticed in December that the influential Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih, who is an old Aramco technocrat himself, had come all the way to attend the pre-wedding ceremonies of Mukesh Ambani’s daughter. Al Falih had tweeted after meeting with Ambani at that time: “We discussed opportunities for joint investments and cooperation in petrochemical, refining and communication projects.”
The fact of the matter is that although the $44 billion mega refinery-cum-petrochemical project at Ratnagiri is spluttering and may not meet the 2025 deadline (in which Saudis agreed to invest $11 billion), Saudi Aramco is looking for other investment opportunities.
The Saudis are particularly keen to enter the downstream retail energy sector which has enormous potential and is highly lucrative. The Saudi Aramco has been seeking an optimal Indian partner and exploring options, but with Modi’s intervention, Reliance may win the trophy.
(Saudi Aramco: one of the largest companies in the world by revenue – $465.5 billion – and according to accounts seen by Bloomberg News, the most profitable company in the world, valued anywhere up to $2 trillion.)
By the way, Amin Al Nasser, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, who was in the Crown Prince’s entourage, had met Mukesh Ambani in January in anticipation of the Crown Prince’s forthcoming visit to India.
Of course, the scope for Saudi investments in India’s energy sector is enormous. It is a relationship made in heaven — Indian economy is expanding at such a rate that it is billed as a huge buzzer of energy and Saudi Arabia is an energy superpower. The visiting Crown Prince has voiced an opinion that Saudi investments anywhere on the region of $100 is conceivable.
Clearly, India must welcome and keenly facilitate all the investments that the Saudis are willing to make in our economy. The Indian diplomatic thrust in that direction must be purposive.
To be sure, there is a lot of dust in the air today that the Saudis and Pakistanis are thick as thieves. So what?
The brotherly relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is historical, cultural, political, and highly strategic insofar as Pakistani military has traditionally acted as the Praetorian Guard of the Saudi regime and that role as the provider of security has not only great relevance today but is of existential concern for the Saudi royal family in the period ahead even as the dull roar of the US’ withdrawal from the Middle East is quite audible lately.
India is too big a country to have a zero sum attitude — ‘Either you’re with us, or with the Pakistanis’. True, the Saudis used to have wrong notions about the Kashmir issue but incrementally they came to understand perfectly well that a redrawing of India’s territorial boundaries is not on cards.
But as the Custodian of the Holy Mosques, Saudi king is obliged to voice concerns over the welfare of Muslims anywhere. So long as that does not translate as interference in India’s internal affairs or turn into an intrusive approach on the ground, where is the problem?
Are the Saudis impeding us from tackling the profound alienation of the people in the valley in J&K? Beyond that, it is unrealistic to expect the Saudis to get into our bandwagon and berate Pakistan. Evidently, in the Saudi perception, terrorism remains a problem between India and Pakistan so long as Kashmir problem remains unresolved.
The Saudis are far from alone in the world community in counselling that India and Pakistan should bilaterally try to resolve their differences and disputes and that Kashmir is a core issue. This Saudi stance is faithfully reflected in their joint statement with Pakistan following the Crown prince’s visit to Islamabad.
The Saudi stance is actually the majority opinion in the world community as regards India-Pakistan tensions. Of course, this is not to say that the Saudis are lily white in their own attitude toward terrorism. In fact, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are jointed at the hips in using terrorism as a tool in their foreign policies. Furthermore, there is a Faustian pact today between the two countries as collaborators in regional politics. (See my blog The geopolitics of Pulwama.)
However, the bottom line is that geoeconomics must prevail as the charioteer of Indian diplomacy at the present stage of our country’s development. With regard to West Asia, this is of crucial importance, too.
It will be a Himalayan blunder to spurn the Saudi overture toward India. The Saudis are savvy enough to separate the grain from the chaff and would know that Pakistan is not a patch on India as a world-class partner potentially. As their own rapidly growing ties with Russia suggests, the Saudis are perfectly capable of juggling many balls in the air and can hook up with multiple guys on a regular basis, usually without them knowing.
TagsEnergy Security, Kashmir, Reliance Industries, Saudi Aramco
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Watch: Part II/III Of Lands’ Video Trilogy Is Painfully Relatable - Homegrown
Watch: Part II/III Of Lands’ Video Trilogy Is Painfully Relatable
By Aditi Dharmadhikari | Posted Nov 11 2014
Nicholson have changed their name to Lands, and you can follow them on Facebook here.
“Truth is truth is truth.”
“There is something so real about dysfunctional relationships.”
“As an actor, you only have yourself to use. I use and abuse any relationship I can, and if it leaves me cold, I imagine.”
Part II/III of Sohrab Nicholson’s video trilogy is finally here! We have waxed eloquent at length about our soft spot for Sohrab Nicholson and his melodies, and as a part of the exclusive release, we decided to catch up with the actors featuring in the video trilogy – a medley of mavericks that have conspired in this feat of storytelling exploring the darkest crevices and the headiest highlights of a relationship, taken on the journey by visionary director Sachin S Pillai.
[Watch it below]
I. For What
An actor, musician, dancer and one half of the electro-funk band MADBOY/MINK, Saba Azad’s performance in the atmospheric debut video of the series was subtle and understated, setting off the heightened emotion in the track without seeming contrived. The video has been shot in the streets of Bombay, in architect Kunaal Kyhaan Seolekar’s picturesque house and a clearing near Kolad dam.
“I’ve known Sachin for a long time and we’ve worked on a couple of projects together so I’ve seen him in action before,” she says. “His style of direction is to give the subject a background for the situation or the mood and then letting him or her be. He then goes ahead and shoots whatever he likes. Sometimes, you’re just sitting around doing nothing and he’ll quip, ‘Okay, we’re done!” and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, we were shooting?’ There’s no real pattern to that man’s insanity.”
Saba confesses that she is a sucker for sad music, and calls ‘For What’ a ‘beautiful, haunting song’ that she thought was quite ‘blue and melancholic’.
“Sachin, Nicholson and I just drove off onto the highway, and out of the city, in the middle of the night...the monsoons had just begun then, so by daybreak, everything was awash in green. It was so beautiful, definitely the best drive in many years.”
Sohrab’s premise for the video trilogy was to explore the depiction of relationships and intimacy in a way that’s raw and realistic. When asked about whether there were any personal moments that she tapped into for her performance in the ‘For What’ video, she contemplates, “As with most actors, I always have to go to a bank that I rely on for different emotions. It needn’t necessarily be the same context, but a similar emotion suffices - even if it’s completely unrelated. It’s also an exercise in imagination, but that’s all a part of the fun. I’ve often thought of some seriously dark things to deliver a relatable external appearance of a certain emotion – such as how we grieve in private, it is, well, so different for every individual and so, so personal.”
II. For What II
Paloma Monnappa and Mihir Joglekar will startle you with the seething emotions portrayed in the second video of the trilogy, perhaps the most literal visual interpretation in this series. The former is an actor/model, and one half of Bombay-based Algorhythm while the latter is a model with Inega Model Management, and has been involved in still photography and fashion work, with this video being his debut on-screen performance.
A shockingly realistic depiction of the progressive stages of intimacy, this is definitely the film that has explored the darkest and most ecstatic points in an intense relationship between two individuals. Set against the stunning backdrop of The Machan Resort in the misty meadows in Lonavala, it demands from audiences that they leave themselves at its mercy, the same way it demanded from the actors, performances that push boundaries.
“Sohrab asked me to be part of this project when he was at the pre-production stages of the first video,” Mihir recalls. “Since it was a trilogy I think he already knew what he wanted as an overall concept, but they were both open to inputs from Paloma and I. Sachin knew his frames and shots really well and Sohrab directed the undertone and emotions for every scene. With that as an outline, Paloma and I were given a lot of freedom. Working in this kind of an environment meant that there was a lot of improvisational work which happened on the set, which was great.”
“I definitely feel like acting in this video is going to be opening up new artistic venues for me,” Paloma reflects. “This was, without a doubt, the most intense video I’ve had to work on. I really had to break out of my shell. I’m glad Sachin insisted on a workshop before the shoot, it really helps everyone get more comfortable with each other since everyone is forced to take part. I’ve always found it much easier to act in front of strangers. I don’t know why - but it’s harder for me to do a scene around people that I know, so I was a bit nervous about that at first. Plus I’ve never had to kiss on screen! This is definitely something we’re all really proud to be a part of and I feel like all the actors nailed it thanks to Sachin and Sohrab.”
She explains that Sohrab wanted to keep it simple since the majority of the shot were indoors, and since he and Sachin both wanted her to look like herself at home, she styled herself sans ‘make-up artist or any of that’. “We just wanted it to look real and I’m glad we went in that direction.”
Elaborating on portrayal of intimacy in India in films, Mihir had a couple of valid points, “The way intimacy is portray in Indian cinema is really just what is expected by the masses, and that’s who the majority of the Indian cinema is catering to. Kind of like supply-demand. But I think things have changed and will continue to change significantly over the next decade. Even today there are a lot of directors and actors who want to be doing more realistic work. For me, it was about being able to lose myself completely to every scene and every moment with my co-actor.”
He recalls that the unpredictable and constantly changing weather at both our locations was definitely a big challenge during shoot, and adds with unmistakeable fondness that organising a tractor to tow a car that was towing another car out of the lake, in the middle of nowhere, was no mean feat either.
Speaking about the most intense point in the video, Paloma says, “We figured it would be interesting for us to have one last look into each other’s eyes after the silent scream but this time, not with resentment or anger, but with a sense of calm and being at peace with the fact that we knew it was coming to an end. When Nicholson sings “And we tried so hard,” we look into each other’s eyes in a way that we’ve finally realised that we’re tired of fighting and that our relationship has come to a dead end and so, the ultimate choice was to just let go.”
We probed her about any personal moments she might have tapped into during the course of the shoot and she replies, “Honestly, the only way you can make it look real is if you put yourself in that position and portray it naturally on screen. The concept is something that almost everyone who has been in a relationship could relate to, so in my head I was going through all those experiences from my relationships to bring out the rawness, emotion and even the feeling of pain and anger.”
Turns out Mihir was on the same wavelength as well. “Absolutely, there is something very real about dysfunctional relationships because everyone deals with it at some point. People just learn to live with it. I tapped into my emotional memory a lot to put myself in that mental space to recollect how I was feeling in a similar situation at another time. This video for me is about two people who bring out the best and the worst in each other.”
Paloma thinks that the video portrays the different stages of a relationship beautifully, beginning with attraction then going on to infatuation, fantasy and finally the first kiss. It then moves on to intimacy and ultimately, into pain and resentment.
“From Sohrab being my most favourite Indian artist right now to Sachin being one of the most talented and visionary cinematographers/ directors that we have in the indie music scene I was really lucky to have been a part of such a beautiful creation,” Paloma winds up. ”The entire trilogy proves that you don’t always require a budget to create something amazing and unique. Sachin kept encouraging us all to give our own inputs and by the end of it felt like this was not just his & Sohrab’s baby, but all of ours, as a team.”
III. Cold Water II
The last film in the series features furniture designer and model, Anjali Mody, and theatre actor, Karan Pandit. The former runs Josmo Studio, which customises furniture pieces blending ingenuity with functionality, as well as the social responsibility strategy and social audits at Skarma, a communications & consulting firm she co-founded a few years ago. Her co-actor Karan Pandit was at the Drama Centre London for a year post which he started work in Bombay, featuring in productions like ‘Baghdad Wedding’, ‘Djinns of Eidgah’ & ‘The Interview’, for which he was awarded a META (Best Actor). He’s also done a couple of radio shows for the BBC, was a part of a Dharma Productions titled ‘Strangers in The Night’ and was a part of Sandunes’ video Slybounce. Take these heavyweights and throw Sachin Pillai’s vision and Sohrab Nicholson’s nuanced tune on a beach in Alibaug, and you’ll have the video for Cold Water II.
“I had a blast working on the project,” Karan says genially. “I guess it’s just a much more constructive way to hang out. Shooting was a lot of fun really, no real challenges, just opportunities. At the risk of sounding idealistic, that’s really how we approached the shoot. Emotionally, it’s intense, but we enjoyed basking in that. The only real challenge I faced would probably be the part where I tie myself with a huge jute rope (filthy) to a chair in the water (since our entire video is shot on a beach) and there were bits where the sea was pulling me away and I couldn’t really stay put since I was tied up. Sohrab and Sachin helped me, thankfully (laughs).”
“The conceptualisation of the trilogy was definitely a dual brain-child between Sachin and Sohrab,” Anjali tells us. “Their quirky mix of ideology and vision made the video what it is today. Sachin has been working on this concept for a very long time now, and I believe that he finally found a musician’s sound and voice that could articulate the tone behind this story.”
The most highly stylised video of the lot, the styling was done by Sohrab himself, along with the close ‘behind the scenes’ supervision of friend and stylist, Akshay Tyagi. The surreal hair and make up was executed by the equally talented Zahabia Lacewalla. Anjali is modest when told about Sohrab’s reaction to her performance, who spoke at length about how ‘she blew it out of the park’.
“Sohrab is too kind with his compliments. It was an out-of-body experience for me only because I knew I had to push myself to deliver a ‘real’ performance for Sohrab and Sachin. It was important that I gave the video my best for two of the best guys! I’m usually very comfortable behind the camera but only for still photography. My fear for film and performance was something I was terrified of when asked to do this, but I just said “Hey, what the hell. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Sachin and Karan were patient enough to take me through the motions. We did an intense couple of workshops before shooting and I think the direction I got from them was something that will stay with me forever.”
Having worked in theatrical productions, commercial ventures and now, a music video – we couldn’t help but ask Karan about the parallels he might’ve noticed in terms of his acting process.
“I don’t think it’s very different,” he answers. “Truth is truth is truth. Sure, in a play you have to treat a lot more elements and there’s a lot more going on, but as an actor, your work is emotional truth which I think doesn’t change from medium to medium. Some projects are stylized, some are heightened, some aren’t, all this depends on the director, you have to find truth regardless of its style or the medium.”
Karan remarks that Sohrab and Sachin have a great working relationship which was really great to be around, and most of the inputs he received on the project came from Sachin, as ‘on any shoot, director is king’. When they began, they first had a workshop with Anjali, who he says ‘was outstanding’ and it really succeeded in opening them up. He adds that Sohrab’s visual inputs and personal reasons behind the video really put them all on the same page.
“As for personal moments I tap into as a part of my process, I always draw from my person. As an actor, you only have yourself to use. I use and abuse any relationship I can, and if it leaves me cold, I imagine. It’s a bit of both.”
Talking about her personal journey through the shoot, Anjali tells us about how she had to explore a lot of dark places that she really wasn’t too keen on revisiting, recalling that there were many times when Karan and her would need to take a break because the scene was too intense.
“Emotions I never thought existed came out. Memories that I suppressed because they were too painful to deal with, emerged in front of the camera and before I knew it, I was hysterically crying to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, but the intensity of my own emotions surprised me too – your real emotions are, after all, where on-screen emotions come from. I feel much closer to these guys now, having shared such intimate moments with them. It really opens you up to the reality of life. Sohrab’s video made me realise how beautifully painful relationships can be, making me cherish the relationships I have today.”
Explaining self-deprecatingly that she can’t act (we can see Sohrab and Sachin rolling their eyes in the background), she says that she had to make her performance look and feel real to her, and digging up these emotions made her crying seem reasonable.
“My favourite moments on shoot were the most unexpected ones. We did over 15 takes per scene. Each one, more gruelling than the last, but the ones that ended with Karan , Sachin and I going “Wow, where did that come from?” were the most enriching. The Holi scenes (spoiler alert) where I was dancing around on the beach were a lot of fun because Sohrab and I felt like children again without a care in the world.”
By Aditi Dharmadhikari
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The Dubai World Cup Carnival is Here
Dubai World Cup Carnival opens Thursday at Meydan
©Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club
Richard R. Gross
With North American racing catching its breath before the 2017 Eclipse Awards on Jan. 25, and the $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Florida’s Gulfstream Park two days later, this Thursday’s start of the Dubai World Cup Carnival takes center stage in the racing world. The 11 Carnival meets culminate in the richest day in Thoroughbred racing, Dubai World Cup Day on March 31, with nearly $30 million at stake over nine races capped off by the $10 million Dubai World Cup. That end is a good place to begin this year’s Carnival preview.
Gone is Arrogate, who last year blazed through the rainy Dubai night like a gray comet on his way to a stunning last-to-first epic hand ride win in the World Cup, regarded by jockey Mike Smith as “…my best race ever.”
Gone too will be last year’s World Cup runner-up Gun Runner, who is set to end his brilliant career with a likely Horse of the Year Eclipse Award and a final run in the 2018 Pegasus. Both head off to second careers in Kentucky siring hopeful future Champions: Arrogate to Juddmonte Farms for a $75,000 fee, Gun Runner to Three Chimneys at $70,000, both as close in geography and fees as they were competitors on the track.
The absence of Gun Runner in the World Cup field is particularly surprising since three runners-up have won the Dubai World Cup their following year (Well Armed, 2009; Gloria de Campeao, 2010; California Chrome, 2016).
Gun Runner will not be returning to the Meydan paddock for the World Cup, as he is slated for stud duty. (Photo: Richard R. Gross)
So who among the world’s top dirt runners will compete in this year’s World Cup?
The early focus is on previous winners of the UAE Derby, a highlight of the World Cup undercard that has essentially become a key Kentucky Derby prep race. Early odds on entrants for this year’s Dubai World Cup focus on three of the four most recent winners of the UAE Derby: Toast of New York, the 2014 winner who went on to finish second to Bayern in a three-horse-photo finish (with California Chrome) in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic; 2015 UAE Derby winner Mubtaahij, now under the tutelage of Bob Baffert; and last year’s Derby winner Thunder Snow, who infamously refused to run in the Kentucky Derby after breaking erratically. The only likely missing UAE Derby winner from the past four years is Lani, the zany fan-favorite retiring to stud later this season to Arrow Stud in Hokkaido, Japan.
Hopportunity, another Baffert-trained horse, may also be in the gate following a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 2017 World Cup after a third-place finish in 2016. The now 7-year-old multi-millionaire has played the bridesmaid more often than the bride. Baffert’s other stable stars, West Coast and Collected, must also be considered possible entrants. As is well-traveled Lancaster Bomber for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
But that’s March 31. What about today?
This year’s Carnival features 10 race dates, excluding Dubai World Cup day, 61 Thoroughbred races and four Group Purebred Arabian races. The 132 accepted horses from 15 countries include 14 Group 1 winners. Total prize money for Carnival races totals over $10.9 million, an increase of nearly $1 million over last year.
https://twitter.com/godolphin/status/926982150309793792
Heading the list of Carnival entrants is Godolphin’s Talismanic, the Andre Fabre-trained upset winner over Highland Reel in the Breeders’ Cup Longines Turf last November at Del Mar, who saw fortunes reversed a month later when Highland Reel bested runner-up Talismanic in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin the following month. Thought to be aimed at the Dubai Turf, is it possible he may be pointed on dirt to the big race? His regular rider, Mickael Barzalona has won the Dubai World Cup (Monterosso, 2012) and is now back in the good graces of his former employer Godolphin after a several years absence racing in Europe, so,…
Joining him will be stablemate and Group 1 Prix Ganay winner Cloth of Stars, who also finished a game second in Europe’s premier race, the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Fabre also has his Group 3-winning turf mile specialist Trais Fluors in his Carnival hand. Winner of four of six in 2017, the son of Dansili finished second to Thunder Snow in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat.
Also back is Alain de Royer Dupre-trained star marathoner Vazirabad, who will seek to pull off an unprecedented hat trick in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup on World Cup day. The 13-time winner from 19 starts won four of six starts in 2017. The six-year-old son of Germany’s Manduro is likely to train up to his Gold Cup defense in the Group 3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy March 1.
Christophe Soumillon and Vaziribad will attempt a three-peat in the Group 2 Gold Cup on World Cup day. (Photo: Richard R. Gross)
But what would a carnival be without a reliable ferris wheel coming round again? There will be two this Carnival season. Group 1-winning wonder Sheikhzayedroad will likely aim to challenge Vazirabad in the Dubai Gold Cup on World Cup day.
And then there is that ageless wonder (actually 12-years-old) Reynaldothewizard. Initially not included on the list of Carnival acceptances, trainer Satish Seemar confirmed in an e-mail that the star of Zabeel Stables “…is still in training and his first start is tentatively in the Dubawi Stakes on Jan. 18.”
Reynaldothewizard ©Andrew Watkins/Dubai Racing Club
That 1200-meter (6 furlongs) dirt sprint race has been elevated to Group 3 from Listed status and a win would be a record-extending fourth consecutive victory for the popular and gritty son of Speightstown.
Other changes include an upgrade to the 1800-meter Singspiel Stakes, which also moves from Listed to Group 3 status. That results in two Group races on an opening night that includes the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 1. The Feb. 22 5-furlong Meydan Sprint turf race has been elevated from Group 3 to a Group 2 sprint.
The “usual suspects” from the UAE, the UK, South Africa and Ireland continue to bring large contingents of competitors, but there is an increasing number of foreign entries from countries like Australia (6), Sweden (2), Denmark (3), Norway (11), Germany (3), Singapore (4) and, among Gulf states, Bahrain (12).
The Dubai World Cup Day hardware. (Photo: Richard R. Gross)
Finally, speculation is swirling that the Dubai World Cup purse will be raised to $20 million no later than 2020 to coincide with the opening of the much-anticipated Dubai World Expo that year and perhaps as early as 2018 given the continuing rise in the purse of the Pegasus World Cup, now at $16 million. Ahhhh, to own a world-class racehorse!
The Dubai World Cup Carnival will culminate in the March 31 Dubai World Cup day with eight Thoroughbred and one Purebred Arabian race and prize money presently totaling $30 million to remain the richest single day in racing worldwide.
Dubai World Cup Meydan
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‘OITNB’ Star Yael Stone Accuses Geoffrey Rush of Sexual Misconduct
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Yael Stone has come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Geoffrey Rush.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the Orange Is The New Black actress recalled working with Rush on the set of The Diary of a Mad Man in 2010 and 2011. She claimed the 67-year-old sent flirtatious and sexually suggestive text messages to her, used a mirror to spy on her in the shower and got "totally naked" in front of her in a dressing room, among other things.
"I was so flattered that someone like that would spend their time texting me into the very early hours of the morning," Stone recalled. "Gradually the text messages became more sexual in nature, but always encased in this very highfalutin intellectual language."
Stone continued, "I remember I looked up to see there was a small shaving mirror over the top of the partition between the showers and he was using it to look down at my naked body. I believe that it was meant with a playful intention, but the effect was that I felt there was nowhere for me to feel safe and unobserved."
She expressed guilt for not having shut down Rush at the time, playing off his advances with "an attitude of, 'Oh, you're a very naughty boy.'" She she was worried about what the actor would think of her if she appeared bothered by his actions.
"I didn't want him to think I was not fun, [or] that I was one of those people who couldn't take a joke," she said. "There was no part of my brain considering speaking to anyone in any official capacity."
She continued, "This was a huge star. What were they going to do? Fire Geoffrey and keep me?"
The actress acknowledged that her account of Rush's behavior may come off as inconsistent based on their close friendship during filming, but said she was conflicted because she viewed him as a mentor.
"I also understand it might be confusing and look strange that I maintained a friendship with someone for so long who treated me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable," she said. "But there is the reality of professional influence and the reality of a complicated friendship, which ultimately was corroded by a sexual dynamic. But it was still a friendship."
Stone isn't the first woman to accuse Rush of misconduct. Allegations first surfaced against him last year, when he was accused of acting inappropriately during an Australian stage production of King Lear. Allegations were made to the Sydney Theatre Company about him, too.
Rush has, again, denied the latest allegations against him. He told the New York Times that they "are incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context." He went on to apologize for behaving in any way that upset Stone.
"Clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work. I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress. This, most certainly, has never been my intention," Rush said.
Source: ‘OITNB’ Star Yael Stone Accuses Geoffrey Rush of Sexual Misconduct
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Seis razones que explican el éxito del chocolate suizo
Tanto por su capacidad de innovación como por su sentido de tradición, el chocolate es una fuente del orgullo de Suiza y contribuye a su imagen en el mundo. ¿Pero por qué el chocolate suizo es tan exitoso? Aquí va la respuesta en 6 puntos:
by Tatiana Tissot
The tennis court of the future
The company, Technis, has designed a fully tactile court surface capable of recording where the ball bounces and the position of the players on the court. The information is displayed on a screen in real time.
The legend of the Gotthard pass
Switzerland's geography is extreme to say the least, ranging from the long and winding to the steep and narrow, with the occasional sheer drop thrown in. And to experience it you don't need to cross the Alps on an elephant like Hannibal did. Or at least that's the way the story goes... The Gotthard pass is truly a living legend.
Switzerland to become a secure haven for the world's data
Quality, stability, neutrality, confidentiality: The country is capitalising on its strengths and investing in the data-driven economy. The ambition is to become a peaceful haven for the storage of confidential physical and digital data for Swiss and international companies.
The bisses of Valais
Between the 13th and 20th centuries, irrigation channels particular to the Valais were built along the canton's slopes and side valleys – these are the bisses of Valais, which have borne witness to the epic tales of Valais society since that time.
Davos: ice hockey capital for 90 years
In the final week of the year, the resort of Davos is traditionally in thrall to the Spengler Cup. 29 teams have now added their names to the role of honour of this legendary Swiss ice hockey tournament, which celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2016. Fierce competition, famous personalities, a fabulous atmosphere generated by passionate fans, a superb programme of fringe events, as well as winners and losers on the ice itself, all make for a unique ice hockey festival.
Sechseläuten: Zurich’s spring festival
For the last 500 years, the city of Zurich has staged Sechseläuten, a huge festival celebrating the end of winter and the arrival of spring.
by Dimitri Kas
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An ingression coast or depressed coast is a generally level coastline that is shaped by the penetration of the sea as a result of crustal movements or a rise in the sea level.
Such coasts are characterised by a subaerially formed relief that has previously experienced little deformation by littoral (tidal) processes, because the sea level, which had fallen by more than 100 metres during the last glacial period, did not reach its current level until about 6,000 years ago.
Depending on the geomorphological shaping of the flooded landform – e. g. glacially or fluvially formed relief – various types of ingression coast emerge, such as rias, skerry and fjard coasts as well as förde and bodden coasts.[1]
An ingression coast, the Archipelago Sea off Naantali (Finland)
^ Leser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie, 13th ed., dtv, Munich, p. 381. ISBN 978-3-423-03422-7.
Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e. coastal geomorphology, geology and oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and history) of the coast. It includes understanding coastal weathering processes, particularly wave action, sediment movement and weather, and the ways in which humans interact with the coast
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, such as the Philippines.
There are two main types of islands in the sea: continental and oceanic. There are also artificial islands.
A marine transgression is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, resulting in flooding. Transgressions can be caused either by the land sinking or the ocean basins filling with water (or decreasing in capacity). Transgressions and regressions may be caused by tectonic events such as orogenies, severe climate change such as ice ages or isostatic adjustments following removal of ice or sediment load.
During the Cretaceous, seafloor spreading created a relatively shallow Atlantic basin at the expense of deeper Pacific basin. This reduced the world's ocean basin capacity and caused a rise in sea level worldwide. As a result of this sea level rise, the oceans transgressed completely across the central portion of North America and created the Western Interior Seaway from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.
The opposite of transgression is regression, in which the sea level falls relative to the land and exposes former sea bottom. During the Pleistocene Ice Ages, so much water was removed from the oceans and stored on land as year-round glaciers that the ocean regressed 120 m, exposing the Bering land bridge between Alaska and Asia.
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A recent global analysis suggested they are as extensive globally as mangroves. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and marine animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily.
In the past tidal flats were considered unhealthy, economically unimportant areas and were often dredged and developed into agricultural land. Several especially shallow mudflat areas, such as the Wadden Sea, are now popular among those practising the sport of mudflat hiking.
On the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in places, mudflats are exposed not by tidal action, but by wind-action driving water away from the shallows into the sea. These wind-affected mudflats are called windwatts in German.
Outline of oceanography
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Oceanography.
As ocean surface waves come closer to shore they break, forming the foamy, bubbly surface called surf. The region of breaking waves defines the surf zone. After breaking in the surf zone, the waves (now reduced in height) continue to move in, and they run up onto the sloping front of the beach, forming an uprush of water called swash. The water then runs back again as backswash. The nearshore zone where wave water comes onto the beach is the surf zone. The water in the surf zone, or breaker zone, is shallow, usually between 5 and 10 m (16 and 33 ft) deep; this causes the waves to be unstable.
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The Green New Deal
April 9, 2019 by simon2204 Leave a Comment
Image taken from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/14/politics/green-new-deal-proposal-breakdown/index.html
The Green New Deal is a plan proposed by Democrats, that is aiming to curve climate change and address economic inequality. It is named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression, but with Green added on for the environmental part of the plan.
The Green New Deal has been gaining interest over the past few months, and on March 26, it was brought to a vote. The plan was shot down, but proponents of the plan are trying to pass parts of the plan as smaller bills. It has been estimated that we have 10 years left to fix carbon emissions or else there will be a catastrophic event.
Everybody knows what the Green New Deal is, but how does it actually work? The plan is to boost clean energy and infrastructure by offering incentives to those who will build the structures necessary for clean energy. This will hopefully make clean energy the first choice over non-renewable energy sources such as: coal, oil, and natural gas.
The plan also aims to tackle economic inequality by creating jobs for lower income people. These jobs would mostly be in construction, as all the new infrastructure needed for renewable energy will have to be built by someone. All the new building is supposed to stimulate the economy and help the environment.
The idea of a Green New Deal is not a new idea. It was first mentioned in columnist Thomas Friedman’s book Hot, Flat and Crowded in 2007. The idea was picked up by Obama in 2008, and by liberal groups in Britain, but in 2010, the Republicans won congress and the Tories (the conservative party in Britain) won Parliament, and the idea was lost.
The idea resurfaced in the 2016 election race when Jill Stein ran with her own idea of the Green New Deal and Bernie Sanders also had his own idea of the plan. Both of these candidates would eventually lose, but then in 2018, the Democrats regained the house and young, progressive, representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reintroduced the plan and gained support from many progressive representatives. The bill was eventually killed, but the fight is not over and many representatives are pushing for other plans like it.
March 29, 2019 by Ilham Ali Leave a Comment
Image taken from: https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2019/03/24/attorney-general-sends-summary-of-mueller-report-to-congress/amp/
In the years of 2017-2019, Robert Mueller was doing a special counsel investigation against Russia. He was investigating their government to see if they had anything to do with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A source said, on May 17, 2017, the investigation extent included the allegations that were linked to Donald Trump’s 2017 presidential election.
In 2019, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) started to look into the special counsel, eight days before Trump fired James Comey, who was leading the FBI Russia investigation. The FBI had a feeling that Trump and Russia were linked. The FBI were investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.Following the dismissal of Comey, 130 democratic lawmakers, in congress, called for the appointment of a special counsel.
The investigation resulted in the finding of dozens of instances of foul play by Paul Manafort. They found federal crimes, and at least eight guilty pleas led to convictions, possibly leaving him to serve 7 years in jail.
On Sunday, March 24, 2019, Mueller submitted his report to the FBI. The democrats fear that what they have read has already been made public in Trump’s favor.
The democrats demand that they see the full report made by Mueller. Attorney General William Barr said Mueller’s report cleared Trump of campaign tampering with Russia and criminal obstruction.
For more information, please visit:https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/03/29/politics/mueller-report-secrecy/index.html
March 21, 2019 by Cuttlefish Leave a Comment
image taken from: https://fpcinsider.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/spring-forward-this-sunday/
This year, Daylight Saving Time (DST) fell on March 10, 2019. By moving the clock ahead one hour we are able to make a better use of daylight. During the summer the sunlight is out for a longer amount of time than in the winter. Each country/region has its own time/date to change its time. People who live near the equator don’t have to change their time because in that area there is 12 hours during the day and 12 hours during the night.
According to webexhibits.org there has been a poll made indicating that people in the United States believe that daylight saving is because there is more sunlight in the evenings during the summer. Since there is more sunlight during the evening there is more time to enjoy the long day and to have fun.
Daylight saving may conserve energy, because during daylight saving the energy we use is cut by a very small yet significant amount of energy. About one percent of energy is lost a day, because there is less electricity/lights that are needed during the day. When electricity for light is used, it’s mainly during the night when people are about to sleep, but since evenings have more sunlight, there is a smaller amount of electricity needed to be used.
If you hate daylight saving time, no worries, the end will come on November 3, 2019. After daylight saving time ends, you will be able to move the clock back one hour. Usually, the time changes at 2A.M. whether or not going forward one hour or backwards one hour.
One positive you can get out of daylight saving is having more time to enjoy fun things, and a positive for the end of daylight saving is that you get more sleep.
Filed Under: National, Science
Paul Manafort: Multiple sentences overview
March 20, 2019 by elliotwallarticles Leave a Comment
Image taken from: mage taken from: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/03/13/paul-manafort-learns-his-fate-for-now/
Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign manager and consultant, has been officially charged with multiple counts of tax and bank fraud. Manafort worked as a Republican party campaign consultant, and joined Donald Trump’s campaign team in 2016 (he was the campaign chairman from June to August 2016).
Manafort was officially convicted in August 2018, on eight charges (all of which relates to tax and bank fraud) in the Eastern District of Virginia. He was also charged on ten other counts, but the judge declared a mistrial.
Later, in the DC District Court, Manafort pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He also pleaded guilty to witness tampering.
On November 26, 2018, Robert Mueller released a statement saying that Manafort violated his plea deal by lying to investigators. In the DC District Court, Judge Amy Berman Jackson officially voided the plea deal, so Mueller advised the Virginia court to charge Manafort and have him serve 19 and a half years to 24 years in prison.
On March 7, 2019, Judge T.S. Ellis called Mueller’s sentencing guideline “excessive,” and sentenced Manafort to only 47 months in prison. Six days later, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to an additional 43 months in prison.
Only minutes after this sentencing, New York state prosecutors charged Manafort with sixteen state felonies. This will almost double his sentence, making him serve 7 ½ years instead of 47 months.
Image taken from: https://wkow.com/news/top-stories/2019/03/01/brothers-reportedly-involved-in-jussie-smollett-case-apologize/
Jussie Smollett was born on June 21, 1982, and is an American actor and singer. Jussie Smollett grew a big following after appearing on the famous show Empire. He plays Jamal Lyon.
On the night of January 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett tells the police that at around 2 a.m. what he believed were two white males, wearing masks and a MAGA (make America great again) hat, had attacked him. According to Smollett, the two men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. They then tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.
Smollett says he went home and one of his close associates had to call and tell the police 40 minutes after the incident had occurred. Sources say that Smollett was hesitant to call the police because of his status.
After the attack was shared to different media outlets, there were a lot of A-list celebrities that offered their support to Jussie Smollett.
After the investigation, police noticed that some things that Jussie was doing after the incident were odd. For example, the night of the attack, Smollett said that he had broken ribs, two days later he was seen at a concert dancing and jumping. It didn’t make sense as to why someone who had broken ribs would hold a concert.
On February 1, Jussie released his first public appearance on Good Morning America, he said, “Let me starts off by saying that I’m O.K. My body is strong but my soul is stronger.”
During the interview, people noticed how Smollett was getting defensive when Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts asked why didn’t he give the police his phone. Smollett said he had personal pictures and information that he didn’t want the police to see. People thought that if you are innocent, and have nothing to hide, you’ll just give the police your phone.
A few weeks after the incident, it came out that police think that Smollett hired two brothers to stage the attack, and the reason why he did this was because he wasn’t getting paid enough. For his role on the show Empire, he only gets paid $20,000 an episode and he thought that wasn’t enough, so he thought that by staging this attack, he would get a raise and get donations for the hate crime that happened to him.
A lot of people were hurt that he could have lied about a situation like this, feeling that he’s making it harder for people of color to come out in the future and tell their hate crime stories.
Filed Under: Entertainment, National
Snow storms on the West Coast!
March 8, 2019 by genat2002 Leave a Comment
Image taken from: https://www.thisisinsider.com/snowing-in-las-vegas-snow-cars-streets-snowmen-2019-2
The U.S. has been going through a rough winter so far this year. With the polar vortex hitting the Midwest in late January, and the heavy snow storms on the Northern Eastern coast, the newest area to be affected with this snow storm is the West Coast. Squaw Valley, in California, had its snowiest month on record, according to The Guardian. Snow was also seen falling near Pasadena and West Hollywood.
More snowfalls have also took their tolls in areas in Oregon.
Going back to California, a state that is mainly familiar to sunshine and low precipitation, it had one of its snowiest Februaries the state has ever seen. Although it saw massive snow storms hitting many parts of the state, it didn’t break the record of the snowiest month of all time for the state of California. Tamarack, California holds the record of the snowiest month in the state, 390 inches of snow fell back in January 1911, and it holds that record according to Theweather.com.
Not only California and Oregon were hit with tremendous amounts of snow. Arizona and Las Vegas, yes, Las Vegas, were hit with an uncommon weather storm. In Flagstaff, Arizona, the region was buried in snow, exactly 35.9 inches according to CNN. The city was under a state of emergency. The snow that fell that day became the snowiest single day in recorded history in Flagstaff, Arizona. Breaking the previous record of 31 inches back in 1915.
The roads in Northern Arizona were so bad that the Arizona Department of Transportation was urging everyone not to travel through that region. Arizona State troopers say they responded to more than 400 calls for stranded vehicles and slide-offs in 24 hours.
Now, in Las Vegas, we don’t see as much snow compared to the nearby cities and states, but the fact it even snowed in Sin City was trending nationwide. Las Vegas had over 4 inches of snow. Due to the residents not being used to snow, or never witnessing snowfall in their lives, travel became slick and hard in Las Vegas. Schools in Las Vegas were closed due to the snow according to Accuweather.
We’re only 3 months into 2019, but this year alone, for weather across the nation, has broken so many records in unusual places, and it still may have more records to break.
Some of the United States presidential candidates running in 2020
March 5, 2019 by elliotwallarticles Leave a Comment
Image taken from; https://newsatjama.jama.com/2018/12/12/jama-forum-with-the-2020-election-looming-health-care-shapes-up-again-as-a-voting-issue/
The United States is currently in the third year of Donald Trump’s presidency. This means that next year 2020) is the next election for United State’s president. So far, there are a handful of candidates running for office.
Today, I will be listing a couple candidates and their backgrounds from both of the political parties.
Elizabeth Warren is one of the democratic candidates for the next presidency. She was formerly a Harvard law professor in Massachusetts. She is specifically known for advocating for more regulations on Wall Street and other big corporations.
Another candidate for office is democratic, New Jersey, U.S. Senator, Cory Booker. He was a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. He was elected as mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in 2006, serving until he was elected to the Senate, and assumed office, in 2013.
One of the republican candidates running for office in 2020 is the former governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld. His beliefs are very libertarian based (he was a libertarian nominee for Vice president in 2016). Even though he is running on the republican side of the political spectrum, he believes in LGBTQ rights along with being pro-choice.
Another one of the republican candidates running is the President, Donald Trump, himself. He will try to be re-elected for office in 2020. According to the Washington Post, he was spending money on 2020 efforts as early as Nov. 24, 2016. Trump is also confident he will be re-elected, depsite his constant low approval ratings.
Muslim woman in Congress
March 4, 2019 by Ilham Ali Leave a Comment
Image taken from: https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2010/03/workers_compensation_for_illeg.html
Rashida Tlaib is the mother of two boys, and the oldest among 14 children born to immigrant parents. Tlaib was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She attended and graduated from Southwestern High School. She went to Wayne University in Detroit and earned her bachelor’s degree there. She then earned her law degree from Western Michigan University. After that, she married Fayez Tlaib whom she later had two sons with.
In 2008 Tlaib won her race to be a State Representative. She became the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan Legislation. While being a state representative, Tlaib helped secure millions of dollars, for education, for people as well as seniors. She wrote laws to protect homeowners and stop thieves. After serving three terms in the legislature she couldn’t run for her seat again, because she had reached the term limit.
On January 3, 2019 Rashida Tlaib was sworn into Congress. She is the first Muslim American woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Tlaib chooses not to wear a headscarf, but she doesn’t let that stop her from committing to her religion.
Democrat Rashida said in her campaign biography that: “She is focused on getting more money for better education, free health clinics, after school programs for students and, programs for seniors.” Tlaib is trying to solve how the world views Muslims, and she tries to help her community. While in office, she opposed tax breaks for billionaires, and wealthy corporations, and forced the the state to fund causes such as helping students pay for college instead.
Tlaib has worked against campaigns such as, anti-Arab and anti- Muslim bigotry. She showed people that she isn’t scared to say what the issues in world are. Tlaib has earned respect from many people because she wants to help people and fight for them to get things that they need.
February 19, 2019 by danielas8 Leave a Comment
Image taken from: lhttps://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-sotu-super-bowl/
On February 5, 2019, President Trump gave his State of the Union Address. The State of the Union Address was originally supposed to be given on January 22, but was canceled because of the government shutdown.
This year’s speech was overshadowed by a series of exchanges between the President and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Their series of exchanges consisted about when he was to give his speech. The President wanted to give his speech on January 29, but Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, made it clear that in order for him to give his speech, he must first be invited by Congress, and then only the Speaker of the House can call for a joint session between the chambers. Finally, they came to an agreement to have his speech after the government reopened according to CNN.
At this year’s State of the Union Address, President Trump discussed immigration, the economy, infrastructure, drug prices, national security, and governance according to CNN.
On the topic of immigration, the President claimed that his petition for the wall is justified because El Paso, Texas used to be a dangerous city with high crime rates, and that now with a wall in place, it has become one of the country’s safest city. According to CNN, who analyzed and reviewed data from the FBI and city law enforcement, while there was high violent crime in El Paso in 1993 it fell long before a wall was built in 2008-2009.
Next, the President discussed the economy. He claimed that there are more people working in the United States than ever before. He also claimed that 157 million are working. Again, according to CNN, who analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month, 156,694,000 are working. They also stated that compared to the population percentage, the number of people working is still lower than before the recession.
The President also discussed drug prices. He claimed that drug prices are too high for Americans to pay, and wants to work towards lowering them. He also claimed that because of his administration, drug prices where lower than they had been in 46 years in 2018. CNN analyzed the consumer price index for prescription drugs, and they found that while prices did drop 0.6%, which is that largest drop since 1973, the prices rose 3.2% later that year.
Last, the President discussed National Security. He made many claims on international relations such as reducing support for NATO. He also claimed that ISIS was defeated. While most of their territory was recaptured, they still have control over around 20 square miles according to US Central Command, General Joseph Votel. The President also made a call for international support.
This year’s speech brought a lot of scrutiny by the media, and political analysts, and a lot of controversy.
2018-2019 U.S. Government shutdown: Things that are actually affected
February 5, 2019 by victoria1213 Leave a Comment
A government shutdown happens when nonessential government offices can no longer remain open due to lack of funding. The lack of funding usually happens when there is a delay in the approval of the federal budget. The shutdown continues until parties can reach a compromise and a budget bill passes.
The last government shutdown, that began on December 22, 2018, is due to a disagreement, in the budget, for the President’s wall. Congress had offered President Trump $1.7 billion towards building his border wall, but he had a different amount in mind. He asked for $5.7 billion and when he was denied the money, he declared he’d be “proud to shutdown the government for border security.”
This will be the 21st government shut down since first one, after the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act was passed in 1976.
Even though some people probably didn’t even notice the inconvenience of the partial shut down, around 800,000 people lived without income.
When the shut down was announced, I expected to feel effects directly. Since I still saw police and got my mail everyday, I didn’t really think anything had actually changed because of it. But even though our mail still came, this didn’t mean that everything was just fine. Many things stopped running as usual, such as Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, and NASA.
Other things that had been affected by the government shut down were:
During the shutdown, the airport workers who are responsible for screening passengers and their luggage, were out of work. The number of sick calls continuously rose, and more and more people quit their jobs all together given their lack of an income.
Some parks were shutdown, and others were still open. Some of the parks that remained open decided on a partial closure due to the fact that they were under staffed.
Public health and science
Inspections of chemical factories, power plants, water treatment plants and other industrial places stopped because the Environmental Protection Agency had to send home most of its employees in charge of inspecting pollution and making sure laws were followed.
Some government research labs had also been shut down, and its researchers were sent home. Funding for the research had been affected by the shut down as well.
Other services have been shut down, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Food inspection and financial aid
The Food and Drug Administration stopped its normal inspections of foods with a high risk of contamination.
Food assistance programs for women, children and Native Americans were still operating on the state level until the funding provided by the federal government runs out. After funds run out it will shut down too until the shutdown is officially over.
The Internal Revenue Service
Most IRS operations stopped. Only 12% of the employees were still working. In an effort to not interfere with annual tax returns, the White House said it would bring back the other IRS employees, but it was unclear if they had the authority to make that happen.
Law enforcement and immigration courts
Many workers from the F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard, the Secret Service and others, were out of work because of the shut down.
Even though immigration court was backlogged before, after the government announced the shutdown, the courts also shut down. No cases were being moved forward and people will have to continue to wait for their hearing.
With all these services and citizens being affected by the shutdown, it’s sad to think our government let it go on as long as it did. It lasted over a month and people were ready for it to be over.
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Sophia Hsin-Jung Li's Website
Stay hungry; Stay foolish
B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Email: sophia [dot] hj [dot] li [at] outlook [dot] com
Hello! My name is Sophia Hsin-Jung Li (李欣融), currently an HFSP postdoctoral fellow at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. Previously, I obtained my Ph.D. in 2018 from Princeton University and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011 with a B.S. double majoring in Chemical Engineering and Biology.
My passion is to combine engineering and biology to understand how biology works and to build novel tools that enable us to probe systems that were previously difficult to approach. Biological systems are complex and studying the individual parts may not be able to elucidate how they work as a whole. We can thus apply the concepts and tools in engineering by both bottom-up and top-down methods. First, building something from scratch requires the knowledge of how pieces work alone and collectively together. Second, systematic characterization allows extraction of simple rules from the complex biological phenomenon. I am interested in using methods of both directions to discover mechanisms that drive complex behaviors a cell or a symbiotic ecosystem exhibit.
I am currently working with Prof. Matthias Lutolf and Prof. Alex Persat at EPFL to study host-microbe interactions using a novel in vitro mini-gut model. I combine stem cell engineering, biophysics, and microbiology to capture critical physiological features of the human host gut outside the body. It allows me to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of host-microbe interaction that are difficult to observe in vivo. My goal is to investigate how microbes affect the host physiology in the context of health and diseases to identify novel key regulators and potentially contribute to innovative therapeutic intervention.
My Ph.D. work at Princeton University with Prof. Zemer Gitai and Prof. Ned Wingreen focused on metabolism and growth. Using non-pathogenic Escherichia coli as a model system, I investigated how cells adapt to different growth conditions; specifically, how cells regulate their ribosome abundance and efficiency under nutrient limitations. To address these questions, I had to learn, optimize and implement several complex new technologies, and therefore established collaborations with experts in each technology. I have obtained skills in several techniques (with related sample preparation, data processing, and statistics), interpretation of biological data and designing well-controlled experiments. The technology includes the operation of chemostats, RNA-Seq, ribosome profiling, metabolomics and proteomics using LC/MS. The collaborations lead to multiple co-author publications with different labs in and outside Princeton University (See CV). I collaborated with Dr. Raphael J. Morscher and Prof. Josh Rabinowitz to develop a method for probing translation by mitochondrial ribosomes at single nucleotide resolution, which allowed us to identify defects in mitochondrial tRNA modification (Morscher et al. Nature 2018). My thesis work provides new insights into how bacterial cells make tradeoffs between growth efficiency and adaptability to changing environmental conditions (Li et al. Nature Microbiology 2018). Moreover, based on my thesis work, I lead a team of undergraduates and junior graduate students to systematically quantify the regulation of gene expression through the central dogma. I won the Best Student of the Year in 2017 for my scientific achievement during graduate school from the Department of Molecular Biology .
Outside of the lab I enjoy sports, travel, and reading. I am a second-dan Taekwondoist certified by the World Taekwondo Federation. I like tennis, biking, hiking, and skiing. I have traveled to many European cities and the Middle East. My next big trip would be visiting Peru or Africa!
I attended the 60th Lindau Nobel Conference at Lindau, Germany in 2010. During the conference, I was fortunate to be in a film with Sr. Tim Hunt. Our conversation about systems biology is recorded by Nature and is available on Youtube.
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Home Faces An endless war
An endless war
by SYDNEY CROMWELL
Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Members of a Vietnam veterans group chat before their weekly meeting Jan. 9 at the Hoover Vet Center.
Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Scott Gilbert is seeking to be added to the Agent Orange registry due to his exposure, which he believes has also led to health issues for his daughter and grandson.
At a weekly Vietnam veterans support group meeting at the Hoover Vet Center, veterans meet to swap stories of war experiences, their families and football allegiances. It can be healing for the men who feel like there’s no one else to talk to about their military service.
Daryl Osborne in his Ensley home in February. Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Photo courtesy of Daryl Osborne.
Osborne in uniform.
Clyde Fields Sr. was near the top of a telephone pole in Vietnam when he heard gunfire. The Army wireman had a decision to make: jump, almost guaranteeing serious injury, or try to climb down the pole safely, leaving him an easy target for approaching Viet Cong soldiers.
He jumped.
“It wasn’t much of a choice,” the Ensley resident and Vietnam War veteran said. “It was a choice between living and dying. For me, it was an easy choice. My thought was I’d rather have broken bones than to not be able to go home at all.”
The jump injured Fields’ neck, back and legs, and those continue to cause pain to this day. But his time in Vietnam left other wounds that wouldn’t be noticed until later: post-traumatic stress disorder and problems with his liver and bile duct function that Fields suspects were caused by his exposure to Agent Orange.
He marched through fields that had been sprayed with the chemical herbicide, drank and bathed in rivers that it had washed into and, like most soldiers, had little idea of the potential hazards of contact with Agent Orange and other defoliants.
“Things happened that we were never told. They didn’t explain everything thoroughly as to what the effects [were] of Agent Orange and the other herbicides they used,” Fields said. “It takes years for it to come to fruition.”
Agent Orange syndrome is difficult to classify and track because its effects can take many forms. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, more than 19 million gallons of herbicides — predominantly Agent Orange — were sprayed during the war to remove plants in the Vietnamese jungle.
Exposure is associated with a list of what are called “presumptive conditions.” These are illnesses that could have occurred regardless of military service, but veterans’ exposure to herbicide chemicals is linked to a heightened risk.
These presumptive conditions include several types of cancers and nerve and skin conditions, among other illnesses: ischemic heart disease; Type 2 diabetes; chronic B-cell leukemia; both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; multiple myeloma; soft tissue sarcomas; respiratory cancer; prostate cancer; Parkinson’s disease; neuropathy; AL amyloidosis; chloracne; and a disorder called porphyria cutanea tarda, which affects liver function and skin blistering.
The VA has also acknowledged some birth defects in descendants of Vietnam veterans as presumptive conditions.
Some presumptive conditions show up almost immediately after military service, while others don’t appear for decades. This makes the process of determining the source of a condition even more difficult, especially as Vietnam veterans pass retirement age and start to develop more health problems in general.
Dr. Kenneth Ramos, who has studied different elements of Agent Orange syndrome since the 1990s, said that looking at a single veteran is an impossible way to tell whether their condition developed due to exposure or other life factors. But when looking at the Vietnam veteran population as a whole, significant connections can be found that link Agent Orange exposure to certain medical issues, which allows veterans to receive benefits for those conditions.
Ramos is on staff at the University of Arizona and chaired the Institute of Medicine Committee on Veterans and Agent Orange for its 2014 update. Ongoing research is being done to study the strength of links between exposure and certain conditions such as hypertension, bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
Ramos said he is part of a group analyzing veterans’ genetic samples for signs of instability or changes in their genomes related to exposure, which can be another way to confirm whether veterans have Agent Orange syndrome.
Getting benefits
Dr. Vickie Sturdivant of the Birmingham VA Medical Center said Vietnam veterans can take an exam to see if they qualify to be placed on the Agent Orange registry. From there, veterans work with the VA to confirm their exposure and whether any medical conditions would be considered presumptive conditions. Illnesses that are not already on the presumptive condition list must be evaluated case-by-case.
If the VA determines that a veteran does have a condition related to Agent Orange exposure, the veteran can then file a claim for benefits and coverage of treatments. The VA Medical Center serves around 67,000 veterans, mostly in northern Alabama, and Sturdivant said they had given 7,954 Agent Orange registry exams as of December 2017.
“We always err on the side of the veteran. … Even if it’s remotely suggestive, then you default on the benefit of the veteran,” Ramos said of the VA’s approach to research on presumptive conditions.
However, many local Vietnam veterans said they feel like the registry and benefit claim process doesn’t always have that same approach.
At a weekly Vietnam veterans support group meeting held at the Hoover Vet Center in January, veterans met to swap stories of war experiences, their families and football allegiances. It can be healing for the men who feel like there’s no one else to talk to about their military service. But some of the battles they fight are with the VA, and they spoke of receiving “the runaround” — repeated claim denials and months spent re-filing paperwork and finding doctors to assess their conditions.
“In the handbook, it says, if you’ve got boots on the ground, you’re exposed,” one veteran at the meeting said.
“These are things that the government won’t own up to, so we have to deal with these the best we can,” another said.
Army veteran and Ensley resident Daryl Osborne was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and prostate cancer, and he said he found it relatively easy to get benefits approved for these presumptive conditions, though he is not on the registry. However, he’s heard of other veterans going “through holy hell” while trying to get disability benefits.
Hoover resident Scott Gilbert receives benefits for leg injuries caused by land mines, but he is just beginning to seek benefits related to a chronic skin rash he developed while still in Vietnam. His youngest daughter had a pituitary tumor and her son was born with a hearing-related birth defect, both of which he believes to be related to his Agent Orange exposure.
“I feel like all of that ought to be covered by the VA. They [Gilbert’s daughter and grandson] are having to pay for that themselves. But it’s because of my exposure that they’re suffering from that, and my grandchildren are suffering with it. That’s the worst part of it to me,” Gilbert said.
The understanding that Agent Orange syndrome is difficult to diagnose doesn’t blunt the emotional impact for veterans who have felt attacked or ignored for their service since they returned to civilian life.
“It seems to me that when you don’t allow us to file a claim, you’re waiting for us to die out,” Fields said. “It’s something that makes you wonder if the country cares as much about you as they told you, because they’re not willing to do the right thing about the whole situation. They’re just wanting to sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened, the same way they did us when we came back from Vietnam.”
Between public perception and the emotional trauma of the war, some of the veterans said they rarely talk about their Vietnam experiences outside of their support group. Indeed, many were glad to share their painful memories for the sake of spreading the word about the ghosts of Vietnam that continue to linger.
“It’s hard to explain war. If you haven’t been in it, it makes a different person out of you,” said Army veteran David Freeman, who has ischemic heart condition and Type 2 diabetes. “I wanted to give it to you as straight as I could, without any exaggeration, because war is real, it’s devastating, it’s a nasty business.”
Clyde Fields Sr.
Going to Vietnam forced Fields to “grow up pretty fast.” He was drafted in 1971 at the age of 19 and worked as a wireman handling communication wires for the Army. He served in Vietnam for 18 months.
“I saw some things happen that nobody at 19 should ever have to see,” Fields said. “I’ve seen the worst of the worst.”
He still carries those memories with him. Fields’ PTSD means he often has to avoid crowds and social situations. He can’t drive at night because of the risk of flashbacks.
“A lot of things that happened in Vietnam happened at night. When you got into real bad firefights, it was at night. When you got shelled real heavy, it was at night. And it was very, very dark there. When they started shelling, that was the only light,” he said.
Returning to Birmingham had its own challenges. Fields recalled being told not to wear his uniform home and being asked whether he had killed children. He said employers turned down his job applications if he mentioned his service.
“We had been given a stigma,” he said. “If you mentioned that you served in Vietnam, people would get away from you. They would just walk away.”
The bitterness, he said, hasn’t faded because he feels like Vietnam veterans’ treatment hasn’t really changed.
Fields recalled seeing herbicides handled and, in one instance, spilled while on a base in Vietnam. He said he feels lucky that signs of Agent Orange exposure appeared early for him. He had to have a liver biopsy at age 21 and also found cysts on his bile duct. Fields has been on the Agent Orange registry for several years, though he hasn’t been approved for benefit claims.
Because he was drafted rather than volunteering, Fields said he thinks the VA should do more for its veterans with Agent Orange exposure.
“I didn’t do it because I wanted to; I did it because the country said I had an obligation to the country, but the country didn’t have the same obligation to me,” Fields said.
Daryl Osborne
Daryl Osborne marched in the civil rights movement, had friends killed in the 16th Street Church bombing and said he was once jailed along with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a teenager.
Coming back from Vietnam to protesters and continued racial struggles made Osborne almost regret what he had left behind.
“I thought, ‘What am I coming back to? I should have stayed in Vietnam. At least I knew who the enemy was in Vietnam,’” he said.
Osborne now lives in Ensley, but he was fresh out of high school and living in Titusville when he volunteered to join the Army in 1965. It was his first experience living and working alongside a group of both black and white people from a variety of backgrounds, and Osborne said it opened his mind in many ways.
“In Vietnam you become closer as a family … you got my back, it ain’t no black and white. We’re all brothers, and we’re here to solve this thing and then go back home,” he said.
After a year of special training, Osborne volunteered to go to Vietnam in the 5th Special Forces Airborne.
“Going through all that training, I said, ‘I’d like to go to Vietnam and experience some of this,’ — I thought,” he said. “You’re young, and you got an ego that big, you’re going to try it.”
Despite living through dangerous and harrowing situations in Vietnam, on the whole Osborne said he would do it all over again. That doesn’t mean it was all easy, though.
“You learn so much about how to kill and what to do to the enemy, but there never was a class on, ‘Now, you’re going to have some bad times, too.’ They didn’t get you prepared for what you might experience,” Osborne said. “That was the shocking part to me. I was doing damage to the other people, but what about the damage that was done to me?”
A few months after returning home in 1968, Osborne was hospitalized due to “battle fatigue,” which left him frequently angry and violent. In some ways, he couldn’t cope with the sudden change to civilian life, especially family and friends who didn’t understand his experiences.
“I drank from 1968 until 2016,” he said. “I was a job-working, dressing-nice drunk.”
Osborne developed Type 2 diabetes, resulting in the loss of one leg in 2016, and he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a matter of months after the amputation. It was that same year that he stopped drinking.
Both his diabetes and cancer are on the presumptive conditions list, so Osborne said he found the process to get disability claims for those conditions, as well as a hearing disorder and PTSD, fairly straightforward.
“VA has been real good to me. Other guys have bad experiences, I know,” he said. “I’m just speaking for myself — they’ve been good to me.”
Osborne said he doesn’t know if other conditions related to his Agent Orange exposure might turn up later on.
“All the problems I had, I’d do it all again,” he said. “I’d go to Vietnam again, knowing I might come out with all of this.”
David Freeman was older than most Vietnam draftees. The 24-year-old was married and had two daughters when he received his draft notice in 1965. It was a shock, but Freeman said it was never an option to conscientiously object.
“If you don’t bend, you’ll break. So I bent with the breeze and realized my country had called,” the Irondale resident said.
His past involvement in civil rights rallies got Freeman noticed in boot camp.
“He said, ‘You wanna march? Well we’re going to teach you how to march,’” Freeman said of one drill sergeant.
But most soldiers, regardless of color, seemed to realize they were “eating the same food, wearing the same clothes, getting the same haircut” and getting ready to fight the same enemy.
Freeman sailed into Vietnam as part of the Army’s 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division with a “horrible feeling of helplessness.” He didn’t know much about the reasoning behind the war, beyond “fighting communist aggression,” but he was focused on survival.
“[I was] thinking and wondering whether the next incident or the next explosion or the next round would just take me out of this mess. But still you felt — I felt — that I had to do what I’d been called upon to do for this country. Didn’t know nothing about the politics,” Freeman said.
He was trained to be a radio operator, and Freeman said carrying the equipment and antenna sometimes felt like a target on his back. He saw a friend from his football team at Jackson-Olin High School die while in Vietnam.
“The chance of getting away and getting back home was slim to none, and slim had left town on us,” Freeman said. “You grow some guts, I think. You know that if it’s your time, there’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to keep the faith, suck it in and keep moving.”
Freeman recalled seeing both Agent Orange and napalm sprayed across fields, sometimes a little too close for comfort.
“It’s a weird feeling to lay here and see a ball of fire and smoke less than a quarter of a football field away, I’d say. And you know what’s going on, you know what’s happening. But you know what you hope: that they don’t get off course and spray that napalm right where you are,” he said.
Freeman developed a chronic skin rash while in Vietnam, and he later developed ischemic heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, both considered Agent Orange presumptive conditions. He had open heart surgery in February 2017.
“I know the condition will be there until the good Lord calls me on in,” Freeman said. “You can’t un-ring the bell.”
Freeman said attending the support group at the Hoover Vet Center has helped him process the emotional baggage both from his service in Vietnam and the medical effects of Agent Orange exposure. He was one of several veterans there who said, despite the long-term impact, they would make the same choice to serve if they had to do it all over again.
“[I] wonder sometimes if I would do it all over again, and the answer is, ‘Yeah,’” Freeman said. “With all its drawbacks, with all its shortcomings, this is a wonderful country, and it’s worth fighting for. Worth dying for, which it looks like I’ll end up doing.”
Agent Orange syndrome Vietnam vets Vietnam veterans
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Taxonomy is the science of discovering, naming, and describing the species diversity on our planet. Ongoing research in this area involves focused taxonomic research, and especially the International Plant Names Index (IPNI). IPNI is a dynamic nomenclatural database containing essential bibliographical details on plant names. This resource forms the foundation for all downstream research in ecology and evolution. HUH and its partners, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Australian National Herbarium, make these data freely available to the broader botanical community.
A global authority of taxonomic names. Search the database here.
Malpighiaceae nomenclature
Malpighiaceae are a family of tropical trees, shrubs, and vines that constitute an important element in the forests and savannas of both the New and Old World tropics and subtropics. Working with Professor William Anderson and Dr. Christiane Anderson (UMICH), Professor Charles Davis has helped to develop an interactive website to make research in this family available to the broader community. This site provide updated nomenclature for hundreds of species in addition to a current phylogeny of the family, a list of the clades and genera recognized, descriptions and maps, and identification keys.
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The Best Song From Every Rush Album
Ultimate Classic Rock Staff
The arrival of a Rush album was always an event, something to be enjoyed as a complete thing.
Their earliest music was often framed by interlocking, even side-long themes, but even as they moved to a more song-focused approach, Rush studio projects continued to sell in the millions.
So, how do you pick the best song from every Rush album when they've always been known for long-form successes? Ten of the 14 albums they released between 1974-91 went platinum or multi-platinum in the U.S; the run of gold-selling albums from Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart reached even further into the '90s.
Often you have to make hard choices; other times, you have to dig around some. Certain moments stand out, even on lengthier song cycles like 1976's 2112. Eventually, they began releasing a string of radio favorites, but Rush were just as apt to keep their best tunes tucked away as a deep cut. (They actually issued around 20 singles before finally reaching the Billboard Top 40, and they never did it again after 1982's No. 21 hit "New World Man.")
There were a few stumbles, but Rush always found their way back. And they got there by leveraging celebrated chops in service of great tunes. Turns out Rush's craftsmanship is just as amazing on the macro and micro levels. But which ones rose to the top? Ryan Reed takes a deep dive to determine the best song from every Rush album.
Next: Rush's Nerdiest Songs
Source: The Best Song From Every Rush Album
Filed Under: Rush
Categories: Articles, Classic Rock, Lists
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The "Motor" That Allows a Fly to Flap Its Wings 50 Times a Second
Filed to: entomologyFiled to: entomology
insect wings
What you're looking at is a 3D visualization of a fly's thorax in action. The 3D animation, which was put together using data pulled from a particle accelerator, offers a glimpse into the inner workings of one of nature's most complex mechanisms.
So why a particle accelerator? It allowed researchers from the Imperial College London, University of Oxford, and the Paul Scherrer Institute to record high-speed X-ray images of the blowflies in flight. These images were then used to reconstruct high-resolution three-dimensional tomograms of their flight motor at ten different stages of the wingbeat.
The resulting visualization shows the various muscles and hinges required to power flight. In the video, the power muscles can be seen in yellow and red, and the tiny steering muscles are shown in green and blue.
Interestingly, the steering muscles represent less than 3% of the fly's total flight muscle mass. Accordingly, the researchers were keen to understand how these parts were capable of controlling the output of the much larger power muscles.
The answer has to do with deformations of the muscles and thorax. By shifting the flight motor between different modes of oscillation, the fly is able to divert mechanical energy into a steering muscle that's specialized to absorb this energy.
Insights like these will eventually allow engineers to develop life-like miniature robotics.
The study now appears in the PLoS One: "In Vivo Time-Resolved Microtomography Reveals the Mechanics of the Blowfly Flight Motor."
Explore the Inside of a Fruit Fly Brain in Stunning 3D
Brains are really complicated, even for the smallest of critters. If you're a scientist who…
This insect evolved gears in its legs
What you are seeing in this picture is a magnified image of the rear legs of a common planthopper…
Breathtaking Simulation Recreates Neil Armstrong’s View of the Apollo 11 Landing
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Distracted Drivers | Personal Injury Lawyers
Texting While Driving Accidents Lawyers - Connecticut
Attorneys for Victims of Connecticut Distracted Driving
The number of accidents due to distracted driving has exploded in recent years. Under certain circumstances such distracted driving may provide a basis not only for ordinary compensatory damages, but may also provide an evidentiary and legal basis for punitive damages (meaning attorneys fees and costs). As in any car accident case, claims can be asserted based on a negligence theory. Depending on the case, a claim for recklessness justifying a claim for punitive damages may also be asserted.
Jackson O'Keefe, LLP, knows the intricacies of the law and practice in car accident litigation. You don't care about those details, but they can be very important in putting your case in the best possible posture for a favorable resolution. One of the mainstays of Jackson O'Keefe, LLP, over the last 50 years has been helping insurers defend against some of their most tragic and horrendous car accident cases. Now, we bring that knowledge and experience to you, to help your family obtain the full compensation it may be entitled to. Get the benefit of our many years of car accident experience by calling us now at 860.278.4040. Responsive. Caring. Fighting for you.
Connecticut Distracted Driving Laws
Texting or talking on your cell phone while in your car will result in higher fines under laws that went into effect in 2013.
Under the provisions of Connecticut General Statutes § 14-296aa(a)(9): “Operating a motor vehicle” means “operating a motor vehicle on any highway, as defined in section 14–1, as amended by this act, including being temporarily stationary due to traffic, road conditions or a traffic control sign or signal, but not including being parked on the side or shoulder of any highway where such vehicle is safely able to remain stationary.”
Under the statute, “(h) Any person who violates this section shall be fined one hundred fifty dollars for a first violation, three hundred dollars for a second violation and five hundred dollars for a third or subsequent violation.”
Additionally, “(k) A record of any violation of this section shall appear on the driving history record or motor vehicle record, as defined in section 14–10, of any person who commits such violation, and the record of such violation shall be available to any motor vehicle insurer in accordance with the provisions of section 14–10.”
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident caused by a driver engaging in one of these or any other negligent acts, our auto accidents lawyers can help you win financial compensation. Call us at (860) 873 2994 any time or use the form above to contact us (we will respond immediately).
Distracted Driving, Cell Phones and Texting in Connecticut Motor Vehicle Accidents
In 2012, police in Connecticut issued 29,435 tickets for violations of the state's prohibition against using handheld electronic devices while driving, according to statistic compiled by the Judicial Branch. In 2011, 3,331 people nationwide were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Almost 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving distracted drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is approximately 16% of all road deaths, up from 12% in 2007. Of fatal accidents connected to distracted driving during 2008, nearly 40% of the distracted drivers were under age 30, the biggest users of high-tech devices that take a motorist's eyes and mind off the road. A Pew Research Center study indicated that 47 percent of adult drivers text or read text messages while driving. A similar study in 2009 found that 34 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds text or read text messages while driving. Consider this claim from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Using a cell phone while driving, whether hand-held or hands free, delays a driver's reaction as much as having a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent.
The Connecticut car accident lawyers at Jackson O'Keefe have the years of experience and knowledge necessary to provide you with the skilled representation you need when dealing with insurance companies following any type of motor vehicle accident. Car crashes and those involving motorcycles or commercial trucks all have specific laws and issues unique to them. Quick assessment of those issues, determining the cause of the crash and assessing the severity of your injury and your medical needs are the services you can expect when you retain our Wethersfield Connecticut car accident attorneys. The Connecticut car accident lawyers at Jackson O'Keefe are adept at assessing the physical principles of the accident, the medical evidence used to evaluate injuries, and the economic and accounting principles required to evaluate losses. We provide the strongest possible representation to maximize your recovery. We will investigate the car accident scene, research the accident and your car, along with any other evidence that came into play at the time of your accident. We will stand up for you against any wrongdoer, trucking company or anyone else who has caused you harm. It is our responsibility to make sure your rights are upheld and defended. Because of our experience in taking cases to trial, we can often obtain favorable settlements even without a trial. With over 50 years of representing Connecticut car accident litigants, the law firm of Jackson O'Keefe understands how the unique circumstances of your collision require careful and compassionate representation. We are also familiar with the very recent legal changes regarding distracted driving in this emerging, troubling area of injuries and death on the roads.
The culture of information "now" is creating an environment that could lead to an epidemic of Connecticut texting and distracted driving accidents as teens carry these habits into the car. A survey released in August 2010 found nine in 10 teenage drivers engaged in distracted-driving behaviors such as texting or talking on a cell phone, despite most of them knowing their actions increase the risk of crashing. Another study in September 2010 found despite plenty of research demonstrating that texting while driving can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving, most teens do not think that is the case. According to news reports, cell phones are "yet another thing that's distracting people," but a "flood of new distractions are being built into vehicles," says Flaura Winston, scientific director at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
According to news reports, at least eight state legislatures will consider laws this session to ban texting and driving. Eight states will also take up bans on using handheld cell phones while driving. Prodded by the federal government, 29 states passed no-texting laws since 2008.
Statistics -- Connecticut Texting, Cell Phone and Distracted Driving Accident Lawyers
According to a November 2010 survey from the Insurance Research Council (IRC), almost one-in-five drivers in the United States (18 percent) reported texting while driving in the last 30 days. Younger drivers were much more likely than older drivers to say that they were texting while driving. Forty-one percent of drivers age 25 to 39, compared to only 5 percent of drivers 55 and older, reported texting while driving. Thirty-one percent of drivers age 16 to 24 said they had texted while driving in the last 30 days. The report, Public Attitude Monitor 2010: Texting While Driving, is based on an online survey of more than 1,400 licensed drivers conducted on behalf of the IRC by Harris Interactive, a market research firm. The survey was conducted between August 20 and September 7, 2010. "These findings confirm that a large number of drivers are engaging in very dangerous behavior," said Elizabeth Sprinkel, Senior Vice President of the IRC. "The need to find an effective response to this behavior is becoming increasingly clear." For more distracted driving statistics see our Connecticut Distracted Driving Statistics page.
Summary of Connecticut's Distracted Driving Statute
The Connecticut statute as a whole prohibits the operation of a vehicle while using a hand-held mobile telephone to engage in a call; while using a mobile electronic device; or while typing, sending or reading a text message with a hand-held mobile telephone or mobile electronic device. It will be presumed that you are making a call if you have the cell phone near your ear. Young drivers and commercial drivers face stiffer penalties and greater restrictions. An update will be posted once the full implementation of the new laws are completed.
Federal Efforts to Coordinate a Reduction in Distracted Driving
Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently stated on his blog: "You have to have good laws, you have to have good enforcement, and you have to have people take personal responsibility. That's the bottom line." "When you get behind the wheel of a 5,000 pound automobile, you have a personal responsibility to drive that vehicle safely. That means, put away cell phones and other devices that take your focus off of the road."
Federal and state governments have taken a variety of steps to reduce the number of people who drive while talking or texting, increasingly blamed for traffic accidents. In June the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bipartisan bill that would reward states for banning drivers from talking on cell phones or sending and receiving text messages. In August the Transportation Department kicked off pilot programs in Hartford, Connecticut and Syracuse, New York to test whether increased law enforcement efforts can get distracted drivers to put down their cell phones and focus on the road. The pilot programs, which are similar to previous efforts to curb drunken driving and increase seat belt use among drivers, were the first federally funded efforts in the country to specifically focus on the effects of increased enforcement and public advertising on reducing distracted driving. Drivers caught texting or talking on a hand-held cell phone will be pulled over and ticketed.
Federal Rules Against Commercial Distracted Driving
In Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's campaign against distracted driving, his agency proposed on December 18, 2010 prohibiting commercial truck and bus drivers from using cell phones behind the wheel. The rule would effect approximately 4 million drivers, who are already banned by the federal government from texting while driving.
"Every time a commercial truck or bus driver takes his or her eyes off the road to use a cell phone, even for a few seconds, the driver places everyone around them at risk," LaHood said in a statement.Inattention was a factor in 9% of crashes involving large trucks, and between 6% and 13% of those involving busses. There were 38 fatal bus crashes in 2009, up from 20 previously. Large transport outfits such as UPS and Wal-Mart already prohibit drivers from using cell phones while driving, and many state and local governments have bans in place. The proposal must go through a 60-day comment period before being finalized. Nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2009.
"Faces of Distracted Driving" is a series of videos exploring the tragic consequences of texting and cell phone use while driving established by the Department of Transportation. They feature people from across the country who have been injured or lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes. In 2009, nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver. The videos can be seen here. The video series is part of Secretary LaHood's effort to raise public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and to support victims. In January, Secretary LaHood joined anti-distracted driving advocate Jennifer Smith when she announced the creation of FocusDriven, the first national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending distracted driving. The U.S. Department of Transportation is also encouraging others who would like to share their distracted driving experiences to post videos on YouTube and the links.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a rule prohibiting rail employees from using cell phones or other electronic devices on the job following a September 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, California that killed 25 people. After a Northwest flight crew distracted by a laptop overshot their destination by 150 miles, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advised air carriers to create and enforce policies that limit distractions in the cockpit and keep pilots focused on transporting passengers safely. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a ban on text messaging while operating a commercial motor vehicle in January 2010. A rulemaking proposed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in September 2010 to work in conjunction with the FMCSA ban would restrict the use of electronic devices by drivers during the operation of a motor vehicle containing hazardous materials.
Research Study Quantifies Impact of Distracted Driving
Researchers from Texas A&M's Transportation Institute have quantified how distracting cell phone use can be, and the results are shocking. TTI tested reaction times for focused drivers and then for those using cell phones by monitoring how long drivers took to react to a flashing light (which could symbolize an actual yellow or red light as well as a pedestrian unexpectedly crossing the street).
Normal reaction times were "a second or two," but doubled when a cell phone was put in the driver's hand. Texting drivers were eleven times more likely to miss the flashing warning lights all together.
The test was performed in a controlled setting, on flat ground with on a straight course. Variables that challenge even focused drivers were all but negated. As the researchers put it in the 43-page report "it is frightening to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with everyday, routine driving."
Forty-two drivers, from 16- to 54-years old, were placed behind the wheel of a car and drove around a closed track of just about 11 miles in length. The researchers monitored how long it took drivers to react to a flashing light while driving normally and while attempting to text and read a message on a mobile phone.
The researchers say the average, normal reaction times were about a second or two. But put a cell phone in the driver's hand and reaction times jump to three or four seconds. What's more, texting drivers in TTI's small study were 11 times more likely to miss the flashing warning lights completely. Researchers also note the distracted drivers had much more difficulty staying in the straight driving lane as well as maintaining consistent speeds.
CT Distracted Driving Law Update: Research study reveals an 11% increase in deaths of 16 and 17 year old drivers in 2011
A report released on February 16, 2012 by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) reveals that the number of 16- and 17-year-old driver deaths in passenger vehicles increased slightly for the first six months of 2011, based on preliminary data supplied by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Overall, 16- and 17-year-old driver deaths increased from 190 to 211 - an 11 percent increase. If the trend continued for the second half of 2011, it will mark the end of eight straight years of cumulative declines in deaths for this age group. The new report - the first state-by-state look at teen fatalities in 2011 - was completed by Dr. Allan Williams, a researcher who formerly served as chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Dr. Williams surveyed GHSA members, who reported fatality numbers for every state and D.C. The report comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a statistical projection suggesting that total motor vehicle deaths for the first six months of 2011 declined 0.9 percent.
Deaths of 16-year-old drivers increased from 80 to 93 (16 percent) while the number for 17-year-olds went from 110 to 118 (7 percent), a cumulative increase of 11 percent. Twenty-three states reported increases, 19 had decreases, and eight states and the District of Columbia reported no change. While the changes in state-by-state fatality numbers generally are small, states such as Florida, Texas and North Carolina reported significant increases. Dr. Williams attributes much of the increase to the fact that the benefit of state Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws may be leveling off, as most of these laws have been in place for some time. Additionally, Dr. Williams speculates that improving economic conditions are contributing to an increase in teen driving, thus increasing their exposure to risk. Dr. Williams notes, "While it is not a surprise that these numbers are stabilizing or slightly increasing, states should not accept these deaths as something that cannot be prevented. More work can and should be done to save teen lives."
Troy E. Costales, Chairman of GHSA, said, "While it is good news that overall deaths appear to have declined during the first six months of 2011, we are concerned that the trend with teens is going in the opposite direction," He continued, "As the report notes, a widespread strengthening of laws is still possible and finding effective tools outside of GDL is an important goal. These include improving driver education and involving parents in proactively establishing safe driving habits for their teens." Chairman Costales added, "As the parent of a young driver and a soon-to-be-driver, I know firsthand the pressures parents face in allowing their teens behind the wheel. As parents, we must set and enforce strict rules for our new drivers, making sure risks are minimized. This includes limiting other teens in the car, limiting nighttime driving and absolutely prohibiting any type of cell phone or electronic device use while driving."
Barbara Harsha, Executive Director of GHSA, said states could use federal support to save more teen lives. "As part of the upcoming highway reauthorization bill, Congress should provide financial incentives to states that have strengthened or will strengthen teen driving laws. Additionally, Congress should provide adequate funding so that NHTSA can research and support demonstration projects to determine the most effective ways to increase teen seat belt use and compliance with GDL laws. Congress also should fund NHTSA and the states to carry out distracted driving campaigns aimed at teen drivers," Harsha added, "Research also needs to be done to determine the impact of changing school start times so that teens are less likely to be driving fatigued."
The full report, including state-by-state data, is available online at www.ghsa.org. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans.
Jackson O'Keefe, LLP fights for Connecticut motor vehicle accident victims and Connecticut distracted driving, cell phone and texting car accident victims throughout the State of Connecticut, including clients in Farmington, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Moodus, East Haddam, Hadlyme, Southington and Plantsville.
"She texts u r totaled"
Connecticut Distracted Drivers FAQs
Distracted Driving, Car Accident Lawyers, FAQs, distracted driver accidents
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Tuf Voyaging
By John Hodgman
Disarmed of falsehood, he was left only with the awful truth: John Hodgman is an older white male monster with bad facial hair, wandering like a privileged Sasquatch through three wildernesses: the hills of Western Massachusetts where he spent much of his youth; the painful beaches of Maine that want to kill him (and some day will); and the metaphoric haunted forest of middle age that connects them.
Availability: In stock SKU: 9780735224803 Categories: E - H, Hodgman, John, SIGNED BOOKS Tags: Hardcover, Hodgman, John, Vacationland
“I love everything about this hilarious book except the font size.” —Jon Stewart
Although his career as a bestselling author and on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart was founded on fake news and invented facts, in 2016 that routine didn’t seem as funny to John Hodgman anymore. Everyone is doing it now.
Vacationland collects these real life wanderings, and through them you learn of the horror of freshwater clams, the evolutionary purpose of the mustache, and which animals to keep as pets and which to kill with traps and poison. There is also some advice on how to react when the people of coastal Maine try to sacrifice you to their strange god.
Though wildly, Hodgmaniacally funny as usual, it is also a poignant and sincere account of one human facing his forties, those years when men in particular must stop pretending to be the children of bright potential they were and settle into the failing bodies of the wiser, weird dads that they are.
This official companion book reveals what it takes to translate George R. R. Martin’s bestselling series into a wildly popular television series. With unprecedented scope and depth, it showcases hundreds of unpublished set photos, visual effects art, and production and costume designs, plus insights from key actors and crew members that capture the best scripted and unscripted moments from Seasons 3 and 4.
Game of Thrones 20th Anniversary Edition
Published in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of George R. R. Martin’s landmark series, this lavishly illustrated special edition of A Game of Thrones—featuring gorgeous full-page artwork as well as black-and-white illustrations in every chapter—revitalizes the fantasy masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon. And now the mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure of this magnificent saga come to life as never before.
It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes . . . and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors
Game of Thrones Graphic Novel Vol. 4
Bestselling writer Daniel Abraham and acclaimed illustrator Tommy Patterson bring their stunning graphic-novel adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s classic A Game of Thrones to a stunning finish that merits a place alongside the majestic original on the bookshelf of every fantasy fan. The death of King Robert Baratheon and the imprisonment of his Hand, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, has set the great houses of Westeros at one another’s throats. In Winterfell, Eddard’s eldest son and heir, Robb Stark, has gathered an army and is pushing south, determined to free his father. Along the way, he pledges to marry the daughter of Lord Walder Frey in exchange for a military advantage that allows him to capture Jaime Lannister—a powerful bargaining chip to ensure Lord Eddard’s safe release. But it is one thing to capture the Kingslayer and quite another to hold him. Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, young King Joffrey has other ideas than an exchange of prisoners. Ignoring the advice of his mother, Queen Cersei, he throws oil on the flames of conflict and ignites a conflagration that seems likely to consume not only the Starks but all of Westeros—unless Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, can bring the mad boy-king to heel. Beyond the Wall, greater dangers are brewing, as a winter as brutal as any in history approaches, bringing with it unnatural creatures out of legend. There, Eddard’s bastard, Jon Snow, must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie. And across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen will learn the true measure of grief—and emerge from its fiery depths transformed, hardened, and ready to claim what is hers by right: the Iron Throne.
The Mystery Knight Graphic Novel
Westeros is eerily peaceful. King Aerys I sits on the Iron Throne. A ravaging plague has abated. Yet beneath the surface, tensions linger sixteen years after a failed rebellion. In these restless times, noble hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall—Dunk, to his friends—and his precocious boy squire, Egg, travel the Seven Kingdoms performing chivalrous deeds, though Egg’s bloodline must be concealed at all costs.
You’ve read the books. You’ve watched the hit series on HBO. Now acclaimed novelist Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson bring George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy masterwork A Game of Thrones to majestic new life in the pages of this full-color graphic novel. Comprised of the initial six issues of the graphic series, this is the first volume in what is sure to be one of the most coveted collaborations of the year.
Wild Cards: Low Chicago
In Low Chicago, a gang of criminals scattered throughout the past threaten the stability of the world in George R. R. Martin’s latest Wild Cards adventure. The stakes were already high enough at Giovanni Galante’s poker table that night in Chicago. Poker. Dealer’s choice. Seven players. A million-dollar cash buy-in. But after a superpowered mishap, the most high-profile criminals in the city are scattered throughout the past and their schemes across time threaten the stability of the world.
Perfect for current fans and new readers alike, Low Chicago is an all-new time travel adventure that highlights the criminal underworld of 1920s Chicago, featuring a fresh cast of characters from the Wild Cards universe.
Co-edited by George R. R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass, Low Chicago features the writing talents of Saladin Ahmed, Paul Cornell, Marko Kloos, John Jos. Miller, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Christopher Rowe, Kevin Andrew Murphy, and Melinda M. Snodgrass.
All American Girl
By Meg Cabot
Signed Mass Market
Samantha Madison is just your average sophomore gal living in DC when, in an inadvertent moment sandwiched between cookie-buying and CD-perusing, she puts a stop to an attempt on the life of the president. Before she can say “MTV2” she’s appointed Teen Ambassador to the UN and has caught the eye of the very cute First Son.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne, there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals—in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg—whose true name is hidden from all he and Dunk encounter. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two . . . as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits.
Wild Cards: Deuces Down
In this collection of Wild Cards stories, the spotlight is on the most unusual Wild Cards of them all—the Deuces. Their role in the Wild Cards Universe is just as important as that of the Aces and the Jokers. In fact, their actions have affected the course of Wild Cards history. Deuces Down is the one place you’ll find such never-before-told tales as John J. Miller’s exciting 1969 World Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Brooklyn Dodgers; Michael Cassutt’s first moon landing, when the whole world wasn’t watching; Walter Simon’s Great New York City Blackout of 1977; Melinda M. Snodgrass’s account of Grace Kelly’s mysterious disappearance during the filming of the French Lieutenant’s Woman. It’s a strange and terrifying world, where anything can happen. A world of Wild Cards.
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Gordon Goldstein, Lessons in Disaster
Although [Bundy] thought [Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest] was an entertaining and informative read, he concluded that the central thesis was just wrong. It was not the advisers—the best and brightest—who did the staff work who got us into the Vietnam War. It was the difference in the men who occupied the Oval Office. It was the difference between Kennedy and Johnson, writes Jim DiEugenio.
Virtual JFK 3
Part One of this essay reviews the film accompanying this book, which has the same title.
Part Two of this essay reviews the book accompanying this film, which has the same title.
See the Virtual JFK web site
In my discussion of the book Virtual JFK: Vietnam if Kennedy Had Lived I first mentioned the name of Gordon Goldstein. Goldstein was to be the co-author, with McGeorge Bundy, of a book Bundy was going to write about his experiences with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson over the Vietnam War. That book was never completed because Bundy died before it was finished. The two had worked on it together for a bit less than two years. From the description of the travail here, plus what Goldstein was able to salvage, it would have been a real contribution to the literature. After Bundy passed away, Goldstein wanted to complete the book on his own. But Bundy's widow would not allow it. So what he decided to do was to compose this memoir of his many months working with Bundy, and to also offer his own view on the Vietnam issue. Lessons in Disaster is not the book that might have been, but it's still an interesting effort that is worth reading. Among other things, it gives us an insight into what one of the people directly involved in an epic tragedy thought of that terrible episode many years later. Or as Bundy said to Goldstein before they started, "I was part of a great failure. My wish now is that we had done less." (p. 24)
It is interesting to note how this effort began. In 1995, Robert McNamara published his book In Retrospect. In that book, he admitted to three things: 1.) The Vietnam War was a huge mistake 2.) He had determined by April1966 that it could not be won in a military sense (McNamara p. 261), and 3.) President Kennedy would not have Americanized the war and escalated it as President Johnson did ( ibid p. 96).
(Let me interject something here as a personal sidelight. Although McNamara does not specifically mention John Newman in that book, Newman told me that he had several talks with McNamara before he started writing it. John was surprised at how many things McNamara had forgotten about, especially from the Kennedy years. I asked him how that could be so: How McNamara could have not recalled how different Kennedy's plans had been? Newman replied, "Jim, if you were part of a decision that eventually took the lives of over 58,000 Americans and over two million Vietnamese, you would want to forget about the option you discarded too.")
When In Retrospect created the controversy it did, Bundy was asked to appear on a TV show to discuss the book. He did so. During the program, one of the other guests spoke up in defense of McNamara. He said, "You have a guest on your program, McGeorge Bundy, who was certainly as complicit as McNamara. I don't know why McNamara should take all the heat." (Goldstein, p. 22) A few days later, McNamara called Goldstein, and the book project began. Goldstein had worked with the former National Security Adviser while completing his Ph. D. in International Relations at Columbia. Unfortunately, Bundy died in the fall of 1996 before the book was completed. Before the two started in earnest, Bundy told Goldstein something that was to pithily sum up everything that followed, "Kennedy didn't want to be dumb. Johnson didn't want to be a coward."
McGeorge Bundy was Boston Brahmin. He was born there in 1919. His mother was related to the Lowell family, which was an institution in the area. His father Harvey was educated at Yale, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and then went to Harvard Law School. In 1931, Mac Bundy joined his brothers Bill and Harvey Jr., at the famous boarding school of Groton, whose motto was "To serve is to rule." (p. 7) Past attendees had been people like Dean Acheson and Franklin Roosevelt. After achieving a perfect SAT score, he went to Yale and joined Phi Beta Kappa. Like his father he joined Skull and Bones. After graduating, Bundy went to Harvard for post graduate work. During World War II, he joined the Navy and became an aide to Rear Admiral Alan Kirk. After the war, he co-authored a book with Secretary of State Henry Stimson. In 1948, he worked on the presidential campaign of Tom Dewey as a speech writer. After that he went to the Council on Foreign Relations to do a paper on the Marshall Plan with the help of Allen Dulles and Dwight Eisenhower. (p. 11) In 1949 he took a teaching position at Harvard in the Government Department. In 1953, at the young age of 34, he became Dean of Harvard faculty. It is here that Bundy met Senator John Kennedy, who was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. (p. 14) When Kennedy won the election for president in 1960, Bundy became his National Security Adviser. There is little doubt that, as Goldstein mentions, he revolutionized the position. He actually brought it out of the shadows and made it a position of primacy in the Cabinet.
Bundy left the White House in 1966 to run the Ford Foundation. While there, the Pentagon Papers were published. Two Bundy assistants tried to coax him into making pubic the memos he had written under Johnson expressing the doubts he had about the war at the time. (p. 17) Bundy, out of the loyalty he felt to LBJ, decided not to. ( I should note here something the author leaves out of his outline of Bundy's career. In a famous article published in the seventies in Penthouse, it was revealed that Bundy was the secretary of the Bilderberger Group, working directly under David Rockefeller.)
In 1979, Bundy left the Ford Foundation and, amid great controversy—since, due to his involvement with Vietnam, most of the faculty did not want him there—became a professor of history at New York University. While there in 1984 he talked to journalist David Talbot about the subject. He told Talbot that he did have doubts about the war, "and it can be argued that I didn't press hard enough." (p. 19) He did not go any farther and told him he would sort it out later. He did with Goldstein.
One of the reasons I have detailed the remarkable pedigree of Bundy is that it proves the opposite of what one would expect. Namely that things like Ivy League credentials, secret societies, upper class origins, and Eastern Establishment connections really don't mean that much on their own. Why? Because Bundy was not a good National Security Adviser. Although Richard Goodwin and Arthur Schlesinger tried to talk Bundy out of it, Bundy OK'd the Bay of Pigs invasion to Kennedy. (p. 38) Even though Bundy possessed a memo that the operation would not succeed unless it was fully supported by the CIA and Pentagon, he did not forward it to the Oval Office. (p. 40) Bundy offered to resign in the wake of that fiasco but Kennedy would not accept his resignation. He probably should have. Because later in1961, Bundy was one of the advisers urging Kennedy to commit American troops to Vietnam. Then in 1962, Bundy first backed air strikes to solve the Cuban Missile Crisis. He then switched to McNamara's suggestion of a quarantine around Cuba during the Missile Crisis. He then switched back to the Pentagon plan for surgical air strikes, 800 of them. (pgs. 72-73) Although he later said that he switched at Kennedy's request, this reason never surfaced until many years after. As Goldstein notes, at the time, Ted Sorenson said that Kennedy was actually a bit disgusted with his National Security Adviser.
But as Bundy noted to Goldstein, one thing to note about Kennedy's management of the Bay of Pigs was this: Under very strong pressure from the CIA and the Pentagon, Kennedy did not commit the American military to save the day. (p.44) Bundy also noted another pattern to Goldstein. During the Laotian crisis of the same year, the Pentagon wanted JFK to commit combat troops because if not, as Admiral Arleigh Burke said, all of Southeast Asia would be lost. (p. 46) Again, Kennedy did not go along. After calling for a high alert on Okinawa, Kennedy instructed Averill Harriman to produce a diplomatic solution. (p. 45) And he was so appalled by the advice he was getting that he now requested both Sorenson and Bobby Kennedy sit in on National Security Council meetings. (p. 46) Bundy told Goldstein that, after the way Kennedy handled Laos, he saw that, unlike many others—for instance, LBJ—President Kennedy had not bought into the Domino Theory. The idea that if one country went communist, it would take several nearby nations with it.
Goldstein does a nice job at this point in sketching the background of the Vietnam crisis as Kennedy first inherited it. After the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Ngo Dinh Diem then rigged the plebiscite in order to succeed the proxy French emperor Bao Dai. But as the communist insurgency in the countryside grew larger, Diem's security forces, led by his brother Nhu, became more brutal and repressive. Captured rebels were beaten, had their legs broken, and females were raped. (p. 51) In 1959, Diem restored the guillotine. Traveling courts in the countryside were now authorized to behead convicted communists. (ibid) Goldstein sums up the scene upon Kennedy's ascendancy to the White House: "By 1961, as Kennedy assumed power in Washington, the situation in South Vietnam was characterized by an ascending nationalist and communist movement and an oppressive regime that was progressively losing control of the country and credibility with its people." (ibid)
What follows is one of the highlights of the book. Goldstein enumerates the number of times Kennedy turned down requests to commit combat troops to save the day before the White House debate over the Taylor/Rostow mission in November of 1961. He starts out with the request of Gen. Ed Lansdale in January of 1961. (p. 52) In April of 1961, McNamara suggested the same. (p. 53) That same month, Kennedy rejected a backdoor: he refused combat troops as trainers. (p. 54) He was asked twice in May and turned down both requests. (ibid) By July he had turned down a total of six requests. (p. 55)
On July 15th, Max Taylor and Walt Rostow again requested combat troops. Bundy kept notes on this colloquy which Goldstein prints here. He wrote, "Questions from the president showed that the detailed aspects of this military plan had not been developed ... the president made clear his own deep concern with the need for realism and accuracy in ... military planning. He had observed in earlier military plans with respect to Laos that optimistic estimates were invariably proven false in the event ... He emphasized the reluctance of the American people and of many distinguished leaders to see any direct involvement of US troops in that part of the world." Rostow and Taylor tried to argue back but Kennedy said, "Gen. DeGaulle, out of painful French experience, had spoken with feeling of the difficulty of fighting in this part of the world." Vice-President Johnson then called for a firmer military commitment to the region, including Laos. Kennedy resisted by saying, "Nothing would be worse than an unsuccessful intervention in the area, and that he did not have confidence in the military practicability of the proposal which had been put before him." (pgs 56-57) This now made seven rejections of American direct intervention in seven months.
On October 11th, Deputy Defense Secretary Alexis Johnson joined the push for combat troops. Again, Kennedy did not agree. But he did authorize a mission to South Vietnam by Max Taylor and Walt Rostow. (p. 57) At this time, the hawks in the White House begin to leak stories that Kennedy would now probably commit troops to Vietnam. When Kennedy saw the stories, he himself leaked a story denying it. (ibid)
On October 20th, Frederick Nolting, the American ambassador in Vietnam, requested combat troops for flood relief purposes. Taylor was on the scene, and he agreed with the request—if he did not put Nolting up to it. Kennedy consulted with an agricultural expert and turned it down. Taylor then talked to the press about the issue. Kennedy telegrammed Taylor to stop doing so. (p. 58)
When Kennedy received the Taylor/Rostow report, it again requested the sending of combat troops to Vietnam. And it couched the request in dire terms. It said if such a commitment was not made, the fall of South Vietnam would likely follow. (p. 60) The formal White House debate over the recommendation was taken up on November 7th. In addition to Taylor and Rostow, Defense Secretary McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Bundy, and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff told Kennedy to send combat troops. On November 15th, Kennedy closed the debate. At this point, Goldstein makes two cogent observations. There were only two people in the entire White House who sided with Kennedy on this issue. They were George Ball and John Kenneth Galbraith. When Ball personally approached Kennedy since he thought he might be weakening and could give in, Kennedy replied to him: "George, you're just crazier than hell. That just isn't going to happen." (p. 62) And after this debate, Kennedy told Galbraith he was going to send him to Saigon. He wanted him to render a report also. (p. 61) Knowing what it would say, he would only give it to McNamara. And McNamara would now become Kennedy's point man on his withdrawal plan. The third result of this debate was Kennedy's issuance of National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) 111, which increased the number of advisers to above 15,000, with no provision for combat troops.
When Bundy reviewed all the above with Goldstein, he was impressed with both Kennedy's insight and his steadfastness. He also told Professor James Blight, one of the co-editors of the fine book Virtual JFK, that Kennedy simply did not think that combat troops would work in South Vietnam. Because he did not see the struggle as a conventional war but as a classic counter-insurgency conflict. Bundy and Goldstein came to the conclusion that much of this was instilled in Kennedy from his visit to Vietnam in the early fifties during the last throes of the French imperial war there. (p. 235) Another strong influence was his discussion of the issue with Douglas MacArthur. The general told Kennedy it would be foolish to fight a large land war in Southeast Asia. He told him that he could pour a million men into the struggle and still be outnumbered. (p. 235) Alexis Johnson was skeptical of MacArthur's stance but he admitted that it made a profound effect on President Kennedy. Max Taylor agreed with him. He said MacArthur's analysis made a "hell of an impression on the President." (ibid) Kennedy later told Bundy's assistant Michael Forrestal "that the odds against an American victory over the Viet Cong were 100 to 1." (p. 239) Since, as Bundy said, Kennedy did not buy into the Domino Theory, those odds were simply not worth it. Consequently, Bundy saw these ten rejections in eleven months as Kennedy's final decision on the issue. And Bundy described a following meeting in January of 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida where Kennedy emphasized the advice and support role to be played by the Americans. (p. 71) That was a line Kennedy was not going to cross. And he didn't.
After receiving Galbraith's report, McNamara went to work on putting together the withdrawal plan. While he did that, the increased advisory team sent in by NSAM 111 managed to keep the lid on a deteriorating situation. But in 1963, things started going downhill fast. In January of that year, the Viet Cong defeated a regular detachment of the South Vietnamese army at the battle of Ap Bac. (p. 72) As things began to spiral downward, the reactions of the Ngo brothers worsened. Diem demanded that all public gatherings, even funerals, would have to have official state sanction. He even asked for total control over all anti-guerilla operations from the US. Then the epochal Hue crisis broke out in June. In response to a discriminatory edict passed by Diem, a huge Buddhist rally took place in the city of Hue. After a day of speeches, a radio station was bombed with many protesters standing outside. In the resultant chaos, shots were fired into the crowd. Several people were killed and even more were wounded. (The best account of this incident is by Jim Douglass, in JFK and the Unspeakable, pgs. 128-131) As a result of the crackdown ordered by Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, one of the monks leading the demonstration set himself on fire. (Goldstein, p. 75) This horrifying image was captured on both film and photograph and was relayed all over the world. Making it worse was the heinous reaction of Nhu's wife, Madame Nhu (aka The Dragon Lady). She ridiculed his martyrdom as a "barbecue" and said if any others did the same "we shall clap our hands". (ibid p. 76) Unfortunately for her, seven others did do the same. (ibid) This chain reaction mushroomed into a huge political crisis since it spawned marches, demonstrations, work stoppages and hunger strikes. (Douglass, p. 133) In reply, Nhu ended up arresting over 1,400 Buddhists.
It was against the backdrop of this image of a collapsing government and an intractable leader that a small cabal in Washington and Saigon decided to take the next step and remove Diem and his brother from power. Goldstein does a decent job describing the events that led to the eventual coup and deaths of the brothers. (pgs. 76-81) But the best, most detailed description of how it began is by John Newman in his masterful book, JFK and Vietnam. There had been a small group in State and on Bundy's staff that was waiting for an event like this to get rid of Diem. The group consisted of Averill Harriman and Roger Hilsman at State, and Michael Forrestal of the NSC. While Kennedy was away, Hilsman began sending cables to his ally William Trueheart in the Saigon embassy threatening to ostracize Diem. This was in defiance of Kennedy's wishes. (Newman, p. 336) But once Henry Cabot Lodge had arrived as the new ambassador in Saigon, this group took an even bolder step.
As with the sending of the threatening message, they waited until a strategic moment when all the principals of government were out of town. This came on the weekend of August 24-25th. JFK, McNamara, Bundy, Rusk, and CIA Director John McCone were all out of Washington. Three cables came in from Lodge and the CIA officer in contact with the South Vietnamese army, Lucien Conein. The message was that the Army was unhappy with the Ngo brothers and if the USA indicated to the generals that it "would be happy to see Diem and/or Nhu go, and the deed would be done." Lodge added that he did not think it would be that easy. It could be a "shot in the dark". (Newman, p. 346) This was all that Hilsman-Harriman-Forrestal needed. They sent a cable back on the 24th. It said that Diem must be given a chance to oust Nhu, "but if he remains obdurate, then we are prepared to accept the obvious implication that we can no longer support Diem. You may also tell appropriate military commanders we will give them direct support in any interim period of breakdown ... " (ibid)
Forrestal was given the job of getting this cable cleared. He read it to Kennedy over the phone. Kennedy did not understand why it had to be sent that day. But he said to see if others would OK it, especially McCone. Kennedy probably said this because he knew McCone would not approve it. (ibid p. 347) But, in fact, McCone was never shown the cable. (ibid, p. 351) The cabal also fudged getting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Maxwell Taylor to approve it. Hilsman and Forrestal concocted a story that said that no clearance from the Defense Department was required, meaning McNamara and Alexis Johnson. And further, that Taylor had approved it without question. Neither of these is true. (ibid p. 348) In fact, Taylor never approved the cable. When he saw it he perceptively thought, " ... my first reaction was that the anti-Diem group centered in State had taken advantage of the absence of the principal officials to get out instructions which would never have been approved as written under normal circumstances. " (ibid p. 349) He also thought it would have never even been passed around if Bundy had been in town. Yet, Taylor did not call Kennedy to tell him what he thought was actually happening. The cable was sent that Saturday night.
On Monday, Kennedy was upset at what had happened: "This shit has got to stop!" When Forrestal offered to resign Kennedy replied with, "You're not worth firing. You owe me something, so you stick around." (ibid, p. 351) But the problem now was that in Saigon, Lodge had immediately jumped on the cable. And, seemingly as if he was part of the plan, he bypassed putting pressure on Diem to fire his brother Nhu, and instead he went straight to the generals. This was on Sunday, the 25th, less than 24 hours after getting the Saturday night cable. (ibid, p. 350) Bypassing Diem was a crucial switch from the original cable, which said that Diem was to be given a chance to oust his brother Nhu. (ibid, p. 346) So now, by the end of Sunday the 25th, the effort to overthrow Diem was in motion with almost irreversible momentum. Even though Kennedy advised Lodge that he was against it and wanted to work with Diem, even though RFK was against it also, Lodge and Conein had cast their lot with the coup plotters. (Goldstein, pgs. 81, 86-88) This ended, of course, with the coup finally succeeding in early November. With the cooperation of Lodge and Conein, the Ngo brothers were not just ousted, they were killed. (Douglass deals with this episode exceedingly well on pgs. 206-210) The death of the brothers deeply troubled Kennedy both morally and religiously. He ordered a complete review of how the August 24th cable was sent, why it was so urgent to do on the weekend, and why it was skewed so much in favor of the generals. (Goldstein p. 90)
In the aftermath of the coup, Bundy felt that perhaps the USA was now more committed to South Vietnam. But Kennedy did not waver from his withdrawal plan as helmed by McNamara. Goldstein quotes McNamara as saying to his biographer, "I believed that we had done all the training we could. Whether the South Vietnamese were qualified or not to turn back the North Vietnamese, I was certain that if they weren't it was not for lack of training. More training wouldn't strengthen them; therefore we should get out. The president agreed." (ibid p. 84) Therefore in early October, NSAM 263 was issued. This stated that the US would withdraw a thousand advisers by the end of 1963. The White House announcement coupled with this issuance said that it was the first step in the eventual removal of the bulk of American personnel by the end of 1965. (Newman, p. 402) And after November coup, Kennedy said in a speech on November 14th that he did not want the US to put troops in Vietnam. His intent was to bring the Americans home. (Goldstein, pgs 95-96)
As Goldstein notes, this was all changed by what happened in Dallas a week later.
Like most current scholarship, Goldstein describes the sea change that took place on the Vietnam issue after Johnson took over. Bundy told Goldstein that LBJ was not going to jeopardize his election by losing any aspect of the Cold War. (pgs. 98-99) He also told Goldstein that he did not really want to serve under LBJ, but he felt he had to until at least November of 1964. Bundy, and others, felt the real successor to JFK was Bobby Kennedy. (ibid)
The National Security Advisor states that there is no doubt that, from the first day, Johnson was preoccupied with Vietnam. (p. 105) For instance, Rusk said, "The President has expressed his deep concern that our effort in Vietnam be stepped up to the highest pitch, and that each day we ask ourselves what more we can do to further the struggle." (p. 105) McCone said, "Johnson definitely feels that we place too much emphasis on social returns; he has very little tolerance with our spending so much time being "do-gooders". (ibid) Johnson told McNamara that the USA was not doing everything it should in Vietnam. (p. 106) He sent McNamara to Saigon in order to give him a ground level report. Right before Christmas of 1963, McNamara returned with a bad report. (ibid, p. 107) The South Vietnamese had been lying about their progress in the war. A month after that, the Joint Chiefs sent a proposal to the White House recommending bombing the North and the insertion of US combat troops.
This is quite interesting of course. Not just because of the speed of the reversal. That has been noted by several other authors. But because the fulcrum of Kennedy's strategy had been to partly base his withdrawal strategy on the false reports he knew he was getting from South Vietnam. In fact, this was one of the main themes of Newman's milestone book. Namely, that Kennedy knew these were wrong. But he was going to utilize them to base his withdrawal plan on. But the Pentagon and the CIA finally understood what Kennedy was up to and began to change these reports. And they backdated the changes to July, 1963. (Newman, pgs 425, 441) McNamara had to have known this, since Kennedy had appointed him to run the withdrawal plan. But like the others, he understood a new sheriff was in town. So McNamara presented to LBJ the revised figures, the ones done as a reaction to Kennedy's withdrawal strategy. In light of this, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) responded with plans for both an American air and land war in Vietnam. On March 2, 1964 the JCS passed a new war proposal to the White House. This one was even more ambitious. It included bombing, the mining of North Vietnamese harbors, a naval blockade, and possible use of tactical atomic weapons, in case China intervened. (Goldstein, p. 108)
Johnson said he was not ready for this proposal since he did not have congress yet as a partner and trustee. (ibid, p. 109) But he did order the preparation of NSAM 288. This was essentially a target list of bombing sites that eventually reached 94 possibilities. (Edwin Moise, Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War, pgs 24-25) By May 25th, with both Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater clamoring for bombing of the north, LBJ had made the decision that the US would directly attack North Vietnam at an unspecified point in the future. (ibid, p. 26) In fact, the specific campaign, with the steps involved leading to a continuous air campaign, had already been mapped out in time intervals. This plan included the passage of a congressional resolution. (ibid, p. 27) The rough draft of the resolution was drawn up by a young lawyer in the State Department. (ibid) In June, Mac Bundy's brother, William Bundy, finalized it. That month, Johnson began to lobby certain people in congress in advance. ( ibid, p. 26) On June 10th, McNamara said, "that in the event of a dramatic event in Southeast Asia we would go promptly for a congressional resolution." (ibid) But Bill Bundy added, the actual decision to expand the war would not be made until after the election. (ibid, p. 44) This is precisely what happened.
As Goldstein points out, there were other views being voiced at the time. People like Sen. Richard Russell, journalist Walter Lippmann, and French Premier DeGaulle were all pushing for a neutralization plan. It's interesting to compare Johnson's reaction to DeGaulle with Kennedy's. Whereas Kennedy took DeGaulle's opinion very seriously, Johnson told Bundy to call DeGaulle and get him to take back his appeal for neutralization. (Goldstein, p. 111) Considering all of the above, the only thing Johnson needed now was a casus belli—the "dramatic event" McNamara spoke of. LBJ himself had planted the seed for one.
As John Newman notes, when Johnson became president, he altered the rough draft of NSAM 273 in more than one way. The most significant alteration was probably to paragraph seven. (Newman, p. 446) In the rough draft prepared by Bundy, it allowed for maritime operations against the north—but only by the government of South Vietnam. (ibid, p. 440) This was changed by LBJ. He struck the sentence specifying that maritime operations be done by the South Vietnamese government. (ibid, p. 446) Probably because this would have taken time, since South Vietnam had no sophisticated navy to speak of. As Newman writes, "This revision opened the door to direct US attacks against North Vietnam, and CINCPAC OPLAN 34-63, which became OPLAN 34A, was promptly submitted to the White House..." (ibid)By December 21, 1963—less than one month after Kennedy was killed—McNamara presented Johnson with a paper entitled "Plans for Covert Action into North Vietnam". (ibid) One of the actions was to couple OPLAN 34A with DESOTO patrols in the Tonkin Gulf, all along the coast of North Vietnam. OPLAN 34 A consisted of hit and run strikes by small, quick patrol boats manned by South Vietnamese sailors. But outside of that, almost everything else about those missions was American in origin. The DESOTO patrols were completely American. These were destroyers manned with intelligence collecting machines to collect data on where things like North Vietnamese radar installations and torpedo boat harbors were. In other words, they worked in tandem.
The first naval operations went into effect in February of 1964. (Moise, , p. 6) The destroyer used at that time was called the Craig. The destroyer used for the second set of missions, beginning in July, was the Maddox. An important part of the mission was to "show the flag". (Moise, p. 55) And part of that was violating the claim the North Vietnamese made about the limits of their territorial waters. They said the limit was twelve miles. Yet on the July/August missions both the attacking patrol boats and the Maddox were in violation of that limit. Not just in relation to the mainland, but also relative to the islands off the coast, which were also attacked. (Moise, p. 68) As many authors have concluded, the design and action of the mission was a provocation. (ibid, p. 68) In fact, people inside the White House, like Forrestal and McCone, later agreed it was. (Goldstein, p. 125)
There were two incidents that took place in the first week of August, which gave Johnson the pretext to pass his resolution. On August 2nd the Maddox was attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Although torpedoes were launched, none hit. The total damage to the destroyer was one bullet through the hull. (Moise, p. 80) When the Defense Department briefed the senators on this first incident, they misrepresented it. They said the North Vietnamese fired first, that the USA had no role in the patrol boat raids, that the ships were in international waters, and there was no hot pursuit. These were all wrong. (Ibid, p. 87)
At this point, Captain Herrick of the Maddox suggested the missions be stopped. They were not. And the mission was given direct orders to violate the twelve mile territorial waters claim. Which they did. (ibid, p. 95) LBJ himself authorized the new OPLAN 34A attack on August 3rd. (ibid, p. 105) On this particular DESOTO patrol, the Turner Joy joined the Maddox. On August 4th, the Turner Joy reported that torpedo boats were approaching her. This message was relayed to Washington. McNamara used these messages in his discussion with Johnson. The Turner Joy then opened fire, eventually expending 300 shells. It was later discovered that they were firing at nothing. No attack took place that night. And in fact, the records of the Turner Joy were later altered " to make the evidence of an attack seem stronger than it actually was ..." (ibid, p.147)
The morning he first heard of the second incident, Johnson marched down to his National Security Advisor's office. Bundy told Goldstein that this, in itself, was quite unusual. (Goldstein, p. 126) LBJ then told Bundy, "Get the resolution your brother drafted." Bundy replied, "Mr. President, we ought to think about this." Johnson said, "I didn't ask you what you thought, I told you what to do." (ibid) That exchange should throw the final pile of dirt on the myth of Johnson as the "reluctant warrior"
But it's actually worse than that. Because today there is a debate on whether this exchange took place after the phony news of an actual attack, or whether Johnson talked to Bundy just upon hearing that the torpedo boats were approaching. According to Goldstein's chronology, LBJ told Bundy to get the resolution out before any of the phony news of an attack got to him. (ibid pgs 126-127) Which would mean of course that the attack, which did not occur, was superfluous to Johnson. He was going to use the non-event to get his pre-planned resolution through congress. And in fact, during a meeting on August 5th, Bundy actually said that the evidence for the first attack had stood up, but the evidence for the second attack was questionable. (White House Memorandum. 5 August, 1964.) In 2003, the National Security Archive, released a memo saying that on August 4th, Herrick had actually relayed a message to McNamara saying that the evidence for the second attack was doubtful. McNamara later believed that LBJ did what he did because he did not want to be attacked by the hawks as being weak or indecisive. In other words, he was protecting his right flank. (Moise, p. 211) But at the same time, by campaigning with slogans like "I will not send American boys to fight a war Asian boys should be fighting", he disguised his real designs from his Democratic base. (Goldstein, p. 129)
Sticking with his plan, Johnson took out the target list prepared by NSAM 288. He ordered air strikes that very day. But before the planes actually hit their targets, Johnson went on national television to announce the retaliation late on the night of August 4th. This alerted the North Vietnamese anti-aircraft batteries. So in the wee hours of August 5th, two pilots were shot down. (ibid, p. 219) But in another sense, the air strikes did the trick. Johnson's approval ratings on his handling of the war went up drastically. (ibid p. 226) Afterwards, Johnson continued to deceive congress. He told Sen. William Fulbright that OPLAN 34A was a South Vietnamese operation. ( ibid p. 227) The Tonkin Gulf resolution was passed by both houses, almost unanimously. The whole idea in ramming it through was to change the outline of the event from a provocation by the US into America being a victim of North Vietnamese aggression.
On August 7th, LBJ sent a message to Maxwell Taylor. He wanted a whole gamut of possible operations presented to him for direct American attacks against the North. This was received in the White House two days later. The target date for a systematic bombing campaign against the North was set for January of 1965. (Moise, p. 244) As we will see, Johnson missed this target by one month.
After Johnson ordered the reprisal bombing for the non-existent second attack, the government of North Vietnam met. They decided that direct American military intervention in the South was on its way. They also concluded that a continuous bombing campaign was also probable. They decided the public had to be made aware of the coming onslaught. In September, they also began to send the first North Vietnamese regulars down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. (Moise, p. 251)
All the above was made possible by the alterations in NSAM 273, which Johnson made four days after Kennedy was killed. In other words, LBJ was going to war over one bullet in a destroyer's hull.
The last part of Lessons in Disaster describes Bundy's slightly less than two years in the White House as Johnson implemented his plan to Americanize the war. If ever there was a case for dramatizing John Newman's axiom about 1964, it is in these pages. Newman said that Kennedy was using the 1964 election to disguise his withdrawal plan; Johnson used the election to disguise his intervention plan. In fact LBJ had once said, Vietnam could not be lost before the election, but it also could not blossom into an all-out war before it either. (Goldstein, p. 133) In fact, CIA analyst Ray Cline had told Bundy that if America waited to intervene until after the election, it would still allow time to save the day. (ibid pgs. 136-37)
For this book, Bundy threw himself into a review of Vietnam policy, especially under Johnson. The State Department had issued a report saying that a sustained aerial war would not be effective there. And it would not stop Hanoi from aiding the Viet Cong. Bundy ignored these warnings. He favored an air campaign. So did Max Taylor. LBJ disagreed. He told Taylor, "I have never felt this war will be won from the air, and it seems to me that what is much more needed and would be more effective is larger and stronger use of Rangers, and Special Forces, and Marines, or other appropriate military strength on the ground and on the scene." (ibid, p. 151) Gen. William Westmoreland, the commander in South Vietnam, also agreed in a ground war. In February of 1965, Bundy was touring the country. The Viet Cong attacked an officers HQ in Pleiku, where several Americans were killed and even more injured. Bundy recommended air strikes in retaliation. When Bundy got back to Washington, he asked Johnson about his recommendation. LBJ replied, "Well, isn't that all decided?" (ibid p. 158) And it had been. Operation Flaming Dart quickly escalated into Rolling Thunder, the greatest aerial bombardment campaign the world had ever seen. Johnson wanted Eisenhower's approval for it first. He got it in spades. Eisenhower even recommended tactical nukes if necessary. (p. 161) The Domino Theory was quite powerful.
The only person actually arguing with Johnson, in both public and private, was Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. When he addressed a long memo to Johnson arguing against escalation on quite practical grounds e.g. the instability of the South Vietnamese government, LBJ went ballistic. He barred him from any future meetings on Vietnam, and actually wanted surveillance put on him to see who he was talking to. (p. 162)
Once the air war escalated, Westmoreland argued for troops to protect the air base at Da Nang. Interestingly, Taylor argued against it since it would break the line in the sand that Kennedy had drawn. (p. 163) LBJ sided with Westmoreland. And the first American combat troops arrived in Vietnam in March of 1965. Within two months of his inauguration, Johnson had begun both the air and land war he had been planning for over a year.
Johnson's next step was to ask the Secretary of the Army how many troops it would take to win the war. The response was 500,000 men and at least five years, probably more. (p. 165) On April 1st, just three weeks after the Da Nang landing, Johnson began to pour in the combat troops he felt he needed to win. The first contingent was of 20,000 men, and LBJ specifically changed their mission from base protection to offensive operations. By April 20th, Westmoreland was asking for an increase to 82,000 troops. He got them. (p. 171) At this point, Taylor understood what Johnson's aim was: He was going to give the military all the men it needed as fast as possible to win the war. He was right. Westmoreland asked for more combat troops on June 7th. He got 42,000 more. He then asked for 52,000 after that. He got them also. By the end of 1965, Johnson's first 11 months in office, there were over 175,000 combat troops in Vietnam. Under Kennedy there had been none.
Bundy understood by the end of 1965 that Westmoreland was committed to a war of attrition. He felt he did not do enough analysis of what the war was devolving into. He didn't press the story of what the real prospects for success were. He didn't measure the strengths and weaknesses of each side. He didn't ask: What kind of war will this be?, or How many losses will we sustain? (pgs. 178, 182) He had become a staff officer aiding his commander instead of a detached analyst measuring options in advance and giving the president the ups and downs of each option he takes. He felt that one of his greatest failures was that he never commissioned a detailed study as to what it would cost the USA in every aspect to completely secure South Vietnam. He failed to do this because he was initially in favor of intervention. He later told Goldstein that it was a serious error and he failed to ever address it. (p. 185) Bundy felt that another failure of his was that he did not understand that in this kind of war, numerical success did not equal military victory. Therefore Westmoreland's famous "body count" tally was not a good barometer of how the war was actually progressing. (p. 188) The incredible thing was that the worse it got, the more people like Eisenhower and Rusk urged Johnson on. And the more troops LBJ committed. But yet, Westmoreland wanted still more. By the second half of 1965, he wanted a doubling of the troop commitment, and a tripling of the air war. (pgs. 201-202) This is where Bundy and Johnson began to part company. Another issue where they parted was on how much to tell the American public. Bundy thought Johnson had to sell the war more to keep America committed. Johnson wanted to keep it low profile. (p. 198)
But there was something else that bothered Bundy about Johnson's constant escalation. That's because he found out the reason the military always got what they wanted. It was because the White House debates were nothing but a piece of choreographed stagecraft. The director being Lyndon Johnson, on instructions from Westmoreland. Bundy discovered that Westmoreland had a secret telegram channel to Johnson. Through this he would make a request, and Johnson would then OK it. It was at this point that LBJ would call the meeting on the requested escalation—after it had been approved. (pgs. 214-15) It was all meant to give people like him the feeling that they had a say in the decision, when they really did not. The decision was a fait accompli.
Bundy felt that both he and Johnson got caught up in the whole war of attrition fallacy: That even if they achieved only a stalemate, that was better than losing because it would show the world the USA was not a paper tiger. (pgs. 221-222) This was the level of sophistication that was guiding the decisions of this great epic tragedy by the end of 1965.
After it was all over, and the recriminations and many books had been written about it, Bundy decided to look back on his role in the debacle. One of the first books he read was David Halberstams's The Best and the Brightest. A book in which he figured prominently. Although he thought it was an entertaining and informative read, he concluded that the central thesis was just wrong. (pgs. 148-49) It was not the advisers—the best and brightest—who did the staff work who got us into the Vietnam War. It was the difference in the men who occupied the Oval Office. It was the difference between Kennedy and Johnson.
And with that, Lessons in Disaster joins a growing list of books that now almost fill up a shelf. In fact, we have now had two in the last year: Goldstein's and Virtual JFK. It's a shame it took so long for the truth to arrive. But finally, as Michael Morrissey wrote years ago, the second biggest lie about Kennedy's assassination can be laid to rest.
The Battle of the Letters, 1963: John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and the U.S. Inspections of Dimona
More in this category: « James Blight, Virtual JFK (Part 2) Jesse Ventura, They Killed our President »
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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: the murder of James Foley is a direct attack on the United States and our way of life
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) gives his view of the threat from the Islamic State terror organization.
Bakersfield Observed
"This week, the world witnessed the purest form of evil through the deplorable actions of ISIS on American journalist James Foley. First and foremost, I offer my deepest condolences and prayers to his family and friends. His work to shine light on the darkest corners of the world was a heroic service that is indicative of the value of free press that has strengthened America into the greatest democracy in the world.
"For weeks, I have expressed support for targeted airstrikes against ISIS. But since the first strikes began, the Administration’s strategy against ISIS has been unclear. It has been made clear that the threat posed by ISIS is not isolated to the Middle East and its people. The murder of James Foley is a direct attack on the United States and our way of life. Therefore I stand ready to work with the Administration to confront this terrorist organization directly.
"The men and women of our military selflessly and courageously serve to protect our freedoms. It has been said that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Throughout our nation’s history America’s leadership has helped thwart evil throughout the globe.
"Notably, the greatest generation helped topple one of the most dangerous threats to humanity in World War II. We honor these veterans, as we do all veterans, in Washington with monuments and memorials. One of my greatest honors as a Member of Congress is hosting our own local heroes as they travel 3,000 miles with the Kern County Honor Flight to visit the places that honor their service. This week, my office in Washington, DC welcomed and hosted 39 veterans and their guardians with the Honor Flight as they visited the monuments and toured the U.S. Capitol.
"These heroes have made our country and the world a safer place. We as a nation are forever grateful for their service.
"As we continue to fight evil throughout the world, let us never forget the sacrifice so many have made to secure our freedom.
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McCarthy Leads Bipartisan Letter to Strengthen CA's Agriculture Exports
Congressman Kevin McCarthy sent a letter to Federal government leaders, signed by Republican and Democrat members of the California congressional delegation, urging continued support for California’s agriculture exports with our North American neighbors. This letter was sent to Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer ahead of the renewed negotiations with Canada and Mexico to modernize the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These renegotiations are scheduled to begin on August 16, 2017. President Trump has been clear of his intention to renegotiate trade deals that work for the American people. For California farmers, NAFTA has had a positive impact by playing a major role in the over $4 billion in California agricultural products exported. McCarthy released the following statement on the letter:
“California’s agriculture industry has played a significant part in our state’s growth and prosperity. The rich soil and premier climate, coupled with a work ethic second-to-none, has positioned California as an agriculture leader for the world. That success, helped through free and fair trade agreements with our North American neighbors, has served as a foundation to the growth in our community and agriculture-rich communities throughout the state. I will continue to advocate for trade policy that strengthens California’s agriculture and continues to create jobs and opportunity in the Golden State.”
The full text of the letter can be viewed here.
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Sex offences rise threefold in schools
The number of sex offences in schools reported to police has almost trebled in four years, a study has shown.
Ten sexual offences on school premises are reported to police in England and Wales on average each school day, according to figures compiled by Plan International, a children’s charity.
The number of allegations rose from 719 in 2011-12 to 1,955 in 2014-15 in what the NSPCC has called a “very worrying trend”.
Girls were the victims in two-thirds of cases, and children as young as five were recorded carrying out assaults. Lucy Russell, UK manager of girls’ rights campaigning at Plan International, said cases involving very young children were rare.
The most frequent alleged offenders were other pupils, who were identified as the suspects in 29 per cent of the cases, while teachers and other staff were the suspects in 15 per cent. Russell said girls may be underreporting sexual offences.
“Girls experience everyday harassment – unwanted touching, groping, name-calling – that goes on day-to-day,” Russell said.
The incidents that get reported to the police are often a “culmination of months and months of activity” and girls are often expected to put up with or laugh off problematic behaviour, she added. In April, MPs on the women and equalities committee launched an inquiry into sexual violence and harassment in schools following research involving 300 school and college pupilss.
This also found that many incidents go unreported and some incidents are “brushed off” by teachers because of the young age of those involved.
The charity requested figures under the Freedom of Information Act for arrests for rape and all other sexual crimes in schools from all 45 UK police forces for each of the last four years. Police Scotland declined the request and 10 other police forces did not respond, so the true numbers may be higher.
Russell says there is a lack of clarity about how sexual offences are recorded by police, with everything from unwanted touching to rape included in the figures.
Last year an investigation by the BBC found that more than 5,500 allegations of sexual offences in schools had been reported in the previous three years, including 600 rapes.
The rising numbers of sex crimes being reported could be partly due to better reporting of incidents when they occur, Russell said.
“Certainly we think there’s an improvement in police reporting and recording, and we think it does sound like young people are reporting more of what they’re not happy with, and that’s a positive thing,” she said. But the steep nationwide increase hinted that other factors could be in play.
“There is an indication that the very heavily sexualised messages that children are getting from online pornography and sexualised videos is impacting on their behaviour, and it is changing the expectations they have around their relationships,”
Russell said. An NSPCC spokesman said: “It is deeply concerning that over the last few years thousands of young people have made allegations of sexual offences committed against them in school, a place that should be a sanctuary for children where they are safe from such horrors.
“The rise in reporting to police reflects a very worrying trend which should make all authorities and parents sit up and take notice and then redouble their efforts to keep children safe from sexual abuse, both inside and outside of school.”
A Department for Education spokesman said such reports were rare but added: “Any offence must be reported to the police. No young person should feel unsafe or suffer harassment in any circumstance.” Plan International is calling for mandatory sex education in all schools to help tackle sexual harassment and violence.
A Department for Education spokesman said: “Sex and relationship education is already compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and many academies and free schools teach it as part of the curriculum.
We are looking at all options to raise the quality of personal, social and health education teaching.” Government initiatives have included a healthy relationships campaign, Disrespect Nobody , that has received nearly £4m of government funding. But Russell said the education that is delivered is failing to tackle issues such as gender equality, consent, and online behaviour such as sexting. She said it is “miles behind and it’s just not fit for purpose”.
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School of Public Service
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > School of Public Service > Faculty > Krista Johnsen
Krista Johnsen
kjohnse1@depaul.edu
Part-Time Lecturer
14 E. Jackson, Suite 1600
Krista Johnsen (Mikos) earned her Masters of Environmental Science from the University of Michigan with an emphasis on Advocacy and Public Policy and her BA from Vassar College. In addition to teaching at DePaul, Krista is a performance/career coach and the owner of LifeStream Coaching. She served eight years at the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology as an Environmental Projects Manager and as a Senior Standards Specialist. During this time, she led U.S. delegations at international standards (ISO) negotiations; she managed multi-million dollar projects to help U.S. manufacturers move toward cleaner production; and she worked on policy development at the national level with regard to technical standards, including a stint at the White House's Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton Administration.
As an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation German Chancellor Fellow, Krista examined trans-Atlantic technical standards creation policy. She has lectured on ISO 14000 and its implementation at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering's Center for Professional Development, the U.S. War College, and numerous other venues. Krista was hired by the World Resources Institute to be a consultant on Cleaner Production in Santiago Chile.
Prior to her employment with the Federal Government, Krista worked for Greenpeace, taught test prep classes for the Princeton Review and was an Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at Vassar College. In addition to her Humboldt Fellowship, Krista won the Federal Government's Pioneer Award for an online standards position resource center, NIST's Uriano Award for Leadership and Performance Improvement in Energy and Environment Services and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group's Excellence in Standards Award for ISO 14050. Krista is fluent in German, has lived abroad for five years, has traveled to 36 countries, and has served on the board of several non-profit organizations.
Her areas of interest include Advocacy, Environmental Policy, Technical Standards Policy, Sustainability, Personal Development, and Voluntary Simplicity. She has taught Advocacy and Public Policy, SPS 546, at DePaul.
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← COMING FEB. 1—GUEST BLOGGER MILLIE MACK
WORLD’S FIRST NOVEL—AND THE WINNER IS… →
Miss Marple Still Going Strong
MILLIE MACK
Author of Take Stock in Murder, Take a Dive for Murder, Take a Byte Out of Murder
1 FEBRUARY 2016 Miss Marple Still Going Strong
GUEST BLOGGER – MILLIE MACK
I recently attended a course on Agatha Christie. At the first class the teacher asked—what makes Agatha Christie’s mysteries as popular today as when they were first published? I found this question of interest, because I have some personal experience with the popularity of one of her characters — Miss Marple.
Back in October of 2012, I wrote a blog entitled the “Quotable Miss Marple.” To this d ay, this blog remains one of my most popular. Therefore, like my teacher I will ask a similar question. What is it about this detective that continues to attract readers, fans and admirers?
Miss Marple is not your typical detective. She’s elderly, she knits and she’s nosy. She lives in the tiny village of St. Mary Mead where her knowledge of village life and human behavior allows her to make comparisons with the current crime. No crime occurs without reminding her of an event or a person from St. Mary Mead.
However, don’t be fooled by her age, her knitting or her apparently muddled thoughts and questions. Miss Marple fully understands the evil that men—and women do and the behavior that exposes their criminality. Miss Marple is like a laser that zeros in on the motive and the person with the motive.
The police of course are skeptical of the advice from Miss. Marple. They, along with the reader can’t imagine how this elderly spinster can possibly help with the solution of the case. Yet if we pay close attention, Miss Marple always points us in the right direction to uncover the villain. If we don’t follow Miss Marple’s process we can easily be misdirected by the red herrings and the dark horses that Christie so cleverly places in her stories.
Miss Marple has a razor sharp mind. And like the best detectives she has an understanding of the depravity of the criminal mind along with a true understanding of why people act and react the way they do. To quote Miss Marple, “it is almost always the obvious person.”
She’s not afraid to view and examine a dead body as we discover in The Body in the Library. Nor is she afraid to face the villain in a final confrontation as in A Caribbean Mystery. She is most capable of organizing the forces that will protect her from harm when this confrontation occurs.
I’ve described Miss Marple’s detecting skills, but why do readers continue to read her mysteries? Here are some possible answers. Her books are easy to read. Readers are comfortable with Miss Marple because she is not threatening, demanding or egotistical. Her stories are full of good humor with interesting characters. And for mystery lovers her stories are fair—the reader has the same opportunity as Miss Marple to solve the case based on the clues.
I believe readers also enjoy the sojourn into Miss Marple’s world. We learn about the civility of life in an English village as revealed in The Murder at the Vicarage. There’s always a murder, but the blood and gore found in so many modern novels is missing from a Miss Marple story.
I also think one of the most powerful reasons why readers enjoy a Miss Marple mystery is the resolution to the crime. This resolution does not come with a judgment from her. Instead she discovers the facts and presents them to the reader. We understand her solution and ultimately the reason for the murder.
We also feel that when Miss Marple is on the case justice will be served. This justice may not always be through the legal justice system, but we know the villain will receive punishment. We see examples of this alternative punishment in the books The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side and They Do It with Mirrors. This sense of finality, justice and closure provides comfort for the reader.
I’m sure Miss Marple reminds us of elderly people we know. And perhaps we discount them because of the assumption they have lost a few gray cells and aren’t fully engaged with modern times. As she quietly knits, Miss Marple demonstrates that her little gray cells are still working. She is just as capable as the very best detective to solve a complicated mystery. So don’t overlook reading a Miss Marple novel or short story—you see, she’s still going strong.
Millie Mack is the author of the Faraday Murder Series and has just published the third book −Take a Byte Out of Murder. She enjoys everything mysterious including books, videos, plays and especially jigsaw puzzles where completion of the puzzle reveals the solution to a crime.
Millie Mack was born in Philadelphia, moved to Baltimore and worked in Washington which all influenced the creation of her fictional town of Tri-City featured in her current books.
She continues to live in the Baltimore area where she is working on the next book in her series featuring amateur sleuths Carrie and Charles Faraday. Millie also writes a blog all about mysteries at darkandstormynightmysteries.com and can be contacted at milliemack@verizon.net.
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Justia › US Law › US Codes and Statutes › Louisiana Laws › 2017 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › TITLE 13 - Courts and Judicial Procedure › RS 13:62 - Court costs and fees; submission to Judicial Council; recommendation
View the 2018 Louisiana Laws | View Previous Versions of the Louisiana Laws
2017 Louisiana Laws
TITLE 13 - Courts and Judicial Procedure
RS 13:62 - Court costs and fees; submission to Judicial Council; recommendation
Universal Citation: LA Rev Stat § 13:62 (2017)
§62. Court costs and fees; submission to Judicial Council; recommendation
A. As used in this Section, the following words have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) "Court cost and fee" means a cost or fee paid, or to be paid, by a person to the clerk of court or sheriff, or other law enforcement official responsible for receiving the payment of costs or fees collected as a part of the imposition or execution of a criminal sentence, in connection with the filing or processing of any civil or criminal matter, or the filing or processing of any pleading in any civil or criminal matter or in connection with the imposition or execution of a sentence by a court having criminal jurisdiction, in a court of limited or general jurisdiction.
(2) "Court of limited or general jurisdiction" means district court, family court, juvenile court, city court, parish court, municipal court, and traffic court.
B. No law to provide for a new court cost or fee or to increase an existing court cost or fee shall be enacted unless first submitted to the Judicial Council for review and recommendation to the legislature as to whether the court cost or fee is reasonably related to the operation of the courts or court system. A copy of the proposal for a new or increased court cost or fee shall be submitted to the Judicial Council no later than January fifteenth of the calendar year in which the proposal is intended to be introduced in the legislature, and a copy shall be provided to the legislature, through the clerk of the House of Representatives and the secretary of the Senate, at the time it is submitted to the Judicial Council for review. The Judicial Council shall notify the legislature of its recommendation, through the clerk of the House of Representatives and the secretary of the Senate, by March fifteenth of that same year.
C. The provisions of this Section shall apply only to court costs or fees, or increases to an existing court cost or fee to be charged or collected by the supreme court, courts of appeal, district courts, city courts, parish courts, juvenile courts, family courts, traffic courts, or municipal courts. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to mayor's courts, magistrate courts, or justice of the peace courts.
Acts 2003, No. 202, §1; Acts 2011, No. 245, §1.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Louisiana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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Members Only Section
We Did This Together
Community Trust Fund
COMMEMORATION, CELEBRATION AND COMMITMENT
The League Club was founded in 1986 in Naples, Florida
Founded in 1986 with the knowledge of the Association of Junior Leagues International, the initial objective of the women who founded the Club was for members to socialize with one another. Ninety-eight women attended the first meeting held at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Resort. In its first year, The Club became incorporated, established bylaws and applied for tax-exempt status. Husbands of members organized The minor League, which has sponsored many social events and has made generous contributions to The League Club's Community Trust Fund.
The League Club established The Volunteer Center of Collier County to coordinate volunteers with various non-profit agencies seeking assistance. It was funded with money raised from fashion shows. By 1990, The Volunteer Center was operating independently. This propelled The League Club into its current status as a grant giving organization orchestrated by the Community Involvement Committee.
League Club women have also contributed thousands of volunteer hours in various areas. Members have served on numerous agency boards, worked in childcare and adult centers, with the illiterate and homeless, in conservation and arts groups and in churches. By focusing on our goals of fellowship, education, volunteerism and philanthropy, The League Club continues to be a vibrant part of the Naples community.
The League Club, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization ~ Naples, Florida ~ info@leagueclub.org
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Home › July
Merril Boulton: Radio 4 on the case
Good to hear PRA chairman Brian Madderson on BBC Radio 4 last month giving his usual bit of welly on behalf of the industry. If you didn't hear it you can catch up online on iPlayer Radio.
The subject of the File On 4 programme (June 25, 8pm) was about the way in which oil is traded on the commodities market. It followed the European Commission raid on the London offices of BP, Shell and price reporting agency Platts, and Statoil's head office in Norway, as an investigation into claims of collusion to manipulate fuel prices on the international market was revealed.
One 'insider' claimed to have seen "first hand" the nervousness of traders, who he claims were clearly aware they were breaking the rules. During the programme Brian explained his concern that there was no transparency in the marketplace and his frustration at being unable to explain to PRA members why fuel prices could fluctuate so wildly. He cited a particular period last year when fuel prices spiked by 10ppl at a time of oversupply and lack of demand.
Others, such as Robert Halfon MP said they believed the Office of Fair Trading's decision earlier this year not to pursue an in-depth investigation "massively let the motorist down". Another MP commented that the OFT had a responsibility to continue to investigate and "not walk away". The programme asked whether British regulators were proving slow to recognise the potential problem of a fuel-price reporting system that appears to be open to abuse. It concluded by saying that neither the OFT, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, or the Department of Energy and Climate Change, were available for comment. Which kind of answered the question. More programmes like this please.
Meanwhile, stand by your forecourts with your brooms and dusters, the Forecourt Trader Awards judging team is on the road this month. Best of luck!
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A National Survey of Teachers on Antiretroviral Therapy in Malawi: Access, Retention in Therapy and Survival
Simon D. Makombe ,
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: adharries@malawi.net
Affiliation Clinical HIV Unit, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe, Malawi
Andreas Jahn,
Affiliations Lighthouse Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi, International Training and Education Center on HIV, Seattle, United States of America
Hannock Tweya,
Affiliation Lighthouse Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi
Stuart Chuka,
Affiliation Malawi Business Coalition against AIDS, Blantyre, Malawi
Joseph Kwong-Leung Yu,
Affiliation Taiwan Medical Mission, Mzuzu Central Hospital, Mzuzu, Malawi
Mindy Hochgesang,
Affiliation Global AIDS Program, United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Malawi
John Aberle-Grasse,
Lameck Thambo,
Erik J. Schouten,
Affiliations Clinical HIV Unit, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe, Malawi, Management Sciences for Health, Lilongwe, Malawi
Kelita Kamoto,
Anthony D. Harries
Affiliations Clinical HIV Unit, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe, Malawi, Family Health International, Malawi Country Office, Lilongwe, Malawi, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Simon D. Makombe,
Kelita Kamoto
Simon D. Makombe Andreas Jahn ... Anthony D. Harries
HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa. A national survey was conducted in all public sector and private sector facilities in Malawi providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to determine the uptake of ART by teachers and their outcomes while on treatment.
A retrospective cohort study was carried out based on patient follow-up records from ART Registers and treatment master cards in all 138 ART clinics in Malawi; observations were censored on September 30th 2006. By this date, Malawi's 102 public sector and 36 private sector ART clinics had registered a total of 72,328 patients for treatment. Of these, 2,643 (3.7%) were teachers. Adjusting for double-registration caused by clinic transfers, it is estimated that 2,380 individual teachers had ever accessed ART. There were 15% of teachers starting ART in WHO clinical stage 1 or 2 with a CD4-lymphocyte count of ≤250/mm3 and 85% starting in stage 3 or 4. By 30th September 2006, 1,850 teachers were alive on ART (3.5% of all teachers in Malawi). The probability of being alive on ART at 6-months, 12-months, 18-months and 24-months after treatment initiation was 84%, 79%, 75% and 73% respectively. Retention in treatment was better for women (adjusted HR = 1.8) and in those starting ART in WHO Clinical Stage 1 and 2 (adjusted HR = 1.8).
Conclusion/Significance
Rapid scale up of ART has allowed 2,380 HIV-positive teachers to access life-prolonging treatment. There is evidence that this intervention can help to mitigate some of the shortages of teaching personnel in resource-poor countries affected by a generalised HIV epidemic.
Citation: Makombe SD, Jahn A, Tweya H, Chuka S, Yu JK-L, Hochgesang M, et al. (2007) A National Survey of Teachers on Antiretroviral Therapy in Malawi: Access, Retention in Therapy and Survival. PLoS ONE 2(7): e620. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000620
Academic Editor: Srikanth Tripathy, National AIDS Research Institute, India
Received: May 17, 2007; Accepted: June 3, 2007; Published: July 18, 2007
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
Funding: Supervision visits were supported by the World Health Organization. Data collection for the study was supported by an anonymous donor.
The dual campaigns of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) have made universal primary school enrolment for boys and girls a priority for developing countries [1]. The HIV and AIDS epidemic in many of these countries, however, is placing enormous challenges on the education sector to attain these goals. Sub-Saharan Africa is already facing a serious teacher shortage and AIDS-related sickness and mortality is exacerbating this problem [2]. HIV and AIDS decrease the supply and quality of education through increased absenteeism and mortality, resulting in loss of experienced teachers and increased class sizes. AIDS mortality also substantially increases the education wage bill, as attrition costs are high and death benefits soar.
Malawi, a small poverty stricken country in Southern Africa, faces a severe HIV epidemic. A study of the impact of AIDS on the public sector in Malawi found that HIV-related annual attrition in the education sector was 1.2% between 1990 and 2000, with HIV-related deaths responsible for at least 50% of the attrition [3]. By 1997, over 10% of education personnel in urban areas of Malawi were estimated to have died from AIDS with figures projected to rise to about 40% by 2005 [4]. A survey of primary school teachers in semi-urban and rural areas of the country in 1999 found an annual death rate of 2.3%, largely as a result of AIDS and TB [5]. Although representative empirical data are not available, HIV is likely to have severely aggravated the crisis in the education sector in Malawi.
Along with many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi is scaling up antiretroviral therapy (ART) [6]. Data on all ART patients are recorded using a standardised system for monitoring of access and treatment outcomes, and this includes information on occupation. The system is rigorously supervised and the data can be considered nationally complete, offering the opportunity to examine access, retention in therapy and survival for subgroups of the population.
We have found no published data on teachers accessing ART in sub-Saharan Africa that would allow assessing the impact of free ART scale up on the education sector. We therefore conducted an audit using routinely collected data from Malawi's national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for ART.
ART became available in Malawi in 2000 at central hospitals and a few non-governmental organizations. At this time, there were no national guidelines and different treatment regimens were typically offered on a subsidised cost basis. When the national roll-out program of free ART started in June 2004 an estimated 6,000 patients had received ART from 10 ART clinics in the country (source: HIV Unit, Ministry of Health, Malawi).
To facilitate rapid scale-up in the context of Malawi's resource-constrained public health system, the national program focused on a simple, standardised approach, which has been previously described [7]: use of one generic, fixed dose combination treatment (stavudine, lamivudine, nevirapine); a standardised system of registration, monitoring and reporting of cases and outcomes; and quarterly monitoring and supervision visits to all ART sites. ART-eligibility is routinely determined by clinical staging (WHO Clinical stage 3 or 4); patients in Clinical Stage 1 or 2 are eligible if their CD4-lymphocyte count is ≤250/mm3. However, CD4-lymphocyte counts are only available at a few specialised facilities. Patients are seen at two weeks after ART initiation and then routinely every month for clinical assessment and ART-dispensing. The visit interval is extended to 2 months if patients have completed 6 months of ART without complications. Patients with drug side effects are referred to experienced specialised sites where alternative ART regimens can be initiated. The process of ART scale up in the private sector has followed a similar approach using an identical monitoring system; treatment is offered here at subsidised cost (approximately USD$ 3.5 per course of treatment per month).
Malawi's national monitoring system for ART uses one patient master card for each patient and one ART register per facility [7]. At enrolment, patient demographics, occupation, stage defining conditions and clinical stage are recorded on the master card and copied into the register. At every ART visit, follow-up details are entered in the master card, including ambulatory and working status, pill-count, ART-regimen and drug side-effects. Follow-up outcomes such as transfer to another ART clinic, treatment discontinuation and death are also entered in the master card. A patient cohort analysis is conducted at all sites every quarter [8]. In preparation for this, clinic staff systematically review the follow-up status of all patients, updating the master cards and register with the latest outcomes. Patients who have failed to return for 3 months are marked as ‘defaulters’. Active follow-up of ‘defaulters’ has not been made mandatory due to resource constrains. However, more than half of the facilities in the national programme are consistently attempting to trace defaulters through community visits.
The HIV Unit of the Ministry of Health and its partners conduct quarterly supervision and monitoring visits to all ART sites in the country [8]. The supervisors check the accuracy, completeness and consistency of the register and master cards. Cohort analyses are checked and collected for aggregation and national level reporting.
Data Collection and Analysis
The survey was conducted during supervision visits to all 102 public sector and 36 private sector ART clinics, which took place between October and December 2006. All ART clinic registers were screened for teachers who had accessed ART up to September 30th 2006. For all teachers identified, the following data were transcribed onto a structured form: Site-specific registration number; sex; date, age and WHO clinical stage at ART initiation; pulmonary or extra-pulmonary TB, Kaposi's sarcoma as a stage-defining condition; date and type of follow-up outcome.
Data were checked, entered and cleaned in MS Access and analysed using STATA 9.2. For the survival analysis, teachers were considered to come under observation on the date of ART initiation if this was after June 1st 2004, when the standard monitoring system in the national free ART program had been established. Teachers who had accessed ART before that date were considered to come under observation in June 2004, but were entered into the analysis taking account of the accumulated time on ART. Due to incomplete active ascertainment of deaths in the national monitoring and evaluation system, separate analyses were performed for deaths alone (treating loss to follow-up, ART discontinuation and transfers to other ART clinics as censoring events), and ‘ART drop-outs’ (combining deaths, loss to follow-up and ART discontinuation as ‘failure events’ and transfers to other ART clinics as censoring events). Observations were censored if patients were alive and on ART by 30th September 2006. The probability of survival on ART was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The effect of background characteristics on survival was measured using hazard ratios, and Poisson regression models were used for multivariate analyses.
General measures are provided in all ART facilities to ensure patient confidentiality, consent for HIV testing, and counselling and support for those who receive a positive HIV test result. Data collected for this study did not include personal identifiers. The Malawi National Health Science Research Committee provides general oversight and approval for the collection and use of routine programmatic data for monitoring and evaluation. This survey was considered programme evaluation by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which is not classified as human-subjects research.
General national patient cohort
By September 30th 2006, a total of 69,547 patients had accessed ART at the 102 public sector ART facilities in Malawi. Of these, 42,605 (61.3%) were female and 64,935 (93.4%) were aged 15 years or above; 12,022 patients had registered in the most recent quarter between July and September 2006; 7,692 (11%) patients had accessed ART in WHO clinical stage 1 or 2 with a CD4 count ≤250/mm3 , 45,386 (65%) in stage 3 in and 16,469 (24%) in stage 4. By the end of September 2006, 49,487 (71%) patients were alive and on ART. The routine national cohort analyses showed that 72% of 8,961 patients and 64% of 7,846 were alive and on ART at 6 and 12 months after enrolment, respectively. The 36 private sector facilities had registered a total of 2,781 patients by the end of September 2006. Of these, 1337 (48%) were female, 2,663 (95.6%) were aged 15 or above and 2,268 (82%) were alive and on ART. Private sector patients constituted 3.8% of the whole national cohort.
Information on occupation was available for 69,054 (95.5%) of 72,328 patients in the national public and private sector cohort, and 2,643 (3.7%) of these were teachers. There were 1,113 male and 1,530 (57.9%) female teachers. The mean age at ART initiation was 40.1 years (range 22–69 years) in men and 37.0 years (range 21–69 years) in women; age was unknown in 38 teachers. Seven cases had to be excluded from the analysis due to inconsistent dates of ART initiation and follow-up outcome.
The reasons for starting ART were documented in 2,607 cases (98.9%): 381 (14.5%) of these started in WHO clinical stage 1 or 2 with a CD4 count ≤250/mm3, 1,505 (57.1%) in stage 3 and 721 (27.4%) in stage 4. At registration, 513 (19.5%) had a history of active or previous pulmonary tuberculosis within the last 2 years, 118 (4.5%) had extra-pulmonary tuberculosis and 183 (6.9%) had Kaposi's sarcoma.
Figure 1 shows the number of ART clinics in Malawi by calendar period and the number of teachers on ART at the end of each period. The first teachers in this cohort had accessed ART in January 2002 and a total of 451 (17% of the cohort) had initiated treatment in one of the 10 non-governmental clinics that had opened before the start of the national roll-out program in June 2004. The ART initiation rate increased from 75 teachers in the quarter before the national roll-out to a maximum of 340 in the first quarter of 2006. The enrolment rate slowed to 301 teachers, who initiated ART during the third quarter 2006. Overall 48% of teachers on ART had initiated treatment within the last 12 months, and the median observation time for the whole cohort was 8.5 months (inter-quartile range 3.1–17.3 months). The entire cohort had accumulated 2,575 person-years of observation. By 30th September 2006, 1,850 (70.2% of teachers ever started) were alive and on ART at one of the 138 ART clinics in operation, 299 (11.3%) had died, 10 (0.4%) had stopped treatment, 268 (10.2%) had transferred out to another facility; 209 (7.9%) were lost to follow-up.
Figure 1. Number of ART clinics in Malawi and number of teachers on ART by the end of the respective quarter.
The probability of being alive and on ART at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months was 79%, 74%, 68% and 67% for men and 86%, 83%, 79% and 76% for women, respectively (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier estimates for retention of teachers in ART-program. n = 3,636; 2,575 person-years of observation.
Table 1 shows the distribution of sex, age and WHO Clinical Stage at ART initiation and the association of these factors with the probability of treatment drop-out (death, ART discontinuation or loss to follow-up) and mortality alone. Univariate analysis showed that men had a higher probability of treatment drop-out (HR 1.73) and drop-out rates were higher in teachers who initiated treatment under the age of 30 by comparison with the older age groups (using drop-out rates in teachers over 40 years as the reference group; HR 1.41). Drop-out rates were lower in teachers who started in WHO Clinical Stage 1 or 2 on the basis of a CD4-count of ≤250 cells/mm3 (HR 0.58) and higher in those who started in Stage 4 (HR 1.66). The pattern of these associations was very similar when only deaths were considered. Multivariate analysis showed that the adjusted HRs for mortality were 2.05 for men, 1.82 for the youngest age group and 1.89 for teachers who started ART in WHO Clinical stage 4.
Table 1. Distribution of age, sex and clinical stage of teachers at ART initiation and association with program drop-out (death, ART stop and loss to follow-up) and mortality
This is the first national survey of teachers on ART examining the rate of access, retention in treatment and survival on therapy. By the end of September 2006, a total of 2,643 teachers had enrolled at one of the 138 ART clinics in Malawi. The national ART clinic data did not allow re-identification of individuals who transferred between clinics. Therefore, assuming that all teachers transferred had actually enrolled at another clinic, the 268 (10.2%) cases recorded as transferred out are likely to have been double-counted in the cohort. This reduces the actual number of individual teachers who accessed ART to approximately 2,380. Since only the ART initiation dates and not the clinic enrolment dates were known, double-counting has probably also led to an overestimation of the person-years denominator in the survival analysis. The 213 person-years of observation ending in a transfer out represented 8% (213/2,575) of the total person-year denominator and the drop-out rates and mortality are therefore likely to be approximately 8% higher than estimated. However, since observation time was probably overestimated to a similar degree in all groups, the biasing effect on the hazard ratios is probably small.
As reflected in Figure 1, the rate of teachers initiating ART increased considerably with the start of the free national roll-out program and retention in ART has been good, resulting in a total of 1,850 teachers alive and in ART care by the end of September 2006. According to the Department of Education Planning in the Ministry of Education, there were 43,197 primary school teachers and 10,368 secondary school teachers in the public and private education sector in 2006. Thus, 3.5% of the country's primary and secondary teachers in 2006 were alive on ART, only two years after the start of national roll-out of free ART. The majority of these teachers accessed ART in Stage 3 or 4. Given that approximately 75% of patients in these stages in Malawi are known to die within 12 months without ART [9], the roll-out of free ART is likely to have had a considerable impact on the workforce in the education sector in Malawi.
Out of the 518 ART drop-outs, 299 were deaths, 209 were due to loss to follow-up and 10 were due to discontinuing ART. Given that the patterns of association of sex, age and WHO clinical stage at treatment initiation with ART drop-out were very similar to the associations with mortality, it is likely that many of the patients who were lost to follow-up had in fact died. Adjusting for differences in the distribution of age and WHO clinical stage, male teachers had a 73% increased probability of drop-out and two-fold increase in mortality compared to women. Among the 179 (6.8%) teachers aged 12–29 years, drop-outs were 40% higher than in the oldest group aged 40–67 years; mortality was 82% higher in the youngest group. The reasons for the poorer prognosis in men and younger teachers are unclear. Some studies in Africa have identified male sex as being associated an increased risk of death [10], [11], [12], [13], although this finding is inconsistent [14], [15], [16]. This may relate to men and possibly younger people seeking care at later stages of immunodeficiency or poor treatment adherence, and the issue requires further study.
This operational study was based on data from the routine national monitoring system and has all the limitations of this type of research. Occupation was unknown for about 5% of patients, and this may have lead to an undercounting of the number of teachers who accessed ART in the country. The effects of double counting due to the inability to track transfers between clinics can be approximately quantified. Occupation is only broadly categorised in the national M&E system and it is therefore not possible to distinguish between primary, secondary and tertiary school teachers in this analysis. Due to the recent rapid expansion of ART services in Malawi, the average observation time of the national cohort is still relatively short (median 8.6 months, inter-quartile range 3.2–17.4 months) and longer term outcomes could not be reliably assessed. We are not aware of any facilities providing ART in Malawi that are not included in this study and the analysis is likely to provide near-complete information on all teachers who have accessed treatment in the country. Malawi has established a standard, national monitoring system for ART used by all public and private sector facilities. Routine validation of data is carried out during quarterly supervision of all sites, through cross-checking of master cards and ART registers, resulting in relatively high data quality.
Without doubt, the free ART programme has already mitigated the erosion of human resources in the education sector in Malawi and this effect is likely to grow more important in the future. With the progression of the national scale-up plan 2006–2010, more of the key individuals who are providing public services in rural communities will gain access to life-prolonging ART. ART may well serve as a bridge to education for all in sub-Saharan Africa [17].
We thank all the staff of the ART clinics who worked with the study group to collect data from the ART registers and master cards. We thank the anonymous donor who supported some of the financial aspects of the study.
Conceived and designed the experiments: AH SM AJ JK MH. Performed the experiments: AH SM AJ SC JK MH JA LT ES. Analyzed the data: AH SM AJ HT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AH SM AJ JK. Wrote the paper: AH SM AJ HT SC JK MH JA LT ES KK.
1. Sachs JD, Investing in development (2005) A practical plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Millennium Project. Report to the UN Secretary General. Earthscan.
2. UNAIDS (2002) Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. UNAIDS/02.26E.
3. UNDP/ Malawi Institute of Management (2002) The impact of HIV/AIDS on human resources in the public sector in Malawi. Lilongwe, Malawi.
4. UNAIDS (2000) AIDS in Africa. Country by country. African Development Forum 2000. Geneva, Switzerland.
5. Harries AD, Hargreaves NJ, Gausi F, Kwanjana JH, Salaniponi FM (2002) High death rates in health care workers and teachers in Malawi. Trans Roy Soc Trop Med Hyg 96: 34–37.
6. Libamba E, Makombe SD, Harries AD, Schouten EJ, Kwong-Leung Yu J, et al. (2007) Malawi's contribution to “3 by 5”: achievements andf challenges. Bulletin World Health Organization 85: 156–160.
7. Libamba E, Makombe S, Harries AD, Chimzizi R, Salaniponi FM, et al. (2005) Scaling up antiretroviral therapy in Africa: learning from tuberculosis control programmes – the case of Malawi. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 9: 1062–1071.
8. Libamba E, Makombe S, Mhango E, de Ascurra Teck O, Limbambala E, et al. (2006) Supervision, monitoring and evaluation of nationwide scale up of antiretroviral therapy in Malawi. Bulletin World Health Organization 84: 320–326.
9. van Oosterhout JG, Laufer MK, Graham SM, Thumba F, Perez A, et al. (2005) A community-based study on the incidence of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-preventable infections in Malawian adults living with HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 39: 626–631.
10. Coetzee D, Hildebrand K, Boulle A, Maartens G, Louis F, et al. (2004) Outcomes after two years of providing antiretroviral treatment in Khayelitsha, South Africa. AIDS 18: 887–895.
11. Stringer JSA, Zulu I, Levy J, Stringer EM, Mwango A, et al. (2006) Rapid scale up of antiretroviral therapy at primary care sites in Zambia: feasibility and early outcomes. JAMA 296: 782–793.
12. Ferradini L, Jeannin A, Pinoges L, Izopet J, Odhiambo D, et al. (2006) Scaling up of highly active antiretroviral therapy in a rural district of Malawi: an effectiveness assessment. Lancet 367: 1335–1342.
13. Lawn SD, Myer L, Harling G, Orrell C, Bekker L-G, et al. (2006) Determinants of mortality and nondeath losses from an antiretroviral treatment service in South Africa: implications for program evaluation. Clin Infect Dis 43: 770–776.
14. Weidle PJ, Malamba S, Mwebaze R, Sozi C, Rukundo G, et al. (2002) Assessment of a pilot antiretroviral drug therapy programme in Uganda: patients' response, survival, and drug resistance. Lancet 360: 34–40.
15. The antiretroviral therapy in lower income countries (ART-LINC) collaboration and ART cohort collaboration (ART-CC) groups (2006) Mortality of HIV-1-infected patients in the first year of antiretroviral therapy: comparison between low-income and high-income countries. Lancet 367: 817–824.
16. Zachariah R, Fitzgerald M, Massaquoi M, Pasulani O, Arnould L, et al. (2006) Risk factors for high early mortality in patients on antiretroviral treatment in a rural district of Malawi. AIDS 20: 2355–2360.
17. Kombe G, Fieno J, Bhatt P, Smith J (2005) Highly active antiretroviral treatment as a bridge towards education for all in sub-Saharan Africa. International Social Science Journal 57: 609–620.
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Diagnostics Infectious Disease HIV
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Lecture: From Property to Family: American Dog Rescue and the Discourse of Compassion
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Clark Library presentation space, 2nd floor of the Hatcher Graduate Library
In the wake of the considerable cultural changes and social shifts that the United States and all advanced industrial democracies have experienced since the late 1960s and early 1970s, social discourse around the disempowered has changed in demonstrable ways. In University of Michigan Press Book Award Winner From Property to Family: American Dog Rescue and the Discourse of Compassion, Andrei Markovits and Katherine Crosby describe a “discourse of compassion” that actually alters the way we treat persons and ideas once scorned by the social mainstream. This “culture turn” has also affected our treatment of animals inaugurating an accompanying “animal turn”. In the case of dogs, this shift has increasingly transformed the discursive category of the animal from human companion to human family member. One of the new institutions created by this attitudinal and behavioral change towards dogs has been the breed specific canine rescue organization, examples of which have arisen all over the United States beginning in the early 1980s and massively proliferating in the 1990s and subsequent years. While the growing scholarship on the changed dimension of the human-animal relationship attests to its social, political, moral and intellectual salience to our contemporary world, the work presented in Markovits and Crosby’s book constitutes the first academic research on the particularly important institution of breed specific dog rescue.?
For more details visit http://lib.umich.edu/research/events
Andrei Markovits
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Arts + Culture » Film + TV
Keepin' it realcore
April Showers’s recreation of 1 Night in Paris captures the spirit of Artfully Obscene’s evening of amateur porn. “It’s a party atmosphere,” says curator Thom Fitzgerald. “Watch a dirty movie and have a beer. Laugh or make out if you want to.”
by Sue Carter Flinn
photos Rob Fournier
In the early 1990s, a group of culturally minded Haligonians ran Peggy's Queer Film & Video Festival, programming avant-garde artistic films at the now-defunct Wormwood's Theatre on Gottingen Street. Many of those films involved graphic sexual expression. And you know what? It wasn't a big deal.
Peggy's founder, internationally recognized writer and director Thom Fitzgerald, is the curator of this Pride Week's Reel Out Film Festival, now in its "Sloppy Sequel" second year. In some ways, Reel Out addresses Peggy's next-of-kin: the new generation—weaned on multiplex movie theatres that seduce with buttery pretzels and the bleep-bleeps of Dance Dance Revolution in their lobbies—as rep cinemas around North America face the wrecking ball.
"We were so accustomed to experimental work, we didn't even think about it. And not just in Halifax but all over North America," says Fitzgerald. "It wasn't a big deal to see Annie Sprinkle," the famous porn star/prostitute turned sexologist and artist, "inserting a rod into her transgendered partner's penis." But as Fitzgerald points out, a lack of suitable, consistent venues—Sprinkle simply doesn't fit in with films about pirates and robots—and an overall conservative shift in cinematic content, leaves little room for alternative programming anywhere.
Although he's obviously distressed by the general state of the commercial film industry, Fitzgerald seems optimistic about one thing: There are still creative Haligonians, who don't just want to see films that tickle sexual fantasies, they want to act and direct them, too. On Thursday night, Reel Out hosts Artfully Obscene, a night of homemade softcore and hardcore films at Bus Stop Theatre.
Homemade plus pornography. It's a show-stopper. Maybe right now you're imagining the hot guy across the street whose triceps bulge as he brings in the recycling bins, or the tattooed girl at your favourite sushi place who you're convinced brings you extra edamame. Maybe you don't want to think about what your neighbours do behind closed curtains. That's OK, too.
Fun Porn Fact #1: Realcore refers to amateur pornography that uses real people (not actors) without make-up, shot with wide angles, natural lighting and little editing. First found in the BDSM (bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism, masochism) scene in the 1980s and made mainstream by the internet and webcams, professional pornographers are now making "natural-looking" films to compete with their popular real realcore counterparts.
"I still blush talking about it, too. I didn't think that I would be talking to a journalist about porn," Fitzgerald says with a laugh. It's Friday afternoon and Halifax is aflutter with tall ships, White Stripes and Pride. Inside eMotion Pictures, Fitzgerald's production office and occasional gallery space, photos are being hung on the walls for the opening of Art: The Disposable Show, which features disposable-camera photography by Gus Van Sant, Harvey Fierstein, Alan Cumming, Bruce LaBruce, Deborah Harry, Todd Oldham and Los Angeles fetish photographer Rick Castro. These are from Fitzgerald's personal collection; he also contributed to this fundraiser for Mix, the New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film/Video Festival.
Fitzgerald jokes about the origins of Artfully Obscene. "I don't know. Did I dream it?" But he says he knew there were a few wannabe porn stars in Halifax and he wanted to bring back the open and experimental spirit of Peggy's Festival. After putting out a call for people to make films for Artfully Obscene, including a Facebook group that attracted more than 80 members, he had received a handful of entries by the July 9 deadline. "I did receive a few phone calls about late submissions—I don't know what it says about this little town of ours." In addition to local content, there will be some winners from festivals in cities such as Toronto and New York. And there will be prizes, likely for Best Fetish, Best Costumes, Best Re-enactment and Best Original Score.
"Some are sexy, some are quite comedic," Fitzgerald says rather secretively, building an air of suspense about the evening's content. He says Artfully Obscene connects to Reel Out events at Bus Stop from previous nights: On Wednesday there was a showing of the documentary Bears, the fur flying as hirsute men duke it out for the International Mr. Bear contest. On Tuesday there was the film Triple X Selects—The Best Of Lezsploitation directed by Michelle Johnson, who edited lesbian scenes taken from made-for-straight-men movies from the 1960s and '70s into a fun, campy sex romp for women. "It wasn't pornography in the 1970s but it would be today, if it was shown on television," Fitzgerald says. "It's recontextualizing what was made for grandpa, what was considered straight porn."
And there's absolutely nothing shameful about watching all these films in a public place, with your friends, lovers and strangers. "It's a party atmosphere," Fitzgerald says. "Watch a dirty movie and have a beer. Laugh or make out if you want to."
Fun Porn Fact #2: Made in Secret: The Story of the East Van Porn Collective is a documentary wrapped in a fictional drama about a group of Vancouver friends who want to make a film about a non-existent anarcho-feminist porn collective and start a "homemade grassroots pervert revolution" of indie porn films. Then, they realize they are actually going to have to make porn (or do they?) and within the structure of the doc, they film the low-budget but sexy BikeSexual. The collective not only focuses on what the images are, but do the people in them have control over how they're represented? Are they equal partners, creatively and financially?
As one of the members of the East Van Porn Collective, Professor University (a pseudonym) would agree with Thom Fitzgerald's assessment about the joys of publicly celebrating sexual expression. From Vancouver he writes, "Watching a movie with an audience changes the movie and changes the audience in a way that sitting alone at a computer can't replace. Since our movie is as much about the collective experience as it is about porn, it feels appropriate to bring people together and have them experience it collectively." Still, the collective is surprised at how the public responded to their film. "We never thought we were making an "important' movie that people really needed to see. We actually never expected anyone except our immediate friends to see it. The fact that it has played in so many festivals and connected with so many people is quite a shock to us. Thrilling, but a shock."
He also acknowledges Fitzgerald's assessment of the puritanical nature of today's commercial film industry and adds, "The other part of the equation is that the porn industry has gone to the opposite extreme and focused so exclusively on sex that it has become utterly devoid of life. Somewhere in the middle is a huge, uncharted territory where really hot sex is a part of the drama of everyday life."
Fun Porn Fact #3: Dare to be Bare is one of the only commercially available, locally made porn films on record. Shot at the Radisson Suites in 2003, this gay porn uses pseudonyms and has a cast of "16 hot small-city guys in seven scenes."
It's not difficult to imagine drag queen April Showers transforming into celebutante Paris Hilton, with her slender frame, thin nose and sly, flirty look. As part of her drag persona, April Showers performs Miss Hilton's songs "Stars are Blind" and "Turn You On" (remember when she put out a CD?) and together with pal Nicole Richie, AKA Amanda Benzova, they pay tribute to The Simple Life. In honour of Hilton's incarceration for drunken driving, Showers wore an orange prison jumpsuit on stage one night. Toss in "That's hot," and there she is, in all her notorious, haughty glory.
But there was one famous Hilton scene that Showers really wanted to recreate: 1 Night in Paris, the 2004 explicit sex tape, made with ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon, that stealthily made its way into dark rooms and onto desktop computers around the world. Memorable for its use of a night camera, Hilton pausing to check her cellphone and the litany of parodies that followed, it's an impersonator's wet dream.
"I've wanted to recreate it for a long time. I had it in my head—it would be hilarious: Paris with a penis," laughs Showers, who is also the reigning Mz. Reflections, a title she'll relinquish at a ceremony she hosts at the club on August 5. Knowing her fantasy, Lee-Anne Poole, a personal friend and Reel Out co-ordinator, contacted Showers about the Artfully Obscene event. "It took me a couple of days—am I really ready to put this out there for everyone to see? Am I really ready for that? But I knew I wanted to, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and just do it."
In preparation, Showers says she watched bits and pieces of the video. "But you can only take so much of it." She already knew the Paris character, her look, her walk, her talk. But the biggest challenge proved to be finding a willing partner to play the lover character. Showers says, "It was very, very difficult to try and find someone. Halifax being as small as it is made a huge difference, too. A couple of people cancelled. People said they would in the bar, but they were drinking and partying and changed their minds the next day."
In the end, Showers found a willing companion, who's remaining anonymous. "We had to make it so you don't see anything but their penis. It's not a direct re-enactment of 1 Night in Paris, but there are pieces that you'll recognize. I'm also trying to add in the after jail part. It's a Paris Hilton sex tape: The new one."
While Showers says modestly that the making of the video was simple—"me doing some Paris impersonations and then penis sucking," the self-proclaimed exhibitionist laughs—there is a whopper of a twist in this tale. "Oh, I mixed it up a little bit because the story ends with him finding out that Paris has a penis and storming out, and ends up with me jerking off."
Although Showers has appeared on stage wearing nothing but a wig and a fake vagina and once re-enacted having an abortion, she admits to being nervous about crowd reaction on Thursday. "I like to do things that I'd like to see done. It just happens. I'm always pushing it, but not trying to, and the people say, "I can't believe I just saw that.' If they don't leave thinking, "What the hell is wrong with you?' I haven't done my job."
Fun Porn Fact #4: In June, C'LICK ME, the second international netporn festival, took place in Amsterdam. For one day, experts, academics, activists and other speakers mused on the following: "C'LICK ME is an event to investigate Internet pornography in a non-conventional way. We are looking forward to a queer event without any rigid queer correctness (as queer doesn't always mean good porn!). We want to re-think the society of the netporn spectacle: the digital zeitgeist that has given us a hypersexual body. What to do with our bodies and digital machines? Pornography has found its way into every nook and cranny of the Internet, but how can we still be queer radicals or body artists, private hedonists or fervent bloggers in this climate? Do we still need to have a sanctified space like an underground or a dungeon, when we produce desire with our floating networked bodies? Porn went porn-chic years ago. Today netporn goes into Myspace bedrooms and everyday "realcore'."
Guang Zhu is an international student from China studying media arts at NSCAD. She heard about the call for Artfully Obscene films and decided to quickly create a stop-motion animation piece, which she calls "A Night Song."
"I wanted to do something really simple, but about sexuality as well," she says. "Simple, cute and sexy. It's not a very serious piece. It comes from a different perspective, especially when you approach it with stop-motion."
Zhu explains that while her piece is not too personal—"If it was, I would not make it"—she is now inspired to work further with themes of sexuality. She says that feminism doesn't play a big role in her content either, but her cultural background does: "I'm from China, and Halifax needs more people from different places, with different perspectives, to be part of the local art scene."
Different perspectives. Different ways of floatin' the ol' boat. Really, Artfully Obscene is anyone and everyone's show.
"It's about turning the camera on yourself," says Fitzgerald. "You either want to be out in front of the camera or behind it. That's sexual expression."
Artfully Obscene, July 19 at Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen, 8pm and 10pm, $15 suggested donation, 19+ event. Watch for Amanda Showers at various drag shows, the parade and at Friday night’s Reel Out film and performance, Wigstock, at the Tall Ships Quay, 9pm, $10 suggested donation. The Disposable Show at eMotion Picture Gallery, 5182 Bishop, to August 11. www.halifaxpride.com
Sue Carter Flinn is special issues editor at The Coast, but she has no special issues when it comes to people expressing their true feelings.
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IIO investigative delay “unacceptable”
Yesterday the IIO’s Chief Civilian Director (CCD) Ron MacDonald released his conclusions into the circumstance of a police involved fatal shooting near Slocan, BC on October 13, 2014.
Yes you read that right, 2014.
The Commanding Officer of the RCMP in BC, Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr promptly released a statement decrying the long delay.
“The protracted nature of this review is unacceptable,” she said.
The incident involved a manhunt in the mountains of the back country near Slocan, the town itself in lockdown for nearly five days. Think of it as a mini-Boston in the hours after the marathon bombings. Where this started was the police attending a rural location to investigate a dispute/possible assault call. They were met with an armed man who exchanged shots with police and fled into the back country.
She continued, “This was a dynamic and dramatic series of events that has forever changed the police officers involved, a community and a family which lost a loved one. The techniques used and the resulting time delays in determining the circumstances compounded the trauma and severely limited the ability of many to move forward. The police officers were consistent in their participation in the IIO BC investigation and remained professional throughout the lengthy process. However, the delays have contributed unnecessarily to a state of extended uncertainty and stress that could have been avoided.”
In his final report on the case, MacDonald, the newly appointed CCD said this: “This investigation has taken an unfortunate length of time. This resulted from operational pressures within the IIO, the complexity of the evidence, and the necessity of seeking and awaiting several expert reports. Overall the process took much longer than anticipated. Throughout, the emphasis was placed on attempting to uncover all relevant and reliable evidence before reaching a conclusion. In addition, this case required continual diligence to avoid a premature conclusion based on incomplete evidence.”
He goes on, “While it is unfortunate that the delays experienced during the course this matter left Officers 1 and 2 (the ERT officers) and the family of AP (Affected Person) in a state of uncertainty for over three years, at the end of the day I consider that the final result herein is the correct one.”
The main part of the problem, in reading the report, was an error made by the primary pathologist who conducted the autopsy. He mistakenly identified an exit wound in the back as an entry wound and the entry wound in the neck as an exit wound. This did not corroborate what the RCMP members said happened.
In a nutshell, that would have suggested the suspect had his back turned to the ERT officer who fired the fatal and only shot. Yet the reverse totally corroborated their version of events.
The family had their own pathologist review the case and he came to a different conclusion which wound as entry and which was exit but initially the family would not share the report with the IIO.
That prompted a review by another pathologist hired by the IIO. Evidently, he concluded that in entry wounds there exists a micro-tearing of the skin which is the actual entry wound and this tearing was present in the neck wound which made that the entry wound and corroborated the statement made by the ERT officer to the IIO.
The other problem is the first pathologist said the wounds were caused by a “small calibre bullet with a low velocity.” Well, except the RCMP ERT use a Colt M-16 which fires a larger calibre 5.56X45 mm NATO bullet at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per second, hardly a “low velocity.”
To be fair, a pathologist in that part of the world likely doesn’t see a lot of GSWs. (Gunshot wounds) Which also begs the question, given the dichotomy on their hands, why wouldn’t they seek a review by a more experienced pathologist who sees lots of GSWs?
To their credit, the IIO recognized the problem and sought the review of another pathologist. Not to their credit they waited from October 2014 until August 2017 before they did this. Why is anyone’s guess.
In the interim they also hired a biomechanical engineer to try and determine the position of the suspect when shot. In my opinion, this not only overly complicated things but contributed much to the delay of the investigation.
At the end of it all, they new CCD came to the right conclusion and issued his report clearing the ERT officer who fired the fatal shot. But the delay, as Butterworth-Carr said, is unacceptable.
MacDonald seems to recognize this and since he started he has concluded 16 investigations hanging around from 2015, 2016 and 2017. He has also referred two files to the Criminal Justice Branch to determine if any criminal charges are applicable.
That’s very promising and diametrically opposed to what we have come to expect from the IIO.
When I asked the IIO for comment on all of this, Marten Youssef, the Director of Public Engagement said, “The CCD chose to let his decision speak for its self and therefore didn’t issue a separate statement. As CO Butterworth-Carr said, her and the CCD have been in contact in the past on this matter and he shares her view on the length of this investigation. This was also expressed in the decision.”
When asked about the sea change in concluding files, Youssef said this, “As for the change at the IIO, there is no doubt it is being spearheaded by Ron and his leadership. That said, the CCD is a firm believer that the change is a result of the collective effort and hard work by staff. He has also stated that he is devoting his focus to improving the future of the IIO as opposed to being defined by the past.”
That is encouraging.
@primetimecrime
Tagged with IIO, investigation, police, RCMP, shooting
More positive signs of change at the IIO
Earlier this week the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) released a report that analyzed their investigation in the Nov. 8, 2012 police involved shooting at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster by Delta Police Cst. Jordan MacWilliams. The analysis was conducted by retired RCMP Supt. Doug Kiloh who has much Major Case Management (MCM) experience but he also had expertise in ERT tactical procedures. Which, I might add, no one involved in the actual investigation had.
On October 20, 2014 MacWilliams was charged with second degree murder. The charges were finally stayed on July 14, 2015.
Regular readers will know that much has been written on this case in which I was very critical of the IIO’s investigation and questioned their competence in many aspects and on many occasions.
The Delta Police Association wrote a letter of complaint to the IIO essentially saying their investigation was flawed and also questioned their competence. The IIO, to their credit, then commissioned the review by Kiloh.
Kiloh’s 15 page report is very critical of the IIO but does note that in the intervening time a number of things have changed. But he also makes a number of recommendations involving training, investigative techniques, evidence management, MCM protocols and enhanced training.
Kiloh also focused on two salient events from the IIO investigation. One was that investigators never spoke to the female taken hostage that morning. I surfaced her and interviewed about six months after the charge was laid against MacWilliams. I also surfaced the fact that the IIO never asked casino security for their video. Casino security burned a DVD for the New Westminster police and the coroner. They got their copies but the IIO never asked.
When I asked why the IIO never bothered to touch these basic but critical things to understand what happened, I was told that the IIO doesn’t concern themselves with what led up to the Affected Person’s interaction with police but just the actual interaction. I was stunned.
Well, evidently Kiloh was equally stunned. He deals with these failures and others in his report.
The new Chief Civilian Director, Ron MacDonald, put out a statement corresponding with the release of the Kiloh report. In it he said, “I have accepted the conclusions and recommendations outlined in his report, which is attached, in their entirety.” He goes on to say than many of the recommendations have already been undertaken.
He then said this: “As the Chief Civilian Director of the IIO, I am focused on ensuring our investigations are carried out in as excellent and timely a manner as possible. We will always work to improve where necessary. This report and our response to it is an example of how the IIO is prepared to receive feedback and acknowledge weaknesses, recognize the need to improve, and make the needed changes.”
Well, that’s diametrically opposed to the first CCD, Richard Rosenthal
Considering the new CCD said he accepted the conclusions and recommendations “in their entirety,” I sent the following question yesterday to Marten Youssef, the IIO’s Director of Public Engagement:
If, in fact, the IIO accepts the report and recommendations “in it’s entirety,” that leads me to a very salient question. In the Starlight Casino investigation I surfaced the female hostage who was not interviewed by the IIO and the fact that casino security had burned a DVD of all of their video for the IIO but was never asked for it. Kiloh refers to both these matters as failings.
At the time when I questioned these things I was told by the IIO, I believe it was you, that was because the IIO was only interested in the limited focus of the police interaction with the Affected Person and not in circumstances that led up to that interaction.”
Youssef forwarded that enquiry to the new CCD who responded himself.
Here is his pasted response intact:
I have reviewed your email regarding the report about the Starlight Casino shooting. That report is about a five year old investigation, and the report notes several issues with that investigation. While it was important for us to release the report to publicly acknowledge those issues, and to demonstrate transparency to the public, at this point my goal is to focus on the approach the IIO takes going forward.
In that sense you refer to the fact that the whole of the circumstances of an incident ought to be relevant in our investigations, not just the immediate interaction between the police and the AP.
To put it simply, I agree with you, and that is indeed the approach we take in our investigations. Not only can that context assist in an assessment of police actions, it will help explain the entire fact situation to the public.
I hope that addresses your questions.
Well, well. Rosenthal never responded to my questions in his four years as CCD, let alone admit I was correct on any issue let alone such a salient one.
There are positive winds blowing at the IIO with this new guy at the helm.
One last point, Earlier today the Criminal Justice Branch released a report saying there would be no charges in an event at West Shore RCMP jail in which the arrestee, very drunk, was fighting with three members and taken to the floor when she sustained an injury. The whole thing is on video as you might imagine.
This occurred four years ago and the decision was only released today. Four years. The new CCD talks about timely investigations. Clearly this was not a priority of the previous administration. So, far he is talking the talk and walking the walk with two recent events that have taken place since he assumed the mantle were cleared in two months and one month respectively.
There were a couple more in the past couple of weeks. We shall see how the new IIO does with those.
I’m hopeful right now that MacDonald has forced the IIO to turn a corner. Early signs are promising.
Tagged with casino, crime, IIO, investigation, justice, leadership, police, training
Political revenge or justice?
Last week the RCMP announced a single charge of Breach of Trust by a public official against Vice Admiral Mark Norman, the former second in command of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The investigation was conducted by the RCMP’s National Division, the section responsible,ostensibly, for “sensitive and international” investigations. This is the same section that conducted the investigation of Senator Mike Duffy in the Senate expense scandal. The problem is that it reeks of politics and seems to have little to do with justice.
Norman had in his portfolio oversight of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy which was intended to be the replacement of the Protecteur class of naval supply ships. While the project had been underway for several years, a series of incidents led to the premature decommissioning of the HMCS Preserver and the HMCS Protecteur in 2014.
The government of Stephen Harper understood the problem of not having our own naval supply ships. There aren’t any gas stations in the middle of any ocean. That meant our navy was limited in how far our ships could travel. The navy scrambled and rented a supply ship from the Chilean navy for the Pacific, but that was a limited arrangement. They were in the process of negotiating with Spain for a supply ship for the Atlantic coast but that never came to fruition.
The Harper government changed contracting regulations that allowed them to do a sole-sourced contract when operational necessity merited. They then entered into an agreement with Davie Shipyards to convert a cargo ship, the MS Asterix, purchased by the shipyard, into a supply ship that would bridge the gap while Seaspan Shipyards in North Vancouver was building the replacement “Joint Support Ships.”
So far, so good. But the Harper government lost the election that year and the country was, yet again, blessed with a Liberal government. Those of us with memory of the last Liberal government recall the absolute cock-up they made of the Sea King helicopter replacement program. Their mismanagement, or should I say political corruption, cost the taxpayers $500 million in penalties for the cancellation of contracts put in place by the previous Conservative government of Brian Mulroney.
The Sea King replacement project began in 1983 and was well on the way until the Tories lost the 1993 election and the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien won. One of their first actions was to cancel the Sea King replacement contracts. To say that decision was simply political and blatantly stupid would be an understatement. There are still Sea Kings in operational use by the Canadian navy. They were old when Mulroney launched the New Shipboard Aircraft Project in 1985 for God’s sake. Navy pilots describe the Sea Kings as “10,000 nuts and bolts flying in loose formation.”
Not to be outdone, the government of Justin Trudeau, as one of their first acts decided to cancel the contract with Davie Shipbuilding after receiving communications from Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast requesting the cancellation of the contract and opening it up to bids from other shipyards. Naturally, the Irvings through their group of companies are huge donors to the Liberals historically. So Trudeau and the Liberals, as is their wont, decided in Cabinet to do exactly that. In their world the good of the country falls behind what is good for the Liberals.
Needless to say, Norman, was frustrated by that. He is alleged to have engaged in a series of communications with Davie Shipyards about the problem. The information was somehow leaked to the media and the ensuing uproar caused Trudeau to retreat on the decision.
The project went ahead and as we speak, the HMCS Asterix is undergoing sea trials. All’s well that ends well one might think. But no, Trudeau called in the RCMP and Norman was suspended by the Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance pending investigation.
The RCMP raided Norman’s home as well as Davie Shipyards and a myriad of other places and organizations in Canada as well as the US resulting last week with the announcement of a breach of trust charge against Norman. Stunning.
Norman has an unimpeachable record of service to the nation. And let’s be realistic, to penalize a man like that suggesting he leaked something, given that leaks are the capital of government, journalists and lobbyists, simply smacks of revenge.
Clearly Norman, by all accounts, frustrated by political interference, did whatever he did in the best interests of the country. It is also useful to note that Section 122 of the Criminal Code was designed to rout out corruption by public officials, typically for those who make decisions meant to benefit themselves or associates. There is no apparent evidence, at least in the public domain, of any such benefit sought by Norman in any of this. Now, maybe the RCMP unearthed something like that in their investigation, but of that, I am very sceptical.
Adding to all of this, Trudeau, not once but twice, in the past year, before the investigation was concluded and the charge laid, stated this matter would inevitably end up in court. How in the world would he know that? Well, there is certainly historical precedent of the PMO interfering in an RCMP investigation. Project Sidewinder during the Chrétien administration quickly leaps to mind.
No, this smacks of political revenge and crushing someone who defied the Liberals.
Norman is not a wealthy man after a career in the military. Some folks who served with him have set up a GoFundMe account to help with his legal bills trying to fight the might and deep pockets of the Crown.
Tagged with crime, justice, Liberals, police, politics, RCMP
Positive signs of change at the IIO
This past month the new Chief Civilian Director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) Ronald J. MacDonald released a report into an incident in which a man died of a self-inflicted pellet rifle shot during an encounter with Burnaby RCMP. The incident occurred on December 20, 2017. The report was released on February 20, 2018 just two months after the event.
In the IIO’s five year history this has never occurred. They have been averaging 18 months from date of incident to investigation completion and report issued. This has certainly been a bone of contention with me and others critical of the organization.
Just a month ago at the Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Tony Du, the IIO came under criticism for taking so long to complete that investigation. They said they were essentially done after 11 months but had to wait an additional 7 months for ballistics. Huh?
Why they would need ballistics testing in a VPD officer involved shooting in which only one officer fired his service weapon? He said it was him and gave a statement. This is not a stone-cold whodunnit. The IIO had the weapon, the brass and the remaining bullets in the magazine. What’s to test to examine the facts of the shooting?
Du was a distraught man swinging a 2X4 at police at 41st & Knight St. in traffic. VPD trying to deal with him fired multiple bean bags rounds at him but that didn’t stop him. As he advanced towards the police swinging the 2X4 he was shot and later died of his wounds.
The officer who fired the fatal shots didn’t hide anything and gave a statement outlining the circumstances outline why he fired.
The only questions to answer in this investigation were 1) Was the officer entitled to use force and 2) was the force used reasonable or excessive. That’s it. But the IIO in the past always tried to turn what should be relatively simple matters into convoluted investigations taking months and years for what should take a competent investigator weeks.
It was for these reasons that the Ministry announced the award of three contracts last August to have experienced police officers revamp and augment the training IIO investigators received. I was optimistic this was a good sign.
Unfortunately, the first time the training was delivered at the Justice Institute one of the instructors, retired VPD Inspector Les Yeo, encountered resistance and condescension from the IIO participants. Comments like, “That’s not how we do things” were made. Well, Sparky that’s actually the point of giving training by someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
Yeo spent years in Strike Force, Major Crimes and in the wake of the 2011 Stanley Cup riot he led a team of investigators putting together over 300 criminal prosecutions of riot participants. He was also board certified as a Team Commander in the Major Case Management model the IIO claims they follow but have no one with that same certification.
On the final Friday of Yeo’s course, he staged a mock coroner’s inquest with an actual coroner and an actual lawyer acting as counsel for the coroner. Yeo set up a set of circumstances for the inquest which mirrored an actual event in which Yeo himself was shot before he was able to return fire on the armed robbery suspect who later died as a result of police fire.
During the exercise the IIO investigator playing Yeo’s role in the shooting inquest essentially mocked the actions taken by Yeo and yes, he was offended and angry at the anti-police attitude displayed by the IIO investigators.
But it was more than just Yeo. At least half of the instructors were dismayed by the attitude displayed by the IIO attendees during the course of the month-long training. Yeo has since had a meeting with members of the JIBC and the IIO in which he informed the IIO that he was no longer interested in doing any training for their staff.
I should note the new CCD had not yet taken office when this training occurred.
I contacted the IIO’s Director of Public Engagement and Policy, Marten Youssef for comment. To my surprise I received a reply from the new CCD. He acknowledged the problem saying, “The issues were addressed managerially with an emphasis on the sensitivities at play. In addition, discussions have been held between Gayle (Chief of Investigations), JIBC representatives and the instructor. I am advised that on behalf of the IIO, Gayle acknowledged the issues raised as perceived by the instructor and assured the Instructor and JIBC representatives the IIO does not tolerate inappropriate behaviour and attitude.”
“Further they were advised and I can confirm, the issues were dealt with managerially,” said McDonald. The CCD referred to the mocking incident as a “poor attempt at humour.”
In the past five years since the inception of the IIO and despite much criticism in this space I never heard a word from the previous CCD including when I called for his termination. He never admitted any fault nor attempted to explain the actions of the IIO.
Just yesterday the IIO announced there would be no charges in the case of an RCMP officer who stopped a car for erratic driving on Hwy 1. The driver, while the officer was in his patrol vehicle writing tickets for the incident, got out of his vehicle and leapt into the path of oncoming traffic sustaining significant injuries. The incident occurred on February 5th, 2018. Yes, you read that right. Just a month ago.
The new CCD even went as far in his report to say the officer involved was “professional in his dealings” with the affected person. Those words would never have been uttered by the former CCD, Richard Rosenthal, who displayed nothing but contempt for the police.
This is unprecedented in the history of the IIO and I truly hope a positive sign of change with the new management of the police oversight agency. But we shall see.
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P. O. Box 121 Stockholm, ME 04783-0121 vhardacker@gmail.com
Vaughn C. Hardacker
ABOUT VAUGHN
VAUGHN’S NOVELS
All titles available through online booksellers
FINALIST 2015 MAINE LITERARY AWARDS
When a sniper kills four people on Boston Common, Boston homicide detective Mike Houston and his partner Anne Bouchard are sent to investigate the case. Amidst the blood and terror, Houston discovers similarities, likenesses—the killer’s positioning, his choice of victims, and his code of ethics—between the crime scene and his own training as a US Marine scout and sniper. And with the staging of the scene set for prime shock value, Houston has to wonder what it is this murderer intends to accomplish.
The connection is confirmed in the worst possible way when the sniper strikes again, this time killing Houston’s ex-wife, severing what’s left of the bond between Houston and his estranged daughter, Susie. It’s personal now, and as the death toll rises, Houston and Bouchard will stop at nothing to find the cold-blooded sniper who’s making a mockery of their department. In a final gesture of cat and mouse depravity, the killer kidnaps Susie, luring Houston to an island on a remote lake in Maine for a deadly, sniper-to-sniper showdown.
THE FISHERMAN
After tracking down a crazed sniper last year, homicide detective Mike Houston opted to leave Boston for the isolated mountains of Maine. He adjusted nicely to chopping his own firewood, relaxing in his log cabin, and simply enjoying the solitude of the mountains. But then his former partner, Lt. Anne Bouchard, pays him a visit and dangles the words serial killer in front of him. And suddenly he finds himself back in the game beside her—though not “officially.”
Desperate for money to get her next fix, Cheryl Guerette, a known prostitute and heroin junkie, was last seen climbing into the car of an unknown John. Bouchard suspects that nameless John is a serial killer she’s been hunting—a man known to the BPD as The Fisherman. The suspect has been snatching homeless women and prostitutes off the streets from Portland to Boston, and Bouchard needs Houston if she’s going to catch him.
Against Houston’s better judgment, Bouchard also turns to mob boss Jimmy O’Leary for advice. Not only does O’Leary have a hand in most of the crime that occurs in Boston, but he also knows a few Russian bosses and pimps who are angry that their employees are no longer on the job. With help from the darker side of Boston, Bouchard and Houston hope to locate The Fisherman before it’s too late for Cheryl and his other victims.
When poor little New Hampshire rich girl Mindy Hollis gets lost in Los Angeles, her big sister hires private detective Ed Traynor to find her. Traynor and Hollis’s security chief, Jack McMahon, take off for Tinseltown to track down the aspiring actress – but they discover the only part she ever got was the one that killed her.
Their hunt for her killers takes them from the bowels of Mexico City to the glitz of Los Angeles, north to the set of The Black Orchid in Vancouver, and then back again to Hollywood, where the angels are dying in the dark. It’s up to Ed and Jack to save them before the film fades to black.
REVIEW OF WENDIGO
Algonquin legend tells of the Wendigo, an evil, cannibalistic spirit reborn in winter to possess and punish mankind. For John Bear, the Wendigo is merely a scary story his grandfather used to tell him. Until a local man is found dead in the deep northern woods of Maine, butchered like an animal with his heart cut out. The only tracks are massive footprints that can’t possibly be human. John is sure that what’s stalking the inhabitants of their remote outpost is a Wendigo, even if no one else believes him. When they finally do, it’s going to be too late.
When Private Investigator Ed Traynor is summoned to a remote spot in the New Hampshire woods by his old friend County Sheriff Buck Buchanan, he’s puzzled. Since leaving the force, Buck has never called him to a homicide scene before. But when he arrives, Ed learns that the victim is his brother, John. Though there was no love lost between them, Ed vows to find and catch the killer and get justice for his little brother.
The hunt leads Ed to New England’s biggest drug kingpins, the Escobar brothers. Navigating a world where allegiances are up for grabs and motivations are never clear, his every step towards the truth could be his last.
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October 31, 2015 UncategorizedGone home, Video gamesmaistrechat
Gone home isn’t a book, but it is a novel. Sort of. Kind of. It’s a video game, except that it’s not.*
So I’m going to break out of my normal medium and do a video game review. Because I think it’s important. Yes, Gone home has already generated enough blog posts to circumnavigate the globe, but I haven’t done one yet and a blog is nothing if not an inherently self-centered platform.
*I don’t actually buy this argument in the slightest. It’s absolutely a video game. I’ll address this later on.
Brief plot summary
It is, culturally, the height of the 1990s. You play the role of Caitlyn Greenbriar, a new college graduate returning home from their European adventure. Your great-uncle died while you were away your family has inherited his mansion and moved in. So you arrive on the doorstep of your home, where you have never been. But the door is locked. Nobody appears to be home. A note is pinned on the door: from your younger sister Sam, it says not to go looking for her.
It’s amazing and I love it. More than it probably warrants, honestly. I think it’s great and I wish there were more games like it.
I love Gone home because it is smart, touching, and definitely more than the sum of its parts. I don’t think any other game can present the same experience because every tiny element of the game fits so perfectly with everything else that even presenting an identical game with a different story wouldn’t work.
So I’m going to break things down a little more to get into a little more detail and really analyse why I think Gone home is so good.
If you’re not interested in my bloviating feel free to skip to the Recommendation part.
I love Gone home because of the game’s story as much as anything else. It’s pretty common to claim that there’s not a lot of replay value here – that once you’ve “finished” the book, as it were, there’s little else to get from it. I’m the type of person who rereads books constantly, so for me knowing the ending (which is only shocking in that the worst doesn’t actually happen) doesn’t detract from the experience.
Caitlyn is not the main character of the story. Yes, she’s the player character, but the real main character is her younger sister Sam. There are at least three other stories being told here, but Sam’s is the only one that gets the voiceover treatment so it’s the one that has garnered most of the attention and is the one that has also attracted most of the criticism. There’s a story here about each one of the family members, and while there are plenty of intersections and each story does influence the others, but each character does have their own life. The player has to figure out these other stories on their own but they are, nonetheless, powerfully told.
Gone home is a game that firmly understands its limitations. There’s a Cat & Girl strip about how great works of art are frequently great not because they push the boundaries of their form but because they understand the boundaries so well that they create works that feel transcendent because there’s no conflict between the limitation of the form and the intended experience.
Gone home takes place in a single home in the 1990s. In many ways, the Greenbriars live in the Platonic ideal of a “1990s White American Family Home”. Houses, by their very nature, are accretions of the various decades they have lived in. While that’s somewhat evident in Gone home, the vast majority of the details point to the popular conception of what the 1990s were in the Pacific Northwest.* Growing up during that time period there’s so much that’s so familiar, it’s great at evoking a sense of nostalgia. I’ve read comments from people who didn’t grow up during that time, whose childhoods were nothing like those of the Greenbriar children, who claim that the game made them nostalgic as well. (I’ve also read from people saying that their differing experience was an obstacle from totally “getting into” the game.)
To link the above two paragraphs: the way the story is told only works in a believable way because of the setting. If the year was any later the ubiquitous arrival of digital technology would destroy the letters and notes that serve to trigger the story. Without the storm the interactive limitations would start to become too evident. A couple of years later and the various mixtapes scattered around the house would be CDs, and eventually would disappear entirely. It’s one of the reasons I remain somewhat skeptical of moving to digital-only media, as it’s so ephemeral we risk losing huge swathes of our cultural patrimony.
There’s an explanation for everything in the game, and nothing feels like a post-hoc justification. The eccentricities of the house are there for reasons, and part of the joy of the game is figuring out those reasons. What’s especially impressive is that it feels like the house pre-exists the game. The mysteries are there not because they were created for the game, but because the house existed and the game formed around it. It’s one of the most effective explorations of a space, both the physical space of the house and the psychological space of a family that I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve played all the way through Gone home four times now – it’s a relatively quick game (and it’s possible to get to the credits within five minutes – you just miss most of the experience) and I’m looking forward to playing it again.
*There are definitely some important things from the decade that don’t show up. That’s why I qualified it as “White American Family Home” rather than just “1990s Home”. I’ll deal with this issue a little more later.
The “game” (or lack thereof)
Gone home got a lot of criticism for not being a game. I’m not really sure why people seem to think that. You control a character and their interactions with a fictional world. The Ace attorney series isn’t any less linear, and Gone home’s most vocal critics don’t seem to have any issues with Phoenix Wright “not being a game”. That there’s no way to lose doesn’t really matter. In some ways, Gone home is significantly more of a game than the vast majority of games in the visual novel genre – you at least have to move your character around. As a result Gone home got dubbed a “walking simulator” but that’s still more interaction than you get out of a visual novel.
It’s an interesting game partially because of the way it takes the control scheme and POV of a First Person Shooter and uses them in a game that is not only completely nonviolent but where it’s impossible to lose. The first person view is not that uncommon in nonviolent games – see Myst for the most commercially successful example that I can think of – but it is interesting the way that Gone home goes a step further and adopts the control scheme and interactive mechanics of the FPS while eliminating the gun.
What’s especially interesting is that there are puzzles. Even outside the puzzle of figuring out the other family members’ stories, there are safe combinations to find or deduce, doors to unlock, and secret routes to discover. That the puzzles aren’t particularly difficult doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Not every game needs to be mentally taxing. Playing Gone home is a meditative experience.
The integration of player behavior into that characterization
One thing that goes overlooked is that Caitlyn Greenbriar is NOT a blank slate. Every action the player takes is explained in-game. It’s a cute trick but it’s one I wish I saw more often. Things that you don’t normally think about in the context of a video game – turning off the lights when you leave a room, for example, are contextualized as things that Caitlyn does normally. In fact, there’s a jarring moment that I keep seeing people complain about where Caitlyn actively puts an item down and refuses to pick it up again. Every other item in the house, from cushions to pens, you can pick up and examine. This one item the game will only let you pick up once – and it doesn’t even let you examine it for long. It’s a cute way of playing with the player – they think that their in-game avatar is obeying them when they discover that it’s actually the other way around.
Other games do this too, but it virtually always ends up being in the context of violence. “You were shooting all those people and you thought it was just because that’s the way the gameplay works but your character was actually [an unrepentant murderer|being mind controlled|trapped in their own fantasies]!” Gone home removes that and as a result it’s a more interesting statement, to my mind.
The sense of unease
People keep claiming that Gone home was marketed as a horror game – I certainly never saw any of that. But it’s undeniable that there’s a metagame going on here. It’s a game that actively draws on horror tropes and plays into the player’s knowledge of those tropes. Someone who had never seen a scary movie or played a scary game probably wouldn’t notice, but the way the game plays with player’s perceptions to create a sense of unease helps to put the player in Caitlyn’s shoes. There are so many moments of mystery, where it’s not really clear what is going on, that even up to the final moments of the game you’re never quite comfortable.
It’s made all the stronger by the fact that the explanations are all there. If you pay attention you can find out why the lights are flickering (is it the ghost of uncle Oskar or is there a mundane explanation?). That doesn’t make it less creepy and the first time through there were times where I was actively frightened.
Gone home is great. I love it and I recommend it widely. It’s a great game for fans of visual novels and interactive storytelling. I frequently go back to the idea of recommending “gateway” genre novels to non-genre fans. Gone home can serve the same purpose with video games. It’s not a visual novel, it’s definitely a game, but the story is a novel one.*
*Sometimes I enjoy my own jokes a little too much.
On the legitimate criticism
By “legitimate criticism” I mean criticism that doesn’t center around whether Gone home got unfairly high review scores despite being “not a real game” because of the elaborate left-wing conspiracy between game journalists and feminists. Also, criticism that doesn’t center around a story that is trying to “push [thematic material that certain politico-religious groups find objectionable]”.
Much of this criticism ends up becoming meta-criticism (i.e. “Gone home is not a perfect recreation of the 90s like [critic] stated because it’s yet another story about an upper-middle class white family). I’ve seen some of this criticism levelled against the game itself – and it’s true. For all that the Greenbriar house attempts to be the Platonic ideal of a 90s home there’s no sign of Biggie or Tupac. I can understand those critics and I think they do have a valid point but I think that runs pretty close to criticizing a game for not being something that it’s not trying to be. Gone home has a very tightly focused story. It’s definitely worthwhile to criticize games for being underinclusive but that’s really a criticism of the genre or the industry as a whole. Not every story has to be everything for everyone. That being said in the case of Gone home there’s an argument that it’s tacitly whitewashing the frequently highly visible racism of the riot grrl movement. It’s not an argument I find particularly damning of Gone home but it’s a nit that one could pick.
The other major “real” criticism is the way the plot develops. As a result anyone not wanting to know how the plot resolves should avoid reading the rest of the post after the asterisks.
I’ve seen a lot of people decry how “neatly” everything wraps up – that all of the stories have happy endings and that in the “real world” things would not have ended as well as they did. Putting aside that Uncle Masan’s story does not, in fact, end happily and that it’s pretty clear that Sam’s life is definitely not going to be easy going forward, the majority of the plot threads (and indeed, Sam’s especially) resolve on a highly sentimental note. I don’t think there’s a problem with that. The same thing happens in The right mistake, a book about racism, urban poverty, and attempting to break free of the cycle of violence and overcome a dark past – but nobody argues that Walter Mosely thinks that that’s how easy it is in the “real world”. Once again, Gone home is a meditative experience and a more “realistic” ending would almost certainly have required some sort of violence (not on the part of the player, but as it stands there’s not any violence in the narrative at all). While I was constantly worried I was going to come across the aftermath of shinjuu and the game played with those expectations very well that kind of an ending would have ruined the experience for me. So while I can understand the desire not to be overly optimistic about the fate of a survivor of child sexual abuse^ or a Queer teen in the 1990s that’s not the kind of story this is.
If you think a happy ending is somehow “lying” to the player then this will probably bother you but for me (and for plenty of other Queer and non-Queer people who have commented on this aspect of the came) it’s refreshing to see a game deal with these themes that doesn’t end tragically. It’s not that dissimilar from what Simon Callow had to say about why he liked his character in Four weddings and a funeral – at the time all of the gay characters in movies ended up dying of AIDS, and he enjoyed that Gareth was a gay character in a movie who died of Scottish dancing.
^If you haven’t played the game and are concerned: this is never mentioned and it’s not even heavily implied. It’s something you have to piece together from several very vague pieces of information so it shouldn’t be upsetting for people who are sensitive to that sort of thing (and I know I am). The developers have confirmed that is the correct interpretation of those clues.
← The boy with the porcelain blade The summoner →
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Fanfic: A guest for Christmas 05/14
18th-Dec-2016 10:55 pm
A guest for Christmas 05/14
Rate: for now G, if it changes I'll let you know ;)
Disclaimer: Written with love not for money
Summary: Guy meets guy and, well, you know how it goes....
Just remember: This is an AU, so the usual applies; Things can/will be different. Don't like it? Don't read it.
Scotty practically tumbles into the room. Kevin is right behind him. The evening had been most pleasant. The dinner had been amazing and after dinner and coffee, the family actually got together to play a board-game, something Scotty didn't believe still existed. He feels so satisfied with his life right now.
"I swear, if your mother cooks like this every day, I'll gain a lot of weight this holiday."
"Trust me, she'll cook like this every day, especially now that she knows that you like her cooking..."
"She promised to give me her recipe for that delicious mango-peach salsa."
"I know! It's frightening! Usually it's almost impossible to squeeze one ingredient out of her, but you...? You just breezed in and she gives you an entire recipe...? I'm impressed." Scotty looks a little shy, because he's not sure if Kevin is actually giving him a compliment or if he's teasing him.
As if he can guess what's on Scotty's mind Kevin adds:
"I'm serious. I'm impressed with how wonderful my family is with you and you with them... I don't mean to make comparisons, but the relationship between Gregory and my family wasn't even remotely cordial, let alone warm and caring, but with you.... I'm amazed!"
"I like your family. They're... kind." Under normal circumstances Kevin would find the word 'kind' to be insufficient, but there's something in the emphasis that Scotty puts on the word that makes Kevin say softly:
"You're not really used to people being 'kind' to you, are you? You're almost flabbergasted to be treated with some level of respect." He can see a little blush come to Scotty's face. It looks rather sweet on him.
"No. I'm not. I'm used to being useless to people. The spare-tire of the car. Since my own family dumped me, I keep trying to 'fit in' with other families, but ... I've never really found myself accepted... I'm usually 'the boyfriend of..', the 'tag-along', the 'plus 1' or 'the other half'.
Sometimes, I would get invited for a Christmas-party and people wouldn't even talk to me. They didn't know me, I wasn't part of the clan, so they didn't even try to get to know me...."
"I'm sorry. That must have been hard."
Kevin is so kind that Scotty shrugs to not show how moved he is by it.
"You get used to it. You get used to expecting the worst... When we talked about coming here, that was my thought, you know: what's the worst that can happen? That I spend another Christmas keeping myself busy and pretending that I don't notice that everyone ignores me..?
I had certainly never expected to receive such a warm welcome. It felt like a warm bath after a cold day... I know that sounds silly..."
"It doesn't..."
“You’re lucky to have such nice parents..” Scotty sighs.
“You’ll find out that my entire family is amazing. I’m the only jerk in this family.” Kevin jokes..
“I think, I’m going to find out that you’re not as big as jerk as you like to pretend you are.” Scotty laughs too
"I'm flattered that you like my family so much... I really am." Again they share a shy and nervous smile and Kevin wonders why is it so easy to talk to Scotty? He's usually rather uptight about letting his feelings show. Gregory considered too much enthusiasm a sign of weakness, so over the years Kevin had learned to subdue all his emotions.
It's only these last few months, since Gregory left him, that Kevin's been getting back in touch with himself and his emotions. From pain to anger to devastation to resignation, he had been there and done that. Once again he realizes the huge impact Gregory has had on him and that he really needs to break free from all the limitations that he had put on himself.
"So, how do we do this with the bed? Which side do you want to sleep on?" Scotty asks.
"Don't really care." Kevin looks at the bed remembering that Gregory always demanded the right side of the bed.... "Right side." He decides, but then he doesn't want to hurt Scotty's feelings either..." If you don't mind?"
"Fine with me." Scotty laughs. He has no idea what is going on with Kevin or why he keeps flipping from determination to doubt, but he plans to find out. "I'll take the left side then."
As per usual William turns the central heating down at night, so slowly the cold takes over in the room. Scotty nestles deeper under the blankets. This bed is just as wonderful as the one Kevin has at his place and Scotty would love to drown in the feeling of drifting on a cloud, yet he can't catch his sleep.
And he's not the only one apparently.
"Are you asleep?" Kevin whispers.
"No. I can't."
"Why not?"
"Dunno."
"Too cold?"
"No, I'm fine." Scotty says. "You?"
"No. Not cold. Just... This will sound so stupid..."
"I'm on the wrong side of the bed. I know it sounds stupid, but .. I always sleep on the left side."
"Then why did you pick the right side?" Scotty asks.
"I didn't want to be predictable...." Kevin answers.
"Huh?"
"That's what Gregory said to me when we broke up... That I am boring, predictable, that I was already dead, but I didn't know it yet... It hurt... He was the one who practically pushed me to be more reserved, to not do anything outrageous, always telling me that emotions are my weakness...
And then he has the audacity to tell me I'm no longer the care-free guy he used to know... It's why he prefers to get involved with someone half my age... And it's all my fault... somehow..."
Scotty blinks in the dark. What nonsense! He can hear from Kevin's whispered explanation that Kevin's is hurt and confused. And Scotty assumes it explains why Kevin likes to make choices and then doubts if they are the right ones.
"Do you want to trade places?"
"Would you mind terribly?"
"No, of course not." Scotty whispers back. Kevin turns on the light. They trade pillows and while Scotty moves to the right side of the bed, Kevin gets out and walks over to the left side. He immediately feels more comfortable.
"Are you sure you're okay with it?" Kevin asks again.
"It's okay. I don't care which side I sleep on." Scotty shrugs, but this side of the bed just feels much better straightaway. Kevin pulls up the blankets and Scotty turns off the light.
"Better?" Scotty asks in the dark.
"Much better. You?" Kevin asks in return.
"Perfect." Scotty answers and he closes his eyes. Two minutes later he's asleep.
Kevin blinks against the early sunlight that comes in through the windows. He feels warm and comfortable this way, just having Gregory so close to him and... Gregory?... Kevin blinks again. It's not Gregory, but .. Scotty. Of course, the body he feels against his own is Scotty's.
Scotty's arm is heavy on his side, but it feels good. Kevin carefully tries to turn to his back, but it wakes up Scotty unfortunately. He quickly closes his eyes, hoping that Scotty will go back to sleep, but Scotty quietly gets out of bed to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later, Kevin can hear the water running. Well, at least he's washing his hands afterwards, he thinks with a grin.
Scotty quickly gets back under the blankets, shivering from the cold. It's still dark in the room and he hopes that he can still catch some sleep. The clock tells him it's only 5.47am and that's rather early.
"It's cold outside this bed, isn't it?" Kevin asks. It's a voice in the dark that startles Scotty for a second, but then he shakes his head at his own shock.
"Yes. It is." Scotty admits.
"I'm sorry, I should've told you, but my dad always turns down the central heating system, so we sleep in cold rooms under warm blankets. He swears up and down that it's good for your health. We still beg to differ." But the hint of a smile in Kevin's voice betrays that it obviously no longer leads to heated debates.
"But don't worry. It's nearly 6. And this means that, come rain or shine, my brother Tommy goes out for a run or for some skiing. He says it wakes up his brains, so he can handle the rest of the day. He always turns the heating back on before he leaves, so he can defrost when gets home. This room will be warm within 15 minutes." Kevin explains.
"It's nice to have a brother that works better than a clock."
"Yes, it means I never have to get out and face the cold myself to turn on the system downstairs. I can always stay until 7.30. Nice and comfortable."
Scotty can't help but smile and he ducks a bit deeper under the covers. He shivers.
"Are you very cold? If you are, I can put on an extra blanket."
"No, thanks, I'll be fine, just give me a minute to warm up again."
By the time Tommy is back from his work-out, the others are up as well. It's comfortably warm at the lodge. There's the smell of warm bread and fresh coffee. The table is set and Scotty is seated next to Kevin.
"Did you sleep well, Scotty?" William asks and Scotty can only nod, because he just took a bite.
"Not too cold?" Nora now asks.
"No, ma'am, it wasn't."
"Please, call me Nora." Nora repeats what she told him last night and Scotty can't help but give Kevin a quick look, almost as if to seek the same permission from him.
"You'd better, or she'd be soooo offended." Kevin gently jokes.
"We all know that you'll be playing a couple to spite Greg, but how did the two of you actually meet?" Julia eventually asks.
"I'm working as a cleaner in the building where Kevin's office is. I always clean from 9 at night to about 1 in the morning. And it happens very often that, when I start to work, he's still there..." The words are hesitant, wondering how much he should tell about the shower-incident and Kevin feels obliged to step in.
"Scotty's face is sometimes the only friendly face I see all day. I deal with unsatisfied millionaires, disgruntled clients and whining bags of shit nearly every day. But Scotty always has a smile on his face...
Until a few days ago, when I found out that, within the space of a few days, he had lost his boyfriend, his house, one of his part-time jobs and, on top of that, his car broke down... And there I was. Just divorced, still dealing with the aftermath, in the middle of moving from 1 apartment to the other and .... I just wanted to help him, that was all..."
He speaks very casual and Scotty understands that he doesn't want to tell the real story. Not just yet anyway. And Scotty is happy with that, because he doesn't want to look like an idiot in front of the Walkers.
"I can move in, with a friend of mine, but only from the 3rd of January on, so Kevin graciously offered a room for three weeks. We were both in a bad place and 'misery likes company'... We just wanted to sulk over the holidays, I suppose." Scotty now says.
"Yeah, that would have to be Kevin." Tommy nods.
"Last night, before going to bed, you said that you believed that Kevin could actually get real feelings for Scotty. Do you still believe that?" William asks, giving Nora a tray with bread. They're in the kitchen together, just the two of them.
"Yes. And not just because I think that Scotty is cute and exactly what Kevin needs in his life after that moron of a Gregory. Plus, I'd bet my last dollar on the fact that Scotty could more than 'like' Kevin....
I just think that neither of them realises it yet.... but that is nothing that can't be fixed. They just need a little push in the right direction...."
"And you'll do the pushing?" William asks.
"With a battering-ram if I have to." Nora replies smugly.
"So, what do you think? About Kevin and Scotty?" Tommy asks his brother. Justin shrugs.
"I have this feeling that his whole plan to pretend that they're a couple is going to bite them in the ass." He says with a grin.
"I actually like Scotty." Tommy seems almost surprised by his own words.
"Me too. So much better than Gregory." Justin agrees.
"A wild rabid dog would be an improvement on Gregory." Tommy grumbles. "I also think that Kevin really likes Scotty. He wouldn't have gone out of his way to bring him here, if he hadn't.
I know we always joke that Kevin has no friends, but of course he does, yet he has never taken one of them here, except for Gregory."
"And that was disaster. Jeez, what a selfish dick that was. Kevin is better off without him. And I think that Scotty would be a good choice for him."
"It's none of our business, Justin." Tommy reminds him.
"That has never stopped us before." Justin points out.
"True." Tommy acknowledges.
"What did you think of Scotty?" Tyler asks Julia. Tommy's wife looks up from her book. She doesn't reply immediately.
"I think...." She pauses. "... I think that both Kevin and Scotty are in a bad place. They are both hurting, and they both could use some cheerfulness and kindness. And they could need a friend too.
I also think that Nora is going to stick her nose where it doesn't belong and that she will try to get those boys together, come hell or high water. But... I also think that everyone should leave Kevin and Scotty alone and let them work out for themselves what they do or do not feel for each other."
"Wow. You really thought this through, didn't you?" Tyler smiles. Julia puts her book aside. She likes Justin's girlfriend a lot and she sincerely hopes that this lovely lady will soon become her sister-in-law.
"However, I like to see them together. I like way they treat each other. Friendly, polite, caring, respectful. So different from how Greg treated Kevin."
"They'd make a lovely couple." Tyler, forever-the-romantic, sighs.
"They do." Julia agrees. "And I think that maybe, by the end of this holiday, things may be different between them."
"Can't we give them a helping hand?" Tyler thinks out loud.
"I don't think so. We should not get involved. Let them do this on their own."
"Well, I don't want to lock them up in the freezer to force them to confess their eternal love to each other with their last breath,.. that would be Nora's department. But... maybe a push in the right direction? Put them next to each other at every occasion?
Find out what Scotty likes so we can get Kevin to get it for him? Or... or... Or we could turn off the heat completely tonight, so Kevin and Scotty would be forced to snuggle even closer to each other...?" Tyler really likes that last idea.
"You're just as bad as the Walkers!" Julia laughs.
"Oh, come on, Julia, humor me. Help me figure out a way to make Plan "Get Kevin/Scotty together" succeed." Tyler begs and for a second Julia is inclined to turn it down, but then she has to admit to herself that it sounds like fun. So she takes her writing-pad and her pen.
"Let's brainstorm."
"See how you can see it better from up here? See how big it is? You wouldn't say from the front, would you?" They had climbed the slope, not far from the house, to get a better view of the house. Kevin is so enthusiastic that Scotty can't help but smile.
"It's indeed a lot bigger than I thought... Are we really going to spend Christmas here? I still can't believe it." Scotty has to ask.
"Yes, eggnog and all." Kevin answers.
"I heard Julia say that she had all the gifts, for everyone.. I .. I didn't bring any gifts or anything... I hadn't thought of it..." Scotty stammers.
"We can take care of that this afternoon. We can go into town. It's a lovely place, especially for Christmas. I still have to do my Christmas-shopping as well." Kevin waves away Scotty's concern, while Scotty makes a mental note to find out how much cash he still has on him and how much there must still be on his bank-account.
"Look, Tommy and Justin, ..." Kevin points at his brothers. "I wanna bet that they are planning something, look at how they laugh with each other."
"You get along great with them..."
"Yes. Now. When I was younger, it was a whole different thing. They were the 'real guys'... And me? I was not.."
"That has to hurt."
"I'm over it now... I broke with most of my family for about 4 years after a huge fight. Tommy was the first one to get back in touch with me... It's been better every year since then... But I still haven't forgiven them for always getting me during our snowball-fights. They'd always stuff snow down my jacket and I'd be sick the next day... "
"Well, you can get back at them now."
"No. It's always two against one and they're better than me."
"I'm here and I'll bet I'm better than they are."
"My grandfather was Canadian. At Christmas my mom would always send me to grandpa to spend time there. I was nothing but a nuisance to her anyway... My grandfather sure taught me how to throw a snowball." Scotty grins. A victorious little smile come to Kevin's face.
"You're kidding me." He has to be sure.
"No. I'm not. I can hit Tommy from here."
"I dare you."
"Back me up?"
"Naturally."
They both grab plenty of snow. And Scotty has the first throw. The snowball hits Tommy right in the neck! Kevin has no intention to be outdone and throws as well, just as Justin turns around. Purely by accident the snowball hits him plain in the face. Both men are momentarily stunned, but powered by Kevin and Scotty's laughter, they go into fight-mode as well.
Soon enough the battle-lines come closer as both duos do their best to make as many hits as possible. Scotty is indeed very good. Not just at throwing, but also at dodging them. The laughter from the four men roars in the silence outside and William and Nora are surprised to see, when they look out their window, that their three sons are having fun in a way that they hadn't had fun in quite a long time.
"I have the impression that Scotty has a very positive effect on Kevin." Nora miles, seeing Kevin and Scotty high-five when yet another of Scotty's snowballs have hit their target. Kevin's laughter makes his face brighten up, his eyes seem bluer than ever and Nora can't remember the last time she has heard him laugh so carefree.
"I'm going to warm up some milk, what those boys need is some hot chocolate when they come in. I'm sure they'll be so cold." She says. She sees Julia and Tyler watch the battle outside. They can hear the men laughing and they can't help but smile at the view as well. "Julia, Tyler, tell the boys to come in...."
Julia puts on her coat and goes outside.
"Alright, boys! Call a truce for the time being. Nora has hot chocolate." She yells.
"'Kay! No more snowballs! Time out!!" Tommy makes the sign for 'time out' with his hands and Kevin and Scotty signal they agree.
The three brothers regroup, hug and compliment each other on how well they did in their "battle". Julia can see that Tommy is exhausted, but having fun. It's been such a long time since she saw the brothers be so close to each other. She looks at Scotty, standing just a few steps away from the others and her smile fades somewhat.
The term 'on the outside looking in' comes to her mind. Scotty looks at Kevin with a smile. A proud smile. Julia and Scotty's eyes meet and Scotty looks away. As if he's afraid that he has shown too much of himself to her, but Julia isn't crazy. She has seen that little look. Scotty really likes Kevin a lot. And it's not wishful thinking on her part.
"Scotty! You too! In the house! Now!" She orders with a smile. When he's next to her, she gives him her most charming smile and she puts an arm around him. It is meant as a friendly gesture, so she acts as if it's the most natural thing for her to just put her arms around someone who's basically still a stranger to her.
She can feel him tense up under her touch, but then slowly relax. After a moment of hesitation, he carefully smiles back at her, slightly insecure and yet she knows that she has won him over. With her arm around him, they trudge through the snow, back to the house.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
Tags:2016, character - julia, character - justin, character - kevin, character - nora, character - scotty, character - tommy, character - tyler, character - william, fanfic - christmas fic, series - guest for christmas
I love the way how Kevin & Scotty confide in each other. :)
"What do you think about Kevin & Scotty?"
The big question! And everyboby seems to agree to say "they just need a little push in the right direction...."
I just think that neither of them realises it yet....
This, exactly....
Obviously, Gregory is a moron. And then I have this crazy idea that Gregory's new boyfriend could be Scotty's ex.....
Great chapter, thank you!!
You'll just have to wait and see. But it's true that Kevin and Scotty will start to trust each other more and more. :)
· Fanfic: A guest for Christmas 05/14 [+2]
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Rosemary Sayer
More to the Story - conversations with refugees
Rosemary Sayer is a writer, business communications consultant and former journalist. Her third book More to the story – conversations with refugees was published in 2015 by Margaret River Press. She has previously written two biographies including The CEO, the Chairman and the Board (2008) about Trevor Eastwood, the former chairman and CEO of Wesfarmers Limited.
Rosemary is a sessional lecturer and tutor in human rights and writing at Curtin University where she is completing her PhD about refugee life stories.
She is actively involved with a number of organisations that assist refugees and asylum seekers in Western Australia and serves on the board of the Edmund Rice Centre, a not for profit organisation that helps people from refugee and other migrant backgrounds as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Rosemary is a strong supporter of the writing sector, having served six years on the board of writingWA. She was the founder of the philanthropic group The Literary Lions and is a regular contributor to writers’ festivals in Australia and throughout Asia. She was a founding director of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and one of the inaugural patrons of the Man Asian Literary Prize.
BY THIS AUTHOR
More to the story is a powerful and timely book that reveals the voices of ordinary Australians who did extraordinary things to survive before coming to this country as refugees and asylum seekers.
Nicole Sinclair
Bindy Pritchard
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IBM's Watson Supercomputer Defeats Humanity in Jeopardy
By Ben Parr 2011-02-16 20:02:05 UTC
It's official: The machines are smarter than mankind, at least when it comes to Jeopardy.
IBM supercomputer Watson has emerged victorious against its human competition in a three-day competition between the massively intelligent machine and two of Jeopardy's greatest champions: Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.
Yesterday, the competition wasn't even close, with Watson earning $35,734 and his human competitors earning a combined $15,200. Today though, humanity — specifically Ken Jennings — gave Watson a run for its money. At one point during the third day of competition, Jennings (a 74-time champion) was up $15,000 to Watson's $11,673.
However, it wasn't even close in the end; Watson earned a total of $77,147. Jennings collected $24,000 in three days of competition, while Rutter garnered $21,600.
"I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords,” Jennings humorously wrote on his video screen, ceding the Jeopardy battle to his mechanical competitor.
For winning the three day competition, Watson will be awarded a $1 million prize. The intelligent machine won't be keeping its winnings, though; IBM will be donating the prize money to World Vision.
Watson's victory is the culmination of years of research and development for IBM. Watson calculates hundreds of algorithms simultaneously to parse human language complexities such as puns in order to find the answer through its massive database. The machine is powered by 90 32-core IBM Power 750 Express servers with a total of 16 terabytes of memory.
Topics: IBM, Jeopardy, Ken Jennings, Man vs Machine, Tech, watson
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Massachusetts judges receive report cards from MBA judicial evaluation participants
Issue December 2005 By Andrea R. Barter, Esq.
Nine months into the process, the MBA's judicial performance evaluation process suggests that the judiciary is doing "a highly satisfactory to above average job," according to the Judiciary Evaluation Committee's chairman.
"According to the evaluations we've received, the judges are prepared, ready to go on time, conduct hearings with judicial dignity and when they are done, they issue their orders promptly," says Edward W. McIntyre.
Last March, the MBA launched an online judicial performance evaluation system that enables lawyers across the commonwealth to assess the performance of the state's judges. The goal of the initiative is to improve the performance of individual judges and the judiciary as a whole.
The judicial performance evaluation system focuses on four areas: the promotion of judicial self-improvement; the enhancement of the overall quality of the judiciary; the detection of systemic issues; and the creation of continuing legal education programs to address issues. Participants assess individual judges in 19 performance areas, including impartiality, knowledge, punctuality, preparedness, communication skills, courtesy and temperament.
McIntyre bases his statements on the evaluations which show that, of the judges who have been rated, 83 percent issue orders and judgments promptly, 85 percent conduct themselves with dignity and judicial temperament, 87 percent are considered punctual in appearing for and starting sessions, and 88 percent appear prepared for those hearings.
The average rating for judges evaluated on 19 criteria is 3.8 out of 5. The criterion with the lowest rating was that of insensitivity to the cost litigation.
The MBA last conducted independent judicial evaluations in 2000. That survey, in which some 4,000 MBA members participated, resulted in a 92 percent favorability rating of the state's approximately 500 judges. The current survey will continue for a period of time to be determined by the MBA's House of Delegates and leadership.
Committee member J. Owen Todd, Todd & Weld LLP, Boston, said, "Often the type of criticism we hear from an evaluator is something the judge may be personally unaware of. It is probably a situation or characteristic that can be corrected if identified to the judge."
"Very, very seldom do we hear that somebody is a totally incompetent judge. It more frequently has to do with the appearance of impatience or bias that motivates an evaluator to file a critical report," added Todd.
The evaluation statistics have been compiled from March to October of this year and the committee has received evaluations on nearly every judicial level, from the Supreme Judicial Court to the trial court departments.
McIntyre said, "The committee is very pleased with the development of this tool and we can only hope it becomes a more frequently used tool in the culture of Massachusetts. It will take time, but we're satisfied to this point in time the tool is available and is being used."
Every judge who has been evaluated has received his or her evaluation - the actual survey, not a compilation of data. At the same time, each chief justice also received a copy of the same evaluation form for judges working in his or her department.
Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan will be given the data on a quarterly basis, and an annual report documenting the overall results of the evaluations will be published (information concerning individual judges will not be included). This report will be made available to the public and will be sent to the SJC and to the Legislature.
Confidentiality is the key
Members of the committee were aware that there may have been some reluctance on the part of lawyers to evaluate a judge if they felt there was going to be a leak of their evaluation. As a result, the committee has spent hours developing a blind system and members have themselves taken an oath of confidentiality. "From the beginning, we wanted this to be confidential," said committee member Marc Perlin, professor of law, Suffolk University Law School.
Judges' names and attorneys' names are all encrypted when they go into the system and remain encrypted. The mailing is blind as well; forms are put in envelopes marked by numbers rather than names. The form does require information on how long the attorney has been practicing and where they met with the judge, but otherwise, everyone has anonymity in the system.
"I don't know what judge's evaluation I'm looking at because of a coding. I may know the level, but not the individual judge. We can look at forms without our own biases and this way we are able to act without those pressures being put on us," said Perlin.
Todd added that it's important that no one knows who's being evaluated. "It's not being done for us, it's being done for the benefit of judges themselves and their chiefs. If a judge is performing very well or very badly or anywhere in between, that information is available to the judge himself and the judge's superiors. It's not necessary that it be available to us," said Todd.
McIntyre said, "I had a judge call me to say that he thought his evaluation was inaccurate. But if he hadn't called, I wouldn't have known he was evaluated. When he found that out, I think he was pleased there is so much confidentiality and privacy built into the system."
McIntyre said he doesn't know who the judges are who are being evaluated, "and frankly I don't want to know. But if a particular number comes up with 'seriously deficient' rating, then we will call to the MBA general counsel for the key to decrypt the identities. That would be a determination made by the committee. We would probably then contact the judge and the chief justice of that trial department. We hope that the system would self-correct and, as evaluations continued, would see a 'seriously deficient' rating improve and that would be the end of it. We have confidence that is what would happen," said McIntyre.
"This system works beautifully," said McIntyre. "Now we need lawyers to know the tool is there and use it. They have a role in maintaining an independent judiciary and improving it. Grousing about it back at the office isn't going to improve it," he added.
The MBA's 18,500 members statewide are eligible to participate online in the current evaluation process.
MBA hires Oliver as director of media and communications
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MBF awards emergency funding to bring AmeriCorps members to Mass. Legal Services
MBF contributes to Hurricane Katrina relief effort
The nonsense of judicial activism
The purpose-driven life of Judge Nancy Gertner
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The Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA) – Its time has come
Issue March 2011
Return Print This Article Download This Issue
One of the legislative priorities of the Massachusetts Guardianship Association is the enactment of the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA, the "Guardianship Jurisdiction Act").
Following the lead of the National Guardianship Association, the American Bar Association Commission on Law and the Elderly, the AARP, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Alzheimer's Association, not to mention the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations, we recognize that the Guardianship Jurisdiction Act is proposed legislation whose time has come.
Because the Guardianship Jurisdiction Act will bring clarity and predictability to guardianship cases in which more than one state is involved, and will not come with an expensive price tag, we are hopeful that it will be seen by our legislators as a "no brainer," a win-win situation benefitting incapacitated persons, their families, fiduciaries and even, perhaps especially, the courts, who now struggle with unanswerable questions.
Nationally, elder and disability advocates have written about the disturbing trends of "grandparent snatching," in which family members take elders from one state to another, often motivated by anything but the well being of the elder. The classic case is the Glasser1 case, where a grandmother was the subject of guardianship proceedings in three different states -- and her estate subject to legal fees in the millions of dollars.
It is not just the growing number of notorious cases which invite the adoption of the Guardianship Jurisdiction Act, however, but rather the recurring questions -- often without real answers -- when a guardian must move an incapacitated person from one state to another, or must chase the person who has relocated the individual and now seeks competing authority from a court in another jurisdiction. The Guardianship Jurisdiction Act, a product of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC - also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws -- NCCUSL), is designed to address the competing issues and the potential conflicts.
If adopted (as opposed to adapted) by the states involved in any given proceeding, the act will provide a welcome measure of uniformity -- everybody should be able to understand "the rules."
Problems arise in three basic areas:
Initial jurisdiction: Where to begin a proceeding when there is more than one possible court of competent jurisdiction.
Recognition of authority of fiduciary: How to convince a state court to recognize or enforce a fiduciary's authority decreed in the court of another state.
Transfer: How to move a case from one state to another
Initial jurisdiction
On the theory that only one state should exercise jurisdiction at a time, there is a preliminary determination of the individual's "home state" and any "significant connection state (or states). The home state is where the individual lived for at least six consecutive months immediately before commencement of a guardianship or protective proceeding. A significant connection state means the state in which the individual has a significant connection other than mere physical presence, or where substantial evidence concerning the individual is available.
The default is to the home state, unless it has declined jurisdiction in favor of the significant connection state. Any state in which the individual is physically present has jurisdiction to appoint an emergency guardian if an urgent situation exists.
Recognition of authority of fiduciary
Generally speaking, guardianship law is an exception to the full faith and credit doctrine, and, while most states have some process for a conservator to transact business in another state (usually an administrative filing of an order), few states have any process to recognize the authority of a "foreign" guardian. The Guardianship Jurisdiction Act authorizes registration of the order/decree in the recording office of another state.
Regardless of whether the order has been registered or not, however, the court of the other state must give full faith and credit to the order decreed by state court which took jurisdiction.
Where a transfer is necessary, instead of the current usual scenario -- the procedures of an initial appointment must be repeated -- the procedure is for two courts to enter orders, one giving up and the other taking jurisdiction of the case. The "new" court must give full faith and credit to the order of the "old" court, and jurisdiction is complete when the individual is physically located in the "new" state.
The court transferring the case must find (1) the move of the individual under guardianship is permanent; (2) there is no objection or any objection has failed to establish that the transfer is contrary to the individual's interest; (3) the plans for the individual in the new state are reasonable and sufficient; and (4) the proceeding will be accepted by the court to which the proposed transfer is to be made.
Additional selling points: In M.G.L. chapter 190B sections 5-101 et seq., Massachusetts codified the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act, so that we are familiar with the terminology of the Guardianship Jurisdiction Act. The Guardianship Jurisdiction Act is modeled after the Uniform Child Custody and Enforcement Act, which has been functioning for some time and was adopted by Massachusetts in 1983 (M.G.L. c. 209B).
Any state which has adopted the Guardianship Jurisdiction Act must recognize and enforce a guardianship or conservatorship of a foreign country where the facts conform to the act except to the extent that such an order violates fundamental principals of human rights.
Current status: As of this writing, the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act, which the Massachusetts Bar Association supports, was pending in the Legislature and expected to be reviewed by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
1In the GUARDIANSHIP OF Lillian GLASSER, an Incapacitated Person, No. 04-07-00559-CV. (Tex. App. 2009)
National Women's History Month
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Women Leaders of the MBA
MBA Centennial
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Alimony reform, courtroom cameras votes headline HOD; Chief Justice Rapoza reports on Appeals Court progress
MBA hosts discussion to preserve private bar advocates
Massachusetts pet trusts go into effect April 7
Legislation will help youth aging out of foster care
A line for a good reason
Child support orders in high income cases — searching for guidelines
How divorce lawyers (and clients) can benefit from working with mediators
An elder law litigator’s perspective
New Massachusetts Homestead Act effective March 16, 2011
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John Stufken
Charles Wexler Professor in Statistics
School of Mathematics & Statistical Sciences
E-mail: jstufken ‘at’ asu ‘dot’ edu
Ph.D. in Mathematics, with Statistics as Major, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1986. (Dissertation advisor A. S. Hedayat).
Doctoraal in Mathematics, with thesis in Mathematical Economics, University of Nijmegen (now Radboud Universiteit), The Netherlands, 1982.
Kandidaats in Mathematics, with a Minor in Physics, University of Nijmegen (now Radboud Universiteit), The Netherlands, 1979.
Positions Held:
Charles Wexler Professor in Statistics, Arizona State University, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, 2014 - present.
Head and Professor, University of Georgia, Department of Statistics, 2003 - 2014.
Program Director of Statistics, Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation, 2000 - 2003.
Assistant, Associate and Full Professor, Iowa State University, Department of Statistics, 1988 - 2002.
Assistant and Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Department of Statistics, 1986 - 1990
Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois at Chicago, Spring 1982 - Spring 1986, except Winter 1986.
Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Chicago, Winter 1986.
Graduate Assistant, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Fall 1981.
Received the “Doctoraal” degree cum laude at the University of Nijmegen.
Received a Graduate Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago for three consecutive years.
Received the M. G. Michael Award for Excellence in Research from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, 1988.
Elected to Fellowship in the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2000.
Selected as “Teacher of the Year” by the Iowa Stat-ers (the graduate student organization in the Department of Statistics at Iowa State University), 1999/2000.
Elected to Fellowship in the American Statistical Association, 2001.
Elected Member International Statistical Institute, 2005.
Rothschild Distinguished Visiting Fellowship, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, August 10 - September 9, 2011.
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Stanley Deresinski
Clinical Professor, Medicine - Infectious Diseases
Dr. Deresinski received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and received training in Internal Medicine there and at Stanford, where he also completed a fellowship in Infectious Diseases. For 3 decades, he maintained a private practice in Infectious Disease, HIV, and Travel Medicine and was Hospital Epidemiologist at Sequoia Hospital where he also served as President of the Medical Staff for 2 years. He was also Associate Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and for 14 years was Director of the AIDS Program at the Santa Valley Medical Center, a Stanford-affiliated public teaching hospital. During that time he won several teaching awards at Stanford. In 1987, he founded the AIDS Community Research Consortium, serving as its Medical Director and Chairman of the Board for almost 2 decades. He was also Site Principal Investigator for the Stanford ACTU and the California Collaborative Treatment Group and has worked on AIDS education in Kampala, Uganda. Dr. Deresinski is currently Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford and is Medical Director of the Stanford Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and of the Specialty Drugs Subcommittee. He has special interests in antimicrobial resistance, optimal antimicrobial use, fungal infections, and infections in immunocomopromised hosts.
Dr. Deresinski has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers as well as number of book chapters. He is a Section Editor of Clinical Infectious Diseases and is a past Chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Standards and Practice Guidelines Committee as well as member of the IDSA Board of Directors. He is a member of the HIVMA, in addition to a number of other societies including SHEA and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians as well as IDSA. He is a past winner of the IDSA Watanakunokorn Clinician of the YearAward.
Special interest in antimicrobial resistance, optimal antimicrobial use, fungal infections, and infections in immunocomopromised hosts.
Infectious Diseases Clinician of the Year, Infectious Diseasee Society of America (2011)
Medical Education:University of Illinois Emergency Medicine Residency (1968) IL
Board Certification: Infectious Disease, American Board of Internal Medicine (1976)
Fellowship:Stanford University School of Medicine (1976) CA
Board Certification: Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine (1973)
Residency:Stanford University School of Medicine (1973) CA
Residency:University of Illinois College of Medicine (1970) IL
Internship:University of Illinois College of Medicine (1969) IL
Clinical Infectious Disease Clinic 300 Pasteur Dr Rm L136 Lane Bldg MC 5107 Stanford, CA 94305
Curriculum Vitae DOC
Directed Reading in Medicine
MED 299 (Aut, Sum)
Early Clinical Experience in Medicine
MED 199 (Sum)
Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection in the hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient: an overview of epidemiology, management, and prevention. F1000Research Benamu, E., Deresinski, S. 2018; 7: 3
Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) is now one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections in the United States. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients are at increased risk of VRE colonization and infection. VRE has emerged as a major cause of bacteremia in this population, raising important clinical questions regarding the role and impact of VRE colonization and infection in HSCT outcomes as well as the optimal means of prevention and treatment. We review here the published literature and scientific advances addressing these thorny issues and provide a rational framework for their approach.
Infection Rates. Journal of clinical microbiology Truong, C. Y., Gombar, S., Wilson, R., Sundararajan, G., Tekic, N., Holubar, M., Shepard, J., Madison, A., Tompkins, L., Shah, N., Deresinski, S., Schroeder, L. F., Banaei, N. 2017
Health care-onset health care facility-associated Clostridium difficile infection (HO-CDI) is overdiagnosed for several reasons, including the high prevalence of C. difficile colonization and the inability of hospitals to limit testing to patients with clinically significant diarrhea. We conducted a quasiexperimental study from 22 June 2015 to 30 June 2016 on consecutive inpatients with C. difficile test orders at an academic hospital. Real-time electronic patient data tracking was used by the laboratory to enforce testing criteria (defined as the presence of diarrhea [?3 unformed stools in 24 h] and absence of laxative intake in the prior 48 h). Outcome measures included C. difficile test utilization, HO-CDI incidence, oral vancomycin utilization, and clinical complications. During the intervention, 7.1% (164) and 9.1% (211) of 2,321 C. difficile test orders were canceled due to absence of diarrhea and receipt of laxative therapy, respectively. C. difficile test utilization decreased upon implementation from an average of 208.8 tests to 143.0 tests per 10,000 patient-days (P < 0.001). HO-CDI incidence rate decreased from an average of 13.0 cases to 9.7 cases per 10,000 patient-days (P = 0.008). Oral vancomycin days of therapy decreased from an average of 13.8 days to 9.4 days per 1,000 patient-days (P = 0.009). Clinical complication rates were not significantly different in patients with 375 canceled orders compared with 869 episodes with diarrhea but negative C. difficile results. Real-time electronic clinical data tracking is an effective tool for verification of C. difficile clinical testing criteria and safe reduction of inflated HO-CDI rates.
Treatment of Hospital or Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Due to Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae: Leveraging Molecular Resistance Testing and Combination Therapy to Improve Outcomes. Clinical infectious diseases Gomez, C. A., Deresinski, S. 2016; 63 (10): 1395-1396
Bacteremia due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus New Therapeutic Approaches INFECTIOUS DISEASE CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA Holubar, M., Meng, L., Deresinski, S. 2016; 30 (2): 491-?
This article reviews recent clinical evidence for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia. Vancomycin remains the initial antibiotic of choice for the treatment of patients with MRSA bacteremia and endocarditis due to isolates with vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration ?2 ?g/mL, whereas daptomycin is an effective alternative, and ceftaroline seems promising. Treatment options for persistent MRSA bacteremia or bacteremia due to vancomycin-intermediate or vancomycin-resistant strains include daptomycin, ceftaroline, and combination therapies. There is a critical need for high-level evidence from clinical trials to allow optimally informed decisions in the treatment of MRSA bacteremia and endocarditis.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.idc.2016.02.009
First case of infectious endocarditis caused by Parvimonas micra. Anaerobe Gomez, C. A., Gerber, D. A., Zambrano, E., Banaei, N., Deresinski, S., Blackburn, B. G. 2015; 36: 53-55
P. micra is an anaerobic Gram-positive cocci, and a known commensal organism of the human oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract. Although it has been classically described in association with endodontic disease and peritonsillar infection, recent reports have highlighted the role of P. micra as the primary pathogen in the setting of invasive infections. In its most recent taxonomic classification, P. micra has never been reported causing infectious endocarditis in humans. Here, we describe a 71 year-old man who developed severe native valve endocarditis complicated by aortic valvular destruction and perivalvular abscess, requiring emergent surgical intervention. Molecular sequencing enabled identification of P. micra.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2015.10.007
First case of mesh infection due to Coccidioides spp. and literature review of fungal mesh infections after hernia repair. Mycoses Forrester, J. D., Gomez, C. A., Forrester, J. A., Nguyen, M., Gregg, D., Deresinski, S., Banaei, N., Weiser, T. G. 2015; 58 (10): 582-587
Fungal mesh infections are a rare complication of hernia repairs with mesh. The first case of Coccidioides spp. mesh infection is described, and a systematic literature review of all known fungal mesh infections was performed. Nine cases of fungal mesh infection are reviewed. Female and male patients are equally represented, median age is 49.5 years, and critical illness and preinfection antibiotic use were common. Fungal mesh infections are rare, but potentially fatal, complications of hernias repaired with mesh.
View details for DOI 10.1111/myc.12364
Norovirus CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS Robilotti, E., Deresinski, S., Pinsky, B. A. 2015; 28 (1): 134-164
View details for DOI 10.1128/CMR.00075-14
Norovirus. Clinical microbiology reviews Robilotti, E., Deresinski, S., Pinsky, B. A. 2015; 28 (1): 134-164
Norovirus, an RNA virus of the family Caliciviridae, is a human enteric pathogen that causes substantial morbidity across both health care and community settings. Several factors enhance the transmissibility of norovirus, including the small inoculum required to produce infection (<100 viral particles), prolonged viral shedding, and its ability to survive in the environment. In this review, we describe the basic virology and immunology of noroviruses, the clinical disease resulting from infection and its diagnosis and management, as well as host and pathogen factors that complicate vaccine development. Additionally, we discuss overall epidemiology, infection control strategies, and global reporting efforts aimed at controlling this worldwide cause of acute gastroenteritis. Prompt implementation of infection control measures remains the mainstay of norovirus outbreak management.
Histoplasma capsulatum Endocarditis: Multicenter Case Series with Review of Current Diagnostic Techniques and Treatment. Medicine Riddell, J., Kauffman, C. A., Smith, J. A., Assi, M., Blue, S., Buitrago, M. I., Deresinski, S., Wright, P. W., Drevets, D. A., Norris, S. A., Vikram, H. R., Carson, P. J., Vergidis, P., Carpenter, J., Seidenfeld, S. M., Wheat, L. J. 2014; 93 (5): 186-193
Infective endocarditis is an uncommon manifestation of infection with Histoplasma capsulatum. The diagnosis is frequently missed, and outcomes historically have been poor. We present 14 cases of Histoplasma endocarditis seen in the last decade at medical centers throughout the United States. All patients were men, and 10 of the 14 had an infected prosthetic aortic valve. One patient had an infected left atrial myxoma. Symptoms were present a median of 7 weeks before the diagnosis was established. Blood cultures yielded H. capsulatum in only 6 (43%) patients. Histoplasma antigen was present in urine and/or serum in all but 3 of the patients and provided the first clue to the diagnosis of histoplasmosis for several patients. Antibody testing was positive for H. capsulatum in 6 of 8 patients in whom the test was performed.Eleven patients underwent surgery for valve replacement or myxoma removal. Large, friable vegetations were noted at surgery in most patients, confirming the preoperative transesophageal echocardiography findings. Histopathologic examination of valve tissue and the myxoma revealed granulomatous inflammation and large numbers of organisms in most specimens. Four of the excised valves and the atrial myxoma showed a mixture of both yeast and hyphal forms on histopathology.A lipid formulation of amphotericin B, administered for a median of 29 days, was the initial therapy in 11 of the 14 patients. This was followed by oral itraconazole therapy, in all but 2 patients. The length of itraconazole suppressive therapy ranged from 11 months to lifelong administration. Three patients (21%) died within 3 months of the date of diagnosis. All 3 deaths were in patients who had received either no or minimal (1 day and 1 week) amphotericin B.
View details for DOI 10.1097/MD.0000000000000034
Carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. F1000prime reports Robilotti, E., Deresinski, S. 2014; 6: 80-?
The continuing emergence of infections due to multidrug resistant bacteria is a serious public health problem. Klebsiella pneumoniae, which commonly acquires resistance encoded on mobile genetic elements, including ones that encode carbapenemases, is a prime example. K. pneumoniae carrying such genetic material, including both blaKPC and genes encoding metallo-?-lactamases, have spread globally. Many carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae are resistant to multiple antibiotic classes beyond ?-lactams, including tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones. The optimal treatment, if any, for infections due to these organisms is unclear but, paradoxically, appears to often require the inclusion of an optimally administered carbapenem.
View details for DOI 10.12703/P6-80
Rare and emerging viral infections in transplant recipients. Clinical infectious diseases Waggoner, J. J., Soda, E. A., Deresinski, S. 2013; 57 (8): 1182-1188
Emerging viral pathogens include newly discovered viruses as well as previously known viruses that are either increasing, or threatening to increase in incidence. While often first identified in the general population, they may affect transplant recipients, in whom their manifestations may be atypical or more severe. Enhanced molecular methods have increased the rate of viral discovery but have not overcome the problem of demonstrating pathogenicity. At the same time, improved clinical diagnostic methods have increased the detection of re-emerging viruses in immunocompromised patients. In this review, we first discuss viral diagnostics and the developing field of viral discovery and then focus on rare and emerging viruses in the transplant population: HTLV-1; HEV; bocavirus; KI and WU polyomaviruses; coronaviruses HKU1 and NL63; influenza, H1N1; measles; dengue; rabies; and LCMV. Detection and reporting of such rare pathogens in transplant recipients is critical to patient care and improving our understanding of post-transplant infections.
View details for DOI 10.1093/cid/cit456
Utility of DNA Sequencing for Direct Identification of Invasive Fungi From Fresh and Formalin-Fixed Specimens AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PATHOLOGY Moncada, P. A., Budvytiene, I., Ho, D. Y., Deresinski, S. C., Montoya, J. G., Banaei, N. 2013; 140 (2): 203-208
Objectives: To describe and discuss the utility and potential pitfalls of ribosomal RNA locus sequencing for direct identification of invasive fungi from fresh and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens. Methods: DNA was extracted from fresh and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting ITS2 and D2 regions of fungal ribosomal RNA locus. Cycle sequencing was performed on PCR products, and the identity of sequences was determined using a public database. Results: Four clinical cases of invasive fungal infection are presented to illustrate the utility of DNA sequencing for determining etiology when microbiological culture is negative, for shortening the time to identification of slow-growing fungi, for guiding antifungal therapy, and for shedding light on the pathogenesis of disseminated fungal infection. Conclusions: Fungal ribosomal RNA locus sequencing from fresh or formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens is a powerful tool for rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with culture-negative or uncultured invasive mycosis.
View details for DOI 10.1309/AJCPNSU2SDZD9WPW
The Multiple Paths to Heteroresistance and Intermediate Resistance to Vancomycin in Staphylococcus aureus. journal of infectious diseases Deresinski, S. 2013; 208 (1): 7-9
View details for DOI 10.1093/infdis/jit136
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin: Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Matters CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2012; 54 (6): 772-774
View details for DOI 10.1093/cid/cir932
Guiding Clinical Care through Evidence-Free Zones CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2010; 51 (10): 1157-1159
View details for DOI 10.1086/656736
Immunotherapies for Staphylococcus aureus: Current Challenges and Future Prospects 5th Decennial International Conference on Healthcare Associated Infections Deresinski, S., Herrera, V. UNIV CHICAGO PRESS. 2010: S45?S47
Development of an effective vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus would provide great potential public health benefit. We present a brief overview of the current knowledge in this field, with emphasis on present challenges and lessons learned, together with a summary of vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations currently under investigation.
Vancomycin in Combination with Other Antibiotics for the Treatment of Serious Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2009; 49 (7): 1072-1079
Vancomycin is often combined with a second antibiotic, most often rifampin or gentamicin, for the treatment of serious methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. Published data from experiments evaluating these and other vancomycin-based combinations, both in vitro and in animal models of infection, often yield inconsistent results, however. More importantly, no data are available from randomized clinical trials to support their use, and some regimens are known to have potential toxicities. Clinicians should carefully reconsider the use of vancomycin-based combination therapies for the treatment of infection due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus.
Expert Opinion: What To Do When There Is Coccidioides Exposure in a Laboratory CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Stevens, D. A., Clemons, K. V., Levine, H. B., Pappagianis, D., Baron, E. J., Hamilton, J. R., Deresinski, S. C., Johnson, N. 2009; 49 (6): 919-923
Inadvertent exposure to Coccidioides species by laboratory staff and others as a result of a mishap is not an uncommon cause of infection in clinical microbiology laboratories. These types of infection may occur in laboratories outside the endemic areas, because the etiologic agent is unexpected in the submitted specimens and because personnel may be unfamiliar with the hazards of dealing with Coccidioides species in the laboratory. Coccidioidal infections are often difficult to treat, and outcomes can be poor. Here, we emphasize prevention and an approach to a laboratory accident that minimizes the risk of exposure to laboratory staff and staff in adjacent areas. On the basis of an artificially large exposure to arthroconidia that may occur as a result of a laboratory accident, a conservative approach of close observation and early treatment of exposed staff is discussed.
Ceftobiprole: a new cephalosporin for the treatment of skin and skin structure infections. Expert review of anti-infective therapy Schirmer, P. L., Deresinski, S. C. 2009; 7 (7): 777-791
Ceftobiprole is among the first of a new generation of cephalosporins with activity against aerobic Gram-negative bacilli, which extends to cefepime-sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and activity against Gram-positive organisms, which includes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Ceftobiprole is currently undergoing evaluation by the US FDA for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections, with a decision pending further evaluation of study site monitoring. It is also being evaluated for the treatment of community-acquired and healthcare-associated pneumonia. Two Phase III multicenter trials have demonstrated noninferiority in complicated skin and skin structure infections when tested against vancomycin in primarily Gram-positive bacterial infections, and when tested against vancomycin plus ceftazidime in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial infections. It is well tolerated, with the most common side effects being nausea and dysgeusia. Ceftobiprole is likely to prove useful as an empiric as well as directed monotherapy in patients with complicated skin and skin structure infections, in which both Gram-positive pathogens including methicillin-resistant S. aureus and Gram-negative pathogens including cefepime-sensitive P. aeruginosa may be involved.
View details for DOI 10.1586/eri.09.54
Bacteriophage Therapy: Exploiting Smaller Fleas CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2009; 48 (8): 1096-1101
Although bacteriophages have been used for the treatment of patients with bacterial infections in some regions of the world for >9 decades, adequate clinical trials of the safety and efficacy of the treatment have not been reported. The increasing problem of antibiotic resistance has, however, rekindled interest in this approach to therapy. Although potentially significant obstacles to systemic administration of phages exist, topical and oral administration of phages and/or phage products, such as lysins, are feasible in the short term. In addition to exploitation of the effects of native phages and phage products, bioengineering of phages will allow directed specificity and their use as delivery systems for antimicrobial and antivirulence molecules. This brief overview of the history and status of phage therapy, along with speculation about its future, provides a background for understanding of this imminent therapeutic modality.
Vancomycin Heteroresistance and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2009; 199 (5): 605-609
Antibiotic therapy of vascular catheter-related bloodstream infections: is vancomycin the optimal choice for Staphylococcus aureus infections? International journal of antimicrobial agents Deresinski, S. 2009; 34: S43-6
Vancomycin is frequently used as empirical therapy in patients with catheter-related bloodstream infections and for definitive therapy of such infections caused by meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Evidence, however, indicates that as a consequence of decreasing activity of vancomycin against this organism, as well as with deficiencies in tissue penetration, vancomycin therapy of such infections frequently results in microbiological and clinical failure. The relative efficacy of alternative therapies requires urgent investigation in randomized clinical trials.
The efficacy and safety of ceftobiprole in the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections: evidence from 2 clinical trials DIAGNOSTIC MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE Deresinski, S. C. 2008; 61 (1): 103-109
Complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSIs) are common and are associated with significant health and economic costs. These infections are predominantly characterized by infection with Staphylococcus aureus, and SENTRY Surveillance data indicate that the occurrence of this pathogen in cSSSIs has increased and that almost half of the isolated pathogens are methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Surveillance data also indicate that Gram-negative isolates are not uncommon in cSSSIs. In the past, empiric antimicrobial coverage of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative infections has generally necessitated the use of at least 2 antimicrobial agents. Ceftobiprole, a novel advanced-generation pyrrolidinone cephalosporin, is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration as therapy for cSSSIs. This article presents a summary of the results of 2 recently published multicenter noninferiority trials involving approximately 1600 patients with a variety of cSSSIs. In the 1st trial, which included patients with Gram-positive cSSSI, the clinical cure rate at the test-of-cure (TOC) visit (the primary end point) among patients receiving ceftobiprole was 93.3%. The 2nd trial included a broad range of cSSSIs of varying pathogenicity. In this trial, the clinical cure rate among patients receiving ceftobiprole for S. aureus and MRSA infection was 94.6% and 91.8%, respectively. Ceftobiprole's capacity as a broad-spectrum agent was demonstrated in the 2nd trial, in which the clinical cure rate at TOC was 90.5% against a variety of infections and pathogens (including Gram negatives). In addition, the cure rate among patients with moderate to severe diabetic foot infection who received ceftobiprole was 86.2%, and these patients experienced a shorter length of stay in the hospital than those who received a comparator. This article also addresses the results of these trials in the context of the current medical need for safe broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents with MRSA coverage.
Ceftobiprole: breaking therapeutic dogmas of the beta-lactam class DIAGNOSTIC MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE Deresinski, S. C. 2008; 61 (1): 82-85
Posaconazole: A broad-spectrum triazole antifungal agent CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Nagappan, V., Deresinski, S. 2007; 45 (12): 1610-1617
Principles of antibiotic therapy in severe infections: Optimizing the therapeutic approach by use of laboratory and clinical data CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2007; 45: S177-S183
The increasingly daunting problem of antimicrobial resistance has led to an intense focus on optimization of antibiotic therapy, with simultaneous goals of improving patient outcomes and minimizing the contribution of that therapy to making the available antibiotics obsolete. Although even appropriate antibiotic therapy drives resistance, inappropriate therapy may also have adverse effects on the individual patient, as well as on the bacterial ecology. Recent research has validated the benefit of intelligent utilization of both microbiological data and clinical assessment in the empirical selection of initial broad-spectrum therapy and in further guidance of therapeutic decisions throughout the course of illness by use of a systems approach. Thus, the optimal approach to the critically ill patient with infection involves the initiation of aggressive broad-spectrum empirical therapy followed by timely responses to microbiological and clinical results as they become available. An appropriate response to this information often involves de-escalation of therapy or even its discontinuation.
Vancomycin: does it still have a role as an antistaphylococcal agent? EXPERT REVIEW OF ANTI-INFECTIVE THERAPY Deresinski, S. 2007; 5 (3): 393-401
The recognition of the shortcomings of vancomycin as an antistaphylococcal agent, together with the burgeoning availability of alternative effective antistaphylococcal antibiotics, has led to a reassessment of the role of this glycopeptide antimicrobial in clinical therapeutics. Evidence indicates that vancomycin is inferior to semisynthetic penicillins in the treatment of infections due to methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. Additional evidence suggests that vancomycin may be inferior to some comparator agents in the treatment of infections due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). While high-level resistance remains rare, data from some centers suggest an evolutionary change in S. aureus, evidenced by reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. This, together with the problem of heteroresistance to vancomycin, as well as poor tissue penetration after its systemic administration, presents potential obstacles to the successful therapy of S. aureus infections with this glycopeptide. While it has been suggested that these problems may be overcome by administration of vancomycin in much higher doses, the efficacy and safety of this approach remains to be determined and will require randomized clinical trials for its demonstration. A number of novel agents with activity against MRSA have been introduced to clinical practice in the last 2 years and others are still in the investigational stage. Despite the fact that these newer agents have been compared with vancomycin in trials only designed to demonstrate noninferiority, some potential evidence of superiority over vancomycin has emerged. While the relative roles of each of these newer agents and vancomycin can only be determined definitively by performance of adequately powered randomized clinical trials, current evidence suggests that vancomycin may be an inferior therapeutic agent.
View details for DOI 10.1586/14787210.5.3.393
Counterpoint: Vancomycin and Staphylococcus aureus - An antibiotic enters obsolescence 44th Annual Meeting of the Infectious-Diseases-Society-of-America Deresinski, S. UNIV CHICAGO PRESS. 2007: 1543?48
The efficacy of vancomycin for the treatment of patients with infections due to Staphylococcus aureus is impaired by its poor tissue penetration and by its relatively weak antibacterial activity--an activity that is declining as S. aureus evolves. Neither dose escalation nor use of vancomycin in combination with other antibiotics that have antistaphylcoccal activity has been demonstrated to safely enhance its therapeutic efficacy. Although no clinical trials suggest superiority of vancomycin over any comparator, some have provided evidence of its inferiority. Strong consideration should be given to the use of alternative agents in the treatment of serious S. aureus infections.
Upper and lower limb motor impairments in alcoholism, HIV infection, and their comorbidity 34th Annual Meeting of the International-Neuropsychological-Society Fama, R., Eisen, J. C., Rosenbloom, M. J., Sassoon, S. A., Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S., Pfefferbaum, A., Sullivan, E. V. WILEY-BLACKWELL. 2007: 1038?44
Both HIV infection and alcoholism can impair motor abilities involving manual dexterity and postural stability. Given the high prevalence of HIV and alcoholism comorbidity, we examined whether each disease selectively disrupts different components of upper and lower limb motor control and whether these impairments are compounded by disease comorbidity.Simple and complex upper (speed and finger dexterity) and lower (static posture) limb functions were tested in 31 men with HIV infection, 27 with alcoholism, 43 comorbid for HIV infection and alcoholism, and 22 normal healthy controls to assess whether comorbid patients would demonstrate greater motor impairment relative to those with a single diagnosis.Individuals with HIV infection and those with alcoholism had impaired upper and lower limb motor function. Disease comorbidity compounded deficits in speeded finger movement. Neither Beck Depression Inventory scores, self-reported peripheral neuropathy, nor HIV medication accounted for group differences. Lower limb motor composite scores with eyes open were correlated with upper limb motor scores in the alcoholism group.Overall, the observed impairment patterns indicate the presence of upper and lower limb motor impairment in both HIV infection and alcoholism and the relevance of alcoholism in exacerbating impairment in speeded fine finger movement, when it occurs in HIV infection.
Alcoholism, HIV infection, and their comorbidity: Factors affecting self-rated health-related quality of life JOURNAL OF STUDIES ON ALCOHOL AND DRUGS Rosenbloom, M. J., Sullivan, E. V., Sassoon, S. A., O'Reilly, A., Fama, R., Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S., Pfefferbaum, A. 2007; 68 (1): 115-125
Both alcoholism and HIV infection reduce health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and their co-occurrence is highly prevalent. We sought to determine whether comorbidity for both disorders further reduced HRQOL and what factors exacerbated or mitigated their effect.HRQOL, CD4 T-cell counts, lifetime alcohol consumption and length of sobriety, depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]-II), general cognitive status (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test II), and other psychiatric comorbidities were assessed in patients with alcohol dependence or abuse (n = 44), HIV infection (n = 44), alcohol + HIV (n = 55), and healthy controls (n = 41).Alcohol + HIV patients had lower HRQOL and more psychiatric comorbidities compared with patients with only HIV or those with only alcohol dependence or abuse; however, they matched HIV patients with regard to CD4 counts and matched alcohol patients on lifetime alcohol consumption. Across patient groups, higher HRQOL was associated with lower BDI scores but was not associated with age, gender, lifetime alcohol use, or viral load. HRQOL was higher for alcoholics in remission than for those currently meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria. In stepwise regression, BDI total score predicted 34% of HRQOL variance in alcohol, 52% in alcohol + HIV, and 55% in HIV groups. General cognitive status contributed an additional 4% to the prediction of HRQOL but only in the alcohol + HIV group.The superimposition of HIV infection onto alcoholism has a negative impact on HRQOL independent of the severity of either disease. Depression strongly predicts HRQOL, and general cognitive status plays a small role in enhancing quality of life for those at greatest clinical disadvantage.
Antistaphylococcal vaccines and immunloglobulins - Current status and future prospects DRUGS Deresinski, S. 2006; 66 (14): 1797-1806
Staphylococci are among the most frequently encountered pathogens in both the inpatient and the outpatient setting. Management of infections caused by these organisms is complicated by the increasingly common resistance of staphylococcal pathogens to commonly used antibacterials. As a consequence, novel approaches to prevention and treatment are urgently required. Such approaches include the development of vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations targeted at virulence factors expressed in vivo by staphylococci. This article reviews the biopharmaceutical progress made to date in this field and suggests approaches to further progress.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: An evolutionary, epidemiologic, and therapeutic odyssey CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. 2005; 40 (4): 562-573
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, first identified just over 4 decades ago, has undergone rapid evolutionary changes and epidemiologic expansion. It has spread beyond the confines of health care facilities, emerging anew in the community, where it is rapidly becoming a dominant pathogen. This has led to an important change in the choice of antibiotics in the management of community-acquired infections and has also led to the development of novel antimicrobials.
Reemerging leptospirosis, California EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES Meites, E., Jay, M. T., Deresinski, S., Shieh, W. J., Zaki, S. R., Tompkins, L., Smith, D. S. 2004; 10 (3): 406-412
Leptospirosis is a reemerging infectious disease in California. Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonosis throughout the world, though it is infrequently diagnosed in the continental United States. From 1982 to 2001, most reported California cases occurred in previously healthy young adult white men after recreational exposures to contaminated freshwater. We report five recent cases of human leptospirosis acquired in California, including the first documented common-source outbreak of human leptospirosis acquired in this state, and describe the subsequent environmental investigation. Salient features in the California cases include high fever with uniform renal impairment and mild hepatitis. Because leptospirosis can progress rapidly if untreated, this reemerging infection deserves consideration in febrile patients with a history of recreational freshwater exposure, even in states with a low reported incidence of infection.
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Gallant, J. E., Deresinski, S. 2003; 37 (7): 944-950
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (tenofovir DF) is a bioavailable prodrug of tenofovir, a potent nucleotide analogue reverse-transcriptase inhibitor with activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus. It is administered as a single 300-mg tablet once daily. It was approved for the treatment of HIV infection on the basis of data from clinical trials demonstrating activity in treatment-experienced patients, and it was subsequently shown to be effective when used as a component of initial therapy. Tenofovir DF is active against some nucleoside-resistant strains of HIV. However, cross-resistance is associated with multiple thymidine analogue mutations that include 41L or 210W. The signature mutation is the K65R mutation, which causes variable loss in susceptibility to tenofovir DF, didanosine, and abacavir. Tenofovir DF has been well tolerated in clinical trials with durations of follow-up up to 96 weeks. It is associated with more-favorable lipid profiles than stavudine and has not been associated with the mitochondrial toxicity attributed to other nucleoside analogues.
Caspofungin CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 2003; 36 (11): 1445-1457
Caspofungin, the first inhibitor of fungal beta-1,3 glucan synthesis to receive approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration, is effective for the treatment of mucosal and invasive candidiasis and invasive aspergillosis. It is also active in vitro and in animal models against a number of other filamentous and dimorphic endemic fungi and in animal models of Pneumocystis carinii infection. In vitro studies and some animal studies almost always indicate an absence of antagonism when caspofungin is combined with azole or polyene antifungal agents. Caspofungin has an excellent safety profile. Caspofungin may prove to be useful in empirical therapy for suspected invasive fungal infections. Additional clinical trial data that expand our knowledge of the usefulness of caspofungin for these and other mycoses, including its administration in combination with other antifungal agents, is anticipated. Caspofungin is an important addition to the antifungal pharmacopoeia.
Safety and immunogenicity of hepatitis A vaccine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial 7th International Conference on Travel Medicine Kemper, C. A., Haubrich, R., Frank, I., Dubin, G., Buscarino, C., McCutchan, J. A., Deresinski, S. C. UNIV CHICAGO PRESS. 2003: 1327?31
The safety and immunogenicity of inactivated hepatitis A (HepA) vaccine was assessed in 133 hepatitis A virus-seronegative, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults. Patients were randomly assigned to receive, in a blinded fashion, either 2 doses of vaccine (1440 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay units) or placebo 6 months apart. Seroconversion at month 9 was observed in 68% of those with CD4 cell counts >/=200 cells/mm(3) but in only 9% of those with lower CD4 cell counts (P=.004). HepA vaccine was well tolerated and had no effect on the course of HIV infection or plasma HIV RNA load.
Coccidioidomycosis: efficacy of new agents and future prospects CURRENT OPINION IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES Deresinski, S. C. 2001; 14 (6): 693-696
Recent studies have contributed to our understanding of risk factors for severe and potentially life-threatening infections with Coccidioides immitis, allowing a more rational approach to initiation of antifungal therapy for this infection, as well as determining its intensity and duration. A large randomized trial found that itraconazole and fluconazole had similar efficacies in the treatment of progressive nonmeningeal coccidioidomycosis. An animal model of coccidioidal meningitis suggested potential efficacy of systemically administered liposomal amphotericin B. Investigational agents that have activity against C. immitis include posaconazole, voriconazole, caspofungin, and sordarin derivatives.
Azithromycin prophylaxis during a hospitalwide outbreak of a pertussis-like illness INFECTION CONTROL AND HOSPITAL EPIDEMIOLOGY Martinez, S. M., Kemper, C. A., Haiduven, D., Cody, S. H., Deresinski, S. C. 2001; 22 (12): 781-783
A questionnaire regarding tolerability and adherence was administered for 5 days to hospital employees who received azithromycin prophylaxis during a hospitalwide outbreak of a pertussis-like illness. Analysis of the 239 responses from those having received prophylactic azithromycin determined that it was well tolerated and accounted for a minimal loss of days worked; 81.5% were fully adherent with the regimen.
N-acetylcysteine replenishes glutathione in HIV infection EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION De Rosa, S. C., Zaretsky, M. D., Dubs, J. G., Roederer, M., Anderson, M., Green, A., Mitra, D., Watanabe, N., Nakamura, H., Tjioe, I., Deresinski, S. C., Moore, W. A., Ela, S. W., Parks, D., Herzenberg, L. A., Herzenberg, L. A. 2000; 30 (10): 915-929
Glutathione (GSH) deficiency is common in HIV-infected individuals and is associated with impaired T cell function and impaired survival. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is used to replenish GSH that has been depleted by acetaminophen overdose. Studies here test oral administration of NAC for safe and effective GSH replenishment in HIV infection.Oral NAC administration in a randomized, 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial followed by optional open-label drug for up to 24 weeks.HIV-infected, low GSH, CD4 T cells < 500 micro L(-1), no active opportunistic infections or other debilitation; n = 81. Study conducted prior to introduction of protease inhibitors.Whole blood GSH levels in NAC arm subjects significantly increased from 0.88 mM to 0.98 mM, bringing GSH levels in NAC-treated subjects to 89% of uninfected controls (P = 0.03). Baseline GSH levels in the placebo group (0.91) remained essentially the same during the 8 week placebo-controlled trial. T cell GSH, adjusted for CD4 T cell count and beta2-microglobulin levels, also increased in the NAC-treated subjects (P = 0.04). Adverse effects were minimal and not significantly associated with NAC ingestion.NAC treatment for 8 weeks safely replenishes whole blood GSH and T cell GSH in HIV-infected individuals. Thus, NAC offers useful adjunct therapy to increase protection against oxidative stress, improve immune system function and increase detoxification of acetaminophen and other drugs. These findings suggest that NAC therapy could be valuable in other clinical situations in which GSH deficiency or oxidative stress plays a role in disease pathology, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, septic shock and diabetes.
Hyperimmune products in the prevention and therapy of infectious disease - A report of a hyperimmune products expert advisory panel BIODRUGS Deresinski, S. C. 2000; 14 (3): 147-158
This paper reviews a meeting at which basic pathophysiology of infections, mechanisms of action of hyperimmune products and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters, as well as currently available hyperimmunes and their potential new targets and uses, were discussed. A hyperimmune product was defined as either a monoclonal antibody or a polyclonal preparation enriched with antibody directed against one or more particular targets. A number of issues were emphasised, including: resistant bacterial pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes; the role of hyperimmune intravenous globulins in the prevention of sepsis in low birthweight infants; hepatitis B virus infection associated with liver transplantation; combination therapy; the potential role of hyperimmunes in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis C virus; and the use of immunoglobulins for the prophylaxis of Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoproliferative disease. Routes of administration were also discussed. It was concluded that the development of hyperimmunes faces numerous obstacles. It was agreed that the use of hyperimmunes in clinical trials must be standardised; clinical trials must be large enough to have sufficient power to demonstrate efficacy with clear-cut end-points, and means need to be developed, in conjunction with regulatory agencies, for the feasible evaluation of combination products. However, progress in all these aspects will provide a wide range of hyperimmunes for future use.
Human immunodeficiency virus on the Web: A guided tour CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Shafer, R. W., Deresinski, S. C. 2000; 31 (2): 568-577
Through the efforts of thousands of individuals, the World Wide Web has become a gold mine of information about HIV. In this article, we describe approximately 90 Web sites that are among the most useful to clinicians and researchers with regard to HIV. Web sites were classified according to their content and target audience and were judged according to their adherence to accepted standards of medical Internet publishing. Selected Web sites were categorized into the following groups: (1) sites with comprehensive coverage of HIV treatment and its management, (2) on-line peer-reviewed journals, (3) proceedings of scientific meetings, (4) sites with HIV-related textbooks, manuals, and guidelines, (5) government publications, (6) research databases, (7) information on clinical trials, (8) sites with comprehensive information for laypersons, and (9) sites with information related to specific medical complications of HIV infection.
Phase III study of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in advanced HIV disease: effect on infections, CD4 cell counts and HIV suppression AIDS Angel, J. B., High, K., Rhame, F., Brand, D., Whitmore, J. B., Agosti, J. M., Gilbert, M. J., Deresinski, S. 2000; 14 (4): 387-395
To evaluate the effect of adjuvant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (sargramostim, yeast-derived recombinant human GM-CSF) on incidence and time to opportunistic infection or death, plasma HIV-RNA, and CD4 cell count in patients with advanced HIV disease.This Phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolled subjects with CD4 cell counts < or = 50 x 10(6)/l or < or = 100 x 10(6)/l with a prior AIDS-defining illness on stable antiretroviral therapy. Subjects were stratified by baseline HIV-RNA level (> or = or < 30,000 copies/ml) and randomized to receive subcutaneous injections of GM-CSF 250 microg or placebo three times per week for 24 weeks. Subjects were permitted to continue on blinded drug for up to 20 months. Subjects were evaluated for infections, plasma HIV-RNA, lymphocyte counts, changes in antiretroviral therapy, toxicity, and survival.Three-hundred and nine subjects received at least one dose of study drug, 70% completed 24 weeks of therapy. Groups were well matched at baseline. Significant increases in CD4 cell and neutrophil counts were observed at 1, 3, and 6 months in the GM-CSF group. GM-CSF significantly reduced the incidence of overall infections (78% placebo versus 67% GM-CSF; P = 0.03) and delayed time to first infection (56 days placebo versus 97 days GM-CSF; P = 0.04). No statistical difference in cumulative opportunistic infections was observed between groups; however, among subjects without an opportunistic infection prior to study, the GM-CSF group demonstrated a trend towards fewer subjects with an opportunistic infection on study (26% placebo versus 8% GM-CSF; P = 0.08). Change in HIV-RNA was not significantly different between groups, but significantly fewer GM-CSF subjects with baseline viral load < 30,000 copies/ml had changes in antiretroviral therapy for increased viral load (42% placebo versus 21% GM-CSF; P = 0.01). In patients with HIV-RNA levels below the limit of detection at baseline, more GM-CSF patients maintained an undetectable viral load at 24 weeks (54% placebo versus 83% GM-CSF; P = 0.02). GM-CSF was well tolerated.GM-CSF significantly increased CD4 cell count and decreased virological breakthrough and overall infection rate in subjects with advanced HIV disease.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor: potential therapeutic, immunological and antiretroviral effects in HIV infection AIDS Deresinski, S. C. 1999; 13 (6): 633-643
The potential role of GM-CSF and G-CSF in infectious diseases INFECTIONS IN MEDICINE Deresinski, S. C., Kemper, C. A. 1998; 15 (12): 856-?
Mexiletine for HIV-infected patients with painful peripheral neuropathy: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover treatment trial 2nd National Conference on Human Retroviruses and Related Infections Kemper, C. A., Kent, G., Burton, S., Deresinski, S. C. LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS. 1998: 367?72
Although mexiletine, an antiarrhythmic with local anesthetic properties, has been reported to relieve discomfort in diabetic neuropathy, its usefulness in the treatment of HIV-related painful peripheral neuropathy (PPN) has not been determined. The tolerance and effectiveness of mexiletine in HIV-related PPN were assessed in 22 patients who were randomized to receive mexiletine (maximum dose, 600 mg/day) or placebo for 6 weeks, followed by the alternative intervention for 6 weeks after a 1-week washout period. The daily pain response was assessed using a visual analogue scale card in 19 patients who received at least 2 weeks of the drug, 16 of whom were crossed-over to receive the alternate agent. No statistically significant difference was found between the mean daily pain scores for patients receiving mexiletine versus placebo, irrespective of the order in which the agents were received. Comparing the mean individual daily pain scores for each phase of study, 5 patients (31%) had significantly less pain while receiving mexiletine compared with their response to placebo, 5 patients (31%) had significantly less pain while receiving placebo, and no difference was noted in 6 patients (38%). Crossover and multivariate analyses for repeated measures showed no apparent difference in the response to mexiletine versus placebo. Dose-limiting adverse events occurred in 39% of those receiving mexiletine, but only 1 patient (5%) discontinued placebo. Mexiletine was only modestly well tolerated despite its relatively brief period of administration, and no evidence was found to support its benefit in HIV-related PPN. Although a first-drug effect was not demonstrated, a powerful placebo effect was seen in some patients.
Evolution of the clinical manifestations of infection during the course of febrile neutropenia in patients with malignancy INFECTION Dompeling, E. C., Donnelly, J. P., Raemaekers, J. M., Deresinski, S. C., Feld, R., De Pauw, B. E. 1998; 26 (6): 349-354
The impact of a standardized set of diagnostic interventions on the further management of 968 episodes of fever in neutropenic cancer patients who did not respond to initial therapy was assessed prospectively. At the onset of fever, 65% of patients had no additional signs of infection, whereas skin and soft tissue infections were present in 12%, and clinical sepsis and gastrointestinal infections in 8% each. After 72 h, 41% of the fevers still remained unexplained. New foci of infection emerged in 11% of the cases involving mainly the lungs, skin and soft tissues, and urinary tract. The presence of a lower respiratory tract infection or a microbiologically defined infection of any sort was associated with higher mortality than other types of infection were. Changes in initial antibiotic therapy were based on the results of the diagnostic measures specified in the protocol in only 15% of the cases.
The prevalence of measles antibody in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in northern California 5th International Conference on Travel Medicine Kemper, C. A., Gangar, M., ARIAS, G., Kane, C., Deresinski, S. C. UNIV CHICAGO PRESS. 1998: 1177?80
The seroprevalence of measles (rubeola) antibody in 619 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults was determined by a standard ELISA. Risk factors for a lack of antibody and presumed susceptibility to measles were examined. Whereas overall, 9.8% of patients (60) were found to lack antibody, 17.8% of those born within the United States in 1957 or later were antibody-negative. Multivariate analysis showed that absence of measles antibody was significantly associated with younger age (born in 1957 or later) (odds ratio [OR], 8.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7-21.5; P < .0001) and birth within the United States (OR, 4.72; 95% CI, 1.7-19.7; P = .0045). Neither minority status, stage of HIV infection, CD4 cell count, nor a history of opportunistic infection bore any relationship to the presence of antibody. While progression of HIV disease does not affect measles serostatus, younger HIV-infected patients, especially those born in the United States in 1957 or later, are at the greatest risk for measles.
Immunomodulatory treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex bacteremia in patients with AIDS by use of recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor 35th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Kemper, C. A., Bermudez, L. E., Deresinski, S. C. OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. 1998: 914?20
Eight AIDS patients with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) bacteremia were randomized to receive azithromycin with or without granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for 6 weeks to examine the effect of GM-CSF administration on clearance of mycobacteremia and on monocyte function. Superoxide anion production was significantly increased ex vivo in monocytes from patients receiving GM-CSF but not in those from patients receiving azithromycin alone. Relative to monocytes obtained from untreated healthy controls, median differences in viable intracellular MAC at 2, 4, and 6 weeks were -0.76, -0.94, and -0.47 log10 cfu/mL of lysate for cells from patients receiving GM-CSF versus -0.15, -0.11, and -0.19 log10 cfu/mL for cells from patients receiving azithromycin alone. Although no effect on mycobacteremia was detected, the administration of GM-CSF to AIDS patients with MAC bacteremia resulted in activation of their blood monocytes, as evidenced by increased superoxide anion production and enhanced mycobactericidal activity. GM-CSF deserves further investigation in the treatment of mycobacterial infections.
Glutathione deficiency is associated with impaired survival in HIV disease Oxidative Stress and Redox Regulation Meeting Herzenberg, L. A., DeRosa, S. C., Dubs, J. G., Roederer, M., Anderson, M. T., Ela, S. W., Deresinski, S. C., Herzenberg, L. A. NATL ACAD SCIENCES. 1997: 1967?72
Glutathione (GSH), a cysteine-containing tripeptide, is essential for the viability and function of virtually all cells. In vitro studies showing that low GSH levels both promote HIV expression and impair T cell function suggested a link between GSH depletion and HIV disease progression. Clinical studies presented here directly demonstrate that low GSH levels predict poor survival in otherwise indistinguishable HIV-infected subjects. Specifically, we show that GSH deficiency in CD4 T cells from such subjects is associated with markedly decreased survival 2-3 years after baseline data collection (Kaplan-Meier and logistic regression analyses, P < 0.0001 for both analyses). This finding, supported by evidence demonstrating that oral administration of the GSH prodrug N-acetylcysteine replenishes GSH in these subjects and suggesting that N-acetylcysteine administration can improve their survival, establishes GSH deficiency as a key determinant of survival in HIV disease. Further, it argues strongly that the unnecessary or excessive use of acetaminophen, alcohol, or other drugs known to deplete GSH should be avoided by HIV-infected individuals.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WM05900068
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC20026
Travels with HIV: The compliance and health of HIV-infected adults who travel 4th International Conference on Travel Medicine Kemper, C. A., Linett, A., Kane, C., Deresinski, S. C. SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD. 1997: 44?49
We examined the effects of travel on the health of a group of HIV-infected adults (n = 89) cared for in a public hospital HIV clinic. In a period of 2 years, 45% travelled to a median of 3 US destinations for at least one week and 20% travelled to at least one international destination for a mean duration of 20 days. At the time of completion of the survey, the majority of these patients were severely immunosuppressed (median CD4+ count, 120/mm3). A physician was consulted concerning travel before 53% of the trips, but only one person consulted a travel medicine expert. All but one patient (98%) who was receiving medical therapy carried sufficient supplies of medication; 95% estimated their compliance with medication at 75% or better. None of the travellers to developing countries received gamma globulin, but one received yellow fever vaccine. Fifteen travellers (43%) became ill either during their trip or immediately thereafter; 3 required hospitalization. While most illnesses were not severe, 4 patients developed potentially life-threatening infections including coccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis, PCP, and bacterial pneumonia. This survey provides information by which the clinician can anticipate the health care needs of HIV-infected patients who travel. HIV-infected patients should be more aware of the necessity for medical counsel prior to travel.
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WH32900008
Aspergillus fumigatus infection of an automatic internal cardiac defibrillator PACE-PACING AND CLINICAL ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY Dunn, C. J., Ruder, M., Deresinski, S. C. 1996; 19 (12): 2156-2157
We report a patient without immune compromise with infection of an automatic internal cardiac defibrillator patch due to Aspergillus fumigatus presenting 8 years after implantation. The mechanism of infection was unknown, but symptoms began 1 month after laser uvulopalatopharyngoplasty was performed for sleep apnea. The patches were surgically removed and the patient was treated sequentially with amphotericin B and itraconazole. He remains without evidence of infection 12 months after the completion of therapy.
View details for Web of Science ID A1996WA95000019
Early identification of neutropenic patients at risk of grampositive bacteraemia and the impact of empirical administration of vancomycin EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER Dompeling, E. C., Donnelly, J. P., Deresinski, S. C., Feld, R., LANEALLMAN, E. F., dePauw, B. E. 1996; 32A (8): 1332-1339
The aim of this multicentre randomised trial was to determine whether it was possible to predict grampositive bacteraemia, and whether the empirical use of vancomycin would lead to reduced morbidity and mortality. 35 of 113 patients (31%; confidence interval, CI 8.5), who presented with a skin or soft tissue infection and had received empirical vancomycin in addition to either ceftazidime or piperacillin-tobramycin, had initial bacteraemia with a single gram-positive bacterium compared with 135 of the 784 (17%; CI 2.6), who presented with another infection and who had been given ceftazidime or piperacillin-tobramycin without vancomycin (P < 0.001). Empirical vancomycin resulted in a higher rate of eradication (P = 0.033, relative risk 1.2), but not a better clinical outcome and was associated with more toxicity (P = 0.042, relative risk 1.6). Irrespective of the initial treatment regimen, fever lasted an average of 8 days, the empirical regimen was modified in more than 50% of cases and mortality attributed to gram-positive infection was less than 2%. Incorporating vancomycin in the initial empirical antibiotic regimen for febrile neutropenic patients does not appear necessary, even for skin and soft tissue infections associated with gram-positive bacteraemia.
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VA83900019
Mycobacterium avium complex infection in HIV infection BAILLIERES CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1996; 3 (1): 103-122
View details for Web of Science ID A1996UC68200008
Treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex infection: Does the beige mouse model predict therapeutic outcome in humans? JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES SISON, J. P., Yao, Y. Z., Kemper, C. A., Hamilton, J. R., DRUMMER, E., Stevens, D. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1996; 173 (3): 750-753
To determine the predictive value of a standard murine model in the treatment of disseminated Myocardium avium complex (MAC) infection, beige mice were infected with MAC strains isolated from human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients and treated with the same antibiotic (ethambutol, clofazimine, or rifampin) that had been administered to the subject from whom that strain had been recovered. While ethambutol had the greatest bacteriologic efficacy in humans (mean decrease +/-SD, 1.0+/-0.5 log 10 cfu/mL of blood), clofazimine had the greatest bacteriostatic efficacy in mice (mean decrease +/- SD, 2.8 +/- 0.7 log(10) cfu/g of tissue). A linear correlation was not observed between bacteriostatic activity in mouse liver or spleen and the degree of bacteriologic response in humans (P > or = to .1). Odds ratios for a response in humans based on a bacteriologic response in mice were not significant for each agent (P > or = to .1, all cases).
View details for Web of Science ID A1996TW80600035
Treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex infection: Do the results of in vitro susceptibility tests predict therapeutic outcome in humans? JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES SISON, J. P., Yao, Y. Z., Kemper, C. A., Hamilton, J. R., Brummer, E., Stevens, D. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1996; 173 (3): 677-683
The ability of various in vitro methods of antibiotic susceptibility testing to predict therapeutic outcome in patients infected with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was evaluated. Pretreatment bloodstream MAC isolates from 38 patients with AIDS, previously treated in a randomized fashion with either ethambutol, rifampin, or clofazimine, were tested by three conventional methods using broth or agar, as well as by cocultivation with macrophages. The results obtained with each method were compared with the quantitatively determined bacteriologic response to the administration of the single agent in humans. None of the conventional in vitro susceptibility methods was predictive of therapeutic outcome, while the results of cocultivation with macrophages were of moderate predictive value. The positive predictive value of a response in humans based on a response in macrophages (defined by > or = to 1.0 log reduction in baseline colony counts after 5 days of treatment) was 74%. The negative predictive value was 82%.
Frequency of Travel of Adults Infected with HIV. Journal of travel medicine Kemper, Linett, Kane, Deresinski 1995; 2 (2): 85-88
Background: Little is known about the frequency and pattern of travel in the HIV-infected population. Method: A test questionnaire administered to patients cared for at a public hospital HIV clinic examined the frequency, destinations, and motivations for travel of persons with HIV disease. Results: Of 89 persons surveyed, 46% had traveled within the preceding 2 years within the United States for a minimum of 1 week, or to a foreign destination. Forty patients (45%) had traveled to a mean of 3.4 destinations within the United States for an average trip duration of 16 days. In addition, 18 patients (20%) had traveled to at least one foreign country for an average of 20 days. Of the 25 foreign destinations that were specified, 15 (60%) were in lesser developed countries. Patients stated that they undertook 30% of their trips because they thought it was their last chance to travel. At the time of completion of the survey, the majority of those patients who had traveled were severely immunosuppressed (median CD4+ count, 120/mm3). Conclusions: These data provide information by which the clinician can anticipate the health care needs of patients who travel and develop appropriate travel medicine guidelines. (J Travel Med 2:85-88, 1995)
DISSEMINATED ACANTHAMOEBA INFECTION IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS - CASE-REPORTS AND REVIEW CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES SISON, J. P., Kemper, C. A., Loveless, M., McShane, D., Visvesvara, G. S., Deresinski, S. C. 1995; 20 (5): 1207-1216
Acanthamoeba infection has been described as an opportunistic infection in persons with AIDS. We report two cases of patients with AIDS and acanthamoeba infection and review the manifestations of this protozoan infection in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. The diagnosis of this infection requires a high index of suspicion because the clinical and histologic manifestations may be confused with those of disseminated fungal or algal disease. Clinicians and laboratory personnel should be aware of this potentially fatal condition so that appropriate diagnostic studies can be performed and treatment can be urgently administered. Early initiation of therapy may alter the clinical outcome of the disease.
View details for Web of Science ID A1995QY77100020
Dysfunctional monocytes from a patient with disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection are activated in vitro and in vivo by GM-CSF BIOTHERAPY Bermudez, L. E., Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1995; 8 (2): 135-142
Mycobacterium avium complex infection in AIDS. AIDS clinical review Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1995: 153-228
ORAL ATOVAQUONE COMPARED WITH INTRAVENOUS PENTAMIDINE FOR PNEUMOCYSTIS-CARINII PNEUMONIA IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Dohn, M. N., Weinberg, W. G., Torres, R. A., Follansbee, S. E., Caldwell, P. T., Scott, J. D., Gathe, J. C., HAGHIGHAT, D. P., Sampson, J. H., SPOTKOV, J., Deresinski, S. C., Meyer, R. D., Lancaster, D. J., Frame, P. T., Mohsenifar, Z., Buckley, R. M., Cheung, T., Hyland, R., Chan, C., Lang, W., Mildvan, D., Greenberg, S. B., Craven, D., Hirsch, M., ElSadr, W., Joseph, P., Hardy, D., Brown, N., Rogers, M. 1994; 121 (3): 174-180
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NY33800003
Oral atovaquone compared with intravenous pentamidine for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with AIDS. Atovaquone Study Group. Annals of internal medicine Dohn, M. N., Weinberg, W. G., Torres, R. A., Follansbee, S. E., Caldwell, P. T., Scott, J. D., Gathe, J. C., HAGHIGHAT, D. P., Sampson, J. H., SPOTKOV, J., Deresinski, S. C., Meyer, R. D., Lancaster, D. J. 1994; 121 (3): 174-180
To test the hypothesis that the therapeutic success rate of oral atovaquone is not worse than that of intravenous pentamidine in the primary treatment of mild and moderate Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and to detect differences in the toxicity rates of the two treatments.Patients were randomly assigned to receive 21 days of open-label therapy with either atovaquone, 750 mg orally with meals three times daily, or intravenous pentamidine, 3 to 4 mg per kg body weight once daily.Multicenter study including university and community treatment facilities.Patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection and clinical presentations consistent with mild or moderate P. carinii pneumonia were eligible. For efficacy and safety analyses, patients with histologically confirmed P. carinii pneumonia were emphasized.Patients were monitored by clinical and laboratory evaluations for therapeutic efficacy and adverse events during the acute treatment phase and for 8 weeks after therapy was discontinued.As initial therapy for a histologically confirmed episode of P. carinii pneumonia, 56 patients received atovaquone and 53 received pentamidine. More patients were successfully treated with atovaquone (57%) than with pentamidine (40%), a difference of 17% (95% CI, -3% to 38%; P = 0.085), but more patients failed to respond to atovaquone (29%) than to pentamidine (17%), a difference of 12% (CI, -6% to 29%; P = 0.18). Discontinuation of original therapy because of treatment-limiting adverse events was more frequent in the pentamidine group (36%) than in the atovaquone group (4%) (difference, -32%; CI, -48% to -17%; P < 0.001). Nine patients in each treatment group died during the study.Oral atovaquone and intravenous pentamidine have similar rates for successful treatment of mild and moderate P. carinii pneumonia, but atovaquone has significantly fewer treatment-limiting adverse events.
THE INDIVIDUAL MICROBIOLOGIC EFFECT OF 3 ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL AGENTS, CLOFAZIMINE, ETHAMBUTOL, AND RIFAMPIN, ON MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX BACTEREMIA IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES Kemper, C. A., Havlir, D., Haghighat, D., Dube, M., BARTOK, A. E., SISON, J. P., Yao, Y. Z., Yangco, B., Leedom, J. M., Tilles, J. G., McCutchan, J. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1994; 170 (1): 157-164
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NR96500023
EFFICACY OF RIFABUTIN IN THE TREATMENT OF DISSEMINATED INFECTION DUE TO MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Sullam, P. M., Gordin, F. M., Wynne, B. A., Smith, J., Schoenfelder, J., Nakata, M., BURNSIDE, A., Lamarca, A., Pomerantz, S., Eron, L., Smith, D. L., Cimoch, P., AKIL, B., Deresinski, S., Klimas, N., ZIDE, N. 1994; 19 (1): 84-86
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NX66500014
CEFTAZIDIME COMPARED WITH PIPERACILLIN AND TOBRAMYCIN FOR THE EMPIRIC TREATMENT OF FEVER IN NEUTROPENIC PATIENTS WITH CANCER - A MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED TRIAL ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE dePauw, B. E., Deresinski, S. C., Feld, R., LANEALLMAN, E. F., Donnelly, J. P. 1994; 120 (10): 834-844
To compare piperacillin and tobramycin with ceftazidime alone for the empiric treatment of fever in the neutropenic patient without evidence of skin infections or anaerobic infections.A multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.876 febrile, neutropenic episodes in 696 patients (83% acute leukemia or bone marrow transplantation); 92 episodes were excluded from analysis because of protocol violation.Patients received either intravenous ceftazidime (2 g every 8 h) or piperacillin (12 to 18 g/d in 4 to 6 divided doses plus tobramycin (1.7 to 2.0 mg/kg body weight every 8 h). Treatment could be modified at any time at the discretion of the investigator.Percentage of satisfactory response, eradication of the infecting organism, development of superinfections, and occurrence of adverse events.As a single agent, ceftazidime was as effective as the combination of piperacillin and tobramycin (62.7% satisfactory responses compared with 61.1%; odds ratio, 1.07%; 95% Cl, 0.79 to 1.44; P > 0.2). Equivalent responses were also obtained in episodes of profound neutropenia (odds ratio, 0.76; Cl, 0.43 to 1.33; P > 0.2). Infectious mortality was 6% for ceftazidime and 8% for the combination therapy. Eradication of the infecting organisms was achieved in 79% of bacteremic episodes treated with ceftazidime compared with 68% of the episodes treated with the combination therapy (odds ratio, 1.76; Cl, 0.92 to 3.38; P = 0.08), and rates for gram-negative rod bacteremia were also similar (95% compared with 77%; odds ratio, 5.25; Cl, 1.0 to 27.5; P = 0.03). Superinfections developed in 38 episodes in each group. An adverse event occurred in 8% of episodes treated with ceftazidime compared with 20% of episodes treated with combination therapy (P < 0.001).Ceftazidime alone was as effective but safer than the combination of piperacillin and tobramycin for the empiric treatment of febrile, neutropenic patients, even those with profound and prolonged granulocytopenia.
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NK45800004
Dysfunctional monocytes from a patient with disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection are activated in vitro and in vivo by GM-CSF. Biotherapy Bermudez, L. E., Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1994; 8 (2): 135-142
A 27 year-old woman presented with disseminated infection due to Mycobacterium kansasii. Signs and symptoms of disseminated infection persisted despite the administration of multiple antimycobacterial agents to which her organism was sensitive for 15 months. She was seronegative for HIV-1 and functional studies of T and B lymphocytes and granulocytes failed to demonstrate any abnormality. Peripheral blood monocytes proved abnormally permissive to the intracellular growth of Mycobacterium avium and M. kansasii, and expressed normal number of receptors to interferon-gamma, but reduced numbers of receptors to granulocyte monocyte colony stimulating factor and tumor necrosis factor. These defects were partially reversed with in vitro exposure of her cells to recombinant GM-CSF. In addition, administration of recombinant human GM-CSF in vivo (250 mg/M2 per day) for 10 days armed her circulating monocytes as evidenced by increased production of O2- in response to phorbol esther and, when infected ex vivo with M. kansasii, enhanced inhibition of intracellular growth compared with pre-therapy monocytes. These defects reappeared with discontinuation of GM-CSF and resolved with its re-administration. While a salutary clinical and microbiologic effect was difficult to assess, administration of GM-CSF in vivo was associated with in vitro activation of monocytes and enhanced mycobactericidal activity in this patient with a defect in monocyte function.
ULCERATIVE AND PLAQUE-LIKE TRACHEOBRONCHITIS DUE TO INFECTION WITH ASPERGILLUS IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES Kemper, C. A., HOSTETLER, J. S., Follansbee, S. E., Ruane, P., Covington, D., Leong, S. S., Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 1993; 17 (3): 344-352
Tracheobronchitis is an uncommon manifestation of infection due to Aspergillus species, occurring in < 7% of cases of pulmonary aspergillosis. At least 58 cases of invasive aspergillus tracheobronchitis have been described since 1962. We describe four patients with AIDS, all of whom were severely immunocompromised, who had ulcerative tracheobronchitis due to Aspergillus species demonstrated histologically. Three patients had received corticosteroids or were neutropenic at presentation. At bronchoscopy, three patients had some degree of diffuse tracheobronchitis, multiple ulcerative or "plaque-like" inflammatory lesions, and occasionally nodules involving the mainstem and segmental bronchi. The remaining patient had a single deep ulceration of the proximal trachea. Aspergillus was isolated from biopsy specimens from all four patients. There were varied degrees of invasion of the mucosa, submucosa, and cartilage on histological examination in three patients, one of whom had evidence of disseminated aspergillosis. Two patients subsequently developed pulmonary parenchymal disease due to Aspergillus. A review of aspergillus tracheobronchitis, including a discussion of airway disease in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus, is presented.
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LW23700005
REPRODUCIBILITY OF LYSIS-CENTRIFUGATION CULTURES FOR QUANTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX BACTEREMIA JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY Havlir, D., Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1993; 31 (7): 1794-1798
While quantitative mycobacterial blood cultures have been accepted as the standard for evaluating response to various Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) treatment regimens, variability in this methodology has not been evaluated in a rigorous fashion. We thus studied the reproducibility of quantitative MAC cultures by a lysis-centrifugation culture system within and among five institutions. To measure the intralaboratory variation in mycobacterial colony counts, colony counts from duplicate blood specimens collected from 52 AIDS patients with MAC bacteremia were determined. Colony counts ranged from 0 to 50,000 CFU/ml. Nonparametric analyses revealed there was no significant difference in colony counts between the 52 duplicate specimens. The agreement between the intralaboratory paired specimens, as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was 0.997. To measure the interlaboratory variation, multiple 10-ml aliquots from 12 patients were distributed to five institutions and processed within 24 to 32 h by lysis-centrifugation. For the 12 specimens distributed to the five laboratories, two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures revealed no significant difference in an individual patient's colony counts between laboratories (P > 0.2). We conclude that quantitation of mycobacterial colony counts by the lysis-centrifugation system is reproducible within and between institutions. Clinical trials evaluating response to therapeutic interventions for MAC can use multiple laboratories for quantitation of mycobacteremia. Furthermore, a 24- to 32-h delay in processing appeared to have no impact on reproducibility.
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LJ20100022
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC265634
T-HELPER - AUTOMATED SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY-BASED CLINICAL RESEARCH 16th Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care Musen, M. A., Carlson, R. W., Fagan, L. M., Deresinski, S. C., Shortliffe, E. H. MCGRAW-HILL BOOK CO. 1993: 719?723
View details for Web of Science ID A1993BX74Z00123
HELICOBACTER-(CAMPYLOBACTER)-FENNELLIAE-LIKE ORGANISMS AS AN IMPORTANT BUT OCCULT CAUSE OF BACTEREMIA IN A PATIENT WITH AIDS JOURNAL OF INFECTION Kemper, C. A., MICKELSEN, P., Morton, A., Walton, B., Deresinski, S. C. 1993; 26 (1): 97-101
We describe the isolation and identification of a Helicobacter (Campylobacter)-like organism obtained from the blood of a 32-year-old homosexual man with a 10 months' history of AIDS and progressive mucocutaneous Kaposi sarcoma. Fever and bacteremia persisted despite sequential administration of ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, antibiotics reported to be active against this organism in vitro. Facultative organisms like Campylobacter fennelliae and Campylobacter cinaedi which are difficult to isolate by standard techniques may be important but unrecognized causes of febrile illness in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Laboratories should consider use of acridine orange staining and more extensive subculture protocols for blood cultures with progressive growth indices which appear negative by conventional staining and subculture technique.
View details for Web of Science ID A1993KH53000017
CUTANEOUS TUBERCULOSIS JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CHAMPSI, J. H., Deresinski, S. 1992; 268 (10): 1339-1339
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JL60800039
CD20 EXPRESSION IS INCREASED ON LYMPHOCYTES-B FROM HIV-INFECTED INDIVIDUALS JOURNAL OF ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROMES AND HUMAN RETROVIROLOGY Staal, F. J., Roederer, M., BUBP, J., Mole, L. A., Anderson, M. T., Raju, P. A., Israelski, D. M., Deresinski, S. C., Moore, W. A., Herzenberg, L. A., Herzenberg, L. A. 1992; 5 (6): 627-632
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HV36800014
TREATMENT OF MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX BACTEREMIA IN AIDS WITH A 4-DRUG ORAL REGIMEN - RIFAMPIN, ETHAMBUTOL, CLOFAZIMINE, AND CIPROFLOXACIN ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Kemper, C. A., Meng, T. C., Nussbaum, J., Chiu, J., FEIGAL, D. F., BARTOK, A. E., Leedom, J. M., Tilles, J. G., Deresinski, S. C., McCutchan, J. A. 1992; 116 (6): 466-472
To determine the quantitative microbiologic response and the clinical response of patients with Mycobacterium avium complex bacteremia and AIDS to an oral antimycobacterial regimen.A phase II, multicenter clinical trial.Four university-affiliated medical centers.Forty-one patients with HIV infection who had at least two consecutive blood cultures positive for M. avium complex and who had not received previous antimycobacterial therapy were enrolled in the study. Thirty-one patients were evaluable with regard to the efficacy of the oral regimen.Patients received a combination of orally administered rifampin (600 mg), ethambutol (15 mg/kg body weight), clofazimine (100 mg once daily), and ciprofloxacin (750 mg twice daily) for 12 weeks. Parenterally administered amikacin, 7.5 mg/kg daily for 4 weeks after the first 4 weeks of oral therapy, was used at the discretion of the individual investigator.Clinical symptoms, Karnofsky scores, and adverse events were monitored. Colony counts for M. avium complex were determined.The mean logarithmic (log) baseline colony count decreased from 2.1 to 0.7 after 4 weeks of oral therapy (P less than 0.001). Suppression of bacteremia was sustained throughout therapy. Thirteen patients (42%) became culture negative during therapy. The mean duration of treatment was 9.7 weeks. Nineteen evaluable patients (61%) completed 12 weeks of therapy. Adverse reactions to one or more agents were common.A rapid reduction in symptoms and bacteremia can be achieved as early as week 2 of therapy using an oral regimen of rifampin, ethambutol, clofazimine, and ciprofloxacin. Colony counts rose dramatically after therapy was discontinued, suggesting that more prolonged periods of therapy are necessary to eradicate systemic infection.
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HJ59800006
INTRACELLULAR GLUTATHIONE LEVELS IN T-CELL SUBSETS DECREASE IN HIV-INFECTED INDIVIDUALS AIDS RESEARCH AND HUMAN RETROVIRUSES Staal, F. J., Roederer, M., Israelski, D. M., BUBP, J., Mole, L. A., McShane, D., Deresinski, S. C., Ross, W., Sussman, H., Raju, P. A., Anderson, M. T., Moore, W., Ela, S. W., Herzenberg, L. A., Herzenberg, L. A. 1992; 8 (2): 305-311
The authors have shown previously that intracellular glutathione (GSH) plays an important role in the regulation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transcription and replication in vitro, through modulation of signal transduction by inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, intracellular GSH levels are known to regulate T-lymphocyte function. In multiparameter FACS studies presented here, we show that relative GSH levels in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from HIV+ individuals are significantly lower than in corresponding subsets from uninfected controls. These studies define the relative intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels in CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, B cells, and monocytes from 134 HIV-infected individuals and 31 uninfected controls. The greatest decreases in intracellular GSH occur in subsets of T cells in individuals in the later stages of the HIV infection. In AIDS patients, GSH levels are 63% of normal in CD4+ T cells (p less than 0.0001) and are 62% of normal in CD8+ T cells (p less than 0.0001). Similarly, in AIDS-related complex (ARC) patients, GSH levels are 66% of normal in CD4+ T cells (p less than 0.003) and are 69% of normal in CD8+ T cells (p less than 0.003). These findings suggest that low intracellular GSH levels may be an important factor in HIV infection and in the resulting immunodeficiency.
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HG48900025
T-HELPER: automated support for community-based clinical research. Proceedings / the ... Annual Symposium on Computer Application [sic] in Medical Care. Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care Musen, M. A., Carlson, R. W., Fagan, L. M., Deresinski, S. C., Shortliffe, E. H. 1992: 719-723
There are increasing expectations that community-based physicians who care for people with HIV infection will offer their patients opportunities to enroll in clinical trials. The information-management requirements of clinical investigation, however, make it unrealistic for most providers who do not practice in academic centers to participate in clinical research. Our T-HELPER computer system offers community-based physicians the possibility of enrolling patients in clinical trials as a component of primary care. T-HELPER facilitates data management for patients with HIV disease, and can offer patient-specific and situation-specific advice concerning new protocols for which patients may be eligible and the treatment required by those protocols in which patients currently are enrolled. We are installing T-HELPER at three county-operated AIDS clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, and plan a comprehensive evaluation of the system and its influence on clinical research.
INFLAMMATORY PSEUDOTUMOR OF INTRAABDOMINAL LYMPH-NODES MANIFESTING AS RECURRENT FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN - A CASE-REPORT AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Kemper, C. A., Davis, R. E., Deresinski, S. C., DORFMANN, R. F. 1991; 90 (4): 519-523
A 27-year-old man presented with a 7-month history of debilitating recurrent fever and weight loss. Extensive clinical evaluation led to the discovery of splenomegaly and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy. The patient underwent splenectomy as well as liver and lymph node biopsy. Histologic examination of the lymph nodes, but not the liver and spleen, revealed inflammatory pseudotumor of lymph nodes. The patient has remained asymptomatic for more than 3 years following the surgical procedure despite the absence of further intervention. Inflammatory pseudotumor of lymph nodes should be considered in the differential evaluation of prolonged or relapsing fever of unknown etiology.
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FG90500017
DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF PNEUMONIA PHARMACOTHERAPY Kemper, C. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1991; 11 (2): S84-S89
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FK53300008
VISCERAL BACILLARY EPITHELIOID ANGIOMATOSIS - POSSIBLE MANIFESTATIONS OF DISSEMINATED CAT SCRATCH DISEASE IN THE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED HOST - A REPORT OF 2 CASES AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Kemper, C. A., Lombard, C. M., Deresinski, S. C., Tompkins, L. S. 1990; 89 (2): 216-222
Opportunistic infection with the causative agent of cat scratch disease may be responsible for an unusual vascular proliferative lesion, referred to as bacillary epithelioid angiomatosis, previously described only in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. We present a case of an HIV-infected patient with bacillary epithelioid angiomatosis involving the liver and bone marrow causing progressive hepatic failure. We also report a case of a cardiac transplant recipient with hepatic and splenic bacillary epithelioid angiomatosis manifesting as a fever of unknown origin, a previously unreported event in a non-HIV-infected patient. These cases represent the first documentation of bacillary epithelioid angiomatosis with visualization of cat scratch-like organisms involving internal organs.
View details for Web of Science ID A1990DT83100015
THE HAMSTER MODEL OF CHRONIC MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM COMPLEX INFECTION JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES Yangco, B. G., LACKMANSMITH, C., Espinoza, C. G., Solomon, D. A., Deresinski, S. C. 1989; 159 (3): 556-561
Male golden Syrian hamsters were evaluated as a model for the pathogenesis of human infection with Mycobacterium avium complex. Intratracheal inoculation produced a chronic, nonfatal, pulmonary and disseminated infection (overall rate, 86%). The frequency of infection in hamsters that received 5 x 10(8) versus 1 x 10(8) colony forming units (cfu) was not significantly different (87% and 92%, respectively), but 1 x 10(7) cfu produced infection in only 78% of inoculated animals (P = .034). The percentage of animals developing pulmonary infection with M. avium complex did not differ between inoculum groups (77%-80%). Disseminated infection occurred significantly less frequently in the 1 x 10(7) group (46%) compared with the 5 x 10(8) (79%) and 1 x 10(8) (68%) groups (P = .001 and .056, respectively). After seven weeks, partial clearance of M. avium complex from the lungs coincided with an increased number of animals with splenic involvement. The hamster may be a useful model for human infection with M. avium complex.
View details for Web of Science ID A1989T266800027
NORFLOXACIN FOR PREVENTION OF BACTERIAL-INFECTIONS IN GRANULOCYTOPENIC PATIENTS AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Winston, D. J., Ho, W. G., Champlin, R. E., Karp, J., Bartlett, J., Finley, R. S., Joshi, J. H., Talbot, G., Levitt, L., Deresinski, S., Corrado, M. 1987; 82 (6B): 40-46
The efficacy and safety of norfloxacin were compared with those of placebo, vancomycin-polymyxin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) for prophylaxis of bacterial infections in granulocytopenic patients. The study results showed that norfloxacin treatment, which was well tolerated and not associated with any serious systemic adverse effects, prevented acquisition of gram-negative bacillary organisms. Fewer norfloxacin-treated patients (38 of 108 patients, or 35 percent) experienced microbiologically documented infections compared with patients receiving placebo (27 of 40 patients, or 68 percent), vancomycin-polymyxin (16 of 30 patients, or 53 percent), or TMP/SMX (14 of 28 patients, or 50 percent). Gram-negative bacteremia developed in five of 108 norfloxacin-treated patients (5 percent), compared with 17 of 40 placebo-treated patients (43 percent), five of 30 treated with vancomycin-polymyxin (17 percent), and one of 28 patients treated with TMP/SMX (4 percent). The incidence of gram-positive bacteremia was similar in all study groups and was not affected by norfloxacin or any other oral prophylactic antibiotics. These results suggest that norfloxacin is both safe and effective for the prevention of serious gram-negative bacillary infections in granulocytopenic patients. More effective prophylaxis of gram-positive bacterial infections, however, is needed.
View details for Web of Science ID A1987J200700007
A STEPWISE GUIDE FOR TREATING TUBERCULOSIS WESTERN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Deresinski, S. C. 1984; 141 (4): 546-548
View details for Web of Science ID A1984TP68600038
DEVELOPMENT OF ASPERGILLUS SINUSITIS IN A PATIENT RECEIVING AMPHOTERICIN-B - TREATMENT WITH GRANULOCYTE TRANSFUSIONS AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Swerdlow, B., Deresinski, S. 1984; 76 (1): 162-166
Fulminant Aspergillus sinusitis is a disease of immunocompromised hosts strongly associated with neutropenia. A case of sinusitis due to Aspergillus flavus that developed in a patient with acute leukemia during the third week of treatment with amphotericin B is described. Indium 111-labeled white blood cell scanning demonstrated uptake of granulocytes into the involved sinuses. Thereafter, use of granulocyte transfusions was associated with stabilization of the patient's clinical course.
View details for Web of Science ID A1984RX91900034
Case report. Fatal gas gangrene following intra-articular steroid injection. The American journal of the medical sciences Yangco, B. G., Germain, B. F., Deresinski, S. C. 1982; 283 (2): 94-98
Gas gangrene is a rare infectious disease syndrome complicating medico-surgical procedures. We describe a case of gas gangrene secondary to intra-articular steroid injection. Clostridia species and Escherichia coli were the etiologic organisms in this case. The presence of underlying diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hepatic insufficiency, and metabolic acidosis could have contributed to the fatal outcome of this patient. A high index of suspicion, early diagnosis, and appropriate treatment may improve the prognosis in gas gangrene. Although uncommon, infection is a significant complication of intra-articular steroid administration. Thus, meticulous aseptic technique should always be observed in the performance of this procedure.
FATAL GAS-GANGRENE FOLLOWING INTRA-ARTICULAR STEROID INJECTION AMERICAN JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL SCIENCES Yangco, B. G., Germain, B. F., Deresinski, S. C. 1982; 283 (2): 94-98
View details for Web of Science ID A1982ND18300008
RAPID RADIOMETRIC METHOD FOR DETERMINING DRUG SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUM-INTRACELLULARE ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS AND CHEMOTHERAPY Yangco, B. G., Eikman, E. A., Solomon, D. A., Deresinski, S. C., Madden, J. A. 1981; 19 (4): 534-539
A rapid radiometric method for susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare to eight chemotherapeutic agents was compared with a conventional method. Results were available within 72 h by radiometric testing in contrast to 21 days by the conventional method. The radiometric and conventional methods agreed to 61% of the tests, but growth inhibition of greater than or equal to 50% was detectable only by radiometric testing in an additional 36.5% of the tests. In only 2.5% of the tests was the radiometric method unable to detect complete inhibition shown by the conventional method. Quantifiable increases in inhibition with increasing concentration of isoniazid were more frequently detectable by the radiometric method than by conventional testing. The radiometric method is a simple, rapid, and quantitative test for drug susceptibility of mycobacteria and warrants further investigation.
View details for Web of Science ID A1981LM54800008
FLUBENDAZOLE AND MEBENDAZOLE IN THE TREATMENT OF TRICHURIASIS AND OTHER HELMINTHIASES CLINICAL THERAPEUTICS Yangco, B. G., Klein, T. W., Deresinski, S. C., Vickery, A. C., Craig, C. P. 1981; 4 (4): 285-290
Forty patients were treated with either flubendazole or mebendazole, 100 mg twice a day for three days, in a double-blind, prospective, randomized study. The study concentrated on patients with Trichuris trichiura infections, although the effects of the anthelmintic agents on concomitant Ascaris lumbricoides and hookworm infections were also evaluated. Results from 35 evaluable patients showed complete cure in 17/19 (89%) patients treated with flubendazole and 15/16 (94%) patients treated with mebendazole (P less than 0.05, no significant difference). Significant reduction in Trichuris egg counts was noted in the three other patients. No significant adverse clinical or laboratory reactions were noted. Other roundworms were completely eradicated by both anthelmintic agents. Based on this study, flubendazole appears to be as effective and safe as mebendazole in the treatment of nematode infections.
View details for Web of Science ID A1981MX54100006
NECROTIZING OR CAVITATING PNEUMONIA DUE TO STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE - REPORT OF 4 CASES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE MEDICINE Yangco, B. G., Deresinski, S. C. 1980; 59 (6): 449-457
Streptococcus pneumoniae is seldom considered as an etiologic agent of necrotizing or cavitating pneumonia. However, during a 5-month period we encountered four patients, bacteremic with S. pneumoniae, with such a pulmonary process. Review of the older literature indicates that this association may be more frequent than is commonly assumed. Anatomic, physiologic, and immunologic alterations of the pulmonary defense mechanisms prior to and during the infection as well as virulence factors of S. pneumoniae (i.e., rapid multiplication, accumulation of capsular polysaccharides, and inhibition of phagocytosis) in concert may produce the resultant decrease in bacterial clearance from the lung with the consequent necrosis of lung parenchyma. Since sputum and blood cultures are reported to be positive in only 50 percent and 25 percent, respectively, of cases of pneumonia, etiologic diagnosis may be difficult. Nevertheless, S. pneumoniae must be considered in the differential diagnosis of the patient with necrotizing or cavitating pneumonia.
View details for Web of Science ID A1980KQ56200005
ASSOCIATION OF ABO BLOOD-GROUP AND OUTCOME OF COCCIDIOIDAL INFECTION SABOURAUDIA-JOURNAL OF MEDICAL AND VETERINARY MYCOLOGY Deresinski, S. C., Pappagianis, D., Stevens, D. A. 1979; 17 (3): 261-264
Dissemination of fungal infection due to Coccidioides immitis has been previously shown to be related to hereditary factors. Two associations reported to date are race (e.g., Filipino and black ancestry) and HLA histocompatibility type (HLA-19). In the present study of 105 patients a significant association of blood group B and dissemination is demonstrated. C. immitis is known to possess antigens with blood group A activity. Previous epidemiologic studies have also shown HLA-A9 and blood group B are both more common in persons of black and Filipino ancestry. Further studies are needed to define whether these are independent variables, and may define subgroups at particularly high risk following coccidioidal infection.
View details for Web of Science ID A1979HM42400014
View details for PubMedID 531716
BONE AND JOINT COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS TREATED WITH MICONAZOLE AMERICAN REVIEW OF RESPIRATORY DISEASE Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 1979; 120 (5): 1101-1107
COCCIDIOIDES IMMITIS ENDOSPORES - PHAGOCYTOSIS BY HUMAN CELLS MYCOPATHOLOGIA Deresinski, S. C., Levine, H. B., Stevens, D. A. 1978; 64 (3): 179-181
Phagocytosis of killed endospores by glass adherent peripheral human mononuclear cells was studied. Phagocytosis continued through 30 minutes of incubation. No difference in rates of ingestion could be detected when cells from coccidioidin-reactive and nonreactive subjects were compared although both groups ingested endospores more avidly than latex particles.
View details for Web of Science ID A1978FY53500010
PSEUDOMONAS-MALTOPHILIA CAUSING HEROIN-ASSOCIATED INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS ARCHIVES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Yu, V. L., RUMANS, L. W., Wing, E. J., McLeod, R., SATTLER, F. N., Harvey, R. M., Deresinski, S. C. 1978; 138 (11): 1667-1671
The association of Pseudomonas maltophilia endocarditis in three patients with recent history of intravenous drug abuse is reported. All three patients had abnormal heart valves (two prosthetic and one rheumatic). A prominent characteristic of this uncommon pathogen is its in vitro resistance to the commonly used antimicrobials. Cure was achieved in all three cases. In two cases, synergistic antibiotic combinations were used. In one case, plasmid-mediated resistance to amikacin sulfate (Amikan, British; no comparable US product) emerged during therapy. The two patients with prosthetic valves received combined surgical and antibiotic therapy.
View details for Web of Science ID A1978FW27000017
CELLULAR IMMUNITY TO COCCIDIOIDES-IMMITIS - INVITRO LYMPHOCYTE-RESPONSE TO SPHERULES, ARTHROSPORES, AND ENDOSPORES CELLULAR IMMUNOLOGY Deresinski, S. C., Applegate, R. J., Levine, H. B., Stevens, D. A. 1977; 32 (1): 110-119
View details for Web of Science ID A1977DN85100010
TREATMENT OF FUNGAL MENINGITIS WITH MICONAZOLE ARCHIVES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Deresinski, S. C., Lilly, R. B., Levine, H. B., Galgiani, J. N., Stevens, D. A. 1977; 137 (9): 1180-1185
Twelve patients with fungal meningitis (ten cases were due to Coccidioides immitis, two were from Cryptococcus neoformans) were treated with brief courses of intravenous (IV) miconazole. Eleven patients, including patients with severe, chronic disease, had been treated unsuccessfully with amphotericin B. Four patients also received miconazole injected directly into the CSF. The drug was well tolerated by any route, with mild reversible side effects. After IV administration the miconazole concentration in the CSF rarely exceeded the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the infecting organism. Intra-CSF administration of 20 mg generally produced levels above the MIC for 24 hours. Five of ten patients with coccidiodial meningitis responded clinically. Of these five, four received only IV miconazole; three relapsed after therapy was stopped. Miconazole appears promising as a treatment of fungal meningitis, but trials of longer duration might prevent relapse.
View details for Web of Science ID A1977DU44500016
MICONAZOLE IN COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS .2. THERAPEUTIC AND PHARMACOLOGIC STUDIES IN MAN AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Stevens, D. A., Levine, H. B., Deresinski, S. C. 1976; 60 (2): 191-202
Fourteen patients with chronic coccidioidomycosis, many of whom had complicating concurrent diseases and/or had failed to respond to amphotericin therapy, were treated with intravenous miconazole, a synthetic imidazole drug previously shown to be effective in experimental murine coccidioidomycosis. Up to 3.6 g/day was given for up to three months. 7inimal inhibitory concentrations of mycelial and endospore phases of all clinical isolates of C. immitis were less than 2.0 mug/ml. Peak concentrations in the blood of up to 7.5 mug/ml (by assay against C. immitis in vitro) were achieved. Doses above 9 mg/kg or 350 mg/m2 were more efficacious in producing blood levels over 1 mug/ml. Serum protein binding, determined by several methods, was approximately 90 per cent. The disappearance of bioactive drug from blood after infusion has a rapid initial phase (t1/2 approximately 30 minutes) and a final plateau (t1/2 approximately 20 hours). Eight patients had objective evidence of response, three had slight or equivocal responses, two could not be evaluated, and one was a treatment failure. Side effects were generally uncommon, minor and transient except for phlebitis. Infusion into central venous catheters appears to circumvent this problem. Miconazole is a potentially useful drug in the treatment of coccidioidomycosis.
View details for Web of Science ID A1976BF07800004
SPHERULIN IN CLINICAL COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS - COMPARISON WITH COCCIDIOIDIN BOLETIN DE LA OFICINA SANITARIA PANAMERICANA Stevens, D. A., Levine, H. B., Deresinski, S. C., BLAINE, L. J. 1976; 80 (4): 333-341
View details for Web of Science ID A1976BS19500006
CLINICAL EVALUATION OF PARENTERAL DICLOXACILLIN CURRENT THERAPEUTIC RESEARCH-CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 1975; 18 (1): 151-162
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AL32700005
COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS IN COMPROMISED HOSTS - EXPERIENCE AT STANFORD-UNIVERSITY-HOSPITAL MEDICINE Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 1975; 54 (5): 377-395
To determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of infection with Coccidioides immitis in immunosuppressed patients at Stanford University Hospital, clinical records of 14 years were examined. Thirteen cases met the diagnostic criteria. Half had Hodgkin's disease. In six the infection was disseminated; five of the six died early in the course of their infectious illness, frequently without diagnosis. Conclusions include: 1. The occurrence of coccidioidomycosis in immunosuppressed patients seen at institutions in or adjacent to the endemic area is not as rare as the literature suggests. 2. Dissemination is frequently explosive and the radiographic appearance of pulmonary involvement may appear late. Widespread pulmonary dissemination may occur within 24 hours after a negative x-ray. 3. Although the skin test loses its diagnostic value, the serology remains valid. Thus immunosuppressed patients with febrile illnesses (with or without radiographically evident pulmonary involvement) who have a history of travel to an endemic area should have serological examinations. 4. Lymphocytopenia correlates with risk of dissemination of coccidioidomycosis. 5. The administration of immunsuppressive chemotherapy correlates with such risk while radiotherapy and the malignant or non-malignant nature of the disease do not.
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AR32100002
SPHERULIN IN CLINICAL COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS - COMPARISON WITH COCCIDIOIDIN CHEST Stevens, D. A., Levine, H. B., Deresinski, S. C., BLAINE, L. J. 1975; 68 (5): 697-702
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AV05800017
DISSEMINATED HERPES-SIMPLEX IN UNTREATED MULTIPLE-MYELOMA - PARADOX OF PRESENT CONCEPTS OF IMMUNE DEFECTS ONCOLOGY Deresinski, S. C., Stevens, D. A. 1974; 30 (4): 318-323
A patient with disseminated herpes simplex virus infection, documented by direct immunofluorescence, and untreated multiple myeloma with abnormal immunoglobulins is presented. Reports of infections with intracellular pathogens in myeloma patients are rare, whereas pyogenic infections have been amply documented. Partly in consequence of this, the untreated disease has been thought of as a relatively pure defect in humoral immunity. Review of present knowledge suggests that cell-mediated immunity is of paramount importance in combatting and containing infection with this virus. Thus, immune defects in multiple myeloma, and its infectious complications, may be more complex than appreciated by current concepts of this disease based on previously reported cases.
View details for Web of Science ID A1974AD35400006
SOLUBLE-ANTIGENS OF MYCELIA AND SPHERULES IN INVITRO DETECTION OF IMMUNITY TO COCCIDIOIDES-IMMITIS INFECTION AND IMMUNITY DERESINS, S. C., Levine, H. B., Stevens, D. A. 1974; 10 (4): 700-704
View details for Web of Science ID A1974U577200004
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Home Home Shelving a Dream
Safe Havens
Shelving a Dream
This downtown resident created a home around his favorite room, the library.
by Marilyn Sadler
In 1994, when Don Hutson started building his three-story house at South Bluffs, he knew the library would be its heart. Not only had he carried the room's image in his mind "for a good 20 years," says the professional speaker, business trainer, and author, he also had a manila folder for each room of the house, filled with photos and ideas from magazines. His library file was by far the thickest.
Today Hutson's dream library of oak and birch, located on the home's second floor, soars 14 feet high, contains some 4,500 books, and boasts what he claims is one of the largest collections of self-help materials anywhere.
The height was especially important to Hutson, and it took some negotiations to achieve. "I didn't want to make the mistake some people do, trying to put a library in a room with eight- or ten-foot ceilings," he explains. So he asked for and received a variance on the subdivision's height restrictions. Then his architects, Looney Ricks Kiss, who took Hutson's plan and fine-tuned it, had to deal with different heights in other rooms to make the second-floor ceiling even all the way across. Says Hutson: "We really had to do some finessing to make it work."
But work it does, as does the ceiling's design of nine paneled squares, the 12-foot-high shelves, and the eight slender columns that create vertical points, each adorned with a vase -- an idea borrowed from the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.
The books themselves, which Hutson has been collecting all his adult life, are divided into various groupings, including novels, health and wellness, sales, psychology, history and government, wealth and success, religion and spirituality, aviation, humor, and a section Hutson calls "to read."
In the largest category are volumes on self-help, a number of them written by Samuel Smiles, a Scottish author credited with founding the self-help movement in 1849. Other authors in that category range from Orison Swett Marden -- Hutson's favorite, who wrote 46 books from 1895 to 1927 -- to Elbert Hubbard, who died on the doomed Lusitania , and Norman Vincent Peale.
Also represented are more contemporary authors on business success and "personal excellence," such as Tony Robbins, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones, and Hutson's wife, Terri Murphy, who has co-written a book with Donald Trump titled The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received . Hutson, the author of nine books, recently collaborated with best-selling author Ken Blanchard on The One Minute Entrepreneur.
Upon entering the library, visitors see the owner's "most beautiful and valuable books." Among them are signed volumes by world traveler and Memphian Richard Halliburton. And Hutson admits to buying a few sets of leather-bound books "not necessarily to read them but because they're beautiful." His oldest volume is one on U.S. government, dating to the 1700s. His most unusual is The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, who wrote for the L.A. Times in the early 1900s and retired to join forces with Pancho Villa.
For those building a library of their own, Hutson's advice is simple; "Give careful thought to your favorite kind of reading, identify who you really like, then seek out the best authors and buy everything you can find." And, he might add, aim for high ceilings.
Memphis Magazine February 2007 Home + Garden February-2007
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Latest Movie News & Update
Reporting on movies, television, trailer, and pop culture best reviewed movies
Author Archives: james
Fans ask to eliminate Liam Neeson from Men In Black International
It seems that the right to be forgotten does not exist in the digital age. After Liam Neeson shared an anecdote about how he sought revenge on a black man who raped a friend of his, the Internet came on him and labeled him a racist for calling him “black bastard” and now some Twitter users are asking for his head in the film Men in Black: International his next film, they think it would be out of place.
Do not miss: More “racist” statements from Liam Neeson reappear and retaliation begins by canceling red carpet Men In Black International sony.
Social networks are still in flames after Liam Neeson said he wanted revenge with a mallet against the sexual abuser of a friend. The actor will star in the next installment of the franchise that began Men in Black – alongside Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, but now there are those who want their performance removed from the tape for their comments, as it seems they do not it is appropriate that I continue in it.
Also Read ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ All the characters appear safe in the movie
Other comments simply assure that the film is already stained by the comments and now they do not want to see it. All this because of the anecdote with which Neeson tried to explain how violence is not the solution and it is a mistake to get carried away by fury. Men In Black International full movie In the end, there was no incident and the actor learned from the situation, which happened 40 years ago, that it is okay to put his feelings before the reason.
Ironically, Neeson is known for the film Reckless Search – in which he must track and recover the daughter of his character. The speech given to one of the kidnappers by telephone is one of the actions that are most remembered by the public. In that film he uses his abilities to collect revenge against those who kidnap his daughter while she is on vacation.
Men In Black International will be the sequel to the original saga about an organization of secret agents dedicated to protecting Earth from alien threats, as well as keeping visitors from other planets hidden from the public’s knowledge. Although the film will be starred by the stars of Thor: Ragnarok – 92%, Neeson will play the commander of both.
New trailer for Dumbo, the real-life film of Tim Burton
We recommend you: Liam Neeson is criticized in social networks for “racist” and he responds to his haters
Could Sony erase Neeson as Ridley Scott did with Kevin Spacey in All Money of the World – 63%? It would depend on the importance of its role but it would surely be very unlikely to happen given that it would involve re-filming sequences that surely cost a lot of money. But the real question is: should they eliminate it? The actor did nothing after all. These are some of the comments:
Also Read Olivia Munn explained why Psylocke will not be in Dark Phoenix
This entry was posted in movie on February 17, 2019 by james.
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’: first images of the awaited new film
One of the most anticipated titles of this 2019, if not the most (it hurts or not), is the new work of Quentin Tarantino. You put as you put, the director is one of the great and his new cast and the setting of ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood imdb‘ put our teeth so long that we have destroyed the parquet. One of those exclusive that fix you the weekend.
Also Read One more of the family A Dog’s Way Home
In case someone has just come from a trip from outer space and still do not know, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘ presents Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, movie star, and his double stunt, Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, in search of a destiny according to his ambition through a Hollywood in full change. As uncomfortable and sordid background noise, Sharon Tate, in the skin of Margot Robbie, is killed in unpleasant circumstances.
As if it were not enough with the main trident, the film also features Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Bruce Dern, Damian Lewis, Tim Roth, Emile Hirsch, Luke Perry, Michael Madsen, Lena Dunham, James Marsden and Dakota Fanning. , among many, many others.
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ will hit theaters next summer, with a release date in Spain marked for August 9.
This entry was posted in movie, photo on February 17, 2019 by james.
According to a rumor, It: Chapter 2 would last almost three hours
In September the expected second part of It will arrive, where we can see the adult versions of the Losers Club facing the terrifying Pennywise for the last time. Without knowing more details at the moment, an anonymous user of Twitter said he had been present during a test function of the film, sharing his appreciation with the rest.
The unknown Twittero affirms that It: Chapter 2 lasts almost three hours. Although he considered it quite good, he states that he still needs some work, preferring his first part.
He only revealed that at the moment, since, to say more details, Warner could sue him “until a premature grave”.
This is, for now, just a rumor, since nothing has been confirmed by official sources It Chapter 2 full movie.
Remember that in these test functions, preliminary versions of the films are shown, subjecting them to changes after the first reactions.
Considering that more than six months are missing for its release, the final version could have several differences with respect to which ViewerAnon had access. It is worth mentioning that the user advances several premieres to be present in these functions, but not always could be correct.
Also Read New trailer for Dumbo, the real-life film of Tim Burton
In any case, it would not surprise a longer duration than the first part, since along with covering the adult lives of its protagonists, it will also show them in their children’s versions seen previously. In addition, the extension of the original Stephen King book exceeds 1,500 pages, so there is much terror to offer.
Olivia Munn explained why Psylocke will not be in Dark Phoenix
After Psylocke left his role as an accomplice of the titular villain at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, followers of the mutant franchise assumed that the character played by Olivia Munn would follow in Storm’s footsteps and join the X-Men. But that will not happen.
Facing the premiere of Dark Phoenix, Olivia Munn spoke with Entertainment Tonight and detailed that Psylocke will not appear in the next film of the classic team.
Of course, his absence is not a surprise considering that the character has not even been mentioned in the progress. However, the actress explained that it was not the plot that excluded Psylocke from the film.
“I was signing The Predator back then, so there was no time to film (Dark Phoenix), so I’m not in it. I have to tell them, “said the actress.
Munn starred in the new movie Predator directed by Shane Black, which would have caused the conflict in the filming date of both productions.
The actress told nothing more about the film because, in addition to not being involved, revealed that a fact that had previously indicated on Dark Phoenix full movie got her in trouble with Fox.
“I can not say anything because the last time I said a bit they sent me a note. But no, I’m not in that, “he said.
Also ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ All the characters appear safe in the movie
‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ All the characters appear safe in the movie
We know that the premiere of ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home‘ is still far away and that, in fact, before will come the turn of ‘Captain Marvel’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’, but that does not mean we do not think of the starring film by Tom Holland. In fact, we have our dear Peter Parker very present and we do not stop asking ourselves at what point we will meet again with him and what will happen to him on that trip to Europe.
With the first trailer of the film, we have revealed the first details of it, which have not done anything but increase the expectation and expectations of the public. The Peter Parker of Tom Holland convinced us from the moment we saw him for the first time on screen and now he is one of the family that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Also Read Michelle Williams confesses that she did not understand the ‘Venom’ movie
And Which members of this family will appear in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’? We still do not know the full cast, but we can already ensure that the following characters will be present in the film:
Logically, the Spider-Man himself will appear in the film and, of course, will be its protagonist. Tom Holland will put on his suit again, this time on the other side of the ocean, and will face new physical and emotional challenges.
As we have seen in the trailer, Aunt May will be present again. Now, in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home full movie‘, it seems that the character played by Marisa Tomei knows the double identity of her nephew and supports him!
Thanks to the aforementioned trailer, we also know that MJ and Ned will continue alongside Peter Parker, although it seems that only the second knows his skills. Another clue tells us that our protagonist might be falling in love with the character that Zendaya gives life to.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on February 17, 2019 by james.
After having a first glimpse of Dumbo’s Spanish trailer, Disney has released a new preview of its real-image film that Tim Burton will take to the big screen. You can see this trailer through the video that heads the news.
The story of this remake of Dumbo will focus on a former circus star, Holt Farrier, who returns to the stage after returning home after the war. Our protagonist finds work with a circus that is on the verge of bankruptcy and will take care of a newborn elephant, whose huge ears make it the laughingstock of the show.
Under the direction of Tim Burton, Dumbo’s real-image film will star Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Nico Parker Rooney, Douglas Reith, Joseph Gatt and Alan Arkin.
It seems that Disney is determined to bring to the big screen all his classic animations in real image, one of the latest confirmations being the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Meanwhile this year we will have, apart from Dumbo, other productions of Disney’s real image, such as Aladdin and The Lion King visit Dumbo full movie.
Also Read We know more details of Wonder Park
Dumbo will arrive flying to the movie theaters next March 29, 2019. What are you looking at everything shown so far of the film? You can tell us your impressions in our section dedicated to comments.
This entry was posted in trailer on February 17, 2019 by james.
One more of the family A Dog’s Way Home
Every time Charles Martin Smith, a nice actor we remember A Dog’s Way Home in American Graffiti, but who we like to bring to mind as one of Elliot Ness’s Untouchables, wasted time directing family movies with dolphins that were pure Overdose of sugar, server wondered why he learned nothing when he was the star of a classic Disney of 1983, all he environmentalism, respect for nature and love of animals: The wolves do not cry. Carroll Ballard, the signer of that Kurosawanian and precious film (without being slobbering), such that his previous The Black Steed, could have served Smith as a model. However, he did not do it until now.
One more of the family, adaptation of another dog bestseller by the same author of Your best friend, Lasse Hallström, clicks similar keys of canine enchantment and tearful melodrama, but Charles Martin Smith, without disdaining this content (everything related to the traumatized character played by Ashley Judd), is carried away by more elements of the aforementioned Carroll Ballard.
In fact, part of this odyssey back home of the dog (impossible not to soften before their mohines) abounds in an approach almost documentary and psychological. A Dog’s Way Home full movie They are very well that adventure to return home, their moments of animal solidarity worthy of other disneys zoophiles in real image (An incredible journey, Back home and even their moments of comedy and slapstick (the shop and the hen ), but the film transcends that format when it describes the psychology of the animal in relation to an unknown world of humans and obstacles.
Road movie after all, A Dog’s Way Home One more of the family is again Sullivan’s travels, by Preston Sturges (the lively Bolt was already), perhaps as Gregory La Cava would have done: the meeting with that vagabond played by Edward James Olmos seems to indicate that Smith knows classical cinema very well. Despite all the clichés and clichés he handles, some without any kind of subtlety (the gay couple), the film arrives at home without problems, satisfies the instincts of its audience, contributes to the industry of paper handkerchiefs (recyclable) and it makes us better people. Or better dogs.
This entry was posted in movie, update on February 17, 2019 by james.
“The Favourite”: trailer, critique, awards and all about the Oscar-winning film 2019
The favorite trailer, synopsis, story, critique and all about the movie His 10 nominations to the Oscar 2019 and 7 statuettes of the BAFTA 2019 have made of “La favorita” (“The Favorite” in its original language) the focus of interest of the followers of the biographical and dramatic cinema. The film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara narrates the political machinations during the reign of Anne of Great Britain, the last British sovereign of the House of the Stuarts.
Lanthimos presents us with a royal palace full of hysteria, betrayal and paranoia, in whose rooms we practice pastimes such as the launching of oranges against naked men; and in particular it places us in the middle of the fierce battle in which a duchess and a servant girl get entangled by the attentions of Queen Anne, rendered useless by depression and gout attacks.
Actors and characters from “The Favourite”
In September 2015, during the production process, it was announced that Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Kate Winslet had been chosen to star in the new film by Yorgos Lanthimos. However, in October of that same year, Rachel Weisz joined the cast in replacement of Winslet. Also, two years later, in February of 2017, Nicholas Hoult became the new tenant of the drama with Joe Alwyn, signed in March. This was the completion of the main cast of the film that today competes in 10 categories of the Oscar 2019 award, but: who is exactly who in “La favorita”:
• Olivia Colman as Queen Anne
• Emma Stone as Abigail Masham
• Rachel Weisz as Sarah Churchill
• Nicholas Hoult as Robert Harley
• Joe Alwyn as Samuel Masham
• Mark Gatiss as John Churchill
During an interview in Spain, the director of the film spoke about the particularity of the characters of “La favorita” and the environment of fiction. According to Lanthimos, “the characters of ‘La favorita’ speak with current idioms, the dresses are made with modern synthetic materials and in the film Baroque music is heard, but also a song by Elton John”.
The 45-year-old Greek director frames these anachronisms in his interest in contradictions: “I like to contrast things, and in ‘La favorita’ I have been able to combine absurd comedy with melodrama.”
The argument of “The favorite”
Early eighteenth century. England is at war with France and a weakened queen, Anna, occupies the throne, although she does not rule. The Favourite full movie That’s what her friend Lady Sarah does, due to the precarious state of health and the unstable character of the monarch. Of course, between the two there is more than friendship until intrudes Abigail.
Abigail is a disgraced relative of Sarah, who arrives at the palace as a servant with the favor of Sarah herself. However, Abigail soon becomes very close to the queen, to the point of displacing the Duchess of Marlborough, unleashing an internal battle between the two to become her ‘favorite’.
This entry was posted in movie, trailer on February 17, 2019 by james.
Michelle Williams confesses that she did not understand the ‘Venom’ movie
‘Venom’ has been a blockbuster worldwide grossing more than $ 855 million and has confirmed the sequel, but actress Michelle Williams who played Anne Weying says she still does not understand the story at all.
In a recent interview with Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, he joked about his involvement in the film, as he said: “I do not even know much about the Venom movie, let alone about the sequel.” It’s not clear if Williams was just being shy or if he really found the plot confusing.
Michelle Williams confesses that she did not understand the Venom movie
Is it better for actors to study comic book characters? Or maybe they should act without having any idea of the Universe to which they belong? What is clear is that someone should explain the script well before the cameras start rolling.
‘Venom‘ is a film of origins with great potential to exploit.
One of the great confusions that the actors have taken is that they shot something that later did not come very close to what was shown on the big screen. They planned the film as if it were R-rated, but in the end the montage removed parts so that everyone could see it in the cinema. Tom Hardy already complained a lot, a little before it was released ‘Venom’ but the great collection gave him the reason to the film studio.
From now on we have to start thinking about ‘Venom 2’ and the rest of the movies that SONY will do with Marvel characters.
Although the actress Michelle Williams did not understand the film or do not know anything about the symbiote, it will be in the sequel. Since his character will be very important for the protagonist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). But there will be more films, since they are preparing the one of ‘Morbius, the living vampire’ or ‘Kraven, the hunter’. Two classic Spider-Man villains that will have their films origins and that will surely be very interesting and above all different to what we are used to in terms of superhero movies. also read venom full movie They are creating a cinematic universe parallel to Marvel Studios.
This entry was posted in update on February 17, 2019 by james.
We know more details of Wonder Park
A few weeks ago we published the first trailer of “Wonder Park”, known in our country as “The Magic Park”. This animated film has gained special importance in the Spanish audiovisual world for several reasons, the main one being its budget: it has cost more than 100 million dollars that have come to the Madrid studio Ilion thanks to a commission from Paramount Pictures.
But who is this study? Everyone will have heard someone say that they have seen a Spanish movie that seems “foreign” like “Planet 51” and “Mortadelo y Filemón Contra Jimmy el Cachondo”, so Paramount decided that this small studio would be the most appropriate to produce “Wonder” Park. ”
Today we know that the film will arrive in the spring of 2019 Wonder Park full trailer in our cinemas but it has not been without problems: while the director had until recently been Dylan Brown, creator of “Ratatoille” and “Toy Story”, after receiving reports of abuse and inappropriate behavior was stopped and he is waiting to know who will replace him, as there are still details of the post-production phase to be completed.
In order to be profitable for the studio, the film will have to raise up to four times its initial budget since there will be a significant advertising investment. also read how to get Wonder Park full movie It is a good time to try to overcome the tough competition in animation with different projects like this one.
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Nottingham's Old County Hall Occupied
researcher | 11.04.2008 12:21 | 2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces | Free Spaces | History
Since a few days, a group of people have occupied the Old County Hall in Nottingham as part of the international days of action for free culture and autonomous spaces. Also see feature article. The building, also known as 'the Judges' Lodgings' has both a fascinating history and is a building of outstanding beauty. So what is its history? Who's been living there over the years? And why has been sitting empty for so many years?
"For many years it was used as the Judge's Lodgings, and behind it is a really charming garden which forms an oasis of greenery which it is very difficult to see from anywhere else than the windows of the schoolrooms of Halifax Place Chapel. It is a 17th century house which was greatly altered about 1833, about which time it was purchased from the Fellows family, who had removed thither from a smaller house a little to the west. Before their time it was occupied by Lady Hutchinson, the mother of Colonel Hutchinson." That's an extract from an article on Notts History, an online collection of copyleft articles on Nottinghamshire's vibrant history. Reading through articles about the history of the Judge's Lodgings, one thing is certain. And that is that some very high ranked individuals have lived here over the centuries.
Links: Nottinghamshire History | Announcing The New Squat: Location (Nottingham) | Nottingham Braced For Squat Actions (feature) | Days of Action for Squats and Autonomous Spaces
Nottinghams Old County Hall, also known as the Judge's residence is now occupied
The property is now known as no 23, but in fact, 3 of the original houses were merged in the mid 19th Century. Standing in front of the building, the part on the left are numbers 17 and 19, High Pavement, and have leaden rain water heads with the initials S F. M. and they date from 1731. The house was erected in that year by Samuel and Mary Fellows, the representative of a house of no small importance in Nottingham's history.
The founder of the family was Samuel Fellows, who sometime about 1700 was apprenticed to one John Howitt, who was a frame-work knitter. He prospered in business, and afterwards became an Alderman and finally Mayor of Nottingham. His son, John Fellows, continued the business and followed in his father's civic footsteps, being afterwards an Alderman and three times Mayor of the town. John Fellows still further increased the business, which was situated in Broad Marsh, and moved from this old house to the County House, No. 23, High Pavement. Up until that point, no 23 had housed the cities Judges. In 1808 he established the bank in Bridlesmith Gate, the Hart Fellows Bank, which was later merged with other banks, later to become Lloyds Bank.
The son of John Fellows, Sir Charles Fellows, became a great antiquary and traveller. Between 1839 and 1841, at the height of the British Empire, he travelled throughout Asia and, having discovered many treasures, he shipped them to England, in conjunction with the Trustees of the British Museum in London, where they can still be seen. He published books on his travels and researches, and also upon ancient coinage, and for these various services he was knighted by Queen Victoria. He was also much occupied with the careful restorations of Carisbrooke Castle, on the Isle of Wight.
The house is typical of the late 18th century construction with its crown glass windows, its tall narrow doorways surmounted by fan-lights and flanked by classic pilasters, and for a short time it was the residence of that strange character Henry Kirk White, the Nottingham poet, about whom everybody talks, but whose writings very few people read nowadays.
Extract from one of White's poems, 'The Savoyard's Return':
Oh! yonder is the well known spot,
My dear, my long lost native home!
Oh, welcome is yon little cot,
Where I shall rest, no more to roam!
Oh! I have travell’d far and wide,
O’er many a distant foreign land;
Each place, each province I have tried.
And sung and danced my saraband.
But all their charms could not prevail
To steal my heart from yonder vale.
(Copyleft from Wikisource)
It is not just an excentric poet or a wealthy family that have resided there over the years. In 1832 the building was purchased by the County Magistrates and it is believed that that in the early 1920's or 1930's Princess Louise briefly lived at 23 High Pavement, which by that time had been turned into a huge magnificant residence, as it was merged with no 17 and 19.
Princess Louise, also known as Marchioness of Lorne (and Duchess of Argyll by marriage) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the company of her family. When her father, the Prince Consort, died on 14 December 1861, the court went into a period of intense mourning, to which Louise was unsympathetic. Louise was an able sculptor and artist, and several of her sculptures remain today. She was also a supporter of the feminist movement, and corresponded with Josephine Butler and visited Elizabeth Garrett.
As an unmarried daughter of Victoria, Louise served as an unofficial secretary to her mother between 1866 and 1871. The question of Louise's marriage was discussed in the late 1860s. Suitors from the royal houses of Prussia and Denmark were suggested, but Victoria wanted new blood in the family, and therefore suggested a high-ranking member of the aristocracy. Despite opposition from members of the royal family, Louise fell in love with John, Marquess of Lorne, the heir to the Duke of Argyll, and Victoria consented to the marriage, which took place on 21 March 1871.
Despite a happy beginning, the two drifted apart, possibly because of their childlessness and the Queen's constraints on their activities. In 1878, Lorne was appointed Governor General of Canada. Louise thus became viceregal consort, but her stay was unhappy as a result of homesickness and dislike of Ottawa. Following Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, she entered the social circle established by her brother, the new King, Edward VII. Louise's marriage survived thanks to long periods of separation, but the couple reconciled in 1911, and she was devastated by her husband's death in 1914. After the end of the First World War in 1918, she became a gradual recluse, undertaking few public duties outside of Kensington Palace. She died at Kensington on 3 December 1939 at the age of 91. For more see wikipedia entry.
At some point the County Council gained ownership over the property and housed various offices in it. In 2000 they sold it and while it has switched owners at various times, it has remained empty for years. Until now that is of course as people will be putting this marvellous and significant building back into good use.
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Tours/Programs
Senior’s Recreation
In Riel’s Footsteps
Our Collections & Exhibits
Donate An Object
Shop Online – Coming Soon
Our History - Our Museum
Step back in time with us.
Under the auspices of the Grey Nuns, the convent served as Western Canada’s first hospital, orphanage and seniors’ home. It was also a school, initially for both girls and boys; Louis Riel was a student here. Eventually, the Sisters operated a boarding school for girls.
La Société historique de Saint‐Boniface (SHSB, est. 1902) opened a museum in the basement of St. Boniface Cathedral. The SHSB was eventually provided with space in St. Boniface City Hall for this purpose.
Student nurses at St. Boniface General Hospital School of Nursing had to move to the convent during the 1950 flood.
The Grey Nuns vacated the building at 494 Taché; it had been their home since December 1847.
Amid rumours that the former convent was to be demolished, the SHSB spearheaded efforts to designate the building as a historic building for use as a museum.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated the building as a historic site, and recommended that it be preserved for possible use as a museum.
The City of St. Boniface, taking over the lead on the project, created the Saint‐Boniface Museum Board, made up of both aldermen and citizen members.
The City of St. Boniface and the federal government signed an agreement cost‐sharing the expense of building restoration. As a condition, the City had to conclude a 99‐year lease with the Grey Nuns and a museum management agreement with the SHSB. Other contributors to the project were the Province of Manitoba and the then Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg.
The City of St. Boniface signed a 99‐year lease agreement with the Grey Nuns. The City was to be “fully responsible for the maintenance of the buildings.…”
Following several years of retrofitting, the Museum opened its doors for several weeks. Regular operations began the following summer, and eventually the Museum would be open year‐round.
Given that the initial funds were insufficient to meet the costs of the restoration and that the City of St. Boniface was unable to conclude a management agreement with the SHSB, a new agreement was signed with the federal government in Ottawa, replacing the 1963 agreement. Again, the Metropolitan Corporation and the Province were contributors, and the City agreed to “maintain the convent at its own expense.for a period of 30 years…
The City of Winnipeg Act was passed, amalgamating the numerous municipalities in the area. The new City of Winnipeg assumed “all the responsibilities of the former city of St. Boniface in connection with the St. Boniface Museum.”
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board reaffirmed that the convent was of “exceptional” national significance on both historical and architectural grounds. It asked the federal minister responsible for the Board to enter into discussions with the City of Winnipeg and others, in order “to restore the historic fabric of the convent.”
Winnipeg City Council adopted a business plan prepared by the Museum, outlining the major structural and restorative work on the building that was needed. Of the total cost of $1,264,000, the City was to contribute $410,000 and the Federal government $580,000; the Museum was to secure $157,000 from the St. Boniface Museum Province and $117,000 from other sources, including its own reserve funds.
The City of Winnipeg and the federal government entered into a cost‐sharing agreement, which permitted the restoration and structural stabilization of the building.
October 1993 — May 1995
The Museum was closed to allow for the major renovations. When it reopened, it introduced general admission charges for the first time.
The Museum received a Heritage Canada Foundation award in recognition of the vigilance exercised throughout the restoration process; as a result, the historic integrity and fabric of the building had been maintained.
The Museum and the City received awards from Heritage Winnipeg for the work done on the building.
The Museum is recognized by the Province as a Manitoba STAR Attraction and enjoys a national reputation for its collection and for the building itself. Staff members are also recognized for their professional expertise and experience. Their reputation results in frequent requests for them to participate in peer review panels and other consultative forums.
Mon, Tues, Wed & Fri: 10 AM - 4 PM
Thurs: 9 AM - 9 PM
494 Taché Ave
Winnipeg, MB Canada | R2H 2B2
General: 204.237.4500 ext 400
Reservations 1.204.237.4500 ext 420
AdmissionBecome A MemberCharitable DonationWorkshopsEventsBoutique
Copyright 2019 Le Musee de Saint Boniface Museum © All Rights Reserved
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Date of Birth: May 17th, 1973
Residence: Trumansburg, NY, USA
Race Team: Multimatic Motorsports Ford Racing
Bret Seafuse joined Multimatic Motorsports in 2012 to contest the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the #16 Ford Focus ST-R alongside Nick Mancuso. Bret is an experienced Grand-Am race car driver, having finished runner-up twice in the GS class driver’s standings. Bret and fellow Multimatic driver James Gue were a duo to be reckoned with in 2009, when they won two races (Barber Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway) and narrowly missed out on the championship to Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster. Bret started his racing career in 1993 in SCCA with his father Jim, and moved up to Motorola Cup in 2000 driving a Cobra R Mustang.
Bret hails from Trumansburg, New York and has three children. Bret likes to snowmobile, boat and build fast cars when he is not on the race track.
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Hands of Inge
16mm motion picture film of Hands of Inge
Fletcher, John W. Jr., American
Beveridge, Tee, American, 1923 - 1993
Hardison, Inge, American, born 1914
Mal Waldron, American, 1925 - 2002
Carter, Ron, American, born 1937
Dolphy, Eric, American, 1928 - 1964
Narrated by
Davis, Ossie, American, 1917 - 2005
Bowser, Pearl, American, born 1931
16mm Film (a): acetate film;
Reel (b): metal;
Film Can (c): metal
Length (Film): 412 Feet
motion pictures (information artifacts)
Place filmed
Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
This 16mm black and white film is a short film exploring the work and methodology of acclaimed African American sculptor Inge Hardison. The film, made relatively early in her career, details her working processes with clay, bronze, and wire.
The 16mm black and white film serves as a short introduction to the work and methodology of acclaimed African American sculptor Inge Hardison. The film, made relatively early in her career, details her working processes with clay, bronze, and wire. The camera largely focuses on her hands, although there are also some shots that include her full body and the model, a young girl, Hardison's daughter, Yolande. The jazz music soundtrack features Mal Waldron, Eric Dolphy, Ron Carter, and Toni Ross. Hortense Beveridge edited the film. There is some voiceover narration by Ossie Davis.
Consists of: 16mm Film (a), Original 400 foot Film Reel (b), and Original 400 foot Can (c).
2012.79.1.9.1a: 16mm film. The film opens with close-ups of Hardison's hands as she displays some tools, cuts a piece of metal, and begins the process of making clay for sculpture. The next scene shows her hands working with metal wire and wood and using wire cutters as she twists the metal around another object. At this point in the film, the narration by Ossie Davis begins. He introduces Hardison and then the camera shot pulls back to show her working on a sculpture on a waist-high table. All of the materials from the previous scene appear to have been used in the sculpture she is working on. The camera shot returns to a close-up of her hands as she molds the clay around the wire. As she continues to work, the clay is molded into the shape of a human head, and Davis reveals that she is creating a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. The next scenes show some of her other sculpture, including one of Father John Coleman of Brooklyn, Nellie Carrington from the book Smokey Town Road written by Hardison, Elaine Atwell, and her niece Minnie Hardison. The montage of her works ends with a small full nude sculpture. The next scene shows a close-up of hands working on a sculpture of her daughter. Then the footage shows her daughter and compares her to the sculpture with sporadic narration by Davis. He then explains how she is preparing the sculpture to be made into bronze. The next scene shows her hands using pliers to work with wire. The final design shown is a man made of wire in a running position. The film ends with a montage of her hands with and without tools.
2012.79.1.9.1b: Original 400 foot film reel.
2012.79.1.9.1c: Original 400 foot film can. The metal can has a sticker label from a film company on one side and a hand written note taped on to the other side.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser
2012.79.1.9.1abc
Pearl Bowser Collection
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Is the new Independent Group likely to thrive as MPs split from Labour?
Chris CurtisTuesday 19 Feb 2019 1:17 pm
(Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
The newly formed Independent Group, created by defecting Labour MPs, will be hoping to siphon off more disaffected politicians in coming days and weeks and build a fresh centrist force in British politics.
And there are many reasons to believe that there’s fertile ground for such a new party. For starters, the two main parties collectively polled 82.4 per cent of the vote in the most recent election, a level that feels unsustainably high by modern standards. You have to go all the way back to 1970 to find an election where they were more dominant.
The rising unpopularity of their leaders makes this two-party politics seem even less sustainable. Our recent polling shows that just 30 per cent of the public has a favourable view of Theresa May, and 58 per cent have a negative opinion. And the public’s view of Jeremy Corbyn is even worse, with scores of 22 per cent and 67 per cent respectively.
Furthermore, with Brexit dominating the political agenda, the main two parties have been finding it increasingly tricky to hold their coalitions of voters together. There are nearly 4million Britons who voted Remain and then supported the Conservatives in the last general election, and many of those will feel increasingly unwelcome in a Conservative party edging towards hard Brexit.
On the other side, there seems to be increasing frustration amongst Labour voters caused by the leadership not taking a stronger stance against Brexit. The majority (56 per cent) of those who backed Labour at the last election now think that a second EU Referendum, followed by Britain staying in the EU, would be a good outcome for Britain.
There’s certainly fertile ground for a new political party, and the Independent Group has firmly planted itself in the British political landscape, but only time will tell if it can grow.
So it is perhaps no surprise that our recent polling for Hope Not Hate shows that 68 per cent of the public feel that none of the parties currently speak for them, and our snap polling reveals that 46 per cent think these Labour MPs were right to splinter away and form a new group, compared to just 13 per cent who think they should have stayed.
But while voters may be open to the idea of a new centrist party in principle, there are still many structural difficulties the new gang of seven will face in actually gaining the public’s votes.
The first is leadership. Back in 1983 the SDP split was led by some of the most well-known politicians in the country, whereas most of the politicians who left the Labour party yesterday are almost unheard of.
For example, YouGov ratings data shows that just 18 per cent of the public have heard of Luciana Berger before she launched yesterday’s press conference. Whilst Chuka Ummuna is slightly better know, with the majority (52 per cent) of the public recognising him, just 15 per cent currently have a positive opinion of him.
The second obstacle will be filling a manifesto with policies that extend beyond Brexit. Whilst there may be votes to capture by coming out against Brexit, or at least in favour of a second referendum, it isn’t clear how the party could position itself beyond that.
One problem they will face is that many voters who share their position on Brexit are also close to Corbyn on economic policy. For example, 67 per cent of Remain voters think the railways should be run by the public sector, 65 per cent feel the same way about water companies and 55 per cent about the energy sector. Nationalisation of all of these is already a keystone of Corbyn’s manifesto.
More: Labour Party
MP asks if teens would be cleared of boy's murder if they were black state school pupils
Anti-Semitism whistleblowers plan to sue Labour party
Is Labour's 'edging towards Remain' too little too late?
Even if they can overcome the leadership and policy hurdles, they’ll still have to contend with an electoral system that favours the bigger parties. Modern British history is littered with new political parties who managed a good showing at the ballot box only to find that ‘first past the post’ system doesn’t necessarily translate their votes into seats.
From the 1983 election, where the SDP alliance got over a quarter of the vote but less than four per cent of the seats, to 2015 when UKIP got 12.6 per cent of the vote share but didn’t gain the most votes in a single constituency. It is difficult to see how this new party won’t be plagued with these difficulties as well.
MORE: The Labour party is not what the Independent Group says it is – now we must prove it
MORE: Islamophobia has crept into the Conservative party and trickled down to its voters
MORE: BBC microphone picks up someone saying ‘we’re f***ed’ as 7 MPs quit Labour party
Conservative PartyLabour PartyPolitics
Labour activists call to abolish private schools after Boris Johnson's likely election
Woman crushed to death by partner after falling while having sex over balcony
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AMERICA'S OPEN BORDERS AND THE ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS FOR 18 YEARS OF WELFARE JUMPING IT IN DROVES
"Unless the life chances of children raised by single mothers suddenly improve, the explosive growth of the U.S. Hispanic population over the next couple of decades does not bode well for American social stability. Hispanic immigrants bring near–Third World levels of fertility to America, coupled with what were once thought to be First World levels of illegitimacy." HEATHER MAC DONALD
How much sympathy for pregnant illegal border-crossers is too
much?
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/how_much_sympathy_for_pregnant_illegal_bordercrossers_is_too_much.html
By Harry White
Back on November 26, Maryury Hernandez, a God-fearing pregnant migrant from Honduras, entered the country with her husband and three-year-old son in search of "better lives" for her children and "to keep them safe" (so she makes the hazardous trek north?), says journalist Ruben Navarrette, who is "extremely grateful for his citizenship." The problem is, she entered illegally, which makes her eligible for deportation. "I feel like a criminal," said Maryury. She is a criminal.
A pregnant foreigner may go to the U.S. to give birth. She doesn't violate any U.S. laws if she has a visa. Still, U.S. Customs, strict on pregnant foreigners entering the country, may refuse her entry. Maryury didn't bother to apply for a visa. She caravanned north, and her handlers quickly put her in the hands of immigration agents who caringly whisked her off to an excellent environment for giving birth. She gave birth on November 27 – a bouncing baby boy. Just another drop in the anchor-baby bucket?
While hosting a show on "a conservative radio station" in San Diego, citizen-journalist Navarrette listened to callers repeat "the old trope advanced by cable news hosts that babies born on U.S. soil somehow 'anchor' their parents to the United States."
People should know that babies born on U.S. soil to foreign parents don't anchor their parents to the United States. Apparently, Maryury's baby has become a U.S. citizen by jus soli, yet Maryury is eligible for deportation. So it's back to Honduras for mother and child, or it's back to Honduras for mother sans child, who goes into foster care, whether mother likes it or not, though she probably likes it – at least her child has a better life.
Maryury has no right to live in this country. She is eligible for deportation, yet, here she is, making her way through our court system, slowly, due to the excessive demands being made on it. Meanwhile, an American woman, a volunteer, houses her in this country, and she doesn't see herself as a criminal, nor do plenty of others, for what it's worth.
What if America were to dismiss its immigration agents in one fell swoop, thus halting the enforcement of its immigration laws? Sounds far-fetched? Who would have thought that members of Congress would call for the end of ICE? Imagine the influx of migrants, the chaos: conditions in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco would become worse, to the point of becoming impossible to live in, because migrants struggling to survive there would contribute as much or more to the worsening conditions (e.g., greater crime, more trash, poorer sanitation, etc.) as citizens.
The reader should not feel sorry for Maryury. Rather, he should feel anger for her. Look what she put her three-year old through, trekking north to the border.
Citizen-journalist Navarrette is dangerously soft-hearted (and anyone else who thinks like him). He is a drunkard, drunk on the w(h)ine of liberalism. His plea for Maryury – and other migrants who enter the country illegally (I presume) looking for a "better life" – is maudlin and given as a rationalization for the commission of a crime. There can be no rationalization for crime. Meanwhile, look what's happening in our cities.
Citizens should not denigrate immigration agents; they should support them for the good of the immigration system and for the good of the country.
Build the wall. A wall would help.
The surge in Mexican breeders in America’s open borders.
MEXICO'S BIGGEST EXPORTS ARE: DRUGS, POVERTY, CRIMINALS and ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS FOR 18 YEARS OF GRINGO-PAID WELFARE.
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-la-raza-breeders-anchor-babies.htm
2003: Mexican population in U.S. reported to have increased 10 percent in just three years, mostly as a result of illegal immigration. Mexicans encouraged to breed at all costs. "A baby a year" Mexican pride slogan emerges …EVERY ANCHOR BABY GETS MORE WELFARE FOR 18 YEARS. THAT CHILD IS ALSO STILL A CITIZEN OF MEXICO!
The birthrate among illegals is more than double that of legal US residents. The Pew Hispanic Center calculates that within seven years, the children of immigrants, legal and illegal, will account for one in nine school-age children in the US.
Heritage: Amnestied Illegals Will Get $9.4T in Benefits; Increase Debt $6.3T'
…. LA RAZA already gets all our jobs!
what is the REAL cost of all that “CHEAP” Mexican labor? Add it up and then factor in the MEXICAN CRIME TIDAL WAVE and the fact that the MEXICAN now operate in 2,500 American cities!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2013/05/will-obamas-ammnesty-bankrupt-us.html
“THE AMNESTY ALONE WILL BE THE LARGEST EXPANSION OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM IN THE LAST 25 YEARS” Heritage Foundation
"The amnesty alone will be the largest expansion of the welfare system in the last 25 years," says Robert Rector, a senior analyst at the Heritage Foundation, and a witness at a House Judiciary Committee field hearing in San Diego Aug. 2. "Welfare costs will begin to hit their peak around 2021, because there are delays in citizenship. The very narrow time horizon [the CBO is] using is misleading," he adds. "If even a small fraction of those who come into the country stay and get on Medicaid, you're looking at costs of $20 billion or $30 billion per year."
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HANDS THEIR LA RAZA PARTY BASE OF HEAVY BREEDING ILLEGALS MUCHO WELFARE!
IMMIGRATION BILL TO BRING IN AT LEAST 33 MILLION PEOPLE IN ONE DECADE
If the S744 amnesty bill passes, we can expect 33 million added immigrants within 10 years. That’s for starters. When you add their progeny, chain migration and our own population momentum of one million annually, we face the most profound explosion of humanity within our borders ever in the history of humanity.
It’s the equivalent of adding one additional New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Austin, San Francisco, Columbus, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Detroit, El Paso, Memphis and Boston. If the bill passed, it would be the same as adding ALL of the Top 20 cities in the United States in a short 10 years. That of course does not include additional population growth driven by birth rates.
“The pending Senate immigration bill would bring a minimum of 33 million people into the country during its first decade of operation,” said Roy Beck, director of www.numbersusa.org. “By 2024, the inflow would include an estimated 9.2 million illegal immigrants, plus 2.5 million illegals who arrived as children — dubbed ‘Dreamers’ — plus roughly 3.4 million company-sponsored employees with university degrees, said the unreleased analysis.
“The majority of the inflow, or roughly 17 million people, would consist of family members of illegals, recent immigrants and of company-sponsored workers. The estimate is likely the first of several that will be produced by advocates as the Senate grapples with the immigration bill developed by the “Gang of Eight” senators.
“The 844-page bill was released last week, and was scheduled for debate and amendment in the Senate’s judiciary committee starting April 25. However, the amendment process was held up for a week by Republican Senators. Advocates for the bill have yet to release any estimates of the future inflow.”
“Nobody has a number that is based on the bill right now that’s accurate,” Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of the pro-immigration America’s Voice Education Fund, told the Christian Science Monitor in an April 25 article. “It’ll take a bit more [analysis] to get a specific number about how things will change.”
“An April 20-22 Fox News poll of 1,009 registered voters showed that 55 percent of respondents want a reduction in the current number of legal immigrants,” said Beck. “Currently, the country accepts 1 million immigrants and 700,000 temporary company-sponsored workers each year. The bill would boost that to roughly 3 million immigrants and 1 million company-sponsored workers per year. Forty-five percent of non-whites, 53 percent of independents and 62 percent of people without college degrees, favor a reduction in legal immigrants. Only 18 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of independents favor an increase in legal immigration, the Fox poll reported.”
The current population of the United States is 316 million. That estimate includes 40 million immigrants, both legal and illegal. Opponents of the immigration bill are already highlighting the potentially large inflow.
“I believe the interest that needs to be protected is the national interest of the United States, and that includes existing workers today, workers whose wages have been pulled down, without doubt, by a large flow of low-wage labor into the country,” Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions said during one of three hearings on the pending bill. “This bill would continue that in a way that’s very disturbing to me.”
Beck said, “Estimates of a 33 million inflow are conservative … [because they do] not attempt to project increases in these categories that are certain to occur in future years,” once many of the new immigrants seek green cards for their overseas relatives. Also, some categories of immigrants are uncapped, and the analysis does not attempt to project increases in these [family unification] categories that are certain to occur in future years.
“The pending bill allows illegal immigrants to bring their overseas spouses and children into the country. If that provision is implemented, it could more than double the [illegal immigrant inflow] number shown in the chart, bringing the total inflow to 40 million by 2024.”
The analysis shows an inflow of roughly 3.4 million university trained immigrants. That estimate does not include graduates who get green cards under the family unification route, or the uncapped inflow of doctors and PhD-carrying scientists. Roughly 1.8 million Americans graduate from college each year, including 300,000 with degrees in science and engineering. Population-growth forecasts will also contribute to the emerging fight over the bill’s cost, because the award of a green card — or the right to live in the United States — confers access to some government benefits.
“It is important to note here that each of the individuals represented in this chart becomes eligible for Obamacare on the day a green card is issued,” said Beck. “Most of those on the chart will then have to wait five years before they become eligible for all US welfare benefits … [but some] will actually become eligible for welfare immediately upon being issued a green card.” Enrollment in Obamacare is expected to spike the cost of the immigration bill, partly because federal subsidies are used to offset the annual Obamacare cost of $20,000 for a family of four. All totaled, The Heritage Foundation estimate the total cost of this amnesty from a low of $3 trillion to as high as $5 trillion.
Hispanic Family Values?
OR RUNAWAY ILLEGITIMACY paid for by
AMERICANS?
“Through love of having children, we are going to take over.”
Runaway illegitimacy is creating a new U.S. underclass.
By Heather Mac Donald
Unless the life chances of children raised by single mothers suddenly improve, the explosive growth of the U.S. Hispanic population over the next couple of decades does not bode well for American social stability. Hispanic immigrants bring near–Third World levels of fertility to America, coupled with what were once thought to be First World levels of illegitimacy. (In fact, family breakdown is higher in many Hispanic countries than here.) Nearly half of the children born to Hispanic mothers in the U.S. are born out of wedlock, a proportion that has been increasing rapidly with no signs of slowing down. Given what psychologists and sociologists now know about the much higher likelihood of social pathology among those who grow up in single-mother households, the Hispanic baby boom is certain to produce more juvenile delinquents, more school failure, more welfare use, and more teen pregnancy in the future.
The government social-services sector has already latched onto this new client base; as the Hispanic population expands, so will the demands for a larger welfare state. Since conservative open-borders advocates have yet to acknowledge the facts of Hispanic family breakdown, there is no way to know what their solution to it is. But they had better come up with one quickly, because the problem is here—and growing.
The dimensions of the Hispanic baby boom are startling. The Hispanic birthrate is twice as high as that of the rest of the American population. That high fertility rate—even more than unbounded levels of immigration—will fuel the rapid Hispanic population boom in the coming decades. By 2050, the Latino population will have tripled, the Census Bureau projects. One in four Americans will be Hispanic by mid-century, twice the current ratio. In states such as California and Texas, Hispanics will be in the clear majority. Nationally, whites will drop from near 70 percent of the total population in 2000 to just half by 2050. Hispanics will account for 46 percent of the nation’s added population over the next two decades, the Pew Hispanic Center reports.
But it’s the fertility surge among unwed Hispanics that should worry policymakers. Hispanic women have the highest unmarried birthrate in the country—over three times that of whites and Asians, and nearly one and a half times that of black women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Every 1,000 unmarried Hispanic women bore 92 children in 2003 (the latest year for which data exist), compared with 28 children for every 1,000 unmarried white women, 22 for every 1,000 unmarried Asian women, and 66 for every 1,000 unmarried black women. Forty-five percent of all Hispanic births occur outside of marriage, compared with 24 percent of white births and 15 percent of Asian births. Only the percentage of black out-of-wedlock births—68 percent—exceeds the Hispanic rate. But the black population is not going to triple over the next few decades.
As if the unmarried Hispanic birthrate weren’t worrisome enough, it is increasing faster than among other groups. It jumped 5 percent from 2002 to 2003, whereas the rate for other unmarried women remained flat. Couple the high and increasing illegitimacy rate of Hispanics with their higher overall fertility rate, and you have a recipe for unstoppable family breakdown.
The only bright news in this demographic disaster story concerns teen births. Overall teen childbearing in the U.S. declined for the 12th year in a row in 2003, having dropped by more than a third since 1991. Yet even here, Hispanics remain a cause for concern. The rate of childbirth for Mexican teenagers, who come from by far the largest and fastest-growing immigrant population, greatly outstrips every other group. The Mexican teen birthrate is 93 births per every 1,000 girls, compared with 27 births for every 1,000 white girls, 17 births for every 1,000 Asian girls, and 65 births for every 1,000 black girls. To put these numbers into international perspective, Japan’s teen birthrate is 3.9, Italy’s is 6.9, and France’s is 10. Even though the outsize U.S. teen birthrate is dropping, it continues to inflict unnecessary costs on the country, to which Hispanics contribute disproportionately.
To grasp the reality behind those numbers, one need only talk to people working on the front lines of family breakdown. Social workers in Southern California, the national epicenter for illegal Hispanic immigrants and their progeny, are in despair over the epidemic of single parenting. Not only has illegitimacy become perfectly acceptable, they say, but so has the resort to welfare and social services to cope with it.
Dr. Ana Sanchez delivers babies at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the city of Orange, California, many of them to Hispanic teenagers. To her dismay, they view having a child at their age as normal. A recent patient just had her second baby at age 17; the baby’s father is in jail. But what is “most alarming,” Sanchez says, is that the “teens’ parents view having babies outside of marriage as normal, too. A lot of the grandmothers are single as well; they never married, or they had successive partners. So the mom sends the message to her daughter that it’s okay to have children out of wedlock.”
Sanchez feels almost personally involved in the problem: “I’m Hispanic myself. I wish I could find out what the Asians are doing right.” She guesses that Asian parents’ passion for education inoculates their children against teen pregnancy and the underclass trap. “Hispanics are not picking that up like the Asian kids,” she sighs.
Conservatives who support open borders are fond of invoking “Hispanic family values” as a benefit of unlimited Hispanic immigration. Marriage is clearly no longer one of those family values. But other kinds of traditional Hispanic values have survived—not all of them necessarily ideal in a modern economy, however. One of them is the importance of having children early and often. “It’s considered almost a badge of honor for a young girl to have a baby,” says Peggy Schulze of Chrysalis House, an adoption agency in Fresno. (Fresno has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in California, typical of the state’s heavily Hispanic farm districts.) It is almost impossible to persuade young single Hispanic mothers to give up their children for adoption, Schulze says. “The attitude is: ‘How could you give away your baby?’ I don’t know how to break through.”
The most powerful Hispanic family value—the tight-knit extended family—facilitates unwed child rearing. A single mother’s relatives often step in to make up for the absence of the baby’s father. I asked Mona, a 19-year-old parishioner at St. Joseph’s Church in Santa Ana, California, if she knew any single mothers. She laughed: “There are so many I can’t even name them.” Two of her cousins, aged 25 and 19, have children without having husbands. The situation didn’t seem to trouble this churchgoer too much. “They’ll be strong enough to raise them. It’s totally okay with us,” she said. “We’re very close; we’re there to support them. They’ll do just fine.”
As Mona’s family suggests, out-of-wedlock child rearing among Hispanics is by no means confined to the underclass. The St. Joseph’s parishioners are precisely the churchgoing, blue-collar workers whom open-borders conservatives celebrate. Yet this community is as susceptible as any other to illegitimacy. Fifty-year-old Irma and her husband, Rafael, came legally from Mexico in the early 1970s. Rafael works in a meatpacking plant in Brea; they have raised five husky boys who attend church with them. Yet Irma’s sister—a homemaker like herself, also married to a factory hand—is now the grandmother of two illegitimate children, one by each daughter. “I saw nothing in the way my sister and her husband raised her children to explain it,” Irma says. “She gave them everything.” One of the fathers of Irma’s young nieces has four other children by a variety of different mothers. His construction wages are being garnished for child support, but he is otherwise not involved in raising his children.
The fathers of these illegitimate children are often problematic in even more troubling ways. Social workers report that the impregnators of younger Hispanic women are with some regularity their uncles, not necessarily seen as a bad thing by the mother’s family. Alternatively, the father may be the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, who then continues to stay with the grandmother. Older men seek out young girls in the belief that a virgin cannot get pregnant during her first intercourse, and to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
The tradition of starting families young and expand- ing them quickly can come into conflict with more modern American mores. Ron Storm, the director of the Hillview Acres foster-care home in Chino, tells of a 15-year-old girl who was taken away from the 21-year-old father of her child by a local child-welfare department. The boyfriend went to jail, charged with rape. But the girl’s parents complained about the agency’s interference, and eventually both the girl and her boyfriend ended up going back to Mexico, presumably to have more children. “At 15, as the Quinceañera tradition celebrates, you’re considered ready for marriage,” says Storm. Or at least for childbearing; the marriage part is disappearing.
But though older men continue to take advantage of younger women, the age gap between the mother and the father of an illegitimate child is quickly closing. Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties tries to teach young fathers to take responsibility for their children. “We’re seeing a lot more 13- and 14-year-old fathers,” says Kathleen Collins, v.p. of health education. The day before we spoke, Scott Montoya, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy, arrested two 14-year-old boys who were bragging about having sexual relations with a cafeteria worker from an Olive Garden restaurant. “It’s now all about getting girls pregnant when you’re age 15,” he says. One 18-year-old in the Planned Parenthood fathers’ program has two children by two different girls and is having sex with five others, says health worker Jason Warner. “A lot of [the adolescent sexual behavior] has to do with getting respect from one’s peers,” observes Warner.
Normally, the fathers, of whatever age, take off. “The father may already be married or in prison or doing drugs,” says Amanda Gan, director of operations for Toby’s House, a maternity home in Dana Point, California. Mona, the 19-year-old parishioner at St. Joseph’s Church, says that the boys who impregnated her two cousins are “nowhere to be found.” Her family knows them but doesn’t know if they are working or in jail.
Two teen mothers at the Hillview Acres home represent the outer edge of Hispanic family dysfunction. Yet many aspects of their lives are typical. Though these teenagers’ own mothers were unusually callous and irresponsible, the social milieu in which they were raised is not unusual.
Irene’s round, full face makes her look younger than her 14 years, certainly too young to be a mother. But her own mother’s boyfriend repeatedly forced sex on her, with the mother’s acquiescence. The result was Irene’s baby, Luz. Baby Luz has an uncle her own age, Irene’s new 13-month-old brother. Like Irene, Irene’s mother had her first child at 14, and produced five more over the next 16 years, all of whom went into foster care. Irene’s father committed suicide before she was old enough to know him. The four fathers of her siblings are out of the picture, too: one of them, the father of her seven-year-old brother and five-year-old sister, was deported back to Mexico after he showed up drunk for a visit with his children, in violation of his probation conditions.
Irene is serene and articulate—remarkably so, considering that in her peripatetic early life in Orange County she went to school maybe twice a week. She likes to sing and to read books that are sad, she says, especially books by Dave Pelzer, a child-abuse victim who has published three best-selling memoirs about his childhood trauma. She says she will never get married: “I don’t want another man in my life. I don’t want that experience again.”
Eighteen-year-old Jessica at least escaped rape, but her family experiences were bad enough. The large-limbed young woman, whose long hair is pulled back tightly from her heart-shaped face, grew up in the predominantly Hispanic farming community of Indio in the Coachella Valley. She started “partying hard” in fifth grade, she says—at around the same time that her mother, separated from her father, began using drugs and going clubbing. By the eighth grade, Jessica and her mother were drinking and smoking marijuana together. Jessica’s family had known her boyfriend’s family since she was four; when she had her first child by him—she was 14 and he was 21—her mother declared philosophically that she had always known that it would happen. “It was okay with her, so long as he continued to give her drugs.”
Jessica originally got pregnant to try to clean up her life, she says. “I knew what I was doing was not okay, so having a baby was a way for me to stop doing what I was doing. In that sense, the baby was planned.” She has not used drugs since her first pregnancy, though she occasionally drinks. After her daughter was born, she went to live with her boyfriend in a filthy trailer without plumbing; they scrounged food from dumpsters, despite the income from his illegal drug business. They planned to get married, but by the time she got pregnant again with a son, “We were having a lot of problems. We’d be holding hands, and he’d be looking at other girls. I didn’t want him to touch me.” Eventually, the county welfare agency removed her and put her in foster care with her two children.
Both Jessica and her caddish former boyfriend illustrate the evanescence of the celebrated Hispanic “family values.” Her boyfriend’s family could not be more traditional. Two years ago, Jessica went back to Mexico to celebrate her boyfriend’s parents’ 25th wedding anniversary and the renewal of their wedding vows. Jessica’s own mother got married at 15 to her father, who was ten years her senior. Her father would not let his wife work; she was a “stay-at-home wife,” Jessica says. But don’t blame the move to the U.S. for the behavior of younger generations; the family crack-up is happening even faster in Latin America.
Jessica’s mother may have been particularly negligent, but Jessica’s experiences are not so radically different from those of her peers. “Everybody’s having babies now,” she says. “The Coachella Valley is filled with girls’ pregnancies. Some girls live with their babies’ dads; they consider them their husbands.” These cohabiting relationships rarely last, however, and a new cohort of fatherless children goes out into the world.
Despite the strong family support, the prevalence of single parenting among Hispanics is producing the inevitable slide into the welfare system. “The girls aren’t marrying the guys, so they are married to the state,” Dr. Sanchez observes. Hispanics now dominate the federal Women, Infants, and Children free food program; Hispanic enrollment grew over 25 percent from 1996 to 2002, while black enrollment dropped 12 percent and white enrollment dropped 6.5 percent. Illegal immigrants can get WIC and other welfare programs for their American-born children. If Congress follows President Bush’s urging and grants amnesty to most of the 11 million illegal aliens in the country today, expect the welfare rolls to skyrocket as the parents themselves become eligible.
Amy Braun works for Mary’s Shelter, a home for young single mothers who are homeless or in crisis, in Orange County, California. It has become “culturally okay” for the Hispanic population to use the shelter and welfare system, Braun says. A case manager at a program for pregnant homeless women in the city of Orange observes the same acculturation to the social-services sector, with its grievance mongering and sense of victimhood. “I’ll have women in my office on their fifth child, when the others have already been placed in foster care,” says Anita Berry of Casa Teresa. “There’s nothing shameful about having multiple children that you can’t care for, and to be pregnant again, because then you can blame the system.”
The consequences of family breakdown are now being passed down from one generation to the next, in an echo of the black underclass. “The problems are deeper and wider,” says Berry. “Now you’re getting the second generation of foster care and group home residents. The dysfunction is multigenerational.”
The social-services complex has responded with barely concealed enthusiasm to this new flood of clients. As Hispanic social problems increase, so will the government sector that ministers to them. In July, a New York Times editorial, titled young latinas and a cry for help, pointed out the elevated high school dropout rates and birthrates among Hispanic girls. A quarter of all Latinas are mothers by the age of 20, reported the Times. With the usual melodrama that accompanies the pitch for more government services, the Times designated young Latinas as “endangered” in the same breath that it disclosed that they are one of the fastest-growing segments of the population. “The time to help is now,” said the Times—by which it means ratcheting up the taxpayer-subsidized social-work industry.
In response to the editorial, Carmen Barroso, regional director of International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, proclaimed in a letter to the editor the “urgent need for health care providers, educators and advocates to join the sexual and reproductive health movement to ensure the fundamental right to services for young Latinas.”
Wherever these “fundamental rights” might come from, Barroso’s call nevertheless seems quite superfluous, since there is no shortage of taxpayer-funded “services” for troubled Latinas—or Latinos. The schools in California’s San Joaquin Valley have day care for their students’ babies, reports Peggy Schulze of Chrysalis House. “The girls get whatever they need—welfare, medical care.” Advocates for young unwed moms in New York’s South Bronx are likewise agitating for more day-care centers in high schools there, reports El Diario/La Prensa. A bill now in Congress, the Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention Act, aims to channel $10 million to “culturally competent” social agencies to improve the self-esteem of Latina girls and to provide “support services” to their families and friends if they contemplate suicide.
The trendy “case management” concept, in which individual “cases” become the focal point around which a solar system of social workers revolves, has even reached heavily Hispanic elementary and middle schools. “We have a coordinator, who brings in a collaboration of agencies to deal with the issues that don’t allow a student to meet his academic goals, such as domestic violence or drugs,” explains Sylvia Rentria, director of the Family Resource Center at Berendo Middle School in Los Angeles. “We can provide individual therapy.” Rentria offers the same program at nearby Hoover Elementary School for up to 100 students.
This July, Rentria launched a new session of Berendo’s Violence Intervention Program for parents of children who are showing signs of gang involvement and other antisocial behavior. Ghady M., 55 and a “madre soltera” (single mother), like most of the mothers in the program, has been called in because her 16-year-old son, Christian, has been throwing gang signs at school, cutting half his classes, and ending up in the counseling office every day. The illegal Guatemalan is separated from her partner, who was “muy malo,” she says; he was probably responsible for her many missing teeth. (The detectives in the heavily Hispanic Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, which includes the Berendo school, spend inordinate amounts of time on domestic violence cases.) Though Ghady used to work in a factory on Broadway in downtown L.A.— often referred to as Little Mexico City—she now collects $580 in welfare payments and $270 in food stamps for her two American-born children.
Christian is a husky smart aleck in a big white T-shirt; his fashionably pomaded hair stands straight up. He goes to school but doesn’t do homework, he grins; and though he is not in a gang, he says, he has friends who are. Keeping Ghady and Christian company at the Violence Intervention Program is Ghady’s grandniece, Carrie, a lively ten-year-old. Carrie lives with her 26-year-old mother but does not know her father, who also sired her 12-year-old brother. Her five-year-old brother has a different father.
Yet for all these markers of social dysfunction, fatherless Hispanic families differ from the black underclass in one significant area: many of the mothers and the absent fathers work, even despite growing welfare use. The former boyfriend of Jessica, the 18-year-old mother at the Hillview Acres foster home, works in construction and moonlights on insulation jobs; whether he still deals drugs is unknown. Jessica is postponing joining her father in Texas until she finishes high school, because once she moves in with him, she will feel obligated to get a job to help the family finances. The mother of Hillview’s 14-year-old Irene used to fix soda machines in Anaheim, California, though she got fired because she was lazy, Irene says. Now, under court compulsion, she works in a Lunchables factory in Santa Ana, a condition of getting her children back from foster care. The 18-year-old Lothario and father of two, whom Planned Parenthood’s Jason Warner is trying to counsel, works at a pet store. The mother of Carrie, the vivacious ten-year-old sitting in on Berendo Middle School’s Violence Intervention Program, makes pizza at a Papa John’s pizza outlet.
How these two value systems—a lingering work ethic and underclass mating norms—will interact in the future is anyone’s guess. Orange County sheriff’s deputy Montoya says that the older Hispanic generation’s work ethic is fast disappearing among the gangbanging youngsters whom he sees. “Now, it’s all about fast money, drugs, and sex.” It may be that the willingness to work will plummet along with marriage rates, leading to even greater social problems than are now rife among Hispanics. Or it may be that the two contrasting practices will remain on parallel tracks, creating a new kind of underclass: a culture that tolerates free-floating men who impregnate women and leave, like the vast majority of black men, yet who still labor in the noncriminal economy. The question is whether, if the disposition to work remains relatively strong, a working parent will inoculate his or her illegitimate children against the worst degradations that plague black ghettos.
From an intellectual standpoint, this is a fascinating social experiment, one that academicians are—predictably—not attuned to. But the consequences will be more than intellectual: they may severely strain the social fabric. Nevertheless, it is an experiment that we seem destined to see to its end. Tisha Roberts, a supervisor at an Orange County, California, institution that assists children in foster care, has given up hope that the illegitimacy rate will taper off. “It’s going to continue to grow,” she says, “until we can put birth control in the water.”
CALIFORNIA'S POPULATION TO DOUBLE from ILLEGALS along with their CRIME RATES!
Times Staff Writers
Over the next half-century, California's population will explode by nearly 75%, and Riverside will surpass its bigger neighbors to become the second most populous county after Los Angeles, according to state Department of Finance projections released Monday. California will near the 60-million mark in 2050, the study found, raising questions about how the state will look and function and where all the people and their cars will go. Dueling visions pit the iconic California building block of ranch house, big yard and two-car garage against more dense, high-rise development. But whether sprawl or skyscrapers win the day, the Golden State will probably be a far different and more complex place than it is today, as people live longer and Latinos become the dominant ethnic group, eclipsing all others combined. Some critics forecast disaster if gridlock and environmental impacts are not averted. Others see a possible economic boon, particularly for retailers and service industries with an eye on the state as a burgeoning market. "It's opportunity with baggage," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., in "a country masquerading as a state. "Other demographers argue that the huge population increase the state predicts will occur only if officials complete major improvements to roads and other public infrastructure. Without that investment, they say, some Californians would flee the state. If the finance department's calculations hold, California's population will rise from 34.1 million in 2000 to 59.5 million at the mid-century point, about the same number of people as Italy has today. And its projected growth rate in those 50 years will outstrip the national rate — nearly 75% compared with less than 50% projected by the federal government. That could translate to increased political clout in Washington, D.C. Southern California's population is projected to grow at a rate of more than 60%, according to the new state figures, reaching 31.6 million by mid-century. That's an increase of 12.1 million over just seven counties. L.A. County alone will top 13 million by 2050, an increase of almost 3.5 million residents. And Riverside County — long among the fastest-growing in the state — will triple in population to 4.7 million by mid-century. Riverside County will add 3.1 million people, according to the new state figures, eclipsing Orange and San Diego to become the second most populous in the state. With less expensive housing than the coast, Riverside County has grown by more than 472,000 residents since 2000, according to state estimates. No matter how much local governments build in the way of public works and how many new jobs are attracted to the region — minimizing the need for long commutes — Housing figures that growth will still overwhelm the area's roads. USC Professor Genevieve Giuliano, an expert on land use and transportation, would probably agree. Such massive growth, if it occurs, she said, will require huge investment in the state's highways, schools, and energy and sewer systems at a "very formidable cost."If those things aren't built, Giuliano questioned whether the projected population increases will occur. "Sooner or later, the region will not be competitive and the growth is not going to happen," she said.If major problems like traffic congestion and housing costs aren't addressed, Giuliano warned, the middle class is going to exit California, leaving behind very high-income and very low-income residents. "It's a political question," said Martin Wachs, a transportation expert at the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica. "Do we have the will, the consensus, the willingness to pay? If we did, I think we could manage the growth. "The numbers released Monday underscore most demographers' view that the state's population is pushing east, from both Los Angeles and the Bay Area, to counties such as Riverside and San Bernardino as well as half a dozen or so smaller Central Valley counties. Sutter County, for example, is expected to be the fastest-growing on a percentage basis between 2000 and 2050, jumping 255% to a population of 282,894 , the state said. Kern County is expected to see its population more than triple to 2.1 million by mid-century. In Southern California, San Diego County is projected to grow by almost 1.7 million residents and Orange County by 1.1 million. Even Ventura County — where voters have imposed some limits on urban sprawl — will see its population jump 62% to more than 1.2 million if the projections hold. The Department of Finance releases long-term population projections every three years. Between the last two reports, number crunchers have taken a more detailed look at California's statistics and taken into account the likelihood that people will live longer, said chief demographer Mary Heim. The result? The latest numbers figure the state will be much more crowded than earlier estimates (by nearly 5 million) and that it will take a bit longer than previously thought for Latinos to become the majority of California's population: 2042, not 2038. The figures show that the majority
of California's growth will be in the Latino population, said
Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography
at USC, adding that "68% of the growth this decade will be
Latino, 75% next and 80% after that."That should be a wake-up call for voting Californians, Myers said, pointing out a critical disparity. Though the state's growth is young and Latino, the majority of voters will be older and white — at least for the next decade." The future of the state is Latino growth," Myers said. "We'd sure better invest in them and get them up to speed. Older white voters don't see it that way. They don't realize that someone has to replace them in the work force, pay for their benefits and buy their house."
CALIFORNIA DRIFTS TOWARD BANKRUPTCY AD GAVIN NEWSOM EXPANDS THE LA RAZA MEXICAN WELFARE STATE
California: Record spending as tax revenue collapses by $5 billion
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/california_record_spending_as_tax_revenue_collapses_by_5_billion.html
By Chriss Street
As California governor Gavin Newsom announced plans for a record $144.2-billion spending plan, the state controller quietly reported a $4.82-billion collapse of state tax revenues.
Gov. Newsom's Proposed 2019-2020 Budget, released on January 9, had all the characteristics of "Rainbows, Butterflies, and Unicorns." Newsom predicted that his state budget beginning on July 1 would feature $6 billion more revenue and only a $100-million increase in spending, despite a $5.2-billion "Cradle-to-Career" education spending increase, a $1-billion earned income tax credit, and $100 million for immigrants fleeing Central America.
Key to Newsom's 2019-2020 budget dream is collecting $4.8 billion more in personal, sales, and corporate tax receipts while slashing "Government Operations" expenditures from $4.8 billion to $1.26 billion, a 76% reduction.
After he campaigned for a $100-billion "Medicare for All" health plan, the San Francisco Chronicle ran the headline: "Gov. Newsom angers no one with budget, puts off big fights for another day." The Chronicle complimented the new governor for providing "plenty to delight his progressive backers" and working to "avoid enraging more fiscally conservative Californians."
But away from the Klieg lights and fawning media, California state controller Betty Yee reported that California's personal income tax collections for the month of December missed its 2018-2019 budget estimate by $3.45 billion. More alarming, personal income tax revenue plunged from $11.5 billion in 2017 to just $6.76 billion in 2018.
With California's top 1% of income-earners who make over $500,000 a year paying over half of all state taxes, a portion of the grim tax collection shortfall could have been due to mail delays for filing December quarterly estimated income tax payments. But December 2018 sales tax receipts of $1.16 billion also missed budget by $1.42 billion, and corporation tax collections of $2.09 billion were short of estimates by $179.5 million.
At the start of the July 1, 2018 fiscal year, California's had a mandatory "Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties" reserve with $8.91 billion and a discretionary "Budget Stabilization Account" reserve with $11 billion. The non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office's November update stated that reserve accounts were expected to grow by $3.1 billion this fiscal year and $6.4 billion in the next year. But the LAO cautioned that with wage and job growth already falling, "the state's budget condition can change quickly."
All of this "Rainbows, Butterflies and Unicorns" contingency planning for California to survive a "moderate recession" was predicated on termed out Gov. Jerry Brown's 2018-2019 budget ending on June 30 with a $20-billion surplus. It probably did not evaluate the cost of the PG&E utility filing for bankruptcy or 30,000 striking L.A. teachers.
If the December tax shortfall means that California is already in recession, the state may be facing a devastating crisis.
FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Progressives combine open borders and government-funded universal health care demands.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272518/free-health-care-illegal-immigrants-joseph-klein
Joseph Klein
The left-wing bastions of California and New York City are becoming more than just sanctuaries for illegal immigrants already residing there. They are being transformed into powerful magnets luring more illegal immigrants to enter the country. California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio intend to have their legal residents pay for the comprehensive health care of illegal immigrants.
Amongst New York City's roughly 600,000 uninsured who will be guaranteed government-funded health care under Mayor de Blasio’s plan are an estimated 300,000 so-called “undocumented New Yorkers" – i.e., illegal immigrants. The mayor’s proposed social experiment in universal health care, including for illegal immigrants, is estimated overall to cost $100 million per year. "We also have a way to provide direct health care to a lot of our neighbors who happen to be undocumented,” Mayor de Blasio said. “They're still part of our community. They need health care; their families need health care."
California Governor Newsom wants to extend health care benefits already offered to illegal immigrants under the age of 19 to young adults up to the age of 26. This would make California “the first state in the nation to cover young undocumented adults through a state Medicaid program,” the governor’s office boasted last Monday. The additional cost has been estimated at $250 million a year, which could rise to as much as $400 million by the 2020-2021 fiscal year. “It’s the moral thing to do … When we talk about universal health care, it means everybody,” Governor Newsom said.
The next step, if Governor Newsom and some other state Democrat politicians have their way, would be to extend state-funded health care to all uninsured illegal immigrant California residents, irrespective of age.
Out of the estimated 1.8 million people in California who are uninsured and reside in California illegally, approximately 1.2 million would qualify for Medi-Cal, which is the state’s part of the federal Medicaid program. The plan would be to fund this giveaway out of California’s own general fund to avoid the restrictions in Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid provisions that prohibit the use of federal funds for illegal aliens. The bill to California taxpayers would be an estimated $3 billion. Such a plan “means more and more illegal immigrants will come to California, which would put incredible additional pressure on California’s budget,” said Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute.
In short, such freebies for illegal immigrants will drain state and city budgets of taxpayer funds that should be spent to improve infrastructure and the delivery of basic public services for the benefit of legal residents. Too many illegal immigrants will overwhelm the health care system and drive up health care costs while lowering the quality of service for virtually everyone.
Not to worry, say the progressives who reject the very idea that someone can be in this country illegally. To call someone an illegal immigrant, they believe, is racist. We should be a welcoming country to all migrants who want to enter no matter how, they argue. The more the merrier for both the immigrants themselves and the progressives who see a treasure trove of potential votes down the road. No wonder Speaker Nancy Pelosi tries to shut down any rational discussion of funding for physical border barriers at the U.S. border with Mexico by claiming that such barriers are “immoral.” This exercise in self-righteousness and hypocrisy is itself immoral.
Border barriers are only “immoral” to those who think sanctuary cities and states are acting morally when they shield illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes separate and apart from their illegal entry itself. Pelosi’s twisted moral code led her to reiterate her support for San Francisco’s liberal sanctuary policies right after the death of Kathryn Steinle at the hands of an illegal immigrant, a felon who had been previously deported five times. San Francisco authorities released this monster rather than turn him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the federal agency had requested.
Border barriers are also only “immoral” to those who think that illegal immigrants should be rewarded for their illegal entry with plenty of freebies. Progressives combine their moral certitude that our borders must be open with their moral certitude that comprehensive health care is a basic “universal human right.” Thus, for progressives, anyone residing in this country, regardless of immigration status, must be granted this “universal right.” Their sanctuary cities and states would become honeypots attracting more and more illegal immigrants to partake.
It is “immoral,” progressives believe, to worry about the cost of health care for all, including those who should not be in this country in the first place. It is their hidden agenda that is truly immoral. Progressives would like nothing more than to overwhelm the health care system in keeping with the so-called Cloward-Piven Strategy, first proposed in 1966 by two members of the Democratic Socialists of America, Richard Andrew Cloward and his wife Frances Fox Piven. The idea is to increasingly overload the current capitalist economic system deliberately with impossible financial demands so that it collapses from within, leading to radical change.
As Brian Joondeph wrote in American Thinker: “Think of what the current migrant caravan means in terms of Cloward-Piven. Thousands of poor, unskilled migrants entering the US. They need health care, education, housing, food, clothing, and other basic needs which all cost money. Who pays for this?” The answer is you and I. Universal health care, including for illegal immigrants, is becoming mainstream within today’s Democrat Party.
The current battle over funding for President Trump’s border barrier is a battle not only over defense of the southern border from the surge of immigrants seeking to enter the country by any means possible. It is part of the larger battle to defend America as we know it from those who seek its radical transformation into their fantasy of a progressive utopia.
NEW CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR DOUBLES DOWN ON SANCTUARY STATE STATUS
Gavin Newsom rolls out the red carpet for illegal aliens.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272505/new-california-governor-doubles-down-sanctuary-matthew-vadum
Matthew Vadum
Newly inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to make his home state of California “a sanctuary to all who seek it” in direct defiance of President Trump’s drive to secure the nation’s border with Mexico and enforce U.S. immigration laws.
California’s grossly unconstitutional obstruction of federal immigration laws is about to get ramped up, Newsom’s speech suggests. The state already has unprecedented sanctuary laws on its books that shield its 2.4 million illegal aliens from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Federal prosecutors are considering filing criminal charges against elected officials harboring illegal aliens in sanctuary jurisdictions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the Senate Judiciary Committee a year ago.
The Trump administration is suing California over its “sanctuary state” laws that punish compliance with federal immigration laws and provide legal cover for corrupt officials to continue brazenly flouting immigration laws and interfering with federal agents trying to enforce them.
The federal lawsuit targets three statutes curbing the power of California’s state and local law enforcement to hold, question, and transfer detainees at the request of immigration authorities, and punish employers for cooperating with those authorities. The laws also impose draconian restrictions on communication between local police and federal immigration enforcement, including information regarding when criminal aliens are scheduled to be released from local jails.
Under the longstanding doctrine in American constitutional law known as “dual sovereignty,” states cannot be compelled to enforce federal immigration laws, but they are obliged not to hinder their enforcement. The so-called sanctuary cities that form the bulk of the sanctuary movement really ought to be called traitor cities because they are in open rebellion against the United States, just like the slave states that seceded from the Union before the Civil War.
The sanctuary movement gave illegal aliens permission to rob, rape, and murder Americans by, among other things, stigmatizing immigration enforcement and characterizing it as somehow racist. Some left-wingers use the dreadful euphemism "civil liberties safe zones" to describe sanctuary jurisdictions. The phrase deliberately blurs the distinction between citizens and non-citizens by implying illegal aliens somehow possess a civil right to be present in the U.S.
But dealing with the illegal alien problem is the furthest thing from Democrat politicians’ minds. They view illegals as future Democrat voters and demonize anyone who supports enforcing federal immigration laws that could lead to the deportation of their future voter base.
“People’s lives, freedom, security, the water we drink, the air we breathe — they all hang in the balance,” the leftist politician said Monday outside the state Capitol in Sacramento.
Children should not be “ripped away from their parents” at the border or left hungry while Trump promises to expend billions of dollars on “a wall that should never be built.”
Newsom (D) became the state’s 40th governor, succeeding Jerry Brown (D) who was term-limited. Before being sworn in as governor, Newsom was the state’s lieutenant governor and before that, mayor of San Francisco.
While Newsom vowed to worsen the nation’s illegal alien crisis, another leftist, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), promised this week to provide “free” health care to all his city’s residents, including illegals. The program, according to one ridiculous low-ball estimate, will cost only $100 million.
“This is the city paying for direct comprehensive care (not just ERs) for people who can’t afford it, or can’t get comprehensive Medicaid — including 300,000 undocumented New Yorkers,” de Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Newsom’s pledge came as President Trump’s negotiations with Democrats over $5 billion needed to fund construction of the border wall continued to go nowhere and the federal government continued to be partially shut down for lack of appropriated funds. Trump has vowed to keep the shutdown going as long as it takes to secure funding for the wall.
“Just left a meeting with [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck [Schumer] and [Speaker of the House] Nancy [Pelosi], a total waste of time[,]” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!”
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 217 to 185 on Dec. 20 to approve a temporary spending bill after adding $5.7 billion in appropriations for the wall. The measure floundered in the Senate and the partial shutdown got underway Dec. 22. But that was back in the previous Congress. Now the Democrats control the House.
The meeting came the day after President Trump took rhetorical aim at his enemies as he delivered his first-ever prime time address from the Oval Office in a bold attempt to rally the country in favor of building a wall on the porous U.S.-Mexico border, his signature campaign promise.
Vice President Mike Pence said the White House has delivered numerous proposals and offers in three weeks of negotiations, but Democrats stubbornly refused to support any funding for the wall.
“I can give you 15 speeches [Schumer] gave, in which he talked about border security,” Trump said prior to the meeting. “The only reason they’re against it is because I won the presidency.”
“And if he takes a pass, the two Democrats most likely to succeed Brown – Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa – favor excessive social spending and are actively courting illegal immigrant support.”
MARK ZUCKERBERG AND OTHER TECH BILLIONAIRES SAY HELL NO TO PAYING LEGALS LIVING WAGES… not when there’s boatloads of Chinese ready to take our tech jobs and work cheap!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/10/know-any-tech-billionaires-who-dont.html
“Nonetheless, open border advocates, such as Facebook Chairman Mark Zuckerberg, claim illegal aliens are a net benefit to California with little evidence to support such an assertion. As the Center for Immigration Studies has documented, the vast majority of illegals are poor, uneducated, and with few skills. How does accepting millions of illegal aliens and then granting them access to dozens of welfare programs benefit California’s economy? If illegal aliens were contributing to the economy in any meaningful way, California, with its 2.6 million illegal aliens, would be booming.” STEVE BALDWIN – AMERICAN SPECTATOR
THE GRUESOME MS-13 GANGS FROM LOS ANGELES: THEIR MURDER, RAPE, AND CRIME TIDAL WAVE IN AMERICA’S OPEN BORDERS
ANYONE EVER HEARD OF REP. NEWHOUSE OUT THERE HOWLING FOR JOBS FOR AMERICAN (Legals) YOUTH???
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/12/dan-newhouse-why-should-i-pay-living.html
"Newhouse’s district is now more than one-quarter Hispanic,
largely because of the many Hispanics who arrived in the
state to work for agriculture companies, such as Newhouse’s
operation."
JOHN BINDER
CALIFORNIA, HOME TO THE LA RAZA BARONESS NANCY PELOSI, WAR PROFITEER DIANNE FEINSTEIN, HITLERMAL KAMALA HARRIS, MAD MAXINE WATERS and HISPANDERING GAVIN NEWSOM….
MOVES CLOSER TO FINAL ANNEXATION BY MEXICO
DE FACTO CITIZENSHIP PER LA RAZA:
NO TEST, NO BACKGROUND CHECKS ON CRIMINALITY, NO BACK TAXES, NO
FINES.... JUST JUMP STRAIGHT TO VOTING BOOTHS! AND VOTE OFTEN!!!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/07/john-binder-californias-surrender-to.html
In 2013, California lawmakers passed legislation that allowed illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses if they can prove to the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) their identity and state residency. The plan was one of the largest victories to date by the open borders lobby.… JOHN BINDER – BREITBART.com
STEALING AMERICA!
Here’s how California surrendered to Mexico… OR WAS HANDED TO MEXICO BY NANCY PELOSI, DIANNE FEINSTEIN, KAMALA HARRIS, JERRY BROWN and GAVIN NEWSOM!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/08/california-under-mex-occupation-do-not.html
THIS IS WHAT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY OF THIS IS FOR REAL!
GOV CANDIDATE FOR MEXIFORNIA GOES ALL OUT HISPANDERING FOR THE ILLEGALS’ VOTES AND GETS WARM AND FUZZY WITH MS-13 MURDERING THUG ANIMALS!
ONLY A DEM CAN WALLOW WITH THE LOWEST INVADING VERMIN TO GET THEIR ILLEGAL VOTES!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/05/la-raza-supremacist-gavin-newsom.html
“They kidnap. They extort. They rape and they rob,” Trump said then. “They stomp on their victims. They beat them with clubs, they slash them with machetes, and they stab them with knives. They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields. They’re animals.
CORRUPTION AND OPEN BORDERS HAS DONE TO ONE CITY!
"The California DMV has come to mean Deliver Mexican Votes. That will be a factor in 2020, whether or not Gavin Newsom seeks to become President McHottie. As Newsom said last June, “America’s future is still being defined by California’s present." LLOYD BILLINGSLEY
SAME AS THE OLD BOSS?
Or will California get worse under “governor McHottie” Gavin Newsom?
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272450/same-old-boss-lloyd-billingsley
Lloyd Billingsley
The day after Christmas, Gustavo Perez Arriaga, a false-documented illegal whose real name may be Paulo Virgen Mendoza, gunned down Newman, California, police officer Ronil Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji. Outgoing governor Jerry Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff and issued a statement extending condolences to Corporal Singh’s wife and the “law enforcement officers across the state who risk their lives every day to protect and serve the people of California.”
No official statement emerged from California attorney General Xavier Becerra, who supports the state’s sanctuary law, SB 54, whose author Kevin de Leon was also silent. California senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris issued no official pronouncement and neither did incoming California Gavin Newsom. That may provide a clue about Newsom’s approach to crime and illegal immigration but for establishment media, it’s all about the optics.
“His visuals are certainly unassailable,” wrote Tad Friend in a November 5 New Yorker piece headlined, “Gavin Newsom, the Next Head of the California Resistance.” Newsom is “tall and lithe and still boyish at fifty-one, with teeth that Tom Cruise would envy and hair lacquered with Oribe gel.” In San Francisco he was known as “Mayor McHottie,” by women and gay men alike, according to wife Jennifer.
During the campaign, Newsom “sported his trademark look: a white Ermenegildo Zegna shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a blue Tom Ford tie. It was also his hero Bobby Kennedy’s look—the Bobby Kennedy who visited Cesar Chavez in the Central Valley fifty years ago, when America was breaking apart over Vietnam. Newsom seeks to embody Kennedy’s grainy glamour, to provide moral clarity in a bewildering hour.”
True to form, on June 5, 2018, fifty years after Sirhan Sirhan gunned down Bobby Kennedy in Los Angeles, Newsom said he was “inspired by his legacy.” Newsom duly quoted Kennedy that “there are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which in fact never existed.”
The same day, University of San Francisco political science professor James Taylor told the San Francisco Chronicle “Gavin Newsom’s real ambition is not California’s governor seat, it’s the presidency of the United States.” In the meantime, as governor of California, he draws inspiration from Jerry Brown, who in Newsom’s view had the greatest political mind “in our lifetime.” On the other hand, he wasn’t exactly a man of the people.
During his first term, Californians were literally being taxed out of their homes and in 1978 they responded with the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation,” also known as Proposition 13. Brown opposed the measure in apocalyptic terms but after it passed in a landslide he proclaimed himself a “born-again tax cutter.”
That was never true, despite Brown’s talk of a flat tax during one of his three failed presidential runs. In his final terms, Brown showed he was a born-again tax hiker, leaving California with the nation’s highest income and sales taxes. And from the start Brown was champion of big government.
He backed powerful unelected bodies like the Coastal Commission, which managed to combine Stalinist regulation and mafia-style corruption. Brown empowered the government employee unions that now shout “this is our house!” outside the state capitol.
During the 1990s Brown supported “single payer” health care but he now finds that plan too expensive for California. Newsom, on the other hand, sees “no reason to wait around on universal healthcare and single-payer in California.” So with its high taxes, volatile revenue system, bloated bureaucracy and massive pension debt, the state could easily wind up as Calizuela, with higher rates of violent crime.
In 1976, governor Jerry Brown refused to extradite AIM militant Dennis Banks, who fled to California after a courthouse gun battle in South Dakota. So it was Jerry Brown who pioneered the sanctuary state, and before he left office he showed his true colors on crime.
During his final weeks in office, the state Supreme Court denied seven of Brown’s clemency requests as an “abuse of power.” In late September, Brown ignored testimony from victims and signed SB 1391, which bars prosecution of juveniles as adults, whatever the gravity of their crime. Under this law, juvenile murders will serve only until age 25. This will be a huge incentive to criminals, particularly MS-13, which has already murdered 14 in one California town.
Gavin Newsom’s silence over the shooting of Ronil Singh shows how “governor McHottie,” with his Tom Cruise teeth and Ermenegildo Zegna shirts, might deal with violent criminal illegals. Another Brown legacy item will be easier.
The state DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) has registered more than one million false-documented illegals to vote but won’t say how many actually showed up at the polls in November. DMV boss Jean Shiomoto has conveniently retired and Democrats tasked the audit to the department of finance, controlled by the governor, with results due in March, 2019.
The California DMV has come to mean Deliver Mexican Votes. That will be a factor in 2020, whether or not Gavin Newsom seeks to become President McHottie. As Newsom said last June, “America’s future is still being defined by California’s present.”
HOME TO DIANNE FEINSTEIN, NANCY PELOSI, KAMALA HARRIS AND GAVIN NEWSOM
BLOG: MANY DISPUTE CALIFORNIA’S EXPENDITURES FOR THE LA RAZA WELFARE STATE IN MEXIFORNIA JUST AS THEY DISPUTE THE NUMBER OF ILLEGALS. APPROXIMATELY HALF THE POPULATION OF CA IS NOW MEXICAN AND BREEDING ANCHOR BABIES FOR WELFARE LIKE BUNNIES. THE $22 BILLION IS STATE EXPENDITURE ONLY. COUNTIES PAY OUT MORE WITH LOS ANGELES COUNTY LEADING AT OVER A BILLION DOLLARS PAID OUT YEARLY TO MEXICO’S ANCHOR BABY BREEDERS. NOW MULTIPLY THAT BY THE NUMBER OF COUNTIES IN CA AND YOU START TO GET AN IDEA OF THE STAGGERING WELFARE STATE MEXICO AND THE DEMOCRAT PARTY HAVE ERECTED SANS ANY LEGALS VOTES. ADD TO THIS THE FREE ENTERPRISE HOSPITAL AND CLINIC COST FOR LA RAZA’S “FREE” MEDICAL WHICH IS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT $1.5 BILLION PER YEAR.
Liberals claim they more than make that up with taxes paid, but that’s simply not true. It’s not even close. FAIR estimates illegal aliens in California contribute only $1.21 billion in tax revenue, which means they cost California $20.6 billion, or at least $1,800 per household.
"If the racist "Sensenbrenner Legislation" passes the US Senate, there is no doubt that a massive civil disobedience movement will emerge. Eventually labor union power can merge with the immigrant civil rights and "Immigrant Sanctuary" movements to enable us to either form a new political party or to do heavy duty reforming of the existing Democratic Party. The next and final steps would follow and that is to elect our own governors of all the states within Aztlan."
https://spectator.org/adios-california/?utm_source=American+Spectator+Emails&utm_campaign=6e1b467cf4
If Immigration Creates Wealth, Why Is California America's Poverty Capital?
California used to be home to America's largest and most affluent middle class. Today, it is America's poverty capital. What went wrong? In a word: immigration. According to the U.S. Census Bureau'...: The Golden State is peddling fool's gold lately.
By Spencer P. Morrison
California used to be home to America's largest and most affluent middle class. Today, it is America's poverty capital. What went wrong? In a word: immigration.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Official Poverty Measure, California's poverty rate hovers around 15 percent. But this figure is misleading: the Census Bureau measures poverty relative to a uniform national standard, which doesn't account for differences in living costs between states – the cost of taxes, housing, and health care are higher in California than in Oklahoma, for example. Accounting for these differences reveals that California's real poverty rate is 20.6 percent – the highest in America, and nearly twice the national average of 12.7 percent.
Likewise, income inequality in California is the second-highest in America, behind only New York. In fact, if California were an independent country, it would be the 17th most unequal country on Earth, nestled comfortably between Honduras and Guatemala. Mexico is slightly more egalitarian. California is far more unequal than the "social democracies" it emulates: Canada is the 111th most unequal nation, while Norway is far down the list at number 153 (out of 176 countries). In terms of income inequality, California has more in common with banana republics than other "social democracies."
More Government, More Poverty
High taxes, excessive regulations, and a lavish welfare state – these are the standard explanations for California's poverty epidemic. They have some merit. For example, California has both the highest personal income tax rate and the highest sales tax in America, according to Politifact.
Not only are California's taxes high, but successive "progressive" governments have swamped the state in a sea of red tape. Onerous regulations cripple small businesses and retard economic growth. Kerry Jackson, a fellow with the Pacific Research Institute, gives a few specific examples of how excessive government regulation hurts California's poor. He writes in a recent op-ed for the Los Angeles Times:
Extensive environmental regulations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions make energy more expensive, also hurting the poor. By some estimates, California energy costs are as much as 50% higher than the national average. Jonathan A. Lesser of Continental Economics ... found that "in 2012, nearly 1 million California households faced ... energy expenditures exceeding 10% of household income."
Some government regulation is necessary and desirable, but most of California's is not. There is virtue in governing with a "light touch."
Finally, California's welfare state is, perhaps paradoxically, a source of poverty in the state. The Orange Country Register reports that California's social safety net is comparable in scale to those found in Europe:
In California a mother with two children under the age of 5 who participates in these major welfare programs – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), housing assistance, home energy assistance, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children – would receive a benefits package worth $30,828 per year.
... [Similar] benefits in Europe ranged from $38,588 per year in Denmark to just $1,112 in Romania. The California benefits package is higher than in well-known welfare states as France ($17,324), Germany ($23,257) and even Sweden ($22,111).
Although welfare states ideally help the poor, reality is messy. There are three main problems with the welfare state. First, it incentivizes poverty by rewardingthe poor with government handouts that are often far more valuable than a job. This can be ameliorated to some degree by imposing work requirements on welfare recipients, but in practice, such requirements are rarely imposed. Second, welfare states are expensive. This means higher taxes and therefore slower economic growth and fewer job opportunities for everyone – including the poor.
Finally, welfare states are magnets for the poor. Whether through domestic migration or foreign immigration, poor people flock to places with generous welfare states. This is logical from the immigrant's perspective, but it makes little sense from the taxpayer's. This fact is why socialism and open borders arefundamentally incompatible.
Why Big Government?
Since 1960, California's population exploded from 15.9 to 39 million people. The growth was almost entirely due to immigration – many people came from other states, but the majority came from abroad. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that 10 million immigrants currently reside in California. This works out to 26 percent of the state's population.
BLOG: COME TO MEXIFORNIA! HALF OF LOS ANGELES 15 MILLION ARE ILLEGALS!
This figure includes 2.4 million illegal aliens, although a recent study from Yale University suggests that the true number of aliens is at least double that. Modifying the initial figure implies that nearly one in three Californians is an immigrant. This is not to disparage California's immigrant population, but it is madness to deny that such a large influx of people has changed California's society and economy.
Importantly, immigrants vote Democrat by a ratio higher than 2:1, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies. In California, immigration has increased the pool of likely Democrat voters by nearly 5 million people, compared to just 2.4 million additional likely Republican voters. Not only does this almost guarantee Democratic victories, but it also shifts California's political midpoint to the left. This means that to remain competitive in elections, the Republicans must abandon or soften many conservative positions so as to cater to the center.
California became a Democratic stronghold not because Californians became socialists, but because millions of socialists moved there. Immigration turned California blue, and immigration is ultimately to blame for California's high poverty level.
"Most Californians, who have seen their taxes increase while public services deteriorate, already know the impact that mass illegal immigration is having on their communities, but even they may be shocked when they learn just how much of a drain illegal immigration has become." FAIR President Dan Stein
The reason that high-tax rate and potentially insolvent states like California, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland have continued to have access to massive new borrowing is Wall Street's ability to sell general obligation municipal bonds to high-income individuals who can benefit from receiving federally tax exempt interest.
California admits it has no idea whether non-citizens voted in last primary
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/california_admits_it_has_no_idea_whether_noncitizens_voted_in_last_primary.html
By Monica Showalter
After a hard-fought battle to obtain records by the Sacramento Bee, we now learn that California's electoral officials are admitting that they have no idea how many illegals and other non-citizens voted in the last primary, based on the state's motor-voter registration, which has been shown to have registered thousands of non-citizen voters. The Bee reports:
California officials still can’t say whether non-citizens voted in the June 2018 primary because a confusing government questionnaire about eligibility was created in a way that prevents a direct answer on citizenship.
Apparently, tens of thousands of foreign nationals and other ineligible voters, maybe 16 year olds, got registered to vote at the DMV when they applied for their drivers licenses whether they asked for it or not.
Investigators can see that people marked themselves as ineligible to vote or declined to answer eligibility questions, but they can’t tell why.
“We can’t assume why they declined to answer eligibility questions or why they said they were not eligible,” the Secretary of State’s Office wrote in an internal memo on Oct. 8, 2018.
That email and other documents The Sacramento Bee obtained through the Public Records Act shed light on why the Secretary of State has been unable to say clearly whether non-citizens voted last year. The Bee filed a legal complaint for the records when the Secretary of State initially withheld most of them.
The email shows that, for months, California officials have been examining whether non-citizens voted last year. On Thursday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla confirmed for the first time that his office has an active internal investigation into the matter.
“The Secretary of State’s office does not comment on the details of ongoing investigations,” the office said in a statement. “Determining whether ineligible individuals who were erroneously registered to vote by the DMV cast ballots requires a complete review. The Secretary of State’s office is doing its due diligence by conducting a thorough investigation.”
Spokesmen for the office declined to say how the department could otherwise determine citizenship of those registered.
This doesn't even include the undoubtedly significant numbers of voters who answered that they were eligible to vote when they were not. Could that have happened when the ballot-harvestors were out patrolling illegal immigrant neighborhoods in search of votes? At a minimum, it most certainly was possible, especially, since claims to voter-eligibility on drivers license forms are never checked in California (it's the honor system), according to voter-integrity activists. It also doesn't help that California sneakily had residents sign to certify on their yellow mail-in ballots that they were California residents(rather than voting-eligible citizens) so as to prevent for illegals any potential perjury charges in addition to vote-fraud charges.
If California has no idea who's a citizen, and has resisted every effort out there to get that information (it has defied cooperation with President Trump's electoral integrity commission), well, then what we can conclude is that they don't want to know if a non-citizen is voting and now the word is out that they don't. Apparently, Democratic interests in 'counting all the ballots' as they say, means counting illegal ones, too.
They don't know, they don't want to know, and they aren't about to clean this up. Keep after them, Sacramento Bee. In this case, the Bee is a newspaper that's doing its actual job.
Ballot-harvesting gets just a little harder in California, thanks to
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/01/ballotharvesting_gets_just_a_little_harder_in_california_thanks_to_judicial_watch.html
Judicial Watch has forced the state of California and Los Angeles county to end its practice of keeping 'inactive' voters on the voter rolls as is required by federal law. Here's the news from the legal watchdog:
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it signed a settlement agreement with the State of California and County of Los Angeles under which they will begin the process of removing from their voter registration rolls as many as 1.5 million inactive registered names that may be invalid. These removals are required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
The NVRA is a federal law requiring the removal of inactive registrations from the voter rolls after two general federal elections (encompassing from 2 to 4 years). Inactive voter registrations belong, for the most part, to voters who have moved to another county or state or have passed away.
Los Angeles County has over 10 million residents, more than the populations of 41 of the 50 United States. California is America’s largest state, with almost 40 million residents.
The state of California, run completely by Democrats, of course, resisted this (at least until the midterm was over). They decided that cleaning up inactive voters from the rolls wasn't in their interest and federal laws were for other states, little states. And as a result, nearly a quarter of California's counties had more voters registered than actual eligible voters. And surprise, surprise, the state has suddenly turned solid blue.
L.A. county's approximately 1.5 million inactive voters on those rolls (112% of age-eligible citizens alone) had been perfect fodder for ballot-harvestors, not this last time at midterms (all of the Democratic ballots harvested in the last midterm have made their voters active voters), but for upcoming elections. That rich bank of potential Democratic votes from ballot-harvesting is now gone with this Judicial Watch agreement.
Ballot-harvesting is a disturbing phenomenon so prone to abuse it's illegal in most states. In California, where it's not, Democratic operatives selectively pay visits to the homes of indifferent voters who don't want to go to the polls or mail in their ballots, engage those voters, and then "help" them fill out their ballots in the way Democrats want. That's why conservative areas such as Orange County were suddenly flipped blue and popular candidates such as Young Kim, who had been winning by large margins on election night - suddenly saw their results flipped. Democrats learned that by extending the election count for weeks, turning in harvested ballot after harvested ballot, they could win any election.
But the harvest had been incomplete, and with many inactive voters, Democrats would need that bank of more potential votes, which likely explains why California's Democrats resisted any cleanup of voter rolls. California may have mailed these people ballots whether they liked it or not or asked for it or not, as they did with all of us, and well, Democratic ballot-harvestors could have easily gotten hold of those unasked for ballots in the mailboxes of dead, moved-away, or incapacitated voters and saw to it that they somehow got cast.
(Judicial Watch is investigating that one, too.)
The state's chief vote counter, Secretary of State Alex Padilla, insists that not a single voter will be disenfranchised, given all his 'safeguards.' His official plan is to mail in a confirmation form to inactive voters and strike their names if they don't respond, but somehow, I suspect the ballot-harvestors will be paying visits to these inactive residents, who may be indifferent and incapacitated voters, and somehow will get them to mail those forms in, too, thereby subverting the process.
That said, Judicial Watch's victory is a great one and frees them up to focus on other areas of abuse that are rife in California, such as non-citizen registrations (the state still says it has no idea how many there are), illegal immigrant votes already cast, ballot harvestors using coercion, foreign ballot-harvestors, gerrymandering, straight out fraud, and the whole cavalcade of Democrat tricks that have disenfranchised conservative voters in the state.
It's a welcome glimmer of light from a one-party state.
Gavin Newsom’s First Act as California Governor: More Healthcare for Illegal Aliens
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/08/gavin-newsoms-first-act-as-california-governor-healthcare-for-illegal-aliens/
Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press
8 Jan 2019 3,669
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s first act in office was to propose extending state healthcare benefits to more illegal aliens.
On Tuesday, shortly after being sworn in, Newsom — who ran on the proposal of providing healthcare to everyone in California, though he struggled to explain how he would pay for it — signed an executive order taking steps in that direction.
In his first executive order, Newsom directed the state to create a single government purchaser for prescription drugs to increase negotiating leverage with pharmaceutical companies. Alongside the order, Newsom proposed extending Medi-Cal — the state’s version of Medicaid — to illegal aliens up to the age of 26, rather than 19.
Cyntoia Brown Granted Clemency by Tennessee Governor
The governor’s forthcoming budget, his office said, “will make California the first state in the nation to cover young undocumented adults through a state Medicaid program.”
That would cover 138,000 “young people in the country illegally,” according to the Associated Press.
“Undocumented young adults should not have to worry about losing their health coverage when they turn 19,” the governor’s office added, saying that the budget proposals, to be presented later this week, would defend Obamacare from “recent federal attacks” and “bring the state closer toward the goal of health care for all.”
In his inaugural address, Newsom promised “sanctuary to all who seek it” — a reference to California’s status as a “sanctuary state” for illegal aliens that refuses to help enforce federal immigration law.
That policy continues to be a lightning rod for national criticism after the murder last month of Corporal Ronil Singh, a legal immigrant and police officer who was allegedly shot and killed by an illegal alien during a traffic stop.
In addition, Newsom’s new budget “proposes increasing the size of the subsidies for families who already receive it, and it would make California the first state to make subsidies available to middle income families,” his office said.
To pay for the expansion of those benefits, Newsom is proposing that California restore the individual mandate to purchase health insurance, which was canceled by President Donald Trump at the federal level.
Schumer also sent a letter to President Trump and to congressional leaders asking for legislative changes that he argues would make it easier for states, including California, to develop a single-payer healthcare system.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Sheriff David Clarke (Ret.)
Enabling Criminal Aliens
Source: AP Photo/Noah Berger
The murder of Newman California Police Corporal Ronil Singh allegedly by an illegal alien with a criminal past is the latest high-profile killing of an American citizen that contains nearly every element in our illegal immigration discourse.
Singh, 33, legally immigrated to the United States, became a U.S. citizen, and then became one of Newman’s finest citizens serving as a police officer for twelve years. Singh’s legal entry into the U.S. added value to our country. Sadly, this husband and father of a 5-month-old son was allegedly murdered by an illegal criminal alien gang member on Christmas Eve.
This tragedy was preventable.
Singh’s suspected murderer had “prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson had said. “Law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws and that led to the encounter with (Cpl.) Singh… the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn’t restricted or had their hands tied because of political interference.”
California is a state that provides a safe harbor for people illegally in the country. California boasts its status as a sanctuary state in violation of federal law and the supremacy clause in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. California cities have passed laws prohibiting local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with law enforcement officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the apprehension of illegal immigrants even after they have committed a crime. Many of these illegal criminals continue on to murder, rape and rob U.S. citizens post-release from a local jail under the catch-and-release policies before notifying ICE officials.
Currently, the threshold for immediate deportation proceedings is set too low. Catch-and-release instead of being detained pending an immigration hearing is like unleashing a dangerous animal into a public space. Eventually, we’ll be dealing with an avoidable catastrophe.
Typically the definition to detain involves only crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. That’s about it. Serious drug dealing or gun possessions are not considered crimes of violence under this strict definition. Neither does burglary or the severe crime of driving under the influence of alcohol. As we have seen over and over through the cost of American lives, many additional crimes pose equally great risks to our communities should these illegal criminal aliens be released without detaining for ICE.
Burglary is a felony and as far as I am concerned a crime of violence. It’s not merely a property crime that results in minor victimization. It involves forced entry. It is a category Part I crime by FBI statistics. Part I crimes are serious felonies. Anybody whose home has been broken into suffers a traumatic mental experience. I have seen it when investigating burglaries. People who once felt safe in their homes lose that sense of security after their home is burglarized. Their kids have nightmares; adults sleep with one eye open and every little noise in the house startles them. It takes a long time to heal. Burglary costs Americans an estimated 4 billion in property loss every year, but this does not include the psychological damage. The fact that many states allow residents to use deadly force to stop intruders means that a burglary could end violently for the intruder. It will if it happens at my home and I am there.
Another offense that is marginalized by sympathetic lawmakers is driving under the influence. It is not merely a traffic offense. Tens of thousands of people are killed and maimed by impaired drivers every year. I have arrived on the scene of crashes involving impaired drivers. Seeing lifeless and mutilated bodies is not pretty. This is why most states take it so seriously that a first offense is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Many make a second and third offense a felony. It’s worth mentioning that the illegal alien who allegedly murdered Cpl. Singh had two prior arrests for DUI and was being stopped by Cpl. Singh for suspected driving under the influence again.
A recent Pew Research study on crimes committed by illegal aliens indicates it’s time to take this seriously. The study shows that the bulk of those arrested in 2016 and 2017 had prior criminal convictions. It indicates that in 2017 illegal immigrants with past criminal convictions accounted for 74% of all arrests made by ICE which is a 30% increase from the year before. The study points out that those with no previous conviction increased by 146% compared to a 12% increase of those with a past criminal conviction. They have demonstrated a propensity to victimize. This conviction rate includes nearly 60,000 arrested for drunk driving and approximately 58,000 arrested for dangerous drug dealing (opioids). The other classification of convictions are as follows:
Assaults: 48,454
Larceny: 20,356
General Crimes: 17,325
Obstructing Police: 14,616
Burglary: 12,836
These numbers are not insignificant. Nobody takes the time to point out to the criminal alien apologists that the cost associated with these crimes include police and court costs, incarceration costs, property loss and damage, medical costs, psychological trauma, lost work time and increased insurance rates adding up to billions of dollars. Therefore, the policy on when to deport and for what reasons also needs to reflect these costs to the American people. The time to deport is before they go on to serious offenses, not after.
Redefining what constitutes deporting a criminal alien is needed. By changing the definition from what is considered a ‘violent act’ to a ‘serious act’ would be more inclusive of the dangerous crimes I have highlighted in this article. Our laws need to reflect the protection of the American people not sympathy for criminal aliens.
Is it not asking too much for people in the country illegally to obey all of our laws, not just a select few? Neither you nor I would be granted this courtesy if we were even lawfully in a foreign country with a valid passport and committed a misdemeanor crime not involving violence. Deportation would be certain and swift with no release pending a deportation hearing.
It is time for U.S. policy to change. The American people should not have to accept such great risks when they don’t have to. They should not have to stand by idly before a criminal illegal alien victimizes another American citizen.
It is bad enough that our criminal justice system is soft on crime when it comes to people legally in the country but when that same leniency is granted to criminal aliens it’s a problem, and it’s time to recalculate our generosity.
The position of most politicians in Washington D.C., except for a few Democrats who are sympathetic to all illegal migrants, is that concerning deportations we should deal with the criminal aliens first. An overwhelming majority of Americans agree. Nobody wants to be victimized by a criminal, nonetheless, ones who should have been deported.
When we water down the standard for what is criminal behavior, we are heading toward a very dark place. Crime is crime. Period. This should be the standard for automatic deportation for criminal aliens.
Once we get the criminal illegals out, a wall is required to prevent these thugs from running back in and continuing to victimize Americans like Cpl. Singh who hours before his death stopped home to visit his family on Christmas Eve, kissing his wife and child for the last time. The picture of him with his family taken just hours before his death should serve as a grave reminder to all who want to hug a criminal illegal alien that at any moment they can lash out and kill an American, and that it could have been avoided if Congress had its priorities straight and put politics aside to do what’s right.
NY Times: ’40-Year’ Flood of Immigration Turns Orange County Blue
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/02/ny-times-40-year-flood-of-immigration-turns-orange-county-blue/
2 Jan 20191,184
The New York Times admits a “40-year rise in the number of immigrants” living in Orange County, California has transformed the region from a “fortress of conservative Republicanism” to a Democrat electoral sweep.
The Times notes in a piece titled “In Orange County, a Republican Fortress Turns Democratic” that the rapid demographic changes of the county — which now has a more than 30 percent foreign-born population — has swiftly handed the region over to Democrats.
Breitbart News reported that Orange County’s booming foreign-born populations of mostly Asian immigrants and migrants from Central America coincided with Democrats sweeping the midterm elections in an area that gave birth to President Richard Nixon.
The Times now acknowledges the demographic changes are at least partially responsible for the diminishing Republican representation in Orange County:
There was a steady decrease in white voters in the seven congressional districts that are in and around Orange County between 1980 and 2017, according to census data. In 1980, whites made up 75 percent of the population in the district where Mr. Cisneros won. By 2017, that number dropped to 30 percent. [Emphasis added]
The county’s immigrant population grew five times as fast as the general population between 1980 and 2000, and while the pace of immigration has slowed, the Latino and Asian populations continues to increase, driven by the children of immigrant families born in the United States. [Emphasis added]
“You went from a solid Republican county to one in which Republicans were just barely the majority, and it fell pretty quickly in the past two years,” said Ms. Godwin. “You have had continued demographic changes. This is a county that went from majority-white to having a majority that are Latino and Asian-American. So that has gone hand-in-hand — particularly with the rising Asian-American population — to voting more Democratic.” [Emphasis added]
In a series of charts, Times reporters Robert Gebeloff and Jasmine C. Lee. reveal that while Orange County has become less and less Republican, the foreign-born population has grown significantly, the share of college graduates has peaked, and the white American population has fallen drastically.
California, the Shithole State and Getting Worse by the Day.
By Wayne Allyn Root
Gateway Pundit,
California is Exhibit A. It’s filled with immigrants. Ten million to be exact. Many of them illegal. Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California- where nearly one out of five residents is poor. That’s according to the Census Bureau.
While California accounts for 12% of America’s population, it accounts for one third of America’s welfare checks. California leads the country in food stamp use. California has more people on welfare than most countries around the world.
If immigration is so great for our country and illegal aliens “contribute a net positive” to society…how do you explain what’s happening in California?
I haven’t even gotten to the taxes. The income taxes, business taxes, sales taxes and gas taxes are all the highest in the nation. Why do you think that is? To pay the enormous costs of illegal immigration. To pay for the education costs, healthcare costs, police, courts, lawyers, prisons, and hundreds of different welfare programs for millions of California’s illegal aliens and struggling legal immigrants too.
But you haven’t heard the worst yet. California- the immigrant capital of America- is filthy. Perhaps the filthiest place on earth. Filthier than the slums of Calcutta. Filthier than the poorest slums of Brazil and Africa.
NBC journalists recently conducted a survey of San Francisco. They found piles of smelly garbage on the streets, used needles, gallons of urine and piles of feces- all near famous tourist attractions, fancy hotels, government buildings and children’s playgrounds.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/04/wayne-allyn-root-california-shthole/
Bienvenidos a Mexico: California's ballot-harvesting, sure enough, is borrowed from Mexico
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/12/bienvenidos_a_mexico_californias_ballotharvesting_sure_enough_is_borrowed_from_mexico.html
In an extraordinary investigative piece on how ballot-harvesting works by Steve Miller, published on Real Clear Investigations, we learn an amazing amount of information about how ballot-harvesting works and why it's so closely connected to election fraud, skewing elections in directions they normally wouldn't go. Themust-read piece is focused on how Texas is dealing with the seedy issue, enforcing the law, prosecuting more than twice as many cases of electoral fraud as California, even hampered as Texas is by weak penalties for violators. But a little detail stands out much deeper into the piece: Ballot-harvesting, which is at the root of considerable fraud of all kinds, is a practice specifically borrowed from Latin America, with a very impressive Latino analyst, K.B. Forbes, who has electoral experience in both countries, citing Mexico. Here's the passage:
The practice has its roots in Latin America, said K.B. Forbes, a political consultant and Hispanic activist who has served as an elections observer in Sonora, Mexico. “In the Latin culture, they have colonias, which is ‘little colony,’ literally,” he said. “In these, they sometimes have the equivalent of a precinct boss, and that’s how people move up. The [politiqueras] deliver the vote and when the candidate moves in, the theory is that they get a good post inside the government.”
That brings up California, where ballot-harvesting is perfectly legal, and normal voters have to wonder how the heck that happened. Ballot-harvesting has been a disaster for Republicans in California, with all conservatives now shut out from any representation in once-red Orange County. Most congressional elections there showed Republican candidates in the lead on election night in the last midterm, but all of them flipped to Democrats as the Democrat-led ballot-harvesting brought in votes and votes and votes from supposed precincts, harvested by their political operatives, until the result went the other way. (This by the way, didn't happen in districts where Democrats held a small lead, nothing flipped in their cases and ballots did not keep rolling in).
If ballot harvesting is a practice imported from Mexican politics, what does that say about California politics, whose legislators would embrace Mexican electoral practices over the U.S. standard? As I mentioned earlier, Mexico has been called "a perfect dicatorship" by none other than Nobel Prize-winning literary lion Mario Vargas Llosa, owing to the continuous power of the Mexican Partido Revolucionario Institucional (or P.R.I.), which up under a decade or two ago, had a hammerlock monopoly on Mexican politics, winning every single election in what was then a one-party state. That's a system so bad people emigrated illegally from that country to get away from it. Now, the cultural practice is right there waiting for them in California, albeit, virtually nowhere else.
And like the P.R.I.'s Mexican electoral practice of ballot-harvesting, it's noteworthy that the ruling Democrats of California also are famous for doling out the goodies to the loyal voters. They've promised amazing things to California's illegal immigrant population, with the latest thing free heath care. California's insurance commissioner, the respected non-partisan Steve Poizner, was, conveniently, ballot-harvested out of office after an election-night lead several days after midterm by utterly leftist Democrat Ricardo Lara who openly declared his support and big plans for free health care for illegals. He's tried it before in the legislator and now he's going to do it this time through the executive. California's incoming governor, of course, is all in for the goody-slinging. In Mexico, they used to pass out bags of beans for votes. In California, the prizes are considerably higher, and they go well beyond free health care. I've already noted the weird similarities to how California is run, and P.R.I-style politics here.
Any wonder California is going way out of its way to welcome illegal immigrants? "You're all welcome here," as Gov. Jerry Brown famously said. California already hosts a quarter of the nation's illegals, and with middle class families now moving out due to high living costs and punitive taxation, the California P.R.I. likes new bodies coming in who have a lot of needs, which keeps the congressional seats numerous and the federal funds flowing.
It all makes a normal person wonder about the weird closeness of California officials and their Mexican counterparts, too. Newsom has already paid a visit to Mexico to discuss the caravan with the Mexican government in Mexico City (not Tijuana, where he would have gotten a earful from the generally conservative and more dissident-oriented Tijuana locals), and he has declared he plans to withdraw National Guard troops from the U.S. border. With his party now embracing the P.R.I's style of governance and having some unnaturally close ties to Mexican officials (I've seen it myself at Los Angeles functions as a guest of the Mexican government), it looks like a growing merger of Mexican and California politics.
Mexico knows how bad the system is, and its citizens did rebel against it with a Trump-like leftist president, Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador, who won on a vow to end corruption. One can safely take that as a sign that Mexicans are trying to move away from that kind of politics, which of course would include ballot harvesting. California, on the other hand, is moving toward it, embracing what Mexico is trying to reject. That speaks pretty poorly for the sorry state of affairs in California. It's only great for the rulers and those they patronize, until the money runs out.
Until then, clarification about California's Mexico borrowings need to stand as an incentive to other states about what not to do.
40 MILLION ILLEGALS.... handed us a homelessness, housing crisis, wages depression and jobs crisis!
THE NEW PRIVILEGED CLASS: Illegals (unregistered democrats)!
This is why you work From Jan - May paying taxes to the government ....with the rest of the calendar year is money for you and your family.
Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, with his fake Social Security number, he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200..... free.
He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.
He qualifies for food stamps.
He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.
His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
He requires bilingual teachers and books.
He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.
If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense.
He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.
Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.
He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.
Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after Paying their bills and his.
The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/08/californias-privileged-class-mexican.html
Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!
THE GLOBALIST DEMOCRAT PARTY TO SERVE THE RICH,
BANKSTERS AND EXPAND THE MEX WELFARE STATE IN AMERICA
TO KEEP THEM COMING
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2019/01/betrayal-of-america-globalist-democrat.html
Greenspan, Schumer, Pelosi and their cohorts are determined to create a $15.00 per hour “standard wage” to be paid to all workers irrespective of education or the nature of their jobs. This is called Communism!
BILLIONAIRES FOR wider OPEN BORDERS TO KEEP WAGES DEPRESSED and AMERICA FLOODED WITH FOREIGNERS.
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/12/billionaires-for-wider-open-borders.html
But Benioff’s cheap-labor importation plan would also shrink the income and careers sought by millions of American college graduates, many of whom will vote in 2020 for or against Trump.
The nation’s workforce now includes roughly 1.5 million foreign college-graduate contract-workers who are imported via the H-1B, L-1, OPT, O-1, J-1, and other visa programs. These outsourcing workers are not immigrants, but instead, they are contract workers hired for one to six years, at lower wages, to take jobs that would otherwise go to American graduates.
The Americans’ salary loss, however, would be a gain for the CEOs who see their profits rise and their stock options spike as middle-class salaries decline.
LA RAZA SUPREMACIST DEMOCRAT PARTY HOOKS AND CROOKS AMERICA TO DOUBLE THE “CHEAP” LABOR POPULATION
TRILLION DOLLAR WELFARE HANDOUT TO NARCOMEX!
Hillary Clinton's plan to bring 11 million illegal aliens
"out of the shadows" would cost American households an immediate tax increase of $1.2 trillion, or $15,000 per household, according to a study by the National Academy of Sciences.
THE BILLIONAIRES’S GLOBALIST DEMOCRAT PARTY FOR WIDER OPEN BORDERS
THE TRUE COST OF ALL THAT “CHEAP” LABOR IS PASSED ALONG TO THE MIDDLE CLASS.
"This doesn't include the costs of illegal immigration to society, which provides health care, housing, education, child care, and legal services to illegal aliens. Even though immigration advocates claim that illegal aliens do indeed pay taxes, the dollar amount pales in comparison to the cost of the many services they receive."
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-globalist-democrat-party-for-wider_29.html
Meanwhile, despite the highest taxes in the nation, California is $1.3 trillion in debt – unemployment is at a staggering 11%. California's wacko giveaways to illegals include in-state tuition, amounting to $25 million of financial aid. Nearly a million illegals have California driver's licenses. L.A. County has 144% more registered voters than there are residents of legal voting age. Clearly, illegals are illegally voting.
DEMOCRAT PARTY CORRUPTION
"This is how they will destroy America from within. The leftist billionaires who orchestrate these plans are wealthy. Those tasked with representing us in Congress will never be exposed to the cost of the invasion of millions of migrants. They have nothing but contempt for those of us who must endure the consequences of our communities being intruded upon by gang members, drug dealers and human traffickers. These people have no intention of becoming Americans; like the Democrats who welcome them, they have contempt for us." PATRICIA McCARTHY
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/11/patricia-mccarthy-democrat-corruption.html
THE INVASION SPONSORED BY THE DEMOCRAT PARTY
Congressional Democrats are apparently fine with catch-and-release policies because they see the likely electoral benefits. According to Customs and Border Protection (CPB), of the 94,285 Central American family units apprehended last year, 99 percent of them remain in the country today. CPB also reports that 98 percent of the 31,754 unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle of Central America remain in the country. CAL THOMAS
STAGNANT WAGES and the Dem Party’s obsession with open borders, amnesty and no damned legal need apply!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/12/wages-remain-stagnant-as-american.html
THE LA RAZA SUPREMACY PARTY for OPEN BORDERS, AMNESTY, NON-ENFORCEMENT, NO E-VERIFY and no Legal need apply!!!
The Democratic Party used to be the party of blue collar America- supporting laws and policies that benefited that segment of the U.S. population. Their leaders may still claim to be advocates for American working families, however their duplicitous actions that betray American workers and their families, while undermining national security and public safety, provide clear and incontrovertible evidence of their lies…. MICHAEL CUTLER …FRONTPAGE mag
WE COULD END MEXICO’S INVASION IF WE PUT EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS IN JAIL
NumbersUSA’s Rosemary Jenks:
E-Verify Ignored in DACA Negotiations Because ‘Members of Congress Know It Will Work’
http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/01/23/rosemary-jenks-establishment-republicans-dont-want-e-verify-know-will-work/
Members of Congress broadly oppose a legislative nationwide E-Verify mandate for employers because “they know it will work,” said NumbersUSA’s Rosemary Jenks, explaining why E-Verify is not being pushed in congressional negotiations for an amnesty deal for recipients of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Jenks further noted that both parties are beholden to special interests supportive of “mass migration.”
E-VERIFY – Why both parties hate the word!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/08/mark-krikorian-wheres-e-verify-dont.html
Putting employers of illegals in prison would end the foreign invasion today!
WEST HOLLYWOOD WELCOME MAT FOR ILLEGALS… Not a single employer of illegals ever prosecuted in this LA RAZA SANCTUARY CITY where they print voting ballots in Spanish so illegals can vote for more!
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/11/does-reformation-hardware-in-west.html
THE INVASION THAT AMERICA INVITED
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2018/12/america-destroyed-by-invasion-that-was.html
Simultaneously, illegal immigration next year is on track to soar to the highest level in a decade, with a potential 600,000 border crossers expected.
“More than 750 million people want to migrate to another country permanently, according to Gallup research published Monday, as 150 world leaders sign up to the controversial UN global compact which critics say makes migration a human right.” VIRGINIA HALE
THIS IS FOR REAL!
GAVIN NEWSOM HISPANDERS
WITH MS-13 MURDERING THUG ANIMALS!
AMERICA'S OPEN BORDERS AND THE ANCHOR BABY BREEDER...
CALIFORNIA DRIFTS TOWARD BANKRUPTCY AD GAVIN NEWSO...
NARCOMEX OVER, UNDER AND IN OUR OPEN BORDERS - ...
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BETOLAND - ANOTHER ILLEGAL CAUGHT VOTING ILLEGA...
THE GLOBALIST LA RAZA SUPREMACY DEMOCRAT PARTY'S A...
GOOGLE'S ASSAULT ON AMERICA'S FIRST AMENDMENT FREE...
CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES FILES CIVIL RICO LA...
WAR PROFITEER SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S CRONY BRI...
PEOLOSI'S OPEN BORDERS - REPEATEDLY DEPORTED I...
CORRUPT JUDGES - JUDGE DEBORRAH BARNES' LONG F...
SWAMP KEEPER TRUMP BETRAYS AMERICAN COLLEGE GRADS ...
PELOSI'S OPEN BORDERS - PELOSI'S SABOTAGE OF HO...
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PELOSI'S OPEN BORDERS - EIGHT-TIME DEPORTEE ACC...
SHOULD AMERICAN BE A BABY BUTCHER SHOP ON YOUR TAX...
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Goddard College MFAIA Stories
INVITATION TO WITNESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH STEFANIE BATTEN BLAND PART THREE
Photograph courtesy Reuben Radding.
This is the third installment of a three-part interview with Stefanie Batten Bland that was conducted by Reuben Radding on March 4, 2019 at New York University in New York City. Stefanie and Reuben are both current students in the Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts program at Goddard College. All photographs in the series are by Reuben Radding. Part One of this interview was published on March 13, 2019. Part Two was published on March 29, 2019.— editor
STEFANIE BATTEN BLAND is a Choreographic Artist & Filmmaker.
Jerome Robbins awardee, she physically interrogates contemporary and historical cultural symbolism – and the complexities of human relationships. Her intercontinental dance-theatre Company SBB, formed in 2008 in France situates their work at the intersection of installation and dance-theatre in film and live performance settings. Currently, SBB is Movement Director at The Public Theater and a Choreographer for American Ballet Theatre’s Women Movement Initiative. She lives with her family in New York City.For more info: companysbb.org
REUBEN RADDING is a photographer, writer, and musician based in New York City. His award-winning street and personal documentary photographs depict elusive or unlikely candid moments, and intentionally provoke unanswerable questions in the viewer’s mind. Radding’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, and in publications like The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Hamburger Eyes, Time Out, Hyperallergic, Downbeat and others. His work has also been featured at the Miami Street Photography Festival, The Center for Fine Art Photography, and the Focus on the Story Festival. His first book of photographs, Apparitions, was published in 2013. Radding has been an instructor with the New York Institute of Photography since 2013, and has taught workshops or lectured at New York University, The School of Creative and Performing Arts, Marble Hill Camera Club, and others. Since 2017 he has offered a series of street photography workshops from his Brooklyn studio. He graduates from Goddard College with an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts in July 2019.
RR: It’s interesting when I try to relate my experience of that workshop to the perennial myth of gesture coming from self-expression, or from emotion…because in dance, especially telling stories in dance, the performer doesn’t actually need to have the emotion they’re portraying. They’re not necessarily expressing their emotion, they’re using symbology, right? So, like, if you’re The Swan, you don’t have to actually be feeling what The Swan feels in their despair, you’re doing gesture that communicates that despair. And then what you’re doing in work like yours––it’s no less symbology but it seems like maybe a lot of the discovery of the gestures, the discovery of how to tell the story comes through giving people permission to use their impulses––which may come from emotion or it may not.
SBB: Sure! Sure, sure. I mean, I would say, even for ballet and what a large story ballet is, they’ve got such a huge script going on in their heads. Those things are so written out. But, yeah, I mean I’m from this…I’m such a wild conglomerate of so many different types of dance and theater-making, that really the theater side in me is equal with the dance side of me, and so this is an exercise that––you can think of it from a method place if you need to, you absolutely can––or you can look at it purely in an abstract way, like a post-modernist way that’s just “I’m doing this to try this out, and what comes out of it can maybe relate to something, and I can paste it onto something else.” It gives you whatever you want. Honestly, it’s one of those kind of exercises that you can get anything out of it. And generally, in my pieces once I understand what the piece is about, of what each scene is about, how we get from the beginning to the end of that scene can be not a very a/b route. It can go all over the place as long as we’re pushing the story forward. And it’s true that I do like to play with this accidental kind of, “oh, these moves happened to correspond with that meaning. Great. What a great accident!” [laughs] You know, I enjoy that. I love to know, “how would you dance with that lamp?” You know, and like turn the lamp into the best partner ever. Cause in the end, I guess, gesturally…it’s not going to be the gesture that tells the audience member why it’s so important. It’s going to be my sight. It’s going to be my focus. That brings it all the way back to just being people and how we see each other––how we let our eyes flitter amongst the subway––it’s such a vulnerable place, how we see things. To me, that’s the magical part of my pieces. Honestly, physically, we could be doing whatever, [laughs] but normally it’s: how you see us seeing it, or seeing the other person seeing that tells you what’s going on, probably who we should be looking at, even. Though I do make those kinds of pieces where it’s all about the form, and gorgeous moves, amazing moves––those are the jobs that pay the most most of the time––[laughs] and of course I’ll sneak my signature stuff in there too, but my favorite things is when I watch everybody understand who to watch because they see who the performers are looking at, and they’re like, now they’ve got it. Now we’re all turning the page at the exact same time.
RR: Isn’t it interesting? I notice this when I’m photographing. If someone notices that I’m there with a camera the first thing they do is–they don’t really spend time looking at me, they look at what I’m looking at. So, if they see me, and I’ve got a camera, but my eyes are looking over here…
SBB: They’ll follow! Right, that’s right!
RR: They’ll turn and look at that. They don’t watch what I’m doing. Very quickly after they’ve noticed me they want to see what I’m looking at. So, I’ve often used that to my advantage.
SBB: I’m sure.
RR: And it wasn’t something that I thought much about [before being a street photographer], I just went with it, and later in reflecting on it realized like, oh, you don’t really have to worry too much most of the time, cause they’re going to look where they think I’m looking, where it appears I’m looking.
SBB: Yeah, cause they’re rendering “something in this direction is made important due to this lens.” And people want to know what that is.
RR: Yeah, and they can’t tell from the camera. So it’s interesting that you think about the way attention is directed as well. It’s not just through the performative, like, “here’s the most interesting thing over here,” it’s also about the attention of the others you have at your disposal. When I think about the rehearsals of your company that I’ve been at there’s a great deal of…like if somebody is sort of featured a little bit, somebody’s got their moment, very often if other players are animate––if they’re not just hiding under something––they’re witnessing that person, and it probably adds to our attention on them.
SBB: Yeah, you just hit another word that we use so much: witnessing. Cause it’s [the] testimony, and hearing of other people that I feel like we get to do as our job that’s so amazing, that I love about it. It’s something we need in life. We need someone to be able to hear us. God, I keep going back to value, right? But, it puts in value what you just experienced by being able to share it with someone, by knowing that someone is actually hearing you say it, right? So, theatrically that’s the same thing, thanks to sight, especially if there’s no text involved. It’s this act of being the witness. Being able to witness, sharing that commonality that…we all know what that’s like, to listen to someone tell you a story or tell you how their day went , or tell you what they’re going through, right? And we’ll do it for one another as well within the piece.
RR: How would you articulate the difference between “witness” and “spectator?”
SBB: I feel like a witness understands that there’s something they’re there to capture or see…it feels omnidirectional to me. It feels kind of sacred, in a way. And very delicate. And could just be an accident. I feel a spectator has a weight in it, a very clear role.
RR: Interesting, cause what was rolling around in my head as I was watching you grapple with that was the feeling in me that the witness’s presence is important, and the spectator’s is completely incidental. Like, speaking to my past as a musician, I spent a lot of nights playing to an empty room or to where there’s two people there, and the spectators? Like, we could do it without you! I can go inside myself and play and…
SBB: That’s right!
RR: …have a deep experience, but to be witnessed, is a lot more meaningful because you need that witness. The witness is somebody who can testify.
SBB: Yeah yeah yeah yeah! Right right right! They don’t call a spectator to the stand. Yeah, that’s so wonderful.
RR: A spectator might be buying a beer during the best part of the game, but a witness is genuinely involved.
SBB: Yeah, there’s a clarity in the role. We use the word witness a lot while we’re working, and then when I turn towards speaking about audiences I always interchange it with spectator, but I rarely interchange that with the word witness, and I think it’s definitely cause I want to make sure that I understand that there are two very crucial financial transactions going on here, and I want to be able to somehow merge them into something that’s valuable for both parties, but it feels contractual. It’s allowing me to speak in an us and them manner, it has a lot of clarity in it, and witnessing isn’t clear at all. It’s a very magical place to be able to witness something. Wouldn’t that be a great title, “Witness the Spectator?” Something like that, you know?
RR: Or “Invitation to Witness.” I mean, the key words we’ve come back to over and over are value, invitation, proximity, witness…
SBB: I’m gonna tell you, this is really wild, too, because it makes me think of the way, and the reason I make films is actually for a witnessing act, as opposed to the spectator, which I feel is very present in the live arts. But I don’t feel that word when I’m thinking of the films.
RR: What makes it different?
SBB: Because the lens of the camera can feel like my journey as a viewer. Whereas a person that just happens to discover this, or happens upon this…this feels much closer in proximity, and that’s something that I love about dance cinema. You’re discovering something from a point of view that we would never think of seeing it from. I’m able to talk about things that I might or might not be able to on the stage.
The Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts (MFAIA) program at Goddard College is a unique graduate experience at the intersection of contemporary art practice and Goddard’s landmark method of low-residency, human-centered learning and teaching. Information about Admissions to the program is available at goddard.edu.
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Notweed: Interview with Otto Muller, Sound Artist, Composer and MFAIA Guest Faculty →
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Responsible Tourism to headline ATM 2018
by ATM Team
In Arabian Travel Market, Press Releases.
Special industry theme at Arabian Travel Market will turn its attention to how the Middle East hospitality industry is becoming more responsible
Energy demand in UAE hotels is within global average but KSA hotels are 50% higher
Responsible Tourism, including current sustainable travel trends, will be adopted as the official show theme for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 22-25 April 2018.
Simon Press, Senior Exhibition Director, ATM, said: “It is important to highlight that the GCC is one of the fastest growing regional hospitality markets on a global scale and is a resource intensive industry. Its impact on the environment is multi-dimensional, ranging from CO2 emissions, water and energy demand, food waste, noise and light pollution.
“Travellers have become very conscious of the carbon footprint they are leaving while visiting destinations across the globe and the subsequent impact this has on the environment. This growing trend has meant the entire industry has had to look long and hard at how sustainability and a credible social conscious must drive business strategy.
“At ATM in 2018, we will be showcasing some of MENA’s leading, and commercially successful, examples of businesses which make the rich heritage of the region accessible to tourists, bring economic development to local communities and help preserve their cultures.”
More than 1.2 billion international tourists crossed the globe in 2016 and this is expected to grow to 1.8 billion by 2030. Tourism generates 10% of the world’s gross domestic product, is responsible for one in every 10 jobs and 30% of world trade in services making it central to many countries’ economies and people’s livelihoods.
However, consequently the UN’s World Tourism Organisation estimates that tourism is responsible for about 5% of global CO2 emissions. Accommodation accounts for approximately 20% of emissions from tourism, which includes energy demand, dining and leisure.
According to the latest research from Colliers International, hotel carbon footprint in the UAE is within the global average range (20,000 – 30,000 KGCO2E per room); but Saudi Arabia is up at over 50,000 KGCO2E. It is a similar story in terms of hotel energy usage per square metre – the UAE is within the global average at just under 500KWH, but KSA up at around 750KWH.
“And it’s not just saving energy,” claimed Markus Oberlin, CEO at Dubai-based sustainability consultant and Green Globe partner Farnek. “Hotels can apply a reduce, reuse and recycle principle to so many aspects of their operation – food waste, grey water and so on…”
To address global warming, the UAE Government has set itself ambitious targets to reduce its carbon emissions by 16% by 2021. To achieve this objective the government has asked the UAE business community to support its efforts.
“Energy costs alone in UAE hotels represent approximately 6% of total hotel revenues, so even small savings could have significant financial benefits, underscoring the business case for sustainability,” added Oberlin.
WTM London has been at the forefront of responsible tourism for over two decades and provides the inspiration for ATM 2018, which will integrate the theme across all show verticals and activities, including focused seminar session, featuring dedicated exhibitor participation.
“International tourism provides jobs for millions, particularly in the MENA region where many nations are trying to diversify their petrodollar economies. Rising youth unemployment rates are encouraging regional governments to invest in tourism, which is not just a labour-intensive sector, it generates billions in foreign currency earnings.
“It is important that hoteliers, operators, local communities and tourists alike, take responsibility to ensure tourism becomes more sustainable. The Middle East has taken the lead when it comes to responsible tourism, with a particular focus on sustainability running right through the hospitality industry across the GCC,” added Press.
ATM – considered by industry professionals as a barometer for the Middle East and North Africa tourism sector, welcomed over 39,000 people to its 2017 event, including 2,661 exhibiting companies, signing business deals worth more than $2.5 billion over the four days.
Celebrating its 25th year, ATM 2018 will build on the success of this year’s edition, with a host of seminar sessions looking back over the last 25 years and how the hospitality industry in the MENA region is expected to shape up over the next 25.
Press said: “The tourism industry in the GCC has grown ten-fold and more since we first opened our show doors 25 years ago. The developments have been incredibly impressive. We have tallest buildings and tallest hotels; revolutionary transport infrastructure; theme parks and leisure attractions that are the envy of the rest of the world.
“With a host of top speakers lined up and panel sessions for ATM 2018 we will be looking back on the tourism revolution in the Middle East over the last quarter of a century and also forecasting what lies ahead for the industry, with continuing geopolitical tensions across the globe, economic uncertainties, huge technological advances and, of course, the increasing trend of responsible tourism.”
About Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2017 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, agreeing deals worth US$2.5bn over the four days. The 24th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, making it the largest ATM in its 24-year history. www.arabiantravelmarketwtm.com Next event 22-25 April 2018 – Dubai.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than 7m participants.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
GAVIN GIBBON
Tel: +971 4 365 2715 | Mobile: +971 55 129 6108
E-mail: gavin.gibbon@shamalcomms.com
Office 106, Arjaan Office Tower, Dubai Media City
PO Box 502701 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Website: www.shamalcomms.com
Tagged atm-pr.
ATM Team
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NewsOne Minute: Memphis Police Department Threatens to Demote Black Officers
The Memphis Police and Shelby County Sheriffs departments motorcycles are parked during the celebration of the life of entertainment icon Isaac Hayes at the Hope Presbyterian Church August 18, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Memphis Police Department has a reputation for discriminating against officers of color. Since the late 1970s, officers within the department have complained that they were passed up for promotions because they were black. In the early 2000s a group of African-American police officers won a legal battle against the department after they accused officials of using race as a factor to determine who would be promoted. Some of the officers were offered promotions following the case. Last year, the federal appeals court retracted the ruling and now the officers have found themselves in a position where they are being reprimanded for speaking up for their rights. The chief administrative officer of the city of Memphis, George Little, is claiming that the new ruling will allow the city to demote the officers and make them pay back the money that they received when they got promoted. “We can say fine, not only are we going to bump you back to whatever your former position was, we want our money back that you weren’t entitled to,” said Little. “Demotion is basically what we’re looking at right now. They’d go back to the rank they were at when all this started.” Read more.
Ebony Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Steps Down
Ebony magazine has undergone a lot of change over the past few months. After putting up their photo archives up for sale for nearly $40 million and downsizing their office space, Mitzi Miller, the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, recently announced that she would be stepping down from the helm of the publication. Miller says she plans on pursuing a career within the television and film industry. “I’ve always subscribed to the principle of living in the present and remaining open to all of life’s opportunities,” Miller said in a statement. “So I believe that now is an exciting time to start a new chapter in my life. It will always be an honor to have been a part of the Johnson Publishing Company legacy. Having served as the editor-in-chief for two of the oldest and most successful African American publications, I take pride in the issues the team was able to explore and expose to the readers.” Last year, Miller was appointed Editor-in-Chief after Amy DuBois left the publication. Prior to taking on the EIC role at Ebony she spent three years as editor-in-chief of Jet magazine, another publication under the Johnson Publishing umbrella. She was the only person since the company’s founder John H. Johnson to hold an editor-in-chief position at both publications. Read more.
Morris Chestnut Nabs Role in Investigative Drama Pilot for Fox
Actor Morris Chestnut will soon be gracing the small screen again. He recently just nabbed a spot in an investigative drama pilot for Fox. The show, which will be directed by Todd Harthan, focuses on the chronicles of a Miami-based pathologist who is the head of one of the most prominent labs in the country. Although his job entails examining deceased people he has a deep passion for living life to the fullest. The show also captures his interactions with a “cynical female detective” whom he works with. Additionally, Chestnut has a bunch of other projects in the works. He’s going to star in a movie called “The Perfect Guy,” alongside Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy and another project called “When the Bough Breaks,” with Regina Hall. Read more.
NewsOne Snapshot Of The Day
Ebony Magazine , Memphis Police Department , Mitzi Miller , Morris Chestnut
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New Hope for SMEs
The Small Business Credit Guarantee Trust (SBCGT) is to be transformed into a finance institution that will provide financial services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
As early as next year, the trust, which will also undergo a name change to be more reflective of its new role, will start lending money to SMEs.
The institution will lend out money to individuals and groups at market related interest rates to avoid market distortions.
As a micro lending institution, the new company’s core products would be credit guarantee facility, individual business loans, group business loans and group savings. It will guarantee loans to individual SMEs for commercial bank loans of between N$75 000 and N$250 000. It will also give individual business loans of two levels, namely Level 1 (from N$30 000 to N$50 000) and Level 2 from N$50 001 to N$75 000. (Note: Namibian $1 equals about US $0.15.)
The group-based loans will include two levels, with Level 1 loan starting from N$5 000 to N$15 000, while Level 2 loan will be N$5 001 up to N$30 000.
The group savings will be mandatory through the taking of weekly deposits.
The transformation of the trust comes after consultants carried out a review of its operations to establish the performance of the trust against its objectives and targets and determine options available for accessing by micro, small and medium enterprises in Namibia, on a basis that is both operational and sustainable.
Chief executive officer of the SCGTF, Onesmus Upindi told New Era on Friday that the trust would be transformed from a project into a sustainable financial institution that aims at serving the micro, small and medium enterprises.
Upindi said the new institution, whose name has already been reserved, should be able to sustain its activities both financially and operationally with minimum subsidies in terms of technical assistance for a period of less than two years.
The trust will however continue with the function it was created for – guaranteeing loans. Upindi said that the trust would continue facilitating access to credit for the target client through a guarantee facility arrangement with conventional lending institutions covering the whole of Namibia, but on terms that ensure proper management of portfolio performance, proper risk management and direct involvement of the trust.
The objectives of the transformation are to promote economic diversification through the inclusion into the scheme of small-holder farmers who are in need of capital to expand their activities; to provide support to those who want to venture into non traditional activities and services such as aquaculture and tourism; to reduce current dependency of the trust on government and also to create an appropriate institutional legal form that will serve as a suitable financial intermediary for SMEs, through which the private sector, donors and other social partners can continue to play a supporting role to SMEs.
This will come as a relief to SMEs, which especially face difficulties in accessing credit from the country’s finance institutions due to the risk that is associated with starting up enterprises.
In most cases, said Upindi, all emerging SMEs have a business plan with projections.
In this, the trust has identified a gap in the financial market in that commercial banks are not prepared to give smaller loans.
Although the new financial institution will also get collateral from its clients, Upindi said the trust has structured it in such a way that it does not put more pressure on businesses. For group lending, the institution will get group collateral. Upindi said the trust is also looking at borrowers keeping cash savings, for example amounting to 30 percent of the money they intend to borrow in case of defaults.
It will also look into using one’s household goods as collateral.
The trust will identify a number of potential social investors who buy into the idea of seeing SMEs succeed and contribute to poverty reduction. The trust CEO also said there would be talks with some commercial banks who want to outsource the lending function so they can concentrate on their core business.
The new company will need to mobilise financial resources to operate, which initially may be sourced from the government in the form of a loan, grant or guarantee before it can talk to investors.
“Outsiders want to see government commitment and tangible results before they can get involved,” he added.
Before coming in, Upindi noted that investors would send in a rating mission to check the institution’s repayment, management, governance, skills of workers, as well as its relationship with the State.
The origins of the SBCGT date back to a Cabinet decision of 1997, which aimed at increasing the rate of growth of existing small businesses to enable them to employ additional labour and help the self-employed to develop into businesses that will employ others.
Source: New Era (link opens in a new window)
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The Sound of Music UK Tour: Review
The Sound of Music, UK Tour: Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
Reviewed 9th January 2018.
One of the most celebrated and well-loved musicals of all time returns to the stage in 2018. The Sound of Music tells the true story of the world-famous singing family, from their romantic beginnings in search of happiness, to their exciting escape to freedom at the start of WWll.
This production of The Sound of Music, produced by Bill Kenwright, features a famous score from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Some of the most recognisable songs including ‘Edelweiss’, ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ will certainly get audiences, young and old, humming along.
Lucy O’Byrne, who returns to the role of Maria after rave reviews, performs fantastically throughout as the lead character. She certainly has the voice to pull off the famous songs and her acting was very believable. Maria was shown to be tough when needed, yet naive and likeable at the same time. Whilst the relationship with Captain Von Trapp felt forced and staged at times, the relationship with the seven children was very touching, especially between Maria and Liesl Von Trapp, played brilliantly by Katie Shearman.
Neil McDermott plays the handsome Captain Von Trapp. His character felt slightly wooden and stiff however the delivery of his lines, especially those with a sarcastic tone was just right. To read an interview by Neil McDermott about staring in this new production click here.
The cast overall were very good. Vocally this show was very solid. ‘Confitemini Domino’ particularly showed off the expertise and harmonies of the performers. Megan Llewellyn, Mother Abbess, had an especially good vocal range and strength as demonstrated in ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’. The children, played by three alternative groups, were all very good in the role. May Hayward particularly impressed as the slightly too honest Brigitta Von Trapp.
The sets designed by Gary McCann were simply stunning. Every set was highly detailed and looked solidly built. The sets had been designed to make good use of the large raked stage and they were changed quickly, with minimal transition. The costumes, also by Gary McCann were again very well made and designed. They felt in keeping with the era and were very detailed, even some of the costumes which only had a very small amount of stage time were expertly made. It is aspects like this, especially in touring shows, that really improve a production and add to the audience’s enjoyment.
The lighting was effective on the set with some parts of the set being illuminated and backlit. At several points however, the character spotlights were not at all steady and this really detracted from the show. At times characters, especially the children, were not lit up enough whilst others had a spotlight during scenes of no huge importance.
This latest production of The Sound of Music was certainly performed excellently from the whole cast. If you are a fan of this classic musical or a complete newcomer it is a simple yet lovely story. Perfect for families and introducing children to the theatre. Grab a ticket to this show and add it to your list of ‘My Favourite Things’.
The Sound of Music UK Tour is playing at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley until the 13th January 2018 and then it begins its UK Tour. For tickets at the Churchill Theatre click here.
For more information about further venues and tickets see: http://www.kenwright.com/microsite/the-sound-of-music-2018/#theshow
Photo Credit: Cast of 2016 photographs from http://www.kenwright.com
Bill Kenwright, bromley, Churchill Theatre, classic, family, musical, My Favourite Things, Sound of Music, The Hills Are Alive, theatre, tour
Top shows for 2018.
OVO, Cirque du Soleil: Review
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A musical loved since elementary school because of the movie, the stage show being seen in 2015. In 2015, after I saw Les Mis in the West End, I thought that musical was going to be the last. But little did I know it wouldn’t be the last. I found out in November I think that I would be seeing Sound of Music on its US tour. While watching, I felt like a kid again and I became a bigger fan of Sound of Music because my emotional impact grew as the night continued. 2015 was a year of not one, not two, not three, but four musicals
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From mat to cage: Garry Tonon confident in repeating BJJ magic in debut vs Filipino talent
By Eric Kowal 1 year ago
For the past couple of decades, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been spreading like wildfire, gaining worldwide recognition and becoming the most well-known submission-orientated combat style among the grappling arts.
Since modern mixed martial arts opened its doors to Brazil’s concept of Jiu-Jitsu, the style has been put to the test against other extremely effective grappling arts in a variety of point systems and promotions.
Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most important elements of the sport, and many grapplers have made the successful switch from the mat to the cage.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Garry Tonon has racked up a boatload of accomplishments as a celebrated grappler, and he is now ready to take his talents to the ONE Championship cage to begin a mixed martial arts career.
“The Lion Killer” Tonon’s journey as a professional mixed martial artist commences on 24 March as he is slated to make his debut in ONE Championship, taking on Filipino stalwart Richard “The Notorious” Corminal.
Both men are set to face each other at ONE: IRON WILL, which takes place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
“It is the natural evolution in my career as a grappler,” Tonon said. “I have achieved all that I have set out to do in the world of Jiu-Jitsu, and now I am ready to take on a new challenge.”
A fixture in global grappling tournaments and widely considered one of the best submission grapplers in history, Tonon made his first appearance inside the ONE Championship cage when he took on Japanese legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki in the promotion’s first-ever Grappling Super-Match in May 2017.
Garry Tonon and Shinya Aoki
The 26-year-old American grappling prodigy won the contest against Aoki impressively via heel hook submission.
Hailing from New Jersey in the United States, Tonon began wrestling in primary school, competing as an amateur before being introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14.
Under the tutelage of coach Tom DeBlass and the legendary Ricardo Almeida, Tonon would go on to win multiple IBJJF No-Gi world championships in different belts.
In September 2013, Tonon’s hard work on the mat finally paid off as DeBlass and Almeida awarded him a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Shortly after, his professional grappling career began as Tonon would later win multiple titles at the Eddie Bravo Invitational and Metamoris professional grappling leagues.
Determined to make a name for himself in the next chapter of his martial arts career, Tonon will be making his highly-anticipated professional debut at ONE: IRON WILL on 24 March.
“I am excited to begin my ONE Championship career, and proud to showcase my skills on the biggest global stage of competition,” he stated.
In his maiden assignment under the ONE Championship banner, Tonon crosses paths with Corminal, a Filipino martial artist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia who is training out of MuayFit.
Corminal holds a professional record of four wins and three losses, with each of his career victories to date coming by way of knockout.
In his most recent bout, Corminal succumbed to Frenchman Arnaud LePont by way of submission in the first round this past November.
Corminal now aims for redemption as he eyes to spoil the much-awaited first appearance of Tonon in ONE Championship.
“I do not know what will happen in the match, but I am so excited because I like challenges,” Tonon pointed out.
“Success is a future for only those able to see the value in facing challenges. Surely, I will exert tremendous effort in this new career path of mine.”
On the mat, Tonon owns notable victories over mixed martial artists such as Aoki, Dillon Danis, Beneil Dariush, Marcin Held, Gilbert Burns, Vinny Magalhaes and Ralek Gracie.
With an illustrious grappling career behind him, Tonon seeks to emulate the success of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners like BJ Penn, Royce Gracie and Demian Maia, who rose to prominence by trading their Gis for four-ounce gloves.
“When I found Jiu-Jitsu, I realized that if I wanted to be good at this, I needed to put the actual work in. I will do the same thing in the new chapter of my martial arts career because I really do want to be the best at this,” he assured.
As the sport continues to evolve with the rise and incorporation of other martial arts disciplines, Tonon made it clear that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will always have a high regard for him.
“By heart, I will always be a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. There are so many great athletes who paved the way for young competitors like me and made these two sports what it is today. I will represent the art of Jiu-Jitsu with pride inside the cage,” he ended.
Eric Kowal
https://www.mymmanews.com
Founder of MyMMANews.com
– After writing for Ultimate MMA magazine and serving as the editor for U.S. Combat Sports, both of which went on hiatus, I decided to venture out on my own and enlist a staff of writers and photographers that could help me achieve my goal of telling stories that would otherwise go untold. We pride ourselves in taking a deeper look into the fighter, and understanding what makes them tick.
– #1 Dad, Marine Corps Veteran, 80’s and 90’s Pro Wrestling Fan, MMA Commentator, Beer Lover, and avid movie watcher. Seriously….. I watch a lot of movies.
Tags: Garry Tonon, Tom DeBlass
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Toll free USA y Canada 1 866 295 4601 ¡Call us!
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FDA Approval of Bedaquiline — The Benefit–Risk Balance for Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
The Internet is increasingly redefining the ways in which people interact with information related to their health. The Pew Internet Project estimates that more than half of all Americans sought health information online in 2013, mostly through search engines such as Google and websites such as Wikipedia and WebMD.
In this digital age, engaging with new media offers an unparalleled opportunity for medical and public health professionals to find information they need and to interactively reach out to patients and their support networks. One domain where these capabilities may have far-reaching effects that are currently undefined is drug safety. As the volume of health-related information on the Internet has grown, important questions have emerged. How are messages from regulators — for example, warnings against using a drug in a specific patient population — diffused digitally? And are the messages still accurate when they reach the general population?
To explore these questions, we selected new drug-safety communications related to prescription medicines that were issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over a 2-year period between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2012 (see Table S1 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org). Despite debates over its credibility, Wikipedia is reportedly the most frequently consulted online health care resource globally1: Wikipedia pages typically appear among the top few Google search results and are among the references most likely to be checked by Internet users.2 We therefore evaluated Google searches and Wikipedia page views for each drug in our sample. We also examined the content of Wikipedia pages, looking specifically for references to safety warnings. To control for secular trends, we examined results from a 120-day window around the date of the announcement (from 60 days before the announcement to 60 days after it) and constructed a baseline period for comparison that ran from 60 days to 10 days before the period of interest began.3
We identified safety warnings for 22 prescription drugs that are indicated for a range of clinical conditions, including primary hypertension, chronic myelogenous leukemia, and hepatitis C. Collectively, these drugs triggered 13 million searches on Google and 5 million Wikipedia page views annually during the study period. FDA safety warnings were associated with an 82% increase, on average, in Google searches for the drugs during the week after the announcement and a 175% increase in views of Wikipedia pages for the drugs on the day of the announcement, as compared with baseline trends (see line graphEffect of Food and Drug Administration Warnings on Google and Wikipedia Traffic. and Fig. S1 in theSupplementary Appendix).
Did users find accurate information on the drugs’ safety? We found that 41% of Wikipedia pages pertaining to the drugs with new safety warnings were updated within 2 weeks after the warning was issued with information provided in the FDA announcements (see Fig. S3 in the Supplementary Appendix). The Wikipedia pages for drugs that were intended for treatment of highly prevalent diseases (affecting more than 1 million people in the United States) were more likely to be updated quickly (58% were updated within 2 weeks) than were those for drugs designed to treat less-prevalent conditions (20% were updated within 2 weeks, P=0.03; see Fig. S2 in the Supplementary Appendix).
Overall, 23% of Wikipedia pages were updated more than 2 weeks after the FDA warning was issued (average, 42 days), and 36% of pages remained unchanged more than 1 year later (as of January 2014). For example, the FDA issued a safety communication on January 13, 2012, that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), used to treat Hodgkin’s lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, had been linked to two cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. As a result, the FDA placed a new black-box warning about this risk on the drug label, a move that was followed by a 50% increase in Google searches for the drug during the ensuing week and a 141% increase in views of the drug’s Wikipedia page. However, there was still no mention of the new black-box warning on Wikipedia 2 years later, a discrepancy that substantiates concerns raised by previous studies over the reliability of online drug information.4
These findings have practical implications. As clinicians seek to promote patient-centered care and shared decision making, patients’ preferences and knowledge increasingly figure into patient care.5Patients may be better prepared to voice their preferences regarding treatment options after they weigh relevant information, including information about potential risks. They may also be more knowledgeable about when to seek medical care for symptoms that may represent an adverse drug reaction. Physicians can provide some of the critical information when they prescribe a drug, but the Pew survey shows that many patients still independently consult additional resources.
Public health officials have historically focused on printed drug labels and “Dear Health Care Provider” letters from the FDA, but new technologies offer the opportunity to reach patients and physicians more efficiently and effectively. We believe the first step should be improving the accessibility of drug information available through the FDA’s website. Currently, safety communications are housed on the MedWatch portal, whereas electronic drug labels containing information on efficacy, dosage, and contraindications are located in the Drugs@FDA database — and there is no obvious link between these two resources. In addition to centralizing these disparate data sources, the agency could make its website more consumer-friendly by better integrating social media. Although the FDA has posted (tweeted) safety communications on Twitter since 2010 and its main drug-related Twitter account (@FDA_Drug_Info) currently has roughly 140,000 followers, the agency’s drug-safety–specific Twitter account (@FDAMedWatch) has just 20,000 followers. Enabling FDA site visitors to quickly share safety communications on common social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook would broaden the virtual reach of the agency’s messages.
Another approach to promoting accurate dissemination of drug-safety information is active participation in the online curation of medical information. In 2008, the FDA partnered with WebMD to bring public health announcements to all registered users and to quickly integrate this information into WebMD’s suite of Web pages. A digital strategy for drug safety could expand this model to include other sites that are highly frequented by the public, including websites for disease-specific patient-support and patient-advocacy organizations. Our findings also suggest that there may be a benefit to enabling the FDA to update or automatically feed new safety communications to Wikipedia pages, as it does with WebMD.
Clinicians and researchers could contribute to this effort. In September 2013, the University of California, San Francisco, became the first U.S. medical school to offer academic credit for editing medical content on Wikipedia, a project that could be scaled to the national level to include other medical schools and universities. Encouraging trainees to participate in Wikipedia-page editing might ensure that important pages are updated quickly as evidence evolves and might engage physicians in the process of developing medical informatics. Such participation could be further motivated by granting continuing medical education credit for the updating of Wikipedia pages relevant to a practitioner’s specialty.
New media provide new opportunities for the FDA and patient- and consumer-safety organizations to communicate public health messages. Given the frequency with which patients seek information outside the clinic, and particularly on the Internet, taking advantage of those media appears to be a promising means for the FDA to ensure that patients have ready access to accurate and comprehensive information, including timely updates pertaining to drug-safety issues. Integrating online public health communication into medical training and consumer-facing websites could be an important step toward more fully realizing the Internet’s potential in the promotion of public health.
New media provide new opportunities for the FDA and patient- and consumer-safety organizations to communicate public health messages.
Andrés Jurado Viera
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USGA NEWS
Johnson, Calamaro To Receive Presidents’ Leadership Award February 14, 2015
Johnson, Calamaro To Receive Presidents’ Leadership Award
Junior golfers honored for service to their communities
Braselton, Ga. – Drew Johnson of Oak Ridge, N.C., and Jacqueline Calamaro of Newtown Square, Pa., are the 2010 recipients of the Presidents’ Leadership Award, the American Junior Golf Association and United States Golf Association announced Thursday.
Drew Johnson has put in more than 1,000
volunteer hours and created his own junior,
golf event.
This award recognizes one boy and one girl junior golfer who demonstrated leadership, character and community service through their involvement with Leadership Links – a joint initiative founded in 2010 by the USGA and AJGA to further develop junior golfers through volunteerism and charitable giving.
Calamaro and Johnson will be honored by USGA President Jim Hyler and AJGA Board of Directors President Gayle Champagne during the Rolex Dinner of Champions July 1 at the Rolex Tournament of Champions at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Additionally, they will each receive four tickets to a U.S. Open of their choice, access to the USGA hospitality tent during the U.S. Open, and an automatic entry into the 2010 Rolex Tournament of Champions – the most prestigious junior golf stroke-play event in the country.
Drew Johnson And The Special Olympics
At just 15, Drew Johnson has already learned the value of giving back and speaks with wisdom beyond his years. In his seven years volunteering with the Special Olympics of North Carolina, Johnson has put in more than 1,000 volunteer hours and created his own junior golf event.
“Putting others first, especially those who need a helping hand, has been the most rewarding thing in golf so far,” Johnson said in his application letter. “I would rather say when my playing days are over that I have given back to folks like those in Special Olympics than talk about tournament wins.”
Johnson’s hard work has not gone unnoticed. In each of the three years he has been playing AJGA tournaments, Johnson has earned an honorable mention for the Presidents’ Leadership Award. This year, Johnson will be honored with the 2010 Presidents’ Leadership Award for his tireless commitment and service to the Greensboro Special Olympics Golf Team.
Johnson first got involved with the Special Olympics when he was eight years old. A family friend was part of the Greensboro Special Olympics Golf Team that practiced at the same driving range where he often played. He quickly learned that he already had things in common with the players. They all loved the game of golf and loved competing.
Johnson’s involvement began simply by getting players water, teeing up their golf balls and cheering for their shots. As he got older, Johnson wanted a more influential role with the organization and took on a coaching position, which he holds today, spending his Monday nights coaching 30 Special Olympians.
“This is what makes golf different than any other sport,” he said. “In golf, we put others first. We cheer for our competitors. We protect the integrity of the tournaments with our attitudes and our honesty in keeping correct scores and playing by the rules. We give back.”
Johnson’s impact on the organization extends beyond the time he spends coaching. His parents challenged him to find other ways to get involved and in 2003, he organized the Drew Johnson Kids that Care junior golf event, which has raised more than $23,000 in support of the Greensboro Special Olympics Golf Team. Most of the players were using hand-me-down clubs that did not fit them and the team lacked funding for travel expenses. With the money raised by the event, the team can purchase golf equipment and pay to travel to the North Carolina State Games. For the past two years, the tournament has also been ranked by the Carolinas Golf Association.
Johnson’s work has caught the eye of other leaders in the industry.
“We can take pride in the realization that young Americans like Drew have what it takes to mold more into givers, not takers,” said Joe Steranka, CEO of the PGA of America, in a letter to the selection committee. “Drew Johnson may well be the best caddie anywhere when it comes to serving Special Olympians.”
Johnson’s attitude and commitment to his volunteer work will hopefully influence others to donate time in their local communities. Having accomplished so much at only 15 years old, it’s clear there are big things in store for Johnson.
“Drew is an inspiration to youth golfers as well as Special Olympic athletes,” said Charyl Clark, director of Special Olympics Greensboro. “His generosity and dedication to Special Olympics has proven that regardless of age, anyone can make a difference in the lives of others.”
While Johnson hopes to play professional golf someday, he plans to continue to support the Special Olympics regardless of his career path.
In April, Jacqueline Calamaro organized a Golf-a-thon at
Walnut Lane Golf Club in Philadelphia.
“I want to get as many juniors as possible involved in Special Olympics,” Johnson said. “I have always felt that getting involved in helping others is an important thing. All of us have a responsibility to give back in some way.”
Jacqueline Calamaro’s Golf-A-Thon
Nine hours, forty minutes. That’s how long it took Jacqueline Calamaro to play 102 holes of golf at Walnut Lane Golf Club.
Calamaro has a long history of community service, but when she took on her senior project – a requirement in the state of Pennsylvania – Jacqueline went above and beyond to help The First Tee of Philadelphia.
A talented golfer and three-year captain of her high school golf team, Calamaro used her senior project to combine two of her passions in life – golf and volunteerism.
In April, Calamaro organized a Golf-a-thon at Walnut Lane Golf Club in Philadelphia, in which she and Radnor High School teammate Jin Hwang committed to play 100 holes in a day. They took pledges and donations for each hole played, and after many miles walked were able to donate more than $7,400 to The First Tee of Philadelphia for a new practice facility.
“It’s such an honor to receive this award,” Calamaro said. “Even though it started out as a required project, the Golf-a-thon became a labor of love. It’s probably better than any golf accomplishment I could have ever achieved.”
While just under 10 hours were actually spent on the golf course, Calamaro spent nearly 100 hours organizing the event. With the help of Hwang and Radnor High School Golf Coach Andy Achenbach, Calamaro passed out fliers, alerted media outlets, and used the contacts she had made through the Pennsylvania Women’s Golf Association and Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia to spread the word of the Golf-a-thon.
“I set a goal of $10,000,” said Calamaro. “I knew this would be a stretch, but The First Tee of Philadelphia is a worthy cause.”
When the day of the big event rolled around, playing the golf was the easy part. While Calamaro said she had never played more than 45 holes in a day, she completed 102 on April 10, 2010.
Due to the success of the Golf-a-thon, it has now become the suggested senior project for all future Radnor High School golf team captains, meaning Calamaro’s original goal could be met and surpassed in the coming years.
But more important, Calamaro said, “Those of us who have been blessed through the game of golf will have the opportunity to give back in a meaningful way that impacts the lives of young people.”
The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls ages 12-18) of approximately 5,000 junior golfers from 49 states and 30 countries. To ensure scholarship opportunities for all junior golfers who have the skill, the AJGA created the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program to provide financial assistance to young players in need.
Titleist, the AJGA’s National Sponsor, has been the catalyst and driving force behind the Association’s success since 1989. Rolex Watch USA, which is in its third decade of AJGA support, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004. In 2007, after 12 years of support, Polo Ralph Lauren became the AJGA’s second Premier Partner.
AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 400 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Stewart Cink, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel.
For more information on the Presidents’ Leadership Award, please contact Lindsey Dalter (ldalter@ajga.org) or Ashley O’Dell (aodell@ajga.org) in the AJGA Communications Department at 770-868-4200.
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Please check with your campus registrar to make sure course credit will transfer to your institution.
New American Colleges and Universities provide many opportunities for students to build individual, unique educational experiences that help them achieve their goals. Online courses that allow students to expand their knowledge easily and affordably are one of the ways we do that. As a student in the New American Colleges and Universities consortium, you can enroll in one or more of the online courses below offered by NAC&U institutions. Please make sure to read the Online Principles document, check with your campus on transferability of credits and complete the Online Course Registration form.
Business: Accounting Principles I
Elements of accounting theory, covering revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity; account classification; analysis and recording of transactions; sources of accounting data; corporation accounting; theory of accounting valuations; preparation of financial statements; manufacturing cost flows and analysis.
3 Credit Hours
Contact: Michelle Reynard, Registrar
Business: Accounting Principles II
Business: Business Analysis with Excel
Learn to answer key business questions, control company finances, forecast sales, prepare business cases while improving your excel skills.
1 Credit Hour
Business: Business Communications
Contemporary communication practices (including business reports and electronic forms of communication); business communication issues; communication technologies; business research, writing, and presentation.
Business: Data-Driven Decision-Making
Introduction to management information systems, decision support systems, and the systems development process. Special emphasis on information resource management and the strategic use of information systems in organizations. Group projects add practical experience to the conceptual approach.
Economics: Money & Banking
Money and credit; historical and institutional development of the U.S. financial systems; monetary theory; policies of financial regulators.
Economics: Principles of Economics I
Economic principles and problems. 201 (Microeconomics): the nature of economics and its method, the economic problem, demand and supply analysis, costs of production, market structures, product and resource pricing, and international trade. 202 (Macroeconomics): economic goals, basic information of the American economy, national income accounting, international finance, theories of income determination, economic growth and instability, money and banking, monetary and fiscal policy, the public debt, and selected economic problems. Algebra is used throughout both courses.
Economics: Principles of Economics II
Management: Corporate Responsibility Through Films
Introduces students to concepts and themes surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the impact of the firm’s activities on diverse stakeholders. Movies will be used as a point of analysis for students to evaluate and discuss the realities of social justice issues within the business world.
Management: Electronic Business
A managerial perspective of the impact of the Internet on businesses and organizations, and how the Web changed or enhanced processes and strategies. Topics include Internet business models, electronic commerce tools, onlines retail and marketplaces, web-enabled informaiton and services, and e-business strategies.
Management: Marketing Principles
Introduces students to the field of marketing. Provides an overview of marketing concepts and strategies critical to value-driven marketing. Emphasis is on how to develop, promote, distribute, and price an organization’s offerings in a dynamic economic, social, political, and international environment. Ethical issues related to marketing are also examined.
Management: Organizational Behavior and Management
Introduction to organizational behavior and to the role of the manager. Basic concepts in the behavioral sciences, behavioral principles of management, and the application of this information to organizational life. Topics may include contributions of the classic theorists, management functions, motivation, leadership, attitudes, group dynamics, global management behavior, and organizational change.
Marketing: Advertising
A study of various aspects of advertising which pertain to individual and group behavior in the buying process. Topics include messages and media as related to promotion, personal selling, publicity and public relations.
Wagner College
3.3 Credit Hours, Summer
Contact: Athena Turner-Frederick, Registrar
Marketing: Sports Marketing
The course will discuss the management of sports at professional, collegiate and special event levels focusing on the role marketing plays in planning and decision making in attracting fans and the other major customer—sponsors. Other topical areas will include: sports branding; athlete management; globalization; event sponsorship and marketing; media involvement; fantasy sports; sports vendors; and sports innovations. Students will study current opportunities and threats facing sports and trends that may impact the future of sports and its various audiences.
Communications: Audience Matters
In communication, the audience matters because all effective communication is tailored to an audience. However, the study of audience also encompasses different dimensions, conceptions, and uses of any individual or group who receives a message. This course introduces students to a wide range of audience matters, including how communicators analyze, target, develop, empower, commodify, ignore, and survey audiences. The course explores how audiences receive, interpret, create, and co-create messages. The communication process is understood more clearly once the role of the audience is appreciated.
Communications: Business Communication & Writing
Topics considered in this course include basic principles of effective oral and written communication, a brief survey of standard English grammar and usage, and the forms and styles of business correspondence.
Drury University
3 Credit Hours, Fall, Spring, Summer
Contact: Cindy Jones, Registrar
Communications: Intro to Mass Media
Surveys the basic factors affecting mass communication in the digital age, including theories and models of communication, media effects on society and politics, history, technology, and trends in newspapers, radio, television, film, books, the Internet (social media), advertising, public relations, visual messages, media law and ethics, global connections.
Communications: Intro to Web Design & Image Processing
Principles of website design and creation. Introduction to HTML, cascading style sheets, Templates, image processing, and animation. Students will create their own website.
Communications: Media in the Digital Age
Goals: To develop a capacity for strategic thinking and understanding of the creation, dissemination, consumption, and impact of mass media messages in the digital age. Content: Analysis of theoretical approaches to studying and understanding traditional and convergent mass media messages in the digital age. The course examines historical development, current trends in media and communication technology as well as legal and ethical issues that affect individuals, society, democracy and a global community.
Hamline University
4 Credit Hours, Summer
Contact: Gwenn Sherburne, Registrar
Communications: Social History of Comic Books
Seminar style course based on weekly reading and written assignments. Provides an overview of the intersection of comic books with American popular culture and history. A research component (consisting of researching for books, magazines/journal articles and newspaper articles) also is integrated into the course, thereby providing an added dimension. An annotated bibliography also is required and prior approval of bibliography topic is necessary.
Education: Finance & Facilities
Fundamentals of finance and economics for school administrators. Consideration of school finance from the sources of school funds through the expenditure process, also includes examination of grant writing. Examination of school facilities management including growth, operation, and maintenance.
Health: Addiction Knowledge
This course will cover substances of abuse and their effects on the processes of body and brain. Students will learn how to screen and assess for substance use disorder including withdrawal. Included in the curriculum is information on the current medical and pharmacological resources used in the treatment of substance use disorders. Students will learn the history of alcohol and drug enforcement and addictions treatment policies in the U.S. This course also instructs students in the biopsychosocial, cultural, and spiritual factors related to addiction. Finally, this course addresses both the models and the theories of addiction and prevention strategies, including epidemiology of substance use disorders and diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders.
Health: Medical Terminology
This course is designed to familiarize students with the basics of vocabulary used in the medical and health professions. Students will employ a systematic, word-building approach to master the complex terminology of the medical field.
Health: Service Coordination and Documentation
This course will teach how to assess a client’s ongoing needs beyond formal treatment, including the client’s recovery process. Students will learn interdisciplinary approaches to addiction treatment, including the counselor’s role in the interdisciplinary team. This course will cover the referral processes and case management responsibilities, including relapse prevention and discharge planning. Students will learn community sober supports and relationship building. This course will cover appropriateness of treatment to client needs, characteristics, goals, and financial resources, helping strategies and the engagement of clients. Family and other support-system engagement will be addressed, including family counseling. Students will learn research evaluation, including how to document all aspects of the treatment process. Students will learn the fundamental components of treatment records and the legal aspects of regulating client treatment.
Art History: Introduction to Art History: The Ancient World from a Global Perspective
This course is designed to introduce students to the diverse variety of ancient materials culture around the world.
English: Ozarks Culture & Folklore
The main goal of this course is to provide a firm foundation in critical thinking, research, writing and effective communication in terms of gaining cultural insights while encouraging an appreciation of the culture of the Ozarks. To do that, we will take a look at the people, the food, the music, the legends, the lore, the jargon and the habits/ethics of the Ozarks’ hill people from the 1800s to the present time. Additional goals include promoting critical thinking, teamwork, self-confidence and storytelling as educational tools.
3 Credit Hours, Fall, Spring
English: Seminar on Academic Writing
An introduction to university-level writing. Instruction in principles of rhetoric and eloquence, the essentials of academic argumentation, critical thinking, audience awareness, reflection, and revision. Instruction in finding, evaluating, and synthesizing print and online sources appropriate for academic writing, including a major research project. Instruction in form, structure, usage, and mechanics appropriate to academic work.
Music: Music in World Cultures
Goals: To introduce students to the music of diverse cultures. Content: This course introduces selected musical traditions from around the world, featuring case studies from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Oceania, Latin America, or North America. Students will be introduced to the discipline of ethnomusicology, which explores the relationship between cultural context and various forms of human musical expression including as a meaningful aspect of daily life. Students will also learn to identify the basic elements of music, such as melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre, texture, and form, as found in various musical cultures, will learn the variety of uses and functions attributed to music and gain a glimpse into the musicians’ perspectives. Offered both online and on-campus. Attendance required at performances outside the regular class time.
Music Therapy: An Introduction (MTR*103)
An online course which provides an overview of the profession of Music Therapy through readings, observations of board-certified music therapists, and professional reflection. In addition to the online course components, students must complete two observations of music therapy in two different settings.
1 Credit Hour, Spring 2019 (1/14/19-5/6/19)
Contact: Alison Teeter, Registrar
Philosophy: Intro to Ethics
Investigation into the basic principles of morality and into the nature and methodology of moral judgments. Not open to students with credit in PL 280 or PL 368.
Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy
Medieval philosophy, including the thought of Augustine, Aquinas, and other major figures.
Philosophy: Professional Ethics (SWK*470)
Provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate an in-depth ability to apply ethical theory, rank-ordering, and ethical reasoning to ethical dilemmas in professional practice by examining moral philosophy and critically reflecting on one’s own value system. Highlights contemporary professional issues across human services settings (e.g. confidentiality, privileged communication, boundaries, conflict of interest, dual and multiple relationships, ethical issues related to substance abuse). Examines contemporary moral issues of interest to students (e.g., death penalty, harm reduction).
3 Credit Hours, Spring 2019 (1/14/19-5/6/19)
Theology: Islam & the Environment
Overview of environmental issues and Islamic approaches to these challenges based on the major sources of Islam: the Qur’an and the Hadith. Islamic principles regarding the natural world and humanity’s place within it, and Islamic legal strictures to protect the environment. Special emphasis on contemporary Islamic activism to protect the natural world.
Theology: Jesus in Film & History
Introduction to the words and deeds of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, as understood by his contemporaries. Comparisons to how Jesus was later understood and portrayed by his followers (e.g., in the New Testament) and in popular media (art, literature, and film).
Theology: Moral Decision Making
Examination of contemporary moral issues with a focus on methods for analyzing and evaluating moral problems; sources from the Christian tradition that form moral identity and ethical decisions.
Data Science: Introduction to Data Science
Data Science capitalizes on Big Data and focuses on data analytics that turn information into actionable knowledge. This course will introduce students to the key ideas, practices, and challenges of modern data analysis. Students will get an overview of the data, questions, and tools that data scientists deal with in their practice. This course will introduce students to practical approaches to essential exploratory techniques, interactive data discovery, and predictive analytics including basic techniques for collecting, cleaning, and sharing data. Hands-on activities will enable the students to learn the practical toolkit of a Data Scientist.
Data Science: Elementary Statistics
Describing data by graphs and measures, sampling distributions, confidence intervals and tests of hypotheses for one and two means and proportions, Chi-square tests, correlation and regression. Methods are illustrated in the context of quantitative research, with applications in disciplines such as sports, psychology, and social and natural sciences. Use of appropriate statistical software.
Mathematics: Calculus II
Topics include techniques of integration, applications of the definite integral, improper integrals, an introduction to differential equations, convergence of sequences and series, Taylor series, parametric equations, and polar coordinates.
Valparaiso University
Contact: Stephanie Martin, Registrar
Biology: Developing and Managing Horticultural Therapy Programs (HRT*301)
An in-depth experience in becoming a successful horticultural therapist including developing a career plan and the skills necessary to achieve those career goals. These skills include developing and managing horticultural therapy programs; marketing horticultural therapy, budgeting, fundraising, and grant writing; and conducting and publishing research. Course codes: BR. Prereq: HRT*101, HRT*201.
Biology: How to Make a Baby (BIO.Q*116 with Lab)
What does it mean to be a sexually reproducing organism? Topics include anatomy and physiology of the reproductive organs, egg and sperm formation, control of fertility, assisted reproduction, genetics, the stages of development, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the effects of environmental teratogens on development. Course Codes: NR. Coreqs: BIO.Q 116L. Mandatory co-requisite lab.
Biology: Human Anatomy and Physiology I (BIO*210 with Lab)
A systems level approach is used to study general histology, and integumentary, skeletal, muscular, nervous, and endocrine systems. The laboratory component of the course (BIO 210L) is a co-requisite that reinforces the principles learned in lecture with hands-on experiences in physiology using state-of- the-art digital
instrumentation, computer simulations, animal dissection and human dissection. Mandatory co-requisite lab.
4 Credit Hours, Summer A 2019 (mid-May to late June)
Biology: Human Anatomy and Physiology II (BIO*211 with Lab)
A continuation of BIO 210/210L. Topics covered include the structure and function of circulatory, lymphatic (including immunology), respiratory, excretory, digestive, and reproductive systems, as well as human development and genetics. Mandatory co-requisite lab.
4 Credit Hours, Summer B 2019 (early July to mid August)
Science: Speleology
Speleology is the science of caves and their relationship to humanity and the environment. The relationship between caves, springs, sinking streams, soluble rock strata. Sinkholes, wells, underground drainage of water, water contamination, and the cave ecosystem will be investigated.
3 Credit Hours, Spring
Government: The Politics of Terrorism
An examination of the growing phenomenon of the use of terror as a form of political expression. This course will investigate terrorism from institutional and historical perspectives. Topics include state-sponsored terrorism, counter-terrorism, and the nature of the terrorist threat.
History: African American History 1, 1619-1865
This course provides an introduction to the early history of Africans and African descendants in North America. Using historical scholarship, film, nineteenth-century slave narratives, and other primary documents, we will consider the momentous transformations in African American history from enslavement to emancipation.
History: History of the U.S. since 1877
Survey of U.S. political, economic, social, and cultural history. Emphasizes diversity of the nation’s people and how subjective categories – particularly race and ethnicity, class, and gender – have influenced historical behavior and historical analysis. 211: through the post-Civil War era; 212: from the end of Reconstruction to the present.
History: Immigrant New York City: 1800-Present
This course will explore how and why diverse people were drawn to and built one of the world’s most important global cities. Students will compare the waves of immigrants who came to America in the era of mass immigration from 1880-1824 to those arriving since 1965. We will study the struggles and contributions of immigrants at moments such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, World Wars and the Civil Rights movement.
Political Science: Comparative Politics
Introduction to the study of political behavior and institutions through a comparative perspective.
Psychology: Abnormal Psychology
Goals: To introduce students to current perspectives on major forms of psychopathology; classification, assessment and diagnosis; and etiology, course, and treatment of disorders. Content: Various forms of psychopathology (e.g., anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders) understood within a bio-psycho-social framework; etiology, course, and treatment of disorders; issues in classification, assessment, and diagnosis; contemporary issues in mental health and mental illness.
Psychology: Adolescent Development
Survey of the basic theories and research on human growth and development from conception through late childhood, emphasizing the physiological, cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural changes associated with human life. Cannot be taken concurrently with PS 175.
Psychology: Introduction to Psychology
Fundamental principles of behavior, including research methods, learning, memory and cognition, biological basis of behavior, perception, motivation, human development, social psychology, personality, psychopathology, and psychological testing. A prerequisite to all PS courses at the 200 level and beyond.
Psychology: Life Span Development
Survey of basic theories and research relative to human growth and development from prenatal development through the end of life, with an emphasis on the physiological, cognitive, socio-emotional, psychological, and cultural changes at various stages of life. Intended for non-majors, particularly those pursuing careers in the health professions. Does not fulfill requirements of the Psychological Science major. Cannot be taken concurrently with PS 261, 262, or 365.
Psychology: Social Psychology
Introduction to the scientific field that explores the nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situations. Social psychology is the science of everyday, normal behavior. Topics include nonverbal behavior, the detection of lying, attributions we make about the causes of behavior, social cognition, prejudice, self-concept, interpersonal attraction, persuasion, and aggression.
Sociology: Family Violence
Social causes of violence in the family, especially dynamics of child and spouse abuse. Review of current research with attention to measures for preventing family violence and treating its effects.
Sociology: Foundations in Sociology
Survey of human social relations, diversity, and societal social structure; introduction to the major divisions of the field of sociology.
Sociology: Introduction to Sociological Thinking
Goals: To introduce students to the basic sociological concepts. To show how these concepts are used to analyze society. To increase our knowledge of how society is organized and operates. To encourage creative and critical thinking. Content: Study of culture, socialization, social institutions such as the family, religion, and government, race, gender, social class, and social change.
Sociology: Social Issues
Goals: To gain a thorough understanding of a specific social issue and its impact on society. Content: The social problems selected will vary with the instructor; for example poverty, stratification, disabilities, etc. See the course listing for a given term for that course’s focus.
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People Across the Globe Want Their Cultural Heritage Back. Canada May Offer a Blueprint for How to Get There
A proposed law would mobilize a national strategy to help Indigenous communities reclaim cultural heritage objects at home and abroad.
Kate Brown, June 25, 2018
Totem poles stand in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images.
On a recent visit to an Indigenous cultural center in Nova Scotia, Canadian politician Bill Casey found himself admiring an intricately embroidered robe. He was surprised to hear from a curator that what he was looking at was not the real thing, but a replica.
Held behind glass at the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre near Truro, Nova Scotia, the stunning 19th-century Mi’kmaq regalia was a convincing facsimile of the original. The real regalia, however, is currently tucked away in a drawer at a museum in Melbourne, Australia.
Millbrook’s Mi’kmaq First Nation have been fighting to reclaim this unique piece of heritage for a decade. Their plight is familiar to many Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond. But now, for the first time, an unprecedented groundswell of support is growing to buttress their efforts.
A Global Shift
The push for restitution in Canada comes at a moment when long-held assumptions about the rightful ownership of cultural heritage are coming under renewed scrutiny worldwide. In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to make restitution of French-owned African heritage a priority over the next five years, while Germany recently published guidelines on how to handle its own massive collections of colonial-era artifacts.
Portrait of Bill Casey, Liberal Member of Parliament for Cumberland-Colchester.
But former European colonies like Canada find themselves in a categorically different position. The so-called source communities asking for restitution are not an ocean away, but squarely within their own borders. Meanwhile, some of the contested items are held by foreign countries, creating a diplomatic and bureaucratic obstacle course. Arguably even more painful, other objects are in the collections of Canadian museums—visible but still out of reach for Indigenous communities.
Casey, who is a member of Canada’s federal parliament and represents Millbrook, was deeply affected by his visit to the cultural center. Since then, he has set out to help create a national strategy to help Indigenous peoples get their objects back, both from foreign nations and institutions within Canada’s own borders.
This February, he introduced a bill called the Aboriginal Cultural Property Repatriation Act (also known as Bill C-391) that aims to clear a smoother path for repatriation. The bill was unanimously voted forward through two rounds, most recently on June 7. Now, it will go to a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for further study. There is still a long way to go before it becomes law, but it’s off to a promising start. Parliament will debate the bill this autumn.
This month, the cover photo at @BillCaseyNS is of a Mi'kmaw Chief's Regalia, believed to have been acquired by Samuel…
Posted by Bill Casey on Friday, April 6, 2018
“From talking with many Indigenous stakeholders, I know that this strategy that would obtain artifacts being held in foreign museums and bring them back to Canada is long overdue,” Casey said after the vote in early June in the House of Commons. “For many Indigenous communities, the ceremonial artifacts that were removed by explorers over the centuries are a keenly missed part of their cultural heritage and identity.”
A Surprise Bill
When news first broke about Bill C-391 earlier this year, it caught several in the museum world off guard. “This bill, C-391, frankly came as a total surprise to us,” said John McAvity, the executive director and CEO of the Canadian Museums Association, which advocates for the museum sector in Canada. “It’s a well-meaning piece of legislation, but not really necessary as Canadian museums have been repatriating artifacts for over 35 years.”
Indeed, museums including Chicago’s Field Museum and the BC Royal Museum in Canada have repatriated objects to Canadian Indigenous communities over the years. But the new bill seeks to establish a national support system to make these requests more feasible for Indigenous communities, in part by providing funding for the transfer and storage of objects.
McAvity says he supports the bill overall and believes it will empower communities to gain access to their own cultural heritage. But he also points out the need for certain amendments. For one, he notes, human remains are not currently included in the list of qualifying objects, even though they are very often a top priority for repatriation.
Left: A child’s summer bonnet acquired by Robert J. Flaherty, part of the ROM’s First People’s Gallery. R: The War Bonnet and Case belonging to Sitting Bull, Lakota Sioux chief. Images courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Where Did the Artifacts Go?
So how, exactly, did Indigenous cultural property end up leaving the hands of its creators and landing in museums?
While some objects may have been legitimately purchased or donated, others are alleged to have been illegitimately confiscated by Canadian officials. From 1885 to 1951, the federal government banned potlach ceremonies—rituals practiced by Indigenous people in the Northwest to mark important events—in an effort to compel Indigenous people to assimilate and restrict their cultural expression. In the case of the notorious Cranmer potlach in 1921, officials arrested 45 potlach participants and swept up many important cultural objects in the process.
Over the years, artifacts from these ceremonies, including ritual clothing and dancing masks, ended up in museums including the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
“These important cultural objects were taken or stolen under our colonial regime’s disguise of superiority of ‘cultural preservation,'” a spokesman for Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC in response to Casey’s legislation.
Despite a growing willingness to address the issue, however, deep divisions about restitution remain, and a number of highly contested requests remain unresolved. The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh holds the human remains of the last two members of Canada’s Beothuk tribe, APTN News reported last December.
The Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Though the Beothuk slowly died out following European colonization, other local Indigenous community members in the region have been actively trying in vain to reclaim the remains. National Museums Scotland, which now oversees the collection, has said it would only consider a request from Canada’s federal government.
Finally, Canada submitted an “official” request in 2016, but the matter remains unresolved. As of this writing, the remains of Demasduit and her husband, a chief named Nonosabasut, as well as 10 burial items removed from graves, remain stored in the Scottish capital. The Scottish Museums Association has argued against restitution, in part because there are no living Beothuk descendants.
A Long Road
McAvity, the Canadian Museums Association director, remembers when he first heard the word “cultural repatriation.” It was at a Canadian museums conference on the West Coast in the 1970s. “A lone woman from the Haida Nation stood up and talked about repatriation,” he recalled. The room fell silent. “Most of us had never heard the word or concept before. It was a defining moment for me.”
Much has changed since then. The current conversation is part of a much broader discussion in Canada about the federal government’s need to make amends to Indigenous communities.
In 2008, Canada established the landmark Truth and Reconciliation Commission which, in 2015, released 94 calls to action to bring restorative justice to Indigenous peoples. From the 1880s to the end of the 20th century, the Canadian government operated a brutal residential school system that separated Indigenous children from their parents for extended periods and sought to “‘kill the Indian in the child,'” as Canada’s former Prime Minister Stephen Harper put it in an official apology in 2008.
A mask of the Kwakiutl, a native American clan on the West coast of Canada on display in the Humboldt Box museum in Berlin. Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images.
A call to action targeted at museums seeking a national review of current policies and practices to determine their compliance with the United Nations’ 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; In response, the Canadian Museums Association initiated a 15-member working group this May with key members from its national museums and Indigenous cultural institutions.
“What we’re dealing with is one of the steps in reconciliation of the residential school experience and all of the ways in which heritage and knowledge were denied to Indigenous communities, or how the transmission of culture and traditional knowledge from generation to generation was interrupted. That is really the heart of this whole discussion,” says Sarah Pash, the executive director at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute and a member of the working group who also sits on the Canadian Museums Association’s board.
Over the next three years, the task force will tackle a range of Indigenous art-related issues, including restitution. Casey’s bill is also on the table for consideration.
“For years, restitution was a no-no word in the museum language,” says McAvity. “This is changing fast, and it is about time for this new reality.”
A New Conversation Emerges
In recent years, Canadian museums have been working increasingly closely with Indigenous communities. But Pash says institutions must be careful to let Indigenous people take the lead on restitution-related matters, particularly in cases where their elders have specialized knowledge that can help retrace objects’ lost ownership histories.
First Nations Exhibit at Royal BC Museum, Victoria , Canada. Photo Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons.
Advocates argue that one of the most important parts of the bill is the proposed financial support that would enable communities to establish storage facilities or cultural institutions to house their own artifacts. McAvity notes that in that past, some communities have opted not to pursue restitution simply because they were unable to safely preserve the objects.
Still, others worry that increased funding could turn the current stream of repatriation requests into a flood. If the bill were to pass, would Canada’s museums end up empty? No, says McAvity. On the contrary, the law would likely result in the creation of more museums—ones run by Indigenous communities who have expertise in their own histories.
“Our treasures are family,” the artist and educator Lou-ann Ika’wega Neel, who has recently been appointed a repatriation specialist at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, tells artnet News. “To know that our family is being stored away in museum cases or in basements or attics in far away lands has always been heartbreaking.” (The Royal Museum, for one, owns several objects that were confiscated from potlach ceremonies in the early 20th century.)
Bill Casey speaking during the Second Reading for Bill C-391, the Aboriginal Cultural Property Repatriation Act. Image courtesy of Bill Casey via Facebook.
In her new role, Neel has developed an intriguing idea. She suggests that Indigenous Nations artists create replicas of cultural objects for Canadian museums as the originals are returned to their respective communities.
“These replicas could remain with museums along with much more information, so they can continue to serve as educational tools for people of all cultures,” Neel says. “[Visitors] will know that we are not a dead or dying culture. We are still here.”
In recent months, the Australian ambassador to Canada, Natasha Smith, has reached out to Casey, the Canadian politician, about the contested Mi’kmaq regalia that inspired his new bill. The Millbrook cultural center is now in active discussions with Australia and the First Nations museum there where it is being currently stored; The goal is to establish a plan to repatriate the robe as soon as possible.
“This is not a country-to-country negotiation, it is a First Nation-to-First Nation negotiation, and they are 15,000 km apart,” says Casey. “When the Ambassador contacted me, she pointed out, ‘How could we ask other countries to repatriate, if we’re not prepared to also do the same?’ I was floored. Already, this has had an impact.”
Kate Brown
Associate Editor, Berlin
Art Industry News: As Edgy Artists Enter the Notre Dame Spire Competition, Conservatives Get Nervous + Other Stories
By artnet News , Apr 19, 2019
As the Restitution Debate Rages on in Europe, Could the Solution Lie in the Art of the High-Tech Copy?
By Kate Brown & Naomi Rea , Dec 19, 2018
Fighting ‘Institutional Intolerance,’ Canada Is Introducing a Biennial for Indigenous Artists in 2020
Greece’s Prime Minister Asks Theresa May to Return the Elgin Marbles—Again
By , Jun 27, 2018
Gagosian Fires Back, Moving to Dismiss Lawsuits by Two Disgruntled Jeff Koons Collectors
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Federal Register weekly update; lowest weekly page total since January
By Caitlin Styrsky
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity.
During the week of March 11 to March 15, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,104 pages, bringing the year-to-date total to 9,692 pages. A total of 596 documents were included in the week’s Federal Register, including 494 notices, three presidential documents, 30 proposed rules, and 69 final rules.
One final rule was deemed significant under E.O. 12866—meaning that it may have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules.
During the same week in 2018, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,292 pages. As of March 15, the 2019 total trailed the 2018 total by 2,152 pages.
The Trump administration has added an average of 881 pages to the Federal Register each week in 2019 as of March 15. In 2018, the Trump administration added an average of 1,301 pages to the Federal Register each week. Over the course of the Obama administration, the Federal Register increased by an average of 1,658 pages per week.
According to government data, the Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.
Click here to find more information about weekly additions to the Federal Register in 2018 and 2017.
Click here to find yearly information about additions to the Federal Register from 1936 to 2016.
Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.
Caitlin Styrsky
Caitlin Styrsky is a staff writer at Ballotpedia and can be reached at caitlin.styrsky@ballotpedia.org
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Early TV ads released in Louisiana governor’s race
By Amee LaTour
The group Rebuild Louisiana began airing a 30-second TV ad Monday praising Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) for “work[ing] with Republicans and Democrats to pass Louisiana’s first teacher pay raise in a decade.” On June 13, the group released a 1-minute ad featuring Edwards speaking in support of a revenue plan that fell six votes short of passing the legislature earlier this month.
Rebuild Louisiana “is registered as a 501(c)4 group with the IRS, meaning it is a nonprofit that can publicize a candidate’s achievements without expressly asking the public to vote for the candidate,” The Advocate reported, saying the group “is allowed to coordinate its activities with the Edwards re-election campaign.”
Louisiana’s top-two primary election takes place October 12, 2019. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, a general election will take place November 16. The filing deadline is August 8. So far, Edwards has two challengers: U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham (R) and businessman Eddie Rispone (R). The three candidates have all released digital campaign ads, and the Republican Governors Association has released digital ads opposing Edwards.
Edwards is the only Democratic governor among the southernmost states, and he is the only Democrat holding statewide office in Louisiana. Both the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and the Republican Governors Association (RGA) have said their parties are in a favorable position to win the gubernatorial election.
DGA spokesman Jared Leopold said, “Gov. Edwards is in a strong position for re-election and is one of the most popular governors in America for a reason: He’s working across party lines to get things done for Louisianans.” The DGA has pointed to Edwards’ role in expanding Medicaid in the state and referred to the state’s economic performance as accomplishments of Edwards’ tenure.
The RGA has called Louisiana a “top pick-up opportunity for Republicans” in 2019. “With the state’s solid red hue combined with President Trump’s 20-point victory in 2016, Gov. Edwards will certainly face a competitive race no matter who Republicans decide to nominate,” said Jon Thompson, RGA spokesperson. The Louisiana Republican Party has criticized Edwards by saying that economic growth has been slow during his tenure while taxes have increased.
https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_and_legislative_party_control_of_state_government
https://ballotpedia.org/Louisiana_gubernatorial_election,_2015
https://ballotpedia.org/Republican_Governors_Association
https://ballotpedia.org/Democratic_Governors_Association
Amee LaTour
Amee LaTour is a staff writer at Ballotpedia and can be reached at amee.latour@ballotpedia.org
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Burial or Cremation
Funeral Directors Role
Mona Vale’s only independent funeral home
Peninsula Funeral Services are a proudly Australian owned and operated business, located in the heart on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. As an experienced team of funeral directors, we have conducted a number of funeral services, and Peninsula Funeral Services are now the only independent locally owned and family operated funeral company in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and around Mona Vale. Being a family, we operate as a family and operate with family values within our practice as funeral directors. For more information about our company, please feel free to get in touch with our team today and we would be more than happy to help you with all the information you need.
Over 50 years of experience in the funeral business.
Since 1960, three generations of the Lee family have upheld a continuous funeral tradition. Chris Lee and his family continue this proud history of professional funeral care like his father before him. We operate a modern and comfortable funeral home of the highest standard and conduct our business in a sensitive, caring and understanding manner. While the names and faces may have changed, there’s one thing that’s remained the same here at Peninsula Funeral Services – the compassion. Caring, compassionate funeral services is what we're always about – whether that was in the beginning 50 odd years ago or today. Please feel free to give us a call today and we can have a chat.
Peninsula Funeral Services
(02) 9999 5211 : Email
© 2019 Webfield Solutions
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Prevention of Modern Slavery
Grundfos is a global company, operating across cultures, traditions, local laws and regulations. Our Code of Conduct is an important global standard that tells us how we do business in an ethical manner – no matter where in the world, we are.
Code of Conduct booklet
We believe that honesty and integrity are universal languages that align with our core values. In early 2017, we launched the updated Code of Conduct, consists of 15 rules and it is available in 21 languages. The Code applies to all employees of Grundfos in all positions and in all countries.
Read the Code of Conduct and learn how we do business.
Code of Conduct governance
Our Code of Conduct is supported by a strong Code of Conduct Governance Framework. Its role is to support and facilitate the overall understanding of our Code of Conduct along with our compliance, which is rolled out by the Group Management to each individual employee.
Grundfos Ethics Committee, an independent body of executive managers appointed by Group Management, is the core element of the framework. Other than constantly monitors our compliance with the Code of Conduct, the Ethics Committee is also responsible for Grundfos whistle-blower function which provide employees, board members and third parties cooperating with Grundfos (such as suppliers, advisers, consultants, business partners, etc.) the means to report non-suspected breaches of the Code of Conduct. It is our commitment to conduct business based on honesty and integrity.
Grundfos whistle-blower system
So just as we stipulate standards of ethical practice for ourselves in a formal Code of Conduct, we have a Supplier Code of Conduct that establishes related requirements for all of our suppliers. Click to read our Supplier Code of Conduct.
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Tag Archives: Up for Grabs
Madonna in London
Posted on May 12, 2016 by medijum0
Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com
The world-famous singer and songwriter that is Madonna needs no introduction, having made quite the name for herself over the years by continuously pushing the boundaries in the mainstream pop music industry. While Madonna may be American, and have strong ties to New York City, London has long since held a special place in her heart, so much so that the artist recently decided to relocate to the city.
The theaters that line London’s West End have become a significant part of British culture, and it was in 2002 that Madonna took her first foray into the world of theater. The play, titled Up for Grabs, was written by Australian playwright David Williamson and is about a female art dealer who is trying to establish herself in the city and in the industry. Madonna performed the lead role in the play, and while her performance may not have been met with much appreciation from the critics, it was an experience that this multi-talented actress does not regret.
Homes in London
Madonna owns six different properties in Central London, with her current permanent residence being located in Marylebone. While many celebrities would automatically opt for the sophisticated district of Mayfair, Madonna recognizes the potential that Marylebone has, which is why she owns three properties here. In addition to her £7 million family townhouse, Madonna has also recently purchased the adjacent property for £6 million, and also owns two cottages nearby. Outside of Marylebone, Madonna also owns a Georgian townhouse near Regent’s Park, a sprawling estate in Wiltshire, and two West End buildings, which are currently being used by the Kaballah religious sect, something that is of a huge personal importance to the star.
Favorite London Spots
Madonna is constantly being spotted all over the streets of London, but there are certain spots that she tends to favor. The Ivy, in London’s West End, has long since been one of her favorite restaurants to dine at, although the artist also regularly frequents Kensington Place, a modern seafood restaurant in the heart of Notting Hill. When it comes to an evening of drinks, Madonna truly enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of a classic British pub, with the Scarsdale Tavern in Kensington being one of her favorites. When it comes to Madonna’s favorite London clubs, the list is extensive, but China White, Rock and Kabaret are among her top five. Of course, Madonna is also renowned for her style, and she appreciates the diversity that comes with British fashion. From Koh Samui in Covent Garden to Voyage on Fulham Road, London has always been one of Madonna’s favorite cities for a shopping trip.
Madonna is considered to be the best-selling female artist of all time, and her music has touched the lives of millions of people all over the world. With all of the investments that the artist has made into the London property market, it would seem as though Madonna is in the city to stay, which is something that London locals are most definitely excited about.
Posted in Life Style Tagged British Pub, Celebrity, China White, Homes in London, Kabaret, Kensington Place, Koh Samui, London, Madonna, Madonna's Favorite London Spots, Mainstream, Mansion, Marylebone, Music, Oro Gold, orogold, OROGOLD cosmetics, Pop Music, Rock, Scarsdale Tavern, Shopping, Singer, Songwriter, The Ivy, Theatre, UK, Up for Grabs, Voyage, West End
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The pill G.o.d who was in charge of inspecting and accepting the divine pill raised his hand, and indicated that Chen Xiang should not continue carrying the pill furnace up, and said: "There's no need to bring the pill furnace up, you can just directly give the divine pill to me."
The divine pills refined during the compet.i.tion were not his own. This point was not objected to by all the partic.i.p.ants. As long as the divine pills were to pa.s.s, he would pa.s.s the first round.
Chen Xiang continued to walk up, and said with a smile: "It's extremely necessary."
The middle-aged man did not say anything and waited for Chen Xiang to bring the pill furnace over.
The road was not far, Chen Xiang quickly walked to the stage and put down the pill furnace.
They were high up, invisible to the G.o.ds below, only visible to those on the buildings at the edge of the field.
Chen Xiang opened the lid of the pill furnace and a ray of red light shone. The light enveloped the entire hole in the furnace, making it impossible to see what kind of G.o.dly pill was inside.
Seeing these clouds of light, many pill G.o.ds' first reactions were that they thought this was the spirit of the divine pill! Generally, only the highest quality divine pills would be able to reach the peak of perfection.
In the past, Chen Xiang had also refined pills of this quality, it was just that they were all below the Holy Pellet level, he had never refined a Divine Pellet before, and very few people had the strength to do so.
"It's not Pill Light, but …." When Luo Tianjun saw it clearly, he was so shocked that he couldn't say a word.
At this time, many people had also seen it. The reason why there was such a strong light was not because of the divine pills, but because there were too many divine pills inside.
The middle-aged man who was in charge of inspecting the pill furnace was stunned. He had seen it clearly the moment he had opened the lid.
He was stunned for a while before recovering from his shock. He took a deep breath and said with a trembling voice, "A total of 347 pills!"
The disciples that were originally spectating at the side of the plaza were all whispering to each other, when they heard the middle-aged man's words, they all immediately quietened down.
The person who produced the most pills was Six Realms Divine Palace's Pill G.o.d, he was the first to complete it. His output surprised many Pill G.o.ds, though it was just a few pills!
But now, Chen Xiang had more than three hundred pills! Many people had not seen it with their own eyes, so they would rather believe in the sun formula than believe that Chen Xiang could refine a few hundred pills in one go. Although it was just a Xiaping Dan, it was still difficult to refine.
The middle-aged man held up the pill furnace and poured out the more than three hundred divine pills, each of which was glowing brightly. These were the two types of pills combined, one was golden and the other was white.
These over three hundred supreme dan beads were piled up in a small pile on the ground. One glance was enough to tell that these were absolutely supreme dan beads! The pill G.o.ds that produced the pills from before, all added together, were not as many as him!
Because these pills were all useless and had so many medicinal ingredients, Chen Xiang was able to refine two or three of them using his refining method. That was why he had so many pills in the end.
"Gongzi, you're also an apothecary. What's going on?" The old man behind the red-clothed man was extremely astonished. His face was filled with disbelief.
The red clothed man frowned as he pondered, shaking his head, "I don't know, I've already refined this kind of divine pill before. Back when I was taking the exam to refine these two kinds of divine pills, the difficulty of refining them wasn't too high. At that time, I could only refine three pills each! "
"Young master, the reason Chen Xiang is so powerful is definitely because of the Heavenly Alchemy, we must definitely get him!" Greed flashed in the old man's eyes.
The red clothed man said indifferently: "It's mine, it will always be mine! If I were to s.n.a.t.c.h the Heavenly Alchemy, I think I wouldn't be able to be like him, because the Heavenly Alchemy doesn't belong to me in the first place. If the Heavenly Alchemy is mine, then I don't even need to s.n.a.t.c.h it. "
The old man couldn't help but sigh, because his Young Master was such a person. "Young master, if you can obtain the Heavenly Alchemy, then the Emperor's seat would most likely be yours. The Emperor had repeatedly hinted that the Emperor's position and everything about him would be pa.s.sed on to the most capable prince! "Young master, although you have decent talent, but the other princes …"
The red clothed man faintly smiled: "I've never thought of fighting for the throne. I just need to watch from the side. If I partic.i.p.ate in this kind of boring and foolish thing, wouldn't I be watched by others?"
The old man was speechless. If one obtained the throne, they could control a Divine Nations and had supreme power. If they received the inheritance, their strength could rise to another level. There were so many princes and princes in the Divine Nations. However, only the red clothed man did not have such thoughts!
The Rankers sent by the Divine Nations were even more eager to get the Heavenly Alchemy. They all thought that as long as they could get the Heavenly Alchemy, they would need to refine a few hundred of the divine pellets just like Chen Xiang had done.
Chen Xiang already knew that the Rankers sent by the Divine Nations were nearby, so he purposely put on a high profile. The reason he did that was to make these people take action against him, and at that time, he would let Yang Tianyi kill them all.
After Chen Xiang had pa.s.sed, there was still one more person who had finished refining the hourgla.s.s when it was just finished. Now, there was a total of five people who could enter the next round!
Originally, there were many disciples who entered the compet.i.tion, but now there were only eight left, showing just how difficult the next round would be. Right now, it was no longer the Pill G.o.d who was competing with the Pill G.o.d, but rather challenging the harsh rules of the compet.i.tion.
Three matches were going to take place in half a day, so time was of the essence!
The Olde Iron c.o.c.k announced the rules of the second round, "There is no need for the second round. "The five people who produce the most pills can enter the final round!"
Hearing this rule, the three pill G.o.ds who produced the least amount of pills felt extremely unwilling, but they did not dare to say anything. They could only walk out of the arena with regret!
Chen Xiang guessed that the rules for the second round had definitely been changed at the last minute, because such a rule was simply too general, but there was nothing that he could do. After all, no one objected, and as a disciple partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion, he naturally didn't dare to say anything.
Just when Chen Xiang was guessing this way, Luo Tianjun sent him a sound transmission: "The rules for the second round were not like this, they suddenly changed! This should be because someone is worried about an uncontrollable situation occurring in this match. "
Olde Iron c.o.c.k continued to speak: "Now, the third round, if you can enter the top three, you will receive a reward! The second and third place had two precious Xiaping Dan recipes! And the one in first place will receive the Zhongpin Dan's pill formula! "
Olde Iron c.o.c.k paused for a moment, then continued: "The third rank's pill formula is the beast spirit pellet, the second rank is the clone spirit pellet, the first rank is the Life Soul Divine Pellet!"
Now that he had announced the rewards for the divine pellet formulas, Chen Xiang felt a lot more at ease. Otherwise, if he were to suddenly receive a ranking, he would temporarily decide to give some garbage divine pellet formulas.
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Chen Xiang noticed that as he complained in his heart. Because this golden sun was still extremely huge, from the looks of it, if he wanted to use up all his energy, he would need to endure countless of attacks from the fireb.a.l.l.s. [Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents]
Under Jiang Tianlu's protection, Chen Xiang was completely safe and sound, causing Jiang Tianlu to nearly explode from anger. It was because he did not expect that he was actually helping Ancient Wasteland Devil Sect's number one enemy.
Even if they could survive, Ancient Wasteland Devil Sect's strength would definitely be greatly reduced, and all of this was because of Chen Xiang.
"Why are you looking at me? Concentrating, the next wave is about to begin! " Chen Xiang saw Jiang Tianlu glaring at him, and anxiously said.
"I wish I could kill you right now. I don't need you to teach me. I'm more experienced at transcending tribulation than you are." Jiang Tianlu's eyes were blazing with anger as he roared.
"Then I'll have to trouble you. I think I'll be able to survive until the end." Chen Xiang laughed, at the moment, he could still laugh, which made Jiang Tianlu even angrier.
A wave of Robbery power surged, and many gigantic golden fireb.a.l.l.s seemingly never stopped, continuously smashing down, as though they were going to break the earth.
One day pa.s.sed, yet it was not over yet. However, that golden sun was a lot smaller. However, the heavenly might it contained was still terrifying.
The thing that Chen Xiang admired the most were the warriors who had endured the Eight Tribulations of Nirvana. If they were to face them fair and square, Chen Xiang would just be an ant to them.
Right now, there were only twenty-five Rankers in the Ancient Wasteland Devil Sect and the rest had already died. Chen Xiang now understood why so many Rankers in the Nirvana Stage did not dare to face Nirvana Doom, because this was simply too terrifying. Chen Xiang had to rely on Jiang Tianlu and the profoundwu diamond armour to survive until now, otherwise, he would have died a long time ago.
Even if he had a Yulong blood, if he did not rely on any external object to withstand this enormous golden fireball, he would instantly disappear from this world.
After another day had pa.s.sed, the golden sun in the sky was only as big as a fist, and all the experts of the Ancient Wasteland were finally relieved. Although they were very sullen, but to be able to survive in this kind of great calamity, it made them very excited. Fortunately, this great calamity was not aimed at them, but at their own strength.
He had previously hidden beside them and praised them as brothers and brothers, praising their might and might. He had praised them to the heavens, but when he saw that the great calamity was about to end, he had changed his face.
However, they all thought that Chen Xiang was dead for sure, and even if they survived, they would not let him escape.
The golden sun that was as big as a fist suddenly trembled. Even though it had become small, its heavenly might was still overwhelming. The multicolored light was so bright that it was actually able to form a huge golden fireball that once again smashed towards the land of tribulation.
"In the end, that group of people that do not care for their lives actually gathered together to undergo the heavenly tribulation. No one has dared to do something like that for the past ten thousand years right? But, they are truly powerful." The spectators in the distance said. For the past two days, they had been attentively watching this world-shaking calamity.
"It's going to end soon. No matter what, this group of people will become famous no matter what. Although there aren't many left."
They were all far away, so they couldn't see what kind of people were below the caved in ground.
The Robbery power released by the golden sun created a huge crater with a width of a thousand miles. If all of this energy was concentrated on one person, perhaps even the deities would have to admit defeat.
Another wave of Robbery power had pa.s.sed, but the spatial seal was still present. There was still a golden light flashing in the sky, and that golden sun was only as big as a bean.
"It's time!" Like a beam of light, Chen Xiang suddenly shot towards the sky at an extremely fast speed. He immediately opened his mouth and activated Devouring magic kungfu, swallowing the golden sun that was only the size of a pea.
The last Robbery power was actually swallowed up by Chen Xiang. Soon enough, they thought of something, that bright sun the size of a bean should be the seed of that golden sun, that heaven destroying golden sun should be the seed's creation. At that moment, it could be said that they had no more energy left, that was a peerless fire seed, a super precious treasure.
"Kid that killed over a thousand blades, daring to even eat the Fire Seed condensed from the might of the heavens." Jiang Tianlu scolded.
"Leader, that's a good item. It should be a Fire Soul that is condensed from crystals." An elder said. At this moment, they could feel the Spatial Force around them dissipating. They all let out sighs of relief. They had survived, but there were only twenty-five of them.
After consuming the Fire Seed, Chen Xiang only felt that his dantian was extremely hot. He was currently channeling Fire G.o.d method, trying to refine the Heaven Fire Seed, so that he could fuse it with his Heaven fire soul, one must know that this Fire Seed was nurtured by a fire tribulation that only grew out of 2000 people, it was birthed from Heaven power. It was so precious that Chen Xiang suspected that it would be able to release the Heaven Flame in the future.
"Give me Chen Xiang's life!" Although he was already very tired, he had more than enough to kill Chen Xiang, not to mention the fact that they had more than twenty people.
Chen Xiang was extremely calm, just as he took out the Luotian Gate, a gold light suddenly scattered down from the sky, enveloping Jiang Tianlu and the rest.
"This is …" What's going on with them ascending? " Chen Xiang was extremely shocked as he watched the Ancient Desolation Realm Rankers soar into the sky.
The experts in the distance wanted to go over, but seeing this scene, they were all as shocked as stone statues. This was the first time they saw such a scene, where the sun had risen in the sky, allowing them to fly to the Heaven Realm and the Devil Realm to the Heavenly Demon Realm. This caused the experts who were watching to yearn for it, and although they had lived for a long time, this was the first time they had seen such a scene.
Although Chen Xiang could not understand why they had suddenly ascended, he felt that it had to do with the great calamity that had happened earlier. He immediately waved his hands at the experts that had ascended into the air and smiled: "Don't thank me.
"Haha …" Don't look at me like that, you are about to ascend to the Heavenly Demon Realm, what a great honor, what a great glory, you have successfully pa.s.sed through the ninth tribulation, you should be happy, right … … "No need to thank me. This is all your own effort. I just wish you two a helping hand."
They then joined hands and risked their lives to survive the great calamity. Now, they did not know why they had ascended again, but their enemy had not died, and he was still laughing at them. Furthermore, their Ancient Wasteland Devil Sect had many things that he had not arranged well, and had lost many experts.
Although flying was a good thing, they were feeling happy, angry and worried at the same time. Their emotions were complicated, especially when they saw Chen Xiang waving and laughing at them, with his mouth spouting a bunch of bulls.h.i.t to provoke them, they were so angry that they almost wanted to smack Chen Xiang into a meat patty, but they were sucked into the air by the strange energy and were unable to move.
Chen Xiang could sense that there were many strong warriors in the distance. Without saying a word, he took out the Luotian Gate, opened a spatial door, and teleported to a safe place.
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The Obstructionists Lost
By Joe Conason • 02/17/09 5:17pm
With President Obama’s signature affixed to the economic stimulus bill, his landmark victory can be put in proper political context. Regardless of that bill’s manifest imperfections and the messy legislative process, the new administration achieved a difficult objective on the tightest possible schedule. His Republican opponents congratulate themselves for remaining unified in defeat and whine about the president’s refusal to capitulate to them—but in fact it is they who have failed in the initial episode of a confrontation that will certainly continue for the coming four years.
It is impossible to understand what happened in Washington and the nation over the past few weeks without recognizing that the stimulus is historic in size and scope.
It is impossible to understand what happened in Washington and the nation over the past few weeks without recognizing that the stimulus is historic in size and scope. Even if the spending plans ought to have been even larger, as many economists advocated, this $787 billion package represents an enormous departure from the conservative ideology (if not the actual fiscal practice) that has ruled American politics over the past three decades.
Overcoming the strong institutional bias against deficit spending on this scale is an accomplishment, even in the current climate of fear. The false notion that government should never spend more than it collects in revenue still exerts a powerful influence on the minds of voters—and was reinforced by misinformed media commentary throughout the debate over the stimulus.
Entering the Oval Office, Mr. Obama had set a daunting and somewhat contradictory set of priorities for himself. He had promised to remake the American economy even as he tried to revive it, with green jobs, better health care and improved schools. Economic conditions grew increasingly dire as he and his newly assembled team tried to create a plan to reverse the deflating spiral of dread and despair.
At the same time, he had also vowed to break the partisan deadlock in Washington by reaching out to the Republican opposition with respect and friendship. Many members of his own party doubted the wisdom of that course, knowing that the embittered minority was unlikely to respond in kind—and of course they didn’t. But had the president rolled over the Republicans from the beginning, he would rightly have been blamed for violating the trust he had earned during the campaign among independents and at least some Republicans.
In his effort to honor that pledge of bipartisanship, he surrendered too much too early in negotiations over the stimulus. But in the end, he won—and if he must return to Capitol Hill for more spending, as he almost surely will, then he need not make the same mistake again.
Nearly every poll now says that Mr. Obama’s popularity and approval ratings remain at extraordinary levels. Just as important, he has displayed the capacity to persuade the public that his policies deserve support, as he did when he finally began to campaign on behalf of the stimulus last week. The latest Gallup survey shows that support for the stimulus rose markedly among Democrats and stabilized among both independents and Republicans as soon as he started speaking out forcefully.
Not only did the president win the debate over his bill, but he also rebutted the Republican argument over tax cuts versus spending, according to Gallup’s Feb. 9 poll. By 50 percent to 42 percent, most Americans believe that government spending will do more to spur economic growth than tax cuts—a stunning repudiation of conservative ideology. Although Republicans tend to prefer tax cuts by wide margins, Democrats remain convinced that spending works better and, ominously for the right, so do independents by a margin of 50 percent to 36 percent.
The Republicans slapped themselves on the back for denying the president a single vote in the House of Representatives, but the basic fact is that they could not come close to sustaining a filibuster against this bill. Underlying that reality is the emptiness of their fiscal rhetoric and the paucity of their ideas. Out in big states such as Florida, California and Connecticut, their own G.O.P. governors have spoken out in favor of the stimulus because the party has no program beyond tax cuts for the wealthy.
So the approval ratings of the Republican Party and the Congressional minority declined during this struggle, while the ratings of the Democrats and the Congressional leadership improved, despite their uneven performance. Those numbers should bolster the determination of the president and his party to push ahead—and to push back when they meet obstruction, as they inevitably will.
jconason@observer.com
Filed Under: Home, Politics, Barack Obama, Barack Obama, Joe Conason, stimulus bill
SEE ALSO: In the battle for third in Union, Merkt and Levine seek to lower expectations
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The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
3.7 233 5 1
by Victor Hugo, Catherine Liu, Elizabeth McCrackenVictor Hugo
The story and characters in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame have resonated with succeeding generations since its publication in 1831. It has tempted filmmakers, and most recently animators, who have exploited its dramatic content to good effect but have inevitably lost some of the grays that make the original text so compelling.
From Victor Hugo's flamboyant imagination came Quasimodo, the grotesque bell ringer; La Esmeralda, the sensuous gypsy dancer; and the haunted archdeacon Claude Frollo. Hugo set his epic tale in the Paris of 1482 under Louis XI and meticulously re-created the
day-to-day life of its highest and lowest inhabitants. Written at a time of perennial political upheaval in France, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is the product of an emerging democratic sensibility and prefigures the teeming masterpiece Les Misérables, which Hugo would write thirty years later.
He made the cathedral the centerpiece of the novel and called it Notre-Dame de Paris. (It received its popular English title at the time of its second translation in 1833.) Hugo wrote that his inspiration came from a carving of the word "fatality" in Greek that he had found in the cathedral. The inscription had been eradicated by the time the book was published, and Hugo feared that Notre-Dame's Gothic splendor might soon be lost to the contemporary fad for tearing down old buildings. Notre-Dame has survived as one of the great monuments of Paris, and Hugo's novel is a fitting celebration of it, a popular classic that is proving to be just as enduring.
The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foun-dation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hard-bound editions of important works of liter-ature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torchbearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inau-gurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
Jacket paintings: (front) detail from Notre Dame by Paul Lecomte, courtesy of David David Gallery/SuperStock; (spine) Victor Hugo, 1833, by Louis Boulanger of Giraudon/Art Resource, N.Y.
Modern Library Classics
Catherine Liu is an associate professor in the cultural studies and comparative literature department at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Copying Machines: Taking Notes for the Automaton and a novel, Oriental Girls Desire Romance.
Elizabeth McCracken is the author of Niagara Falls All Over Again and The Giant’s House. She lives in Massachusetts.
Pension Cordier, Paris, 1815-18
The Great Hall of the Palace of Justice Three hundred and forty-eight years, six months, and nineteen days ago, the good people of Paris awoke to the sound of all the bells pealing in the three districts of the Cité, the Université, and the Ville. The sixth of January, 1482, was, however, a day that history does not remember. There was nothing worthy of note in the event that set in motion early in the morning both the bells and the citizens of Paris. It was neither an assault of the Picards nor one of the Burgundians, nor a procession bearing the shrine of some saint, nor a student revolt in the vineyard of Laas, nor an entry of “our most feared Lord, Monsieur the King,” nor even a lovely hanging of thieves of either sex before the Palace of Justice of Paris. It was also not the arrival of some bedecked and befeathered ambassador, which was a frequent sight in the fifteenth century. It was barely two days since the last cavalcade of this kind had been seen, as the Flemish ambassadors commissioned to conclude a marriage between the Dauphin and Margaret of Flanders had entered Paris, to the great annoyance of the Cardinal de Bourbon, who, in order to please the King, had been obliged to receive the entire rustic crew of Flemish burgomasters with a gracious smile, and to entertain them at his Hôtel de Bourbon with “very elaborate morality plays, mummery, and farce,” while pouring rain drenched the magnificent tapestry at his door.
On the sixth of January, what moved the entire population of Paris was the double solemnity, as Jehan de Troyes describes it, united from time immemorial, of the Epiphany and the Festival of Fools. On that day there were to be fireworks on the Place de Grève, a may tree planted at the chapel of Braque, and a play performed at the Palace of Justice. Proclamation had been made to this effect on the preceding day, to the sound of trumpets in the public squares, by the Provost’s officers in fair coats of purple camlet, with large white crosses on the breast.
That morning, therefore, all the houses and shops remained shut, and crowds of citizens of both sexes could be seen wending their way toward one of the three places mentioned above. Each person had made a choice, for fireworks, may tree, or play. It must be observed, however, to the credit of the taste of Parisian riffraff, that the greater part of the crowd was proceeding toward the fireworks, which were quite appropriate to the season, or the play, which was to be represented in the great hall of the palace, which was well covered and protected, and that the curious agreed to let the poor leafless may tree shiver all alone beneath a January sky in the cemetery of the chapel of Braque.
All the avenues leading to the Palace of Justice were particularly crowded, because it was known that the Flemish ambassadors, who had arrived two days before, planned to attend the performance of the play, and the election of the Pope of Fools, which was also to take place in the great hall.
On that day, it was no easy matter to get into this great hall, though it was then reputed to be the largest covered space in the world. (It is true that Sauval had not yet measured the great hall of the Château of Montargis.) To the spectators at the windows, the palace yard crowded with people looked like a sea, into which five or six streets, like the mouths of so many rivers, disgorged their living streams. The waves of this sea, incessantly swelled by new arrivals, broke against the corners of the houses, projecting here and there like promontories into the irregular basin on the square. In the center of the lofty Gothic facade of the palace, the crowds moved relentlessly up and down the grand staircase in a double current interrupted by the central landing, and they poured incessantly into the square like a cascade into a lake. The cries, the laughter, and the trampling of thousands of feet produced a great din and clamor. From time to time this clamor and noise were redoubled; the current that propelled the crowd toward the grand staircase turned back, grew agitated, and whirled around. Sometimes it was a push made by an archer, or the horse of one of the Provost’s sergeants kicking and plunging to restore order—an admirable tradition, which the Provosty bequeathed to the constablery, the constablery to the maréchaussée, and the maréchaussée to the present gendarmerie of Paris.
At doors, windows, garret windows, on the rooftops of the houses, swarmed thousands of calm and honest bourgeois faces gazing at the palace and at the crowd, and desiring nothing more; for most of the good people of Paris are quite content with the sight of the spectators; a blank wall, behind which something or other is going forward, is to us an object of great curiosity.
If we could, mortals living in this year of 1830, imagine ourselves mixed up with those fifteenth-century Parisians, and if we could enter with them, shoved, elbowed, hustled, that immense hall of the palace so tightly packed, on the sixth of January, 1482, the sight would not be lacking in interest or in charm; and all that we should see around us would be so ancient as to appear absolutely new. If the reader pleases, we will endeavor to retrace in imagination the impressions that one would have experienced with us on crossing the threshold of the great hall, in the midst of this motley crowd, coated, gowned, or clothed in the paraphernalia of office.
In the first place, how one’s ears are stunned by the noise! How one’s eyes are dazzled! Overhead is a double roof of pointed arches, with carved wainscoting, painted sky blue, and studded with golden fleurs-de-lis; underfoot, a pavement of alternate squares of black and white marble. A few paces from us stands an enormous pillar, then another, and another; in all, seven pillars, intersecting the hall longitudinally, and supporting the thrust of the double-vaulted roof. Around the first four pillars are shops, glittering with glass and jewelery; and around the other three, oak benches worn and polished by the hosiery of the plaintiffs and the gowns of the attorneys. Along the lofty walls, between the doors, between the windows, between the pillars, is ranged the interminable series of all the kings of France ever since Pharamond: the indolent kings with pendant arms and downcast eyes; the valiant and warlike kings with heads and hands boldly raised toward heaven. The tall, pointed ogival windows are glazed with panes of a thousand hues; for exits there are rich doors, finely carved. The whole thing—ceiling, pillars, walls, wainscot, doors, statues—is covered from top to bottom with beautiful blue and gold paint, which was already somewhat faded at the time we are looking at it. It was almost entirely buried in dust and cobwebs in the year of grace 1549, when du Breul still admired it by tradition.
Now imagine that immense oblong hall, illuminated by the pale light of a January day, invaded by a motley and noisy crowd, pouring in along the walls and circling the pillars, and you will have a faint idea of the general whole of the picture, the curious details of which we shall endeavor to sketch in more precisely.
It is certain that if Ravaillac had not assassinated Henry IV there would have been no documents of his trial deposited in the Rolls Office of the Palace of Justice, and no accomplices interested in the destruction of those documents; consequently no obligatory fire, for lack of better means, to burn the Rolls Office in order to burn the documents, and to burn the Palace of Justice in order to burn the Rolls Office; therefore, there would have been no fire in 1618. The old palace would still be standing with its old great hall; and I might then say to the reader, “Go, look at it,” and thus we should both be spared trouble, myself the trouble of writing, and the reader that of perusing, a banal description. This demonstrates the novel truth—that great events have incalculable consequences.
It is, indeed, possible that Ravaillac had no accomplices and that even if he did, these accomplices had no hand in the fire of 1618. There are two other plausible explanations: first, the great “star of fire, a foot broad, and a foot and a half high,” which fell, as everybody knows, from the sky onto the Palace on the seventh of March, after midnight; second, this stanza of Théophile.
Certes, ce fut un triste jeu,
Quand à Paris dame Justice,
Pour avoir mangé trop d’épice,
Se mit tout le palais en feu.
Whatever one may think of this threefold explanation, political, physical, and lyrical, of the burning of the Palace of Justice in 1618, the fact of which we may unfortunately be certain is that there was a fire. Owing to this catastrophe, and, above all, to the successive restorations that have swept away what it spared, very little is now left of this elder Palace of the Louvre, already so ancient in the time of Philip the Fair that one had to search there for the traces of the magnificent buildings erected by King Robert and described by Hegaldus. Almost everything has vanished. What has become of the Chancery Chamber, where Saint Louis consummated his marriage? The garden where, reclining on carpets with Joinville, he administered justice, dressed in a camlet coat, an overcoat of sleeveless woolsey and, over all of this, a mantle of black serge? Where is the chamber of the Emperor Sigismond? That of Charles IV? Or that of Jean sans Terre? Where is the flight of steps from which Charles VI announced his edict of amnesty? The slab upon which Marcel murdered, in the presence of the Dauphin, Robert de Clermont and the Maréchal de Champagne? And the wicket where the Anti-Pope Benedict’s bulls were torn into pieces, and from which those who had brought them were seized, coped, and mitered in derision, and carried in procession through all Paris? And the great hall, with its gilding, its azure, its pointed arches, its statues, its pillars, its immense vaulted ceiling, broken up by and covered with carvings? And the gilded chamber? And the stone lion at the gate, kneeling, with head lowered and tail between his legs, like the lions of King Solomon’s throne, in the reverential attitude that befits strength in the presence of justice? And the beautiful doors? And the stained glass windows? And the wrought iron that discouraged Biscornette? And du Hancy’s delicate woodwork? What has time, what have men, wrought with these wonders? What has been given to us, in exchange for all this—for the history of the Gauls, for all this Gothic art? For the heavy, low arches of Monsieur de Brosse, for the clumsy architecture of the main entrance of Saint-Gervais? So much for art! And as for history, we have the voluble memory of great pillar, which still reverberates with the gossip of the Patrus.
What a beautiful thing Notre-Dame is!” —Gustave Flaubert
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Heinle Reading Library 3.7 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 233 reviews.
terpsichorean More than 1 year ago
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is an exquisite novel written by Victor Hugo during the Romantic era. The original title of the book was "Notre-Dame de Paris", as it was written as a statement to preserve the Notre-Dame cathedral. This book was finished on January 14th, 1831, just as Victor Hugo was running out of ink. Because of this, he was greatly tempted to title the novel, "What There Is in a Bottle of Ink". At the time Hugo was writing, respect for the cathedral's Gothic architecture had been lost. Notre-Dame was collapsing precipitately, as the damage it had suffered during the French revolution was continuously ignored. Throughout the novel, Hugo strives to represent the cathedral of Notre-Dame as the cultural and political symbol of Paris, and accordingly, France. Upon the publishing of the novel, Parisians progressively came to see Notre-Dame as a national monument of France. Shortly after, a restoration program of the cathedral began. Hugo claims the inspiration towards writing this novel came after discovering a carved word on a wall inside the cathedral of Notre-Dame: "anake," or fate (in Greek). Consequently, this is a story of destiny and fate. The characters within the novel do not believe in free will, but in fate, a subduing destiny that eradicates the very prospect of escaping such guidance. The pitiful Pierre Gringoire believes that it was providence that led him to la Esmeralda; in turn, archdeacon Claude Frollo deems that he is fated to love her. The characters' intense belief that fate overcomes free will is epitomized during a captivating scene in which Frollo watches as a fly is ensnared in a spider web. Indisputably, Hugo's illustrious characters become entwined vividly in fate as they compliment an unaltered destiny themselves; passionate albeit melodramatic, they each transpire as unchanging victims of fate. These characters are intricate and profound. As the novel unfolds, it depicts the tragic romance between the crude Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers and an abused gipsy named la Esmeralda. Also enveloped within this story of love are the lustful archdeacon Frollo, the homeless and broke poet Pierre Gringoire, and the lonely hunchback, Quasimodo the bell ringer. Quasimodo, for example, is contrasting and elaborate; although he embodies innocence and naiveté, he is loathed by the citizens of Paris because of his deformation. And despite the fact that Notre-Dame's church bells are his greatest passion, he is also deaf. Much like Quasimodo, the abandoned cathedral was not cared for, and was considered to be a heinous architecture. In this sense, Quasimodo is an amalgamation that mirrors the cathedral's own architectural deformities. The antagonist, archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, is not a black-hearted person. As an orphan, he was like a father to his brother, Jehen, and even brought up the abandoned Quasimodo. Once an epitome of virtue, he becomes tormented by his corrupt love for a gipsy, and dehumanized as jealousy consumes him. Therefore, I am compelled to say that within a bottle of ink there resides a delicate story of love and tragedy that sincerely demonstrates the genuine power a pen may possess in order to revive a cathedral that embodies such splendor and passion.
"It is so wordy/rambling!" Yes. In Hugo's time, authors were paid by the word. Besides, Hugo is infamous for being long-winded and for managing to use his ramblings to create atmospheres that are second to none. This novel is Hugo at his wordy best, the somber and melancholy mood is greater than any other I can think of. "There are too many French words!" Aside from street names and titles, which are indeed merely proper nouns, this complaint holds no merit and I can assure you that a reader who knows not even one syllable of French will not find the language to be a barrier to enjoying this beautiful novel. "So many Catholic refrences and I'm not Catholic!" This one always cracks me up. Notre Dame. Notre Dame! Consider it a lesson in Catholicism if necessary, but my being a non-Catholic never kept me from finding the religious refrences to be anything but informative about the structure of a faith that I otherwise know very littly about. Relax and don't be scared off by these silly complaints. The novel is beloved for a very good reason and if you give it a good try, your literary experiences will be immesurably enriched for having read this. Enjoy!
dancer13092 More than 1 year ago
I fisrt wanted to read this book because I like comparing movies to books. I wanted to see how close the 1996 Disney movie was (there are similarities but there are also alot of differences). This book did take me a long time to read, but it was mostly the first part. As boring as i found the first part, it is nessiary; it sets up the story and the characters. Once I started the secound part, it really picked up. I found myself wanting to read it more and more. Don't give up because you find the beginning boring, it will get better.
GraceC More than 1 year ago
This is truely one of the best well writen books I have read. The first few chapters are pretty boring and hard to get through, but I promise the story will pick up and that you should just stick to it. Beside the amazing story the novle has a great deal of historical details of everyday life and of the architecture of Paris during the time. I felt very acomplished and releved when I finished this book. Because it is long, but worth reading!
MrsLee on LibraryThing More than 1 year ago
I became very tired of the architecture and culture of 14th century Paris before I finished this book. It was good reading when Hugo got down to the business of the story. I was so disappointed in the heroine, Esmeralda, that I didn't mind the ending so much. All in all, a pretty depressing cast of characters. Apparently, Hugo didn't think much of mankind. He did however, make the entire 15th century come alive. Something I think was unusual in the early 1800's when this was written. It made me glad to be alive now and not then.
SweetbriarPoet on LibraryThing More than 1 year ago
Victor Hugo has always wowed me with his ability to arrange language, with his broad cast of characters (who never resemble each other, but who still are believable and have endless amounts of humanity), and with his seemingly effortless flow from plot to subplot to unsuspected and terrific endings. Hunchback is one of those novels that reminds an author why they love to write: the outcome can be phenomenal.
Well... I haven't really read the story. But I have watched the movie. I want to buy it. But as always it's up to my mom.P.S... the movie is on NETFLIX!
May be my new favorite book. Love the back story on Frollo.
α
This particular translation of the story is excellent. I first read this book when I was still in grade school. I loved it then & I loved it now. My daughter & I had the good fortune to spend 2 weeks in Paris not long ago. We made a bee-line to the Cathedral & savored exploring every nook & cranny both inside & out. We made the climb to the bell tower & we felt the spirit of Quasimodo all around us. (I made my daughter read the story when she was in high school). Victor Hugo is such a romantic. He does have a tendency to "go on" a bit, but I think it's important because he is so immersed in the story & characters so deeply. This should be required reading in all high schools. Victor Hugo is at the top of my list for favorite writers!
lost-in-lit More than 1 year ago
I thought this work was very good in some aspects- the characters for example and the setting, as well as plot. But I found the descriptions of the city itself hard to understand (on a first reading level). The langauge I liked as well as how loveable Quaisomodo is and how dispicable Claudo can be at times. Pheobus I personally thought was an okay guy with his flaws and all. I felt that Esmerelda was the character was the most relateable from a female perspective- her naivete, beauty, history- I all found interesting and great to read as well as her story. In terms of length I would say the pages are well worth the read. Claudo is a great villian and his hipocrsy is alarming and the impact of his emotions on the whole city is enormous. I'd recommend this for anyone who likes medival settings, a lustful archdeacon, a naive young lady and an outcast who come together for their own goals in life and their journeys both physically and spiritually. I'd have to say after reading this and comparing it to the Disney Movie- the movie wasn't that far away from the actual truth but understandable why they edited out things.
Long, to be sure, but good. I was so saddened by the ending, but I guess I should have expected it. I read it when I was 12 so I didn't get much out of it. I was surprised and shocked sometimes
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Lost Illusions, by Honore de Balzac, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, ...
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James Redfield: The Celestine Prophecy Tour – San Rafael, CA 5/19/19
JAMES REDFIELD PRESENTS
The Celestine Prophecy
Inspiration Tour 2019
3:00PM - 5:30PM PST
Unity Universalist Marin
240 Channing Way, San Rafael, CA 94903
Find your Peace…
Amplify your Synchronistic Flow…
Download your Intuitive Intelligence…
Breakthrough to Your Greatest Creativity…
REGISTER TO ATTEND LIVE ~ $40
“It is a NEW TIME… Two new generations are helping to build a rising Consciousness… It is time to Gather together, feel the Energy… Shift the World. If you have a dream project, join with us!” – James Redfield
JOIN ME as we travel on “The Celestine Prophecy — “Inspiration” Tour across the US in 2019.
Something beautiful is HAPPENING… In a effort to help a world gripped by hate and corruption on all sides, a growing wave of Consciousness is sweeping the Planet — Generations are again passing the Celestine Prophecy to others, and feeling the urge to unleash their creative gifts and projects.
Are you a BOOMER or Xer… with finally enough time to energize your Dreams. Are you a MILLENNIAL sensing forty rushing toward you, ready to actualize your true work and abundance. Are you a member of the newest generation seeking your “RIGHT PREPARATION” to live an INSPIRED life
Together, this Energy to Create is heralding in a NEW TIME in the world. It has never been easier to Break through what is holding you back. You can build your Energy — And Establish your Inspiration, Peace, and Inner Guidance that is every soul’s birthright of Creativity.
What You Will Discover...
I) HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR “INSPIRATION ENERGY AND "SYNCHRONISTIC FLOW."
In this New Time of heightening Consciousness, the key experience is building our “INSPIRATION ENERGY and SYNCHRONISTIC FLOW.” This is the inner feeling that opens us up to who we really are and what we want to do in the world. As this consciousness builds in us, our lives come into focus.
We realize our souls want a more rapid and creative life…You’ll see that you can BREAKTHROUGH to this kind of existence... regardless of your age. You will learn how to interpret these Synchronistic Moments and the special keys for keeping the flow and creative high going.
2) HOW TO PRACTICE A LASTING WAY OF “FINDING YOUR PEACE.”
Sometimes the pace and noise out there on our paths distracts us, and we repeatedly fall back into dealing with old patterns. Research shows that each of us is usually trying to cope with one of three issues that hold us back — Anxiety about the future; Anger and Irritation toward others; and Emotional Hurts we think have been caused by others.
All these issues are resolved by going deeper into the experience of “HEART-OPENING PEACE and AGAPE LOVE. Don’t think this is “wishful thinking.” It is a proven technique for Breaking Through breaking through old habits to unleash your freedom of creativity. You will be introduced to a short meditation that can be practiced for a 10-20 minutes in silence, or during a walk in a safe place. This exercise, practiced for a few months will open up a place of inner security and presence within you that will allow you to "let go" of your habitual emotional concerns and become the center of your own unfolding LIFE MOVIE.
3) HOW TO TRANSCEND “POWER STRUGGLES" AND “CONTROL DRAMAS.”
Everyone finds themselves in difficulties with other people, sometime with the very ones they love the most... You should know that in this time of increased consciousness, there are very effective ways to react differently -so you can quickly deflate such conflicts and facilitate a more authentic conversation instead — in this way all involved can feel heard and accepted…setting the stage for not just resolving problems but for finding “Synchronistic" helping “truths" that heightened everyone's Inspiration and self-clarity.
4) HOW TO DISCOVER AND DEVELOP YOUR CREATIVE TRUTH AND LIFE MISSION.
We all know inside that we have come to the planet to help humanity evolve in some way. As consciousness rises, we know with evermore certainty that our dreams CAN come true.
The questions is how to clarify our missions. During this event you will be shown a “life review” process beginning with one question: During your life, what was all the Synchronicity in your life preparing you to tell the world about how to live with greater Freedom and Consciousness. What is this precise truth that you think others should know? The answer is always life changing.
5) HOW TO AMPLIFY YOUR “PRAYER/ INTENTION POWER.
Of all that you learn in this Event, none is more important than developing your own ability to influence your future in a positive way. You will learn the simple keys to amplifying this ability, chiefly staying in karmic Alignment, Projecting gratitude, and being flexible with outcomes. These are proven techniques that protect you and build your success. Life doesn’t have to be so HARD.
REGISTER TO ATTEND LIVE
240 Channing Way, San Rafael, CA 94903, USA
James Redfield was 43 when he published The Celestine Prophecy. He has been keenly interested in human spirituality all of his life. Born on March 19, 1950, he grew up in a rural area near Birmingham, Alabama. From an early age, he was motivated by a need for clarity about spiritual matters. Brought up in a Methodist Church that was loving and community-oriented, he was nevertheless frustrated by a lack of answers to his questions about the true nature of spiritual experience.
As a young man, he studied Eastern philosophies, including Taoism and Zen, while majoring in sociology at Auburn University.
He later received a Master’s degree in counseling and spent more than 15 years as a therapist to abused adolescents. During this time, he was drawn into the human potential movement and turned to it for theories about intuitions and psychic phenomena that would help his troubled clients. All along, Redfield was forming ideas that would eventually find their way into The Celestine Prophecy. In 1989, he quit his job as a therapist to write full-time, synthesizing his interest in interactive psychology, Eastern and Western philosophies, science, futurism, ecology, and history.
Using an adventure parable approach that has been called “part Indiana Jones, part Scott Peck,” The Celestine Prophecy created a model for spiritual perception and actualization that resonated with millions of people and focused on the mysterious coincidences that occur in each of our lives. Disdaining the spotlight himself, Redfield proclaimed in The Celestine Prophecy that each of us must intuit his own spiritual destiny.
As he writes in The Celestine Vision, his non-fiction title published in 1997, “The actual writing of The Celestine Prophecy occurred from January 1989 through April 1991 and was characterized by a sort of trial-and-error process. Quite amazingly, as I remembered earlier experiences and wrote about them, lacing them into an adventure tale, striking coincidences would occur to emphasize the particular points I wanted to make. Books would show up mysteriously, or I would have timely encounters with the exact sort of individuals I was attempting to describe. Sometimes strangers would open up to me for no apparent reason and tell me about their spiritual experiences.”
After the self-published book was brought to the attention of Warner Books through a perceptive sales rep, Warner Books bought the rights and published the hard cover edition in March 1994. The book quickly climbed to the #1 position on the New York Times bestsellers list. It remained on that list for more than three years, joined by The Tenth Insight, which built upon the Nine Insights revealed in the first novel. The two books spent a combined 74 weeks on the New York Times list, making James Redfield the best-selling hard cover author in the world in 1996, as cited in BP Report (January 1997).
In October 1997, James Redfield was awarded the highly prestigious Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Senate at the XXIII Pio Manzu International Conference in Rimini, Italy. Pio Manzu is a nongovernmental arm of the United Nations headed up by Mikhail Gorbachev.
In the spring of 2000, James joined Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat For Humanity, as the only two recipients of Humanitarian of the Year honors from their alma mater, Auburn University. Two months later, he was honored by the International New Thought Alliance with another Humanitarian of the Year award.
The Celestine series of adventure parables continued in 1999 with the publication of The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight (Warner Books). Set in modern day Tibet, Redfield continued the inspiring journey of The Celestine Prophecy and The Tenth Insight—carrying readers to a new adventure in a sacred place where truths that can affect all of humanity await. In 2002, James joined author Michael Murphy and filmmaker Sylvia Timbers in a collaborative work entitled God and the Evolving Universe (J.P. Tarcher).
In March 2004, James Redfield was honored by the Wisdom Media Group with the World View Award for engaging the discussion on the nature of human existence and for his ongoing efforts and contributions to the bettering of humanity.
The fourth and final book in the Celestine series, The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision, was published by Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner books) in February, 2011.
James lives with his wife, Salle, and dog Toby in Florida and Alabama.
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Live Music :: Dina Hollingsworth
Ivywild School (map)
Principal's Office presents ---- > Dina Hollingsworth
Dina Hollingsworth earned her degree in flute performance from the University of New Mexico and was among only four others selected to attend the Trevor Wye Flute Studio in England for her graduate studies. Dina taught privately and performed in a wide variety of jazz and classical groups in Houston, where she first met Mike Sunjka. In 2000, she moved to Colorado Springs, and served as the adjunct professor of flute at CSU-Pueblo and still teaches flute, sax, clarinet, and piano in addition to performing with several classical groups and at various jazz venues.
PHYS-ED
Come run with us!
Negroni Week
Wed, Jul 24, 2019 7:00 PM 19:00 Tue, Jul 30, 2019 10:00 PM 22:00
Iywild School (map)
Drink for a Cause
Live Music :: Tejon Street Corner Thieves
Principal's Office presents ---- > Tejon Street Corner Thieves
he Tejon Street Corner Thieves hail from the Colorado Rockies. The outlaw blues and trash-grass pioneers forged their original brand of whiskey roots from the ground up. Honing their craft on the streets, they swiftly gained recognition from the music community with the 2015 Gazette “Best of the Springs” award, 2017 Pikes Peak Art Council “Best In Show”, and 2018 Colorado Springs Independent “Best Original Band”.
As a nationally touring act, the band has become notorious for their shenanigans and over the top live performance. TSCT’s consistent show schedule and heart filled showmanship has captured the hearts of show goers everywhere. These guys are wild.
Live Music :: Strouds Run Band
Principal's Office presents ---- > Strouds Run Band
A folk rock band based out of Colorado Springs and Denver.
Andrew Kramer - Vocals and Guitar
John Moyer - Vocals and Guitar
Louis Salamone - Drums
Live Music :: Spirettes
Principal's Office presents ---- > Spirettes
Originally named after the band’s lead guitarist “Katey Sleeveless,” the power trio Spirettes Kate Perdoni [guitar/vocals], Kellie Palmblad [bass/vocals], and Emily Gould [drums/vocals] formed in Colorado Springs in spring 2017. The ethereal guitar-driven rock, supported by pop structures and sprinkled with myriad ghostly female vocals, launched a unique sound, style, and collaboration which quickly garnered interest and local notoriety.
Perdoni and Palmblad joined forces in 2015 through a mutual friend, embarking on musical collaborations in several pre-established projects. The two found immediate synergy, blending their musical tastes, writing styles, and aesthetics with reverb-heavy, atmospheric, layered soundscapes and vocals.
Perdoni’s work in a previous project, Eros and the Eschaton (Bar/None Records), was richly accentuated by Palmblad’s vocal composition style from former experimental bands including Eyes Caught Fire. Perdoni and Palmblad, seeking to solidify their team, brought on drummer and vocalist Emily Gould. Armed with Gould’s keen sophistication and versatility -- informed by 18 years of playing in a variety of projects -- the group’s sound elevated to a hard-hitting power trio. Their combined creativity and emotive writing quickly cemented a foundation for the band’s forceful, raw, and lush expression of the female experience.
The band produced a lo-fi recording of their original set in April 2017, dubbed “The Horse Barn Recordings” for its setting in a reconstructed horse barn built in the early 1900’s. From this stark, haunted initial sound, the band landed a spot in Denver’s Underground Music Showcase, then began booking
throughout Colorado. Playing art houses, DIY space, and rock clubs, the project gained ground, then received the support of engineer Andrew Jones, who recorded their self-titled EP in August 2017.
Live Music :: Brandon Henderson
Principal's Office presents ---- > Brandon Henderson
“I want music to haunt me. I find that is my favorite stuff and that is what I try to write. Something with resonance. Catchy tunes are great but for every one of those I want there to be those that take you somewhere.”
Brandon Henderson, a singer/songwriter based in Denver, has been writing and performing along the Front Range for 12 years. All the while developing his craft and leaving lasting impressions on the hearts and minds of his listeners.
Brandon began to establish himself on the college circuit back in 2003, playing campuses around the country, and has since enjoyed a cult following of fans who, over the years, have invited him into their lives and stories.
Beyond the fans, and the large and small performances over the years, Brandon has remained committed to one thing, his songwriting. “It’s just drawing with sound. Creating images in my head and then relating them with music,” says Brandon. “You have to find the beautiful things in places that people tend to overlook, or are just so used to that they stop paying attention,” he continues. This passion for his song writing has led Brandon to create over 100 original songs, most of which have spanned his four releases since 2002. His most recent album, Embers, is his most complete work to date. From intimate acoustic tracks to soaring anthems, it offers a spectrum of sounds that take you on a journey, drawing pictures and telling of places along the way. If you like music that lifts you up and follows you on your own journey, then consider Brandon Henderson, one of Colorado’s best young talents.
Live Music :: Ryan Flores
Principal's Office presents ---- > Ryan Flores
It was a time of freedom, Rock ‘n’ Roll, polyester shirts, tight pants, steel bumpers, payphones, arcades, primitive computers, cassette tapes, boomboxes, VHS, space probes, mullets, mousse, warm hearts, hot rods and cold war. It was an age of innocence and as the ink was still drying on the marriage license, a couple of mixed heritage on the California coast saw their first born. A spirited lad full of passion and an irrepressible independence, Ryan Flores became what is known today as a “problem child” whose “ADD” required “special needs.” After a disreputable pedagogic career Ryan finally found something to temper his listless ennui: a tattered nylon string guitar. After a summer of taking out his aggression on the defenseless instrument he began torturing his college roommate with maudlin love songs set perfectly against the backdrop of his inscrutable teenage angst and lack of experience. Myriad instruments, songs, colleges, roommates and experiences later, Ryan discovered that music was his primary form of sustenance— the only thing that kept meat on his bones, as it were. It took some time (and hundreds of hours in wasted college credits) but Mr. Flores finally realized that he could not attain any measure of success or fulfillment unless he devoted his life to torturing a broader audience with said music. And thus, here began the creative calling of this rambunctious individual.
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Tag Archives: conventions
Poe Vs. Lovecraft Panel at FanExpo Toronto 2015
This t-shirt design from TeeCraze rather captures the spirit of the Thing, don’t you think?
Sean Moreland will be joining influential Canadian writers/editors/anthologists Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles on a panel at this year’s FanExpo Canada to talk about the relative scary-merits of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft (the panel may also be joined by a special guest, known for his screen embodiment of both writers’ fictions.) It’ll be a feast of insidious intent, hideous argument, and debatable putridities as we discuss the legacy and influence of these two titans of terror, considering who is finally more frightening, and why….
The panel is scheduled to take place on Saturday September 5 at 545. I’ll post any changes or details here. If you are at this year’s expo, we hope to see you there!
Tagged conventions, edgar allan poe, events, h. p. lovecraft
Necro(nomiCon)scopy
I spent last weekend down in the lovely Providence, RI, for the 2015 edition of NecronomiCon, a festival that celebrates the legacy and achievement of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as the broader field of the weird in literature, art, and popular culture.
I first learned of Lovecraft when I was probably about 10, by reading this Lovecraft homage aimed at young adults.
Having been an avid reader of Lovecraft since the age of 11, I first went to the Con in 2013 in a purely recreational capacity, enjoyed it immensely, and found that it renewed my interest in researching and writing critically on Lovecraft and his legacy (the forthcoming collections I’m editing, The Lovecraftian Poe and The Call of Cosmic Panic, not to mention my return to Lovecraft via the interest he and Poe shared in materialist/atomist philosophy, all came about in part because of the impetus NecronomiCon 2013 provided.)
I first read Lovecraft in this 1974 edition, a dog-eared copy of which lurked in the local public library.
This year, I attended as part of the Armitage Symposium, a series of academic panels and talks co-organized by Niels Hobbs and Dennis Quinn. I participated specifically in a panel on the importance of ancient Rome and Roman writers for Lovecraft, drawing on a book-length study I’m slowly working on (tentatively titled Repulsive Influences) that charts the vestiges and influence of 1st century BCE Roman poet Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura in/on Poe and Lovecraft. and through them, contemporary cosmic horror.
NecronomiCon 2015 was both fun and thought-provoking; it is, in many ways, a unique and wonderful convention, and this year’s was more ambitious and multi-faceted than its 2013 iteration had been. It was also much more unsettling.
ABOUT THE ‘CON
If you don’t know anything about the Con, it straddles the boundaries between pop-culture fandom and academic conference. It features gaming, cosplay, a bizarre bazaar offering everything from Cthulhu plushies to rare and first-edition books to contemporary weird and horror fiction titles (by indie and major publishers) and films, to on-site film screenings, podcasts, live theatrical performances, and….well, you get the idea.
It is, on the one hand, an unprecedented celebration of a single writer’s massive popular-cultural legacy (even Lovecraft’s beloved “God of Fiction” Poe, or his contemporary popular descendent Stephen King, doesn’t have anything comparable). On the other, it also strives to be a locus of weird/horror fiction more broadly, showcasing the work of many subsequent creators who work in Lovecraft’s shadow, or with the materials he helped shape into their modern forms.
These contradictions are part of what make the convention so singular, and so engaging. They are also, of course, what make it so profoundly problematic. Consider my phrasing, above, about contemporary creators of the weird working “in Lovecraft’s shadow,” and you may already get a sense of part of the problem, as Nnedi Okorafor famously did when she won the World Fantasy Award a few years back.
LOVECRAFT AND RACISM
Knowing I was at the Con, a friend shared a link to this Atlantic Monthly article about Lovecraft’s popular resurgence, and its relation to his more troubling social, and especially racial, views. The article’s aptness was highlighted for me by a number of things that happened at the Con.
On the one hand, there was a lot more open, critical dialogue about this aspect of Lovecraft’s writing and legacy than at the previous NecronomiCon, including a well-selected and attended panel on Lovecraft and racism. I didn’t make it to that one in person, but have watched it since – you can view it here.
Lovecraft’s xenophobic and racial views are hard to overlook (I would say impossible, if so many of his readers, imitators, and commentators had not tried, with varying degrees of success, to overlook them for so many decades), and this makes his celebrated status as a literary and pop-cult icon especially problematic.
These views are hardly incidental to Lovecraft’s writing, fiction or otherwise. In terms of his fictions, his anxious racial attitudes pervasively inflect his tales, becoming most overt in stories written during his time in New York city, including the spasmodic, gibbering tirades against urban ethnic hybridity which are “He” and “The Horror at Red Hook.” But they hardly disappear from the later fiction; like the invective that peppers his letters, they just become more understated once he returns to the relative ethnic and linguistic homogeneity of Providence.
In terms of his critical writings, Lovecraft even tended to assimilate weird fiction to his own racial typography, associating different strains of it with different aspects of his racial imaginary. In one example, from the first chapter of Supernatural Horror in Literature, he claimed that:
“In the Orient, the weird tale tended to assume a gorgeous colouring and sprightliness which almost transmuted it into sheer phantasy. In the West, where the mystical Teuton had come down from his black Boreal forests and the Celt remembered strange sacrifices in Druidic groves, it assumed a terribly intensity and convincing seriousness of atmosphere which doubled the force of its half-hinted horror.”
Virtually every aspect of Lovecraft’s thought and writing is in some way coloured by his ideas about race and the relationship between genetics and culture, from his affectionate writings about cats to his readings of philosophical and historical works. As my ancient Rome co-panelists Dennis Quinn and Byron Nakamura both aptly stated during the panel on Lovecraft and ancient Rome, even Lovecraft’s identification with Roman writers is inflected by a tendency to align his contemporary white-Anglo-Saxon-Atheistical-Protestantism with both 18th century England and Republican Rome (an identification that echoes that made by Edward Gibbon and other 18th century British writers.)
Are these racial views ostensibly the reason most contemporary readers/writers are fascinated with Lovecraft’s stories? Of course not. One of the participants on the panel, Mexican-born Canadian author, editor and publisher Silvia Moreno-Garcia, in her own reflections on the 2015 Con, writes:
“I’ve been asked (over and over again) why I’m interested in Lovecraft since he is so problematic. Nick Mamatas pretty much nails the answer in his essay “Why Write Lovecraftian Fiction?” which concludes:
“We read Lovecraft’s work and write Lovecraftian fiction, but we don’t side with his sallow protagonists and their nervous fits-we see ourselves in the glory of the Outsider Things.”
That’s my reaction, too.
Lovecraft was almost pathologically racist, brimming with biological anxieties which found their way into his stories. Even when he’s not afraid of other races, I would say he is afraid of genetic inferiors, constantly consumed with thoughts about degeneration, about lineages and disease.”
(You can read my earlier PstD interview with Moreno-Garcia here.)
Also among the panelists was Canadian novelist and journalist David Nickle, who notes:
“there are other things going on in Lovecraft too: there’s the bestiary/pantheon of fantastically alien gods and monsters; that overheated prose that veers so easily between the sublime and the leaden; his fearful, bookish characters. But those are characteristics, aesthetics; not fundamentals. They are not the agenda.”
(You can read my earlier PstD interview with Nickle here.)
Both are surely right that the vast majority of Lovecraft’s readers, myself included, are drawn to Lovecraft’s fiction by things other than his racist views. But critically, Lovecraft’s racism is, in certain respects, finally inseparable from his aesthetics, and Lovecraft scholarship has only recently began to examine the degree to which they are imbricated, and what the effects of this imbrication are.
Of course, the same is true for the history of Western aesthetics in general. Consider, for example, Plato’s foundational remarks on the beauty of whiteness (so aptly parodied by another dead-white-great American weird fictionist, Melville, in Moby-Dick). Or consider Edmund Burke’s comments on, and supposedly empirical evidence for, the natural repulsion “we” feel when faced with black skin, in his Enquiry into the Origins of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful, a text which informed much of Lovecraft’s thought (like that of over a century of Gothic writers preceding him), and seems to have particularly inspired the opening sentence of Supernatural Horror: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
In Lovecraft’s case, these imbrications are particularly vivid, and therefore can be especially illuminating. Weird fiction titan China Mieville and scholar Jeffrey Weinstock are among those who have recently, and persuasively, argued that the intensity of Lovecraft’s racialized anxieties contribute to the potency of his fictions. Some of Moreno-Garcia’s and Nickle’s comments, as well as their fictions, suggest that they think similarly.
In his Aug 25, 2014 blog post, “Don’t Mention the War,” Nickle observed:
“In a perverse way, Lovecraft’s retrograde views on race may be his most socially relevant contribution to 20th century weird literature… not as an advocate of his views, not by any means, but as an example of where we’ve been and what too many of us still share, an opportunity to critique those views through the lens of cosmic horror and alien gods.”
Nickle explores Lovecraft’s racial imaginary, alongside that of his North American historical context, effectively in his novel Eutopia, as well as in many of his critical commentaries. Moreno-Garcia does so not only through her own fiction and her editorial and curatorial work, but also through her academic graduate work on Lovecraft and the American eugenics movement of his day.
These are tremendously valuable forays into an unpleasant, unsettling, but very necessary frontier; Lovecraft’s racism (and that of his contemporaries, and that of our contemporaries, and, ultimately, that we ourselves may experience and/or unwittingly propagate) needs to be not only openly acknowledged and discussed but studied, and re-examined not only through academic, but also through creative, lenses.
Doing so is not only necessary for developing our understanding of Lovecraft’s work, and its relationship to the history of racism in the 20th century. More importantly, it is vital for developing our understanding of the pervasive and persistent tendency to view alterity as a source of anxiety, and a site of exclusion and abjection. Lovecraft’s fiction is particularly apt in this respect, because it offers such a vivid and stark imagining of this tendency.
As Robin Wood pointed out in his classic essay “The American Nightmare” over 30 years ago, and as many theorists and writers have noted since, alterity forms much of the conceptual basis, and visceral appeal, of much, if not all, horror and weird fiction (hell, of human literature and culture tout court!). This is one of the things that led to Stephen King’s pithy remark in Danse Macabre that horror writers are as Republican as “a banker in a three-piece suit.”
THE PRICE DEBACLE
That brings me to the titanic “other hand -” the less positive way in which this NecronomiCon was a more unsettling experience.
Even though he wasn’t wearing a three-piece suit at the time, Robert M. Price rather embodied King’s stereotype during the Con. This is not only true of his controversial remarks during the opening ceremonies (here is a link to the video recording of them, Price’s speech beginning about 50 minutes in, with his “real life ‘Horror at Red Hook’ quip kicking up near the hour mark.) It was also evident during the short fiction reading he gave on Saturday, a Holocaust-exploitation story titled “It Came from the Ovens.” In a nutshell, the story re-invents Lovecraft’s character, Herbert West, Reanimator, by having him working alongside Josef Mengele’s Nazi doctors in a concentration camp, focusing in pulpy, sensational detail on the torture of Jewish prisoners, from whom he learns the secrets of the Kabbalah. After describing the sofas he assembled from the excised faces of prisoners and similar atrocities, the story goes on to portray West’s creation of a Golem which, in typical revenge-film fashion, then smashes up a bunch of Nazi guards before destroying the animating sigil on its forehead, returning itself to ashes.
Price likely had satirical intentions with the story. In a recent blog post aimed at critics of circumcision, he wrote:
“This is a terrible time for Jews. Vocal and virulent anti-Semitism is on the rise in once-civilized Europe. But of course it was cultured, enlightened Europeans who sent Jews to the gas chambers, wasn’t it? And it was effete, ever-optimistic, naïve Europeans who allowed the annihilation of Jews because they could not believe “Mister Hitler” could actually be such a medieval barbarian as he proved to be. Today things are no different. Bubble-headed Presidents and Secretaries of State assure us that Iran is just kidding when they repeatedly announce their intent to wipe out Israel in a repeat of the Holocaust they disingenuously claim never happened. What happened to “Never again!”? More like “Ever again!”
Price’s politics and his fiction feature some pretty crassly co-ordinated fear-mongering. His reading felt to me like a piece of tasteless and opportunistic provocation, especially when taken in light of his remarks at the opening ceremony, that contemporary North America is facing a real-life “Horror at Red Hook.”
As Niels Hobbs commented during the panel on Lovecraft and Racism, perhaps Price has performed a sort of service by throwing into such high relief what a continuing concern Lovecraft’s worst ideological aspects remain for contemporary readers. Certainly, it shook me out of my complacent tendency to treat many of Lovecraft’s racial and ideological views as essentially historical and textual concerns, and served to remind me that they continue to have a potentially toxic cultural and polemical afterlife of their own.
THE WEIRD – LOVECRAFT = ?
What does all of this mean, however, for the present, and future, of those literary registers in which Lovecraft worked? The deleterious consequences of the popular (con)fusion of Lovecraft with the broad spectrum of the weird is one that has been pointed out many times, and that many writers, editors and commentators have tried to clarify, notably including Ann and Jeff VanderMeer with their seminal anthology, The Weird. Their introduction to that collection makes the point succinctly:
“The Lovecraft Circle is represented in the early pages of this volume, but not to the exclusion of all else. Why? Because in other places a similar impulse was arising. At roughly the same time Lovecraft penned tales like “The Dunwich Horror” and “The Call of Cthulhu,” Jean Ray, in a Belgian prison, wrote stunning and sophisticated stories like “The Shadowy Street” and “The Mainz Psalter,” Japanese poet Hagiwara Sakutoro composed the hallucinogenic strangeness that is “The Town of Cats,” and Polish writer Bruno Schulz mythologized his childhood in weird stories like “Sanatorium at the Sign of the Hourglass.
These non-Anglo versions of The Weird were not aberrations. In the 1910s, Ryunosuke Akutagawa published the Japanese contes cruel “The Hell Screen” and Franz Kafka, still to remain relatively unknown for decades, wrote the classic of weird ritual “In the Penal Colony,” while in India Rabindrath Tagore wrote his most supernatural tale, “The Hungry Stones” and in Italy Luigi Ugolini penned “The Vegetable Man,” a tale of weird transformation.”
Certainly, I think the organizers of NecronomiCon are making efforts to make the event more balanced and inclusive, and I suspect Price’s antics may be part of a reaction against that.
These efforts, however, need to go a lot further. In his recent reflections on NecronomiCon 2015, Nickle wrote:
“But you know something about all those talks? With a few exceptions, they were all conversations among white, privileged people in the U.S. and Northern Europe, about the extreme racism and xenophobia of a dead white writer. They were conversations that may not have consciously excluded the people of colour who Lovecraft so consistently libelled, but nonetheless didn’t really manage include them.”
Moreno-Garcia also emphasizes this situation, and has offered a few Con-specific suggestions for improving it; you can read her blog post here.
TWEIRD KEWTSCH?
On a less serious note, I’d like to ponder what all of this recognition of politicization means for not only Lovecraft’s monsters, but also the profusion of “innocent” Lovecraftian kewtsch they’ve inspired.
Nested in Chloe Buckley’s recent review of Datlow’s collection, Lovecraft’s Monsters are some striking meditations on the cola-dark sea of Lovecraftian paraphernalia on which we are adrift:
“To Lovecraft literature scholars, the very idea of a cuddly Cthulhu might suggest the pernicious effects of late consumer capitalism on what was once a truly subversive modernist literature. S. T. Joshi, for example, decries the decline of Weird fiction, stating that ‘the amount of meritorious weird fiction being written today is in exactly inverse proportion to its quantity’ (2001, 1). Alternatively, to die-hard Lovecraft fans, the appearance of Cthulhu in children’s cartoons is an example of the inevitable “gushing up” to the mainstream of subcultural production. However, this polemic of radical art vs. conservative commodity, or, differently configured, transgressive subcultural form versus mainstream pop cultural work has always been to some extent resisted by the Weird tale and the Weird monster. Lovecraft’s work is neither properly modernist, nor properly post-modern; it is originally a pulp fiction that has accrued a (sub)cultural status, equated by some critics with outsider art; it is also deeply embedded in the highly commodified ‘geek culture’ that continues to become more and more mainstream.”
Innocuous octopi…or something far more sinister?
My thoughts about “tweird” HPL bric-a-brac went down a different track after David Nickle struck me with one of his characteristically incisive comments during a brief in-transit conversation at the Con. He suggested that sporting a Lovecraftian icon (say, a Miskatonic University t-shirt, or a plush shoggoth doll, or a Cthulhu-fish decal) could be perceived as a little like hanging a confederate flag above one’s mantelpiece.
Is it possible that, in the years to come, people are going to look back on the current Lovecraft craze, and its volcanic eruption of kewtsch, with the kind of fascinated horror with which most of us regard wooden cigar store Indians or those classic Disney cartoons from the 1930s, with the Bat Bandit, Chinky the Cook, and similar characters?
Is my six-year-old-daughter going to drag the pink-and-blue hand-knit Cthulhu we gave her in 2013 out of her closet in fifteen years, and groan, “DAMN, DAD, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING WITH ALL THIS LOVECRAFT CRAP?”
Somewhat more seriously, given the degree to which the monsters of our cultural imaginaries through the course of history are inflected by our own social and psychological anxieties and epistemological limitations, what might these mean for alterity-inflected monsters whose racialized context is a little less obvious?
Grendel, as all-too-humanly imagined for the cover of John Gardner’s 1971 novel.
In any case, while I don’t think there is anything to be gained by denying Lovecraft’s importance, influence, or continuing power to fascinate (or in trying to quell the generative memetic quality his creatures have for cutesy caricature) the continued tendency to treat Lovecraft as a metonym, a personalized fetish, for the broad, dimly-lit, transnational, and even transhuman, field of the weird is disastrously misleading.
To awkwardly paraphrase Poe, “if in many of our productions weirdness has been the thesis, we maintain that weirdness is not of Lovecraft, but of the soul.”
Sean Moreland
Tagged conventions, editorials, necronomicon
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publicandprivatespace
Private Classrooms
Filed under: Uncategorized — publicandprivatespace @ 9:01 am
by Elizabeth Freyman
In the United States, single-gender classrooms are rare in public schools. Yet, research suggests that one of the best ways to improve the education system is to separate students by gender. The benefits include improved test scores and psychological well-being.
Both male and female students improve their scores on standardized tests when educated in a single-sex environment. This claim has been incredibly difficult to support because of the difference in backgrounds of students in private schools and public schools. Researchers have tried several methods of comparison in an attempt to eliminate as many variables as possible. Some of the more common are examining improvement between sophomore and senior year, comparing students in single-gender private schools to those in co-ed private schools, and observing students moved from co-ed classes to single-gender classes.
One study that examined the difference between students in Catholic single-gender schools versus Catholic co-ed schools found that students in single-gender school outperformed their counterparts in every academic area in both their sophomore and senior years. The same study also showed that students in single-gender schools also held less stereotypical views of gender roles by senior year.
Janice L. Streitmatter observed students going from co-ed classrooms to girls-only classrooms and from girls-only classrooms to co-ed classrooms in her book “For Girls Only: Making a Case for Single-Sex Schooling.” Streitmatter found that girls in single-gender environments were more comfortable, likely to participate, and successful in future co-ed classes. The girls she interviewed had positive things to say about their experiences in single-gender classrooms and felt more confident in their academic abilities.
Although it has been difficult for researchers to eliminate variables, it seems that private schools have had excellent results with single-gender education and public schools are beginning to experiment with separating students by gender. Single-gender classrooms appear to be an excellent starting point to improve the educational system in The United States.
What were the results for females of co-ed classrooms transitioning to single-gender classrooms in Janice L. Streitmatter’s study? Were there any students who disliked the change and lack of diversity? Creating single gender classrooms could take away some of the distraction in classrooms from students. Eliminating the opposite gender from classrooms could also hinder younger children from learning to compromise and work together with diversity. It is an easy fix to create classrooms separated by gender so why haven’t schools adopted this approach?
-Jennifer Burwell
Comment by publicandprivatespace — March 7, 2011 @ 1:19 pm | Reply
Kyle Gooding
I could definitely see the benefits of having single gender classes or schools. Without people of the opposite sex around I could see children’s abilities to focus going way up. Along with this comes the thought that guys wouldn’t need to impress the ladies, or vice versa, so people would just get along better in general. At the same time though, being around the opposite gender at a young age could be crucial to our development since the real world is not segregated by sex. Having only one gender around for most of someone’s childhood could cripple their skills with the other gender. I could see how this path would boost academic performance through the roof but at the same time it could take away some of a child’s crucial people skills that he/she will need later in life.
Katherine Martin
I have heard the argument you are making many times. I think it is an interesting argument that should be further researched and debated. However, I do have some concerns. When you said that students enrolled in a same sex school are more likely to succeed and participate it makes me wonder if this is lost after schooling in the real world. I think that minimal exposure of one sex to the other could make situations in the real world, such as in the workplace, uncomfortable for those individuals because they are not used to working and cooperating with members of the opposite sex. The truth is that outside of gender discriminating classrooms the only place we are separated by our sex is in the bathroom. I also do not think that this would work in the public school system. If separating kids by gender for schooling really is the best way to go, then it would only be fair to lower income families that public schooling is taught the same way. This would mean building new buildings in an already economically struggling school system. Not to mention the obstacle of then keeping the gender separated schools equal in quality. Overall I think that separating all schools by gender would be a failure and a step back in equality for all people.
Comment by publicandprivatespace — March 9, 2011 @ 10:45 am | Reply
– Ben Fortkamp
One question I have immediately after reading this article is, “Is the whole school a gender specific school, or just the classrooms?” I think that this idea of separating genders has its pros and cons. Obviously the pros are going to be the higher test scores and psychological well-being. But I would be concerned with how the boys and girls are going to learn to work with and simply be around the opposite sex and also what will be done with transgender students? Growing up in a school where boys and girls were mixed in classrooms, I believe that I learned half of what I know about the opposite sex through these classrooms. Classrooms teach students how to react with other students no matter what the sex, but at the same especially dealing with the opposite sex. So to take that away from students is an “iffy” thought. Also where are the transgender students going to be placed? I do not even know how to begin wondering how this situation would be done fairly or to what standards. While there are pros to gender specific classrooms, a person cannot overlook the cons either.
Rebecca Freeman
You’re blog brings up a good question: Whether or not single gender schools are more successful for a person or co-ed schools. I could see benefits and negative points for each. For a single gender school, I feel like there might be less distractions because students wouldn’t be flirting with the opposite sex or trying to impress. Some girls may feel intimidated by men in the classroom, and the opposite is the same. I feel like for most people, they can relate to and are more comfortable around their same sex. The negative aspect to this would be that since the students would be having no interaction with the opposite sex, they are being deprived from what the real world is like, a mixture of genders. It’s important to be able to communicate between the opposite sex, as well as your own. I think it all goes back to the individual person. Some may feel more comfortable in a single sex environment, and another work better in a co-ed environment. You’re results were interesting to learn that single sex classrooms seem to be more productive. They may be more productive in the classroom, but when they get to a job in the real world, it’s not always going to be same sex.
Cara Meder
I personally went from a co-ed Catholic grade school to a single sex Catholic high school so I can understand the benefits of both. It is true that I found myself a lot more distracted in grade school due to the fact that there were boys in the classroom with me and I was more focused on unimportant things like looks. In high school virtually no one worried about how they looked because who was there to impress? I don’t know that I believe that going to a co-ed school affects grades that dramatically though because those who are willing to put effort into their work will do so regardless to who they are surrounded by. Keeping a child in a single sex school environment for all of grade school and high school could also have its flaws mostly being the lack of diversity which is important for a person’s development.
Comment by publicandprivatespace — March 11, 2011 @ 12:05 am | Reply
Michael J Harrington
All I know is that when I was on swim team I swam a HECK of a lot faster during co-ed practices than when we switched to segregated.
But really, what kid can’t distract themselves in school? I frimly believe that if I went to a single gender school I would have slacked off just as well as I did in my co-ed one. I mean I had plenty of friends that were female, and sure, with flirting and stuff thrown in the mix I definately had less concentration on my school work, but it’s not like were in the stone age here…HELLOOOO…CELL PHONES!! It was always easier for me to text sexy women than speak to them in class because:
1-Not every girl in the world went to my school
2-Teachers aren’t completely deaf
3-Comon…textings fun!
And really…girls were thinking about how they looked in grade school? No offense but I wasn’t even looking until middle school, at the earliest. In elementary school I was busy eating glue and picking my nose, both of which would have made me very much unattractive to the other sex.
But my most important point is thus, if I had gone to a single sex school I would have done terrible grade-wise-mainly because I would have killed myself (too much testosterone in a small area…bad bad idea). And dead kids don’t earn As (or if they do I don’t think that they count on any future transcripts).
Please America…don’t segregate schools…
Comment by publicandprivatespace — March 11, 2011 @ 3:18 pm | Reply
I think that there are benefits of both co-ed and single gender schooling. I think that attending single gender schools can help academically in that I feel like the opposite gender can sometimes be a distraction. In high school many girls and boys are distracted with each other. Relationships in the classroom can cause students to focus on things other than school. I also think that with other genders, people focus more on unimportant things like appearance. I feel like if i went to an all girl school I would wear sweats and I wouldn’t spend as much time getting ready in the morning. I also think that people would feel more comfortable around people of the same sex.
I also think that there are benefits of a co-ed schools in that it provides a diverse environment. People will be able to interact with others of the opposite gender which will prepare them for the future. In the work field people are not divided into different genders and co-ed schools will reinforce this idea.
– Chamilka Gunasekera
This is a really interesting topic and it is one of those things that I really don’t think I’ve formed an opinion on yet. As far as grades go, I don’t believe that the single-gender schools will always out perform the multi-gender schools. However, I’m also smart enough to realize that I have this bias because I went to a multi-gender private school and I did just fine. I really liked the point made that said that the single-sex schools often times had lower rates of stereotypical gender roles, something that I have never considered.I think it’s probably different for each person. For myself, I think I would’ve struggled in a single-sex environment and enjoyed the “conversations” I had with my female peers. But then again, I never experienced both sides so who knows. Anyways I think it is definitely a topic of interest and should be studied further
P.S. These all boys and girls schools are not completely isolated for four years… they still see each other outside of classes.
-Will Paton
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Dont Worry, Be Happy
Killer Facebook
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Tag Archives: Japan
Chinese Characters as Ancient “Emoji”
Posted on October 21, 2015 by kojiito2@illinois.edu
Studying a foreign language is not an easy task. This is especially the case when you try to learn a language of the country or region whose culture has little in common with your own. For foreign learners of Japanese, for example, a massive number of originally Chinese characters are one of the biggest challenges in developing Japanese language skills. But don’t be discouraged! Emoji (pictographs), which many of us in the modern world may find familiar, help us get a sense of what Chinese characters are and how they function.
In this age of high digital technology, many of us have seen and used various kinds of emoticons and emoji in textual communications in digital social spaces such as Facebook, Twitter, Line, etc. as a way to communicate with friends and loved ones. In daily text communications, few of us would consciously distinguish emoticons from emoji, and many seem to use the two terms in an interchangeable way. But are emoticons and emoji really the same?
According to a newspaper article in the Guardian, emoticons and emoji do not necessarily share identical attributes. Emoticons, an abbreviation of “emotion icons,” are “typographic display[s] of a facial representation, used to convey emotion in a text-only medium,” according to the article, Interestingly, emoticons are not a new invention in this digital age, and many types of emoticons have been invented throughout human history. The origins of digital emoticons reportedly lie in the “smiley faces” that computer scientist Scott Fahlman used in 1982 as markers to distinguish either jokes or serious statements online: :-), :-(.
Meanwhile, emoji were an invention of NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese communications firm, in the late 1990s. The term emoji is composed of two Japanese words, e and moji, which literally translates as “picture letter.” As the term clearly shows, emoji are pictorial representations of concepts and objects.
Original pictographs created by NTT DoCoMo in the late 1990s
In addition, unlike emoticons, which exist in an environment where only basic text is available, emoji actually use digitized images. Thus, emoji are treated as non-Western letters and it is possible that some may not be shown or presented properly in a different form; this all depends on the settings and capabilities of your computer, cell phone, or tablet.
These emoji are currently available to Mac OS X users
The distinctive nature of emoji – pictorial representations of objects and concepts – helps us approach some Chinese characters that were created in a pictographic way based on objects’ shapes. The oldest Chinese characters were invented in China around 3,500 years ago, and it is said that by around 1000 BC some 3,000 kinds of Chinese characters had been created and used regularly. The primary purpose for using these Chinese characters was to record activities of fortune telling on turtles’ shells and cows’ bones. Significantly, some basic Chinese characters that were adapted into the Japanese language were created in a pictographic way just as in the case of emoji. For instance, 日(hi), which in Japanese means “sun,” is a pictorial representation of a shining sun; 木 (ki), which means “tree,” is a pictograph of the same; 山 (yama), which means “mountain,” represents a series of mountaintops; 人 (hito), which means “person,” originates in the shape of a human being as seen from the side; 鳥 (tori), which means “bird,” is a pictorial representation of a bird as seen from the side; and 月 (tsuki), which means “moon,” is a pictograph of a crescent (see the figure below). In other words, many fundamental Chinese characters are the emoji that ancient Chinese people invented and used. These concepts were then borrowed by the nearby Japanese, who adapted them to their own language, despite the many differences between the Japanese and Chinese languages in their spoken forms and written grammar.
Image: Nihon Bunka Kenkyūkai
Again, the large number of Chinese characters necessary in the process of studying Japanese might make you feel overwhelmed and even intimidated unless you are familiar with the written language system of Chinese. But looking at how some basic Chinese characters were originally invented and developed teaches us that those Chinese characters were often not created arbitrarily. Rather, they clearly show the ways in which ancient Chinese people created their own “emoji” for the purpose of keeping important records. The act of tracing the origins of Chinese characters and seeing them through the lens of emoji might help us understand what Chinese and Japanese characters are and consequently make them more accessible to foreign learners studying either of these two important world languages.
For more on this topic, check out the following articles as well as print titles from the University of Illinois Library and its affiliates:
“Don’t know the difference between emoji and emoticons? Let me explain,” The Guardian, February 6, 2015.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/06/difference-between-emoji-and-emoticons-explained
Satomi Sugiyama, “Kawaii meiru and Maroyaka neko: Mobile emoji for relationship maintenance and aesthetic expressions among Japanese teens,” First Monday 20, no. 10 (2015).
“Emoji,” Japan Reference, November 15, 2011.
http://www.jref.com/articles/emoji.36/
Edoardo Fazzioli, Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters (New York: Abbeville Press, 1987). (Located in the Undergrad Library)
Michael Rowley, Kanji Pict-o-graphix: Over 1,000 Japanese Kanji and Kana Mnemonics (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1992).
Hiromi Nagashima, The Kanji (Chinese Characters) as an Image-based (Pictographic and Ideographic) System of Communication (Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 2000).
Posted in Culture, Language | Tagged China, Chinese, Emoji, Emoticon, Japan, Japanese | Leave a reply
“Black Flag Boricuas: Anarchism, Antiauthoritarianism, and the Left in Puerto Rico, 1897 – 1921”
Posted on May 15, 2015 by Alonso Avila
“The black flag of anarchism . . . expresses one’s solidarity with those most abused by the state, by capital, and by religion. . . . ‘Boricua’ . . . [is] more about a collective identity of resistance – in short, a distinct form of antiauthoritarianism rooted in the island people’s collective nationality against colonialism” (Shaffer, 15 &17). “Black Flag Boricuas”
When people think of anarchism, the most common generalizations consist of youth destroying private property, disregard for authority, and a world burning in chaos. Yet, in spite of these misunderstandings, the general public forgets that anarchism stemmed from the struggles of marginalized communities throughout the world. In “Black Flag Boricuas: Anarchism, Antiauthoritarianism, and the Left in Puerto Rico, 1897 – 1921,” by Kirwin R. Shaffer, the author explores the role of anarchism in the Caribbean and its interrelationship with other Puerto Ricans and other activist groups in Cuba, Florida, and New York. This book also serves to unite readers under a black flag that evokes the humanity of people affected by authoritarian forms of government.
Spanish colonialism, U.S. invasion, poor living conditions and low wages are some of the ingredients that led to the dissemination of radical consciousness and change in Puerto Rico. Anarchist thought was facilitated by the arrival of Spanish migrant workers to the island in the late 19th century. Their message resonated with the tobacco industries of Caguas, Bayamon, and San Juan, Puerto Rico which had “most of the leading anarchist writers and activists” (Shaffer, 3). Places like Havana, Tampa, and New York were also known tobacco cities; destinations that provided Puerto Rican migrants with more opportunities for income and for networking and mobilizing with fellow comrades. In order to build solidarity with and learn from transnational anarchists, anarchists in the island began to publish newspapers and write articles for American and Cuban periodicals “which helped to internationalize the movement wherever they went and to discuss international topics” (Shaffer, 5). These are just a few of the examples of dissidence that represent Puerto Ricans’ struggle for autonomy from foreign and domestic exploitation and social injustice.
“Black Flag Boricuas” provides a breadth of information and is a good introduction to the history of anarchism in the late 19th and early 20th century Puerto Rico.
If you are interested in learning more about anarchism around the world, you can check out “Zen Anarchism: The Egalitarian Dharma of Uchiyama Gudo” from the International and Area Studies Library. It is a collection of translated essays by a Zen Buddhist priest and anarcho-socialist activist that provide an interesting insight into Buddhist history in Japan.
Also, the main library has a book titled “Anarchism & The Mexican Working Class, 1860 – 1931” which looks at the impact of anarchism on the Mexican working class. Moreover, the main library has a collection of English periodicals, “Anarchy,” that focus on issues of unemployment, racism, gender discrimination, poverty, militarization, and other related issues within Europe and beyond. For something less broad, you might also be interested in learning about anarcho-feminism from “Anarcho-Feminism: From Siren and Black Rose, Two Statements.”
Finally, another recommended book which you can check out through I-Share is “Eyes to the South: French Anarchists and Algeria,” about Algerian and French anarchists during the Algerian revolution. Furthermore, check out one of our oldest bibliographies on this subject “Bibliographie de l’anarchie” by Max Nettalu.
Happy Reading & Power to the Reader.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Africa, Algeria, Anarchism, community building, England, Feminism, France, International and Area Studies Library, Japan, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, library resources, Mexico, Middle East, Puerto Rico, Zen Buddhism | Leave a reply
The Doujin Culture and the Pheromone of User Generated Content
Posted on May 13, 2013 by B.WU
Doujin (sometimes spelled dojin), is a phrase of Japanese invention, referring to groups of people with a specific interest. Although it began as literary societies in the Meiji era (1868-1912), modern doujin groups (often translated as Circle in English) refer to those that produce self-published works, which doujin has become an abbreviation for the created works. Such creations can include doujinshi (magazines, comics, or books), doujin soft (software, often games), or even doujin music.
The line into Comiket 77, December 2009.
What’s interesting about the doujin market is that it exists on the grounds of unauthorized exceptions – large majority of doujin works infringes on copyrights. As demand for doujin creations continues to grow exponentially (see What is Comic Market from the official page of Comiket), there is virtually no one pursuing damages for misappropriation or unauthorized usage in Japan.
So, why is that?
As outlined in Lawrence Lessig’s book, Free Culture, it is not an unbelievable situation. The idea of content borrowing, creating a transformed derivative work feels acceptable. And, well, there’s the problem of the lack of resources to prosecute all these infringing creators.
Although many of us may not interact with creations associated with doujin groups, we can relate on another front: User-Generated Contents.
How often have you reached a Youtube video without music (or even completely removed) because of DMCA take downs? Now, the follow-up question is: how often are those new creations through remix, only found on the web? I’m guessing you have at least one or two
Screen shot of the popular Japanese video streaming site Nico Nico Douga playing a video.
in mind. For me, this mashup comes to mind; keep in mind that this creation both came from and still exists on Nico Nico Douga, the leading video streaming site in Japan.
But, there are a variety of reasons why people aren’t flocking to Nico Nico to watch videos that were taken down. There’s the idea of platform familiarity or having an extra account means more privacy concerns. The greatest influence, arguably, is that it’s not hard to imagine an infringing video being put up, time after time, attempting to fly under the radar (a practice many of us are familiar with).
Delving deeper into the remix, user generated, doujin phenomenon just gives more headaches, however. Inherently, this is a multivariate problem intersecting law, culture, internationalization, and digitization. But this copy-remix culture will continue to grow, on a widespread scale, and it will bash against legislation and litigation; it is a part of globalization, a part of connectivity.
Of course, that is not to say that we will always keep policies that doujin or user-generated creations, but it will be a long time before we’re legally used to them.
Note: I highly discourage searching for reference information regarding doujins on popular search engines as the majority of the information yielded will be pornographic. The English word doujin is colloquially used to describe drawn pornography by doujin groups. The best way to finding information regarding the culture is by searching scholarly articles or tracking relevant citations.
The Anime and Manga Research Circle is a good resource to other scholars about the doujin culture.
There exist some best practices regarding fair use for user-generated content worth reading up on for these services (supported by major corporations) and video creation . There are also many resources within our library on User-Generated Content.
The Doujinshi & Manga Lexicon is a fan maintained database of modern doujinshi produced (entries includes both pornographic and non-pornographic doujinshi).
It may also be useful to read about remix and its culture. For example Remix Theory is a good place to find some focused research on remixes. Searching for remix on the University Library catelogue also yields many resources, such as examples of remix, how to create remixes, as well as analysis of remix theories and culture.
Posted in Culture, Resources | Tagged culture, doujin, Japan, online, user-generated content | Leave a reply
The Japanese Rare Books Collection at Illinois
Posted on October 22, 2012 by Ximin Mi
The Japanese rare books collection is an important part of the Asian rare books collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The great majority of Japanese rare books came from the library of Joseph K. Yamagiwa (1906-1968). Professor Yamagiwa was a leading scholar and professor of Japanese at the University of Michigan. His collection was purchased by our university in 1969. This collection contained 1800 volumes, which was later divided between the Asian Library and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The current Japanese rare book collection was built upon it.
Horai
With some later purchases and donation, our university library is currently 200 volumes of Japanese rare books. The subjects cover a variety of fields from literature (including Nara Ehon), theater, history, maps, scrolls, to dictionaries and encyclopedias. Most of these books and manuscripts are printed between the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Nara Ehon
This summer the Japanese rare book collection gained a new piece, Ise Monogatari. It also marked the 13-millionth book of the university and maintains our status as the largest public university library in America. This edition of the Ise Monogatari was published in 1608 and is the first printed illustrated edition of the popular Ise Monogatari or Tales of Ise). This book is one of the earliest Japanese books printed with moveable type, a technique newly imported from Korea. The elegant type and delicate woodcuts of the Saga-bon Tales of Ise appear on five different hand-made colored papers.[1]
Ise Monogatari
Besides their historical and scholarly value, this collection also serves as a communication bridge to visiting scholars from Japan. Despite their high value, our Rare Book and Manuscript Library pleasantly welcomes people to come in and use these materials. If you are interested in them, come to the library.
[1] Rare books http://nonsolusblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/first-illustrated-japanese-book-added-as-13-millionth-volume/.
Posted in Resources, U of I Library Resource | Tagged East Asia, Japan, library resources | Leave a reply
"Glocal" comes from the term "glocalization," which comes to us by way of Japan from the term "dochakuka" (土着化). In Japanese it means the process of indiginization but also the blending of global and local or cultural hybridity. The term focuses on the particularism of global phenomena and is thus a blend of international and area studies.
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Unique alternative modes of transportation around the world
Traveling the world is incredibly exciting and the unique modes of transport found in different places on the planet make the whole experience even better. Buses, local trains, and cabs sound so boring after trying some of the world’s most unique modes of transportation. Most of them are a result of different cultures and traditions while some of them have just been invented for the sake of practicality in that particular region. In this article, I will show you some of the most interesting alternative modes of transportation around the world!
1. Habal Habal, Philippines
Motorbikes are without a doubt, the preferred way of transportation in Southeast Asia. However, in the Philippines, they took it one step further. This unique two-wheeled mode of transportation can easily carry a family of 8, even 10 people. But that’s not all: in the rural areas, a lot of farmers use the habal-habal for transportation of goods.
2. Cyclo, Vietnam
This bicycle taxi is very popular in Vietnam, especially in the touristy areas like the Old Quarter of Hanoi or the neighborhoods surrounding the Hoan Kiem Lake. However, locals use the Cyclo too. The traffic in Vietnam is horrible, and these bicycle taxis can oftentimes be even faster than a car! Plus, they are a good solution that contributes to reducing the air pollution, especially in the big Vietnamese cities.
3. Tuk-tuk, Thailand
The tuk-tuk is probably the most famous vehicle on this list. There’s not a lot I can tell you about the small and compact tuk-tuk which you already don’t know. It’s a great way to speed your way through the dense traffic and no trip to Thailand is complete without riding in one.
4. Bamboo Train, Cambodia
Also known as Norry, this wooden train has been the way to go for a lot of Cambodians in the 20th century. Today, the Bamboo Train only passes by around Battambang, as the rest of the rail hasn’t been used after it was shut down by the Khmer Rouge. Even though it looks rather primitive, this train can achieve a speed of 35 miles per hour (55 km/h).
5. Track Tuk-tuk, Laos
Laos also has tuk-tuks but they are a bit different than the ones in Thailand. The tuk-tuks in Laos are much bigger, fit more people, and are used as a ride-sharing alternative. When you book a sight-seeing tour with your hostel, expect one of these. They have been made for such purpose: to fit more people going in similar directions.
6. Auto Rickshaw India
Opposite to the tuk-tuk in Laos, the Indian auto rickshaw is even smaller than its Thai counterpart. However, it fits the same number of people. Indian auto drivers make it happen. The auto rickshaw experience in India is much more hardcore compared to other Asian countries. Indian drivers are by far the most aggressive ones I’ve seen and the chaotic road conditions just add to the thrilling ride.
7. Shikara, Jammu
Srinagar, the summer capital of the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir wouldn’t be the real Venice of the east if it didn’t have its own version of the gondola. The shikara is a wooden boat that you can only see in one of Srinagar’s lakes and rivers. Just like the gondolas of Venice, shikaras are a cultural symbol of Jammu and Kashmir.
8. Tangah, Pakistan
This is a great budget substitute if you want to explore Pakistan and avoid cabs and Tuk-tuks. The tangah is a medieval light carriage placed on top of two big wooden wheels which is pulled by one or two horses. The passengers get to their seats from the rear without having to make the driver leave his seat.
9. Felucca, Egypt
The felucca has been a primary transportation of the Nile for centuries. You can still spot its gracious flowing along the Nile as it has been since the Pharaohs Era. The felucca offers a unique experience, one you won’t find on a cruise liner or a ferry. It’s a lot calmer than a motorboat and it offers a rural camping vibe.
10. Matatu, Kenya
Matatus are privately owned minibusses which are used as a ride-sharing alternative. After becoming a very popular transportation mode in Kenya, the matatu started appearing in the neighboring countries too but it remains a cultural symbol of Kenya. Most matatus are painted in a lot of different colors and feature portraits of celebrities or famous quotes. With their chaotic schedule, loud music and frequent stops, the matatu will give you the ultimate Kenyan experience.
11. Underground funicular, Turkey
This tramway is moving up and down the hill via an inclined railway with the help of a cable. The most popular one in Turkey is probably the underground tunnel in Istanbul that covers a 60-meter height distance between the seaside and Istikal Avenue. It has been around since 1874, which makes it the second oldest subway in the world, after London’s Underground.
12. Marshrutka, Russia
The marshrutka is a small minibus that’s part of the public transport in a lot of cities across Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia (the country). Even though it’s very small even compared to a minibus it’s still not uncommon to see people standing in a marshrutka. During rush hour, drivers try to squeeze in as many passengers as they can, especially in rural areas with limited public transport. No Russian experience is complete without riding in an overcrowded marshrutka.
13. Double Decker bus, Skopje
We’ve all seen them in Harry Potter and in London in the 60s’ but very few people know that the iconic red double-deckers are the main way of transportation in Skopje, the Capital of Macedonia. The buses are a new, ecologic, Chinese version of the famous red double-deckers used in London in the past.
14. Hydrofoil, Greece
Greece is famous for its beautiful islands, 6,000 in total. However, most of these don’t have airports and for the people living there, the hydrofoil is the most popular method of transportation. The hydrofoil is a boat with shaped vanes underneath which lift the hull clear of the water and just skim across the water. This makes the hydrofoil by far the most efficient way of transportation for island hoppers in Greece.
Related: At MercuryOutboard.co.nz
15. Suspension Railway, Germany
This famous German invention features an elevated monorail built above streets, existing railways, and waterways and a suspended vehicle that hangs from it. The first suspension railway was built in 1901. It took 19,000 tonnes of steel to produce the railway stations and supporting elements. Today, more than 20 million people use the suspension railway every year.
16. Gondola, Venice
There are no cars and railways in Venice so gondola has been the only mean of transportation for the locals for centuries. This iconic boat is similar to the canoe, just narrower in order to fit the spaces of Venetian canals. Today, gondolas are mostly used for transporting tourists around the canals.
17. Toboggan, Canada and Madeira (Portugal)
Toboggans were mostly used by the Innu and Cree people in Northern Canada for taking people down the hill in snowy areas during the winter. Portugal rarely sees snow but because of the specific geography of Madeira (it’s a hilly area), the (summer version of the) toboggan found use there too. Going down the hill, it can reach a speed of up to 30 miles per hour.
18. Totora Boat, Peru
The Uros are indigenous people that live on floating islands in Lake Titicaca. For them, this reed boat is the only thing that allows them to commute from their homes to the rest of the country. The Uros have been making and using these boats for thousands of years. Their civilization is actually older than the one of the Incas.
19. Chiva Express, Colombia
The Chiva Express is a unique Colombian invention: it’s a bus that rides (mostly) on rails. It was used as a viable way of transportation because it connected the remote mountain villages to the seashore. Nowadays, the Chiva Express mostly serves as a tourist attraction.
20. Chicken bus, Central America
It might be a normal type of transportation in Central America but nothing on this planet compares to the iconic Chicken bus. Thousands of passengers commute with these old U.S. school basis on daily basis and chickens and goats aren’t an uncommon sight either. If you’re planning to use one, however, be careful: petty crimes are a part of the experience.
21. Zip Lines
This one isn’t related to a certain country or even region but is a way of daily commute for a lot of people living in remote regions in China, Colombia, South Africa, and several other countries in Central America. Countries like Costa Rica are famous for zip line tours but would you use an improvised version of zip lines every day in order to get to your school or work?
22. Coco Taxi, Cuba
This coconut-shaped taxi, found in Havana and Varadero is the Cuban version of the tuk-tuk. The Coco Taxi has a fiberglass body sitting on three wheels, a two-stroke engine and fits up to three passengers. You can see two versions of coco taxi on the street: yellow used by tourists and black used by locals. These vehicles are small, compact, really fast, and built to avoid the heavy traffic.
23. Camel bus, Cuba
Obviously, Cuba has more than one unusual vehicle on the road. The Camel bus was introduced to Cuba after the fall of the Soviet Union. It’s basically a semi-truck that pulls passengers on a sloped back trailer. Locals jokingly compare it with an adult movie as it contains all elements of one: sex, violence, and expletive language. Nowadays, camel buses are slowly being phased out and being replaced with new Chinese buses.
24. Terra Bus, Canada
Canada is known for its freezing, snowy winters and there are a few places in the country where the only way to get around the snow and the ice fields is the Terra Bus. This all-terrain transporter really can’t be classified as a bus and could be described as a combo of a monster truck and a school bus.
Have you ever experienced riding in one of these iconic methods of transportation? Or maybe you came across some I forgot to mention? Share your experiences below!
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Andrew Comte
What a fun article! Some of these I have never seen or heard about. I love all the water transports.
Thank you for your comment, Andrew. I’m really glad you liked the article 🙂
Nice and detailed article
Yeshi
October 6, 2018 @ 12:21 pm
I’ve been on a few – some of which scared me paired with rocky roads! I would definitely like to try the Suspension Railway in Germany and the Coco Taxi in Cuba!
Which one was the scariest, Yeshi? 🙂
What a great idea for an article!! I haven’t heard of most of these, and I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try a lot of them haha. That hydrofoil looks so cool tough, and the feluccas in Egypt are beautiful!
Thanks for commenting, Maggie! I’m really glad to hear you liked it.
umiko Silalahi
October 7, 2018 @ 1:40 am
I like this post. Showing travelers what to expect on public transportation when they visit certain countries. I think the Suspension Railway in Germany is really cool, followed by Totora Boat from Peru. Tuk-Tuk or Rickshaw reminded me of Bajaj from Jakarta, Indonesia. I hated it because the drivers didn’t follow the traffic rules.
Thanks, that was the point of the post. Yeah, the concept of the tuk-tuk (bajaj) usually appears in cities with a horrible traffic. The idea behind it was to make traffic more bearable by including these small versatile vehicles. However, most of the drivers don’t respect the rules, which makes the whole traffic situation even worse.
Synz
Your blog post is quite fascinating to read. There are modes of transportation that I didn’t even know existed, but thanks to your blog for that. I really had fun reading your post.
Thank you Synz. It’s awesome to hear that you had fun reading the post.
Amy Dodd
It’s always amazing the different mode of transportation. I recall in Hoi An, Vietnam a very popular way was by motorbike with sidecar, or the very popular bike rides!
Thank you for your comment, Am, Yeah those motorbikes with a sidecar are a big thing in Hoi An and a few other Vietnamese cities.
October 7, 2018 @ 10:31 am
So, havent done most of them put if I had to choose: number 14, 18 and 19!
Thanks for giving these info about it!
Thank you for your comment, Simone. Those are some interesting choices 🙂
Sydney| A World in Reach
I rode in a Coco taxi in Havana! They were so cool. I’d like to try out everything else on this list as well!
I know, right? 😀 Thanks for commenting
Nina Nichols
Hey, you missed padjak in the Philippines. lol. It’s quite similar to a tricycle only not motorized. That’s interesting to see different modes of transportation.
Well, I thought of it but it was quite similar to the cyclo in Vietnam and I found the habal-habal much more impressive 😀 Thank you for the comment
Alex Trembath
Love this article! We’ve done quite a few of these. Discovering different modes of transport is actually one of the most fascinating aspects of travel for us. Another one that we liked was the jeepneys in the Philippines, a little bit similar to Central America’s chicken buses.
Rajat
What a topic you’ve chosen to write about. Very impressive article.
Thank you, Rajat. I’m glad you liked it
Sneha Bhandari
Wow this such a lovely thing. Didn’t know all these modes existed. Really different and exciting to read. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your comment, Sheha. I’m glad to hear you learned a few new things from this article 🙂
What a fun article. I was amazed how many people can fit into a tuk tuk in Thailand when I was there. The chicken buses are really unique, but very cramped inside. It is fun to see how people get around and this article did just that!
If you wondered how many people can fit in a tuk-tuk in Thailand, you should see how many people can fit in a tuk-tuk in India 😀
pujarini
This is such a fun article. I had no idea about some of these transportations used around the world. I would love to try everything on this list.
Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you liked the article
Nitasha
I loved the idea of this post. I personally like to experience the unique things a place can offer and this is just one of that. Loved reading about them and I am excited to experience all of it someday.
Thanks, Nitasha! I hope you get to experience all of them someday 🙂
Haha the coco taxi looks like an interesting ride! Similar like the auto rickshaws in Mumbai. Great post!
I know, right? I like to call it the Cuban auto rickshaw 🙂
Brian Gadsby
April 4, 2019 @ 1:27 am
This is awesome!! So many ways to get around, I can’t wait to try some of these. This is a great article that I found really interesting, good work.
Which ones have you been on?
April 4, 2019 @ 8:45 pm
Thank you, Brian! I’m really glad to hear you liked this article. I have tried most of them except for the Matatu, the Chicken bus, the Totora boat, and the Chiva express.
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Tag Archives: Narayan Lal
Family Refutes Police Claims in Death of Christian in India
Posted on September 4, 2010 by particularkev
Bible teacher in Rajasthan state, 20, faced opposition from Hindu nationalists.
NEW DELHI, August 25 (CDN) — The family of a 20-year-old Christian found dead last week in the northern state of Rajasthan suspects he was killed by Hindu nationalists, though police claim he died of cardiac arrest.
Narayan Lal, a farmer from Hameerpura Patar village in Arnod sub-district of Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh district, was found dead the evening of Aug. 17 near a forest where he had gone to tend his goats.
Lal was a volunteer teacher in a 10-day Vacation Bible School organized by indigenous Christian organization Light of the World Service Society (Jagat Jyoti Seva Sansthan) in his village area in May, and a relative who requested anonymity told Compass that some villagers did not approve of the young man “spreading Christianity.”
“It seems his throat was strangulated,” the relative said. “I do not know who did it, but I am sure he was murdered. His family was facing opposition for their Christian work, particularly by some residents of Nadikhera village [near Hameerpura Patar].”
A post-mortem report suggested otherwise, police said.
“The body of Narayan Lal, son of Tola Ram Meena, was found under a tree,” Superintendent of Police of Pratapgarh district Prem Prakash Tak told Compass. “There was some froth formation in his mouth, but no injuries or bruises. The post-mortem was conducted by three doctors, and they suggest that he died of cardio-respiratory failure.”
He added that police had not heard that the family suspected murder. The relative said, however, that Lal’s father told police that his son was seemingly killed by some people from Nadikhera village who had been opposing him and his family. Salamgarh Police Inspector Govardhan Ram Chowdhary was unavailable for comment.
Lal’s relative contested the police version, saying Lal was “absolutely healthy” with “no sign of any ailment.”
“I cannot believe that he died of heart failure – he was very young,” he said. “His shoes were lying near his body, and a piece of cloth was kept on his hands. It seemed that the cloth was used to tie his hands.”
The relative asked why police did not inform the family of their autopsy report’s indication of cardiac arrest.
“We would have taken the body to a private hospital for confirmation,” he said.
The death was reported to Salamgarh police at 10 p.m. on Aug. 17 under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code for “death under suspicious circumstances.” The autopsy was performed on Aug. 18, after which the body was handed over to the family for cremation.
Police Superintendent Tak acknowledged that Lal’s father, an elder in the village church, had been arrested in July 2008 on charges of desecrating an idol of a Hindu deity in the village. He was released after police failed to find evidence against him.
“He [Lal’s father] was falsely accused by those who did not like his missionary work,” the deceased’s relative said. “It was a plot to oppose his work.”
Christian persecution is not new to Rajasthan state, where Christian conversion is a sensitive issue.
The Rajasthan government passed an anti-conversion law in the state assembly in April 2006, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power. The bill is still awaiting the governor’s assent.
The BJP led the government of Rajasthan from March 1990 to November 1998, and again from December 2003 to December 2008, when the Left-of-Center Congress Party won the election.
The incidence of Christian persecution is said to have decreased since the BJP’s defeat in the 2008 state election, with the exception of sporadic incidents.
About 30 suspected Hindu extremists assaulted two Christian workers from Gospel for Asia and chased them into the jungle near Rajasthan’s Banswara city on Sept. 4, 2009. (See “Recent Incidents of Persecution,” Sept. 29, 2009.)
On March 21, 2009, Hindu nationalists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) attacked Bible students and staff members of the Believers Church and demanded 10,000 rupees (US$193) from them in Udaipur city. (See “Recent Incidents of Persecution,” March 31, 2009.)
On April 29, 2007, at least 14 Hindu extremists in Jaipur, Rajasthan attacked Pastor Walter Masih with sticks and rods as television cameras recorded the scene, leaving him bleeding profusely. The then-Hindu nationalist government in the state declined to prosecute the more serious charges against the assailants.
BJP leaders harassed leaders of the Emmanuel Mission International (EMI), based in Kota city, in 2006, leading to the arrest of the Christians and the freezing of EMI bank accounts.
Posted in Christianity, Hinduism, India | Tagged 1990, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2008, accounts, anti-conversion, Arnod, arrest, arrested, assailants, assaulted, assembly, assent, attacked, autoposy, bank, Banswara, Believers Church, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bible, bill, BJP, bleeding, body, bruises, cameras, cardiac arrest, cardio-respiratory failure, chased, Christian, Christianity, Christians, circumstances, city, claims, conducted, confirmation, contested, conversion, cremation, Criminal Procedure Code, dead, death, defeat, deity, demanded, desecrating, died, doctors, elder, election, EMI, Emmanuel Mission International, evidence, exception, extremists, faced, failure, family, farmer, Father, forest, formation, found, freezing, froth, goats, Gospel for Asia, Govardhan Ram Chowdhary, government, governor, Hameerpura Patar, harassed, healthy, heart, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, hospital, idol, India, indication, indigenous, injuries, issue, Jagat Jyoti Seva Sansthan, Jaipur, jungle, killed, Kota, law, leaders, leading, Left-of-Center Congress Party, Light of the World Service Society, members, missionary, mouth, murdered, Nadikhera, Narayan Lal, nationalists, New Delhi, northern, opposing, opposition, organization, organized, passed, Pastor, Persecution, plot, police, Police Inspector, post-mortem, power, Pratapgarh, Prem Prakash, private, profusely, Rajasthan, recorded, refutes, report, residents, rods, Salamgarh, scene, Section 174, sensitive, son, spreading, staff, state, sticks, strangulated, students, sub-district, superintendent of police, suspects, suspicious, teacher, television, tend, throat, Tola Ram Meena, tree, Udaipur, under, Vacation Bible School, version, VHP, village, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, volunteer, Walter Masih, won, work, World Hindu Council | Leave a comment
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Judith McLean – QPAC Scholar In Residence
Interview with professor Judith McLean, the inaugural Chair in Arts Education and QPAC’s Scholar in Residence
In May 2014 QPAC and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) announced a partnership to jointly establish the position of Chair in Arts Education. The inaugural Chair is professor Judith McLean, currently QPAC’s Scholar in Residence.
Professor McLean’s role is to link policy, art making and teaching and support both QPAC and QUT in bridging complex thought and practical application. Putting ideas into practice.
Professor McLean’s current research centres on brain based learning and its relationship with the arts with a particular focus on how cultural institutions like QPAC can collaborate with audiences to heighten the significance of art in everyday life.
“Professor McLean is an inspiring leader and a national voice in the field of arts education. As QUT’s Chair in Arts Education and QPAC’s inaugural Scholar in Residence she will work across both institutions to forge stronger links between the academic arena and industry.” QPAC and QUT
What do you want to achieve as Chair in Arts Education?
I want to play a part in delivering QPAC’s vision that we live in ‘a world where the performing arts matter to everyone’. We know that audiences come to live arts experiences with different levels of exposure and understanding. The same piece of art can be simultaneously a work of art, a piece of entertainment or just plain boring! It is the internal skills of the viewer and knowledge they bring to the performance that determines how they experience it. Like sport, or indeed anything that requires specialised technique, the more you understand the nuances of what you are engaged with, the more enjoyment you gain from it. My job is to help/ guide/educate/illuminate QPAC staff, audiences and the general public to be curious to know more and therefore appreciate and enjoy art more.
How have you seen performing arts evolve over the past decade?
The performing arts are changing incredibly fast as everything is in 21stcentury life. We are in the middle of a connection revolution and, in arts education, people want to learn and be much more hands on and involved in making their own art as well as sharing it with the world via YouTube and other forums.
What are the trends you’re seeing worldwide in performing arts and their role in society?
The growth in business, NGOs and communities to embrace the arts as a tool to have bigger more inclusive conversations about what, why and how we can have richer conversations about life’s purpose. This is already happening: DYI arts experiences, using the arts to build the participative citizen and strengthen our democracies.
Were your parents an influence on your career?
My parents were very influential in my life. My father taught me to sail, which was fabulous leadership training as a young child. To be in the middle of the ocean in a small boat that you were responsible for keeping afloat meant you learnt early to stand by the decisions you made, as you only had yourself to blame if things went wrong. It was scary but exhilarating! We lived in a small country town (Bowen), and my mother fostered my artistic side by sending me as a very young child to private speech-and-drama lessons as well as driving me all over the state to enter eisteddfods – which was fine, but she also had five other kids to look after.
What has been a defining moment in your life?
Learning to forgive and understand that the wound is the gift!
What three people have influenced you professionally?
I wouldn’t name individual people, but I would say I respect people, even if I don’t agree with them, who join in and make things happen. It’s easy to be passive and complain about things without contributing. I admire anyone who takes a stand and contributes.
What are your words of wisdom?
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Interviewed by Mikki Brammer
Professor Judith McLean in conversation with Bangarra’s Artistic Director Stephen Page
Learn about Eric Booth and his role as a teaching artist
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If You Want Jobs Then Give These Workers Spoons Instead of Shovels
Milton Friedman? William Aberhart? Unemployed Worker? Businessman in China? UK Minister of Agriculture?
Dear Quote Investigator: In 2011 an editorial in the Wall Street Journal mentioned a quotation that apparently is well-known: 1
The famous Milton Friedman line about government ordering people to dig with spoons to employ more people comes to mind.
The image of people digging with spoons is quite striking, but I am not familiar with this saying. Could you explore this topic and tell me what Friedman said?
Quote Investigator: This quotation is usually coupled with a colorful anecdote, but the details of the stories vary greatly. Here is an account from the economics writer Stephen Moore that was printed in the Wall Street Journal in 2009. Moore stated that he used to visit Milton Friedman and his wife, and together they would dine at a favorite Chinese restaurant: 2
At one of our dinners, Milton recalled traveling to an Asian country in the 1960s and visiting a worksite where a new canal was being built. He was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, the workers had shovels. He asked why there were so few machines. The government bureaucrat explained: “You don’t understand. This is a jobs program.” To which Milton replied: “Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it’s jobs you want, then you should give these workers spoons, not shovels.”
Different versions of this tale are based in distinct locales that span the globe, e.g., India, China, England and Canada. The person delivering the trenchant commentary also varies and has included: the noted economist Milton Friedman, an unemployed worker in England, a businessman touring China, a UK Minister of Agriculture, and a Canadian politician named William Aberhart.
The earliest instance of this anecdote type that QI has located was printed in 1935 in a Canadian newspaper, the Lethbridge Herald. The politician William Aberhart of the Social Credit party in Alberta was described as unhappy because government building projects were not using modern large-scale machines. Aberhart delivered a humorous version of the remark with the phrase “spoons and forks”: 3
Taking up the policy of a public works program as a solution for unemployment, it was criticized as a plan that took no account of the part that machinery played in modern construction, with a road-making machine instanced as an example. He saw, said Mr. Aberhart, work in progress at an airport and was told that the men were given picks and shovels in order to lengthen the work, to which he replied why not give them spoons and forks instead of picks and shovels if the object was to lengthen out the task.
Thus, there is evidence that the core of the anecdote and remark were in circulation before the 1960s. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
On September 13, 1935 William Aberhart gave a speech to the Canadian Club in Toronto. He recounted an anecdote in which he delivered a version of the saying: 4
One of the school graduates came to me to pay his respects to the school; he told me he was in charge of helping on one of the Dominion air ports. I said to him, “I suppose you use modern machinery in your air ports?”
“No, sir.”
“Well,” he said, “if we used modern machinery in the establishment of air ports there would be very little need of men to help us to do it, for they would do it so rapidly and easily that there would be no need of man labour. We give them picks and shovels and put them out to do it in the old-fashioned way.”
I smiled and said to him: “It would probably be just as well to give them spoons and forks; it would take them still longer to do it.” It seemed to me so ridiculous; we let modern machinery rust at the road side or air port and make those men bend their backs in order to give them the purchasing power to buy the necessities of life, and hardly that.
In 1966 a variant of the story was told in the Irish Parliament. The orator referred to an earlier incident that he said took place in the Parliament of the United Kingdom: 5
Mr. N. Lemass: … Earl Attlee at one time suggested in the British House of Commons that instead of giving farmers tractors, they should be given shovels, thereby employing ten men instead of one, but the then Minister of Agriculture said: “Why not go further and give them spoons, thereby employing 100 men?” That is not the solution. The farming community cannot sustain as many people, if there is to be a more equitable distribution of our national wealth, and if the people living on the land are to have the high standard of living we would desire for them.
In 1967 a member of the House of Lords of the UK Parliament recounted an instance of the story. The central incisive comment was pronounced by an unidentified unemployed man who suggested using an even smaller implement, a tea spoon: 6
LORD RITCHIE-CALDER: … On another occasion, a crowd of unemployed workers was standing on the edge of a cutting at Park Royal—the underground was pushing out to Osterley—and they were watching a huge muck-shifter scooping up tons of rubble at a bite. One unemployed man said bitterly, “If it were not for that damn machine there would be hundreds of jobs for men with picks and shovels.” “Yes, mate,” said another unemployed man, “or for millions of men with tea spoons”.
In 1996 an instance of the anecdote appeared in an article by Jerry L. Jordan in the Cato Journal of the Cato Institute, a prominent libertarian think-tank. The cogent remark was delivered by a businessman visiting China: 7
I am reminded of a story that a businessman told me a few years ago. While touring China, he came upon a team of nearly 100 workers building an earthen dam with shovels. The businessman commented to a local official that, with an earth-moving machine, a single worker could create the dam in an afternoon. The official’s curious response was, “Yes, but think of all the unemployment that would create.” “Oh,” said the businessman, “I thought you were building a dam. If it’s jobs you want to create, then take away their shovels and give them spoons!”
In 1997 the pundit James K. Glassman wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post that referred to the 1996 Cato Journal article. He repeated the anecdote told by Jerry Jordan and noted that Jordan was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland at that time. 8
In 2007 a version of the story was published in the popular London-based magazine The Economist. The journalist evinced uncertainty about the tale which featured an unnamed economist as the principal character: 9
The make-work bias is best illustrated by a story, perhaps apocryphal, of an economist who visits China under Mao Zedong. He sees hundreds of workers building a dam with shovels. He asks: “Why don’t they use a mechanical digger?” “That would put people out of work,” replies the foreman. “Oh,” says the economist, “I thought you were making a dam. If it’s jobs you want, take away their shovels and give them spoons.”
In 2008 the story appeared in a book by Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous. This is the first citation located by QI that connects Friedman to the anecdote. It is the same basic story as the one told by Moore in 2009 that is presented at the beginning of this article. One additional detail is given. The country is identified as India: 10
Our friend the late Milton Friedman once told us a story of being in India in the 1960s and watching thousands of workers build a canal with shovels. Milton asked the lead engineer, Why don’t you have tractors to help build this canal? The engineer replied: “You don’t understand, Mr. Friedman, this canal is a jobs program to provide work for as many men as possible.” Milton responded with his classic wit, “Oh, I see. I thought you were trying to build a canal. If you really want to create jobs, then by all means give these men spoons, not shovels.”
In May 2009 the Wall Street Journal published an article by Stephen Moore in which he described hearing the anecdote directly from Milton Friedman while dining with him. The details were given previously in this article. 11
In December 2009 the prominent political commentator George Will appeared on the ABC television program called “This Week”. He presented a version of the tale and attributed the spoons remark to Friedman: 12
George Will: It put me in mind of a great story Milton Friedman used to tell. He went to Asia in the 1960s and was proudly taken by the government to see a public works project. They were building a canal. He was struck everyone was digging the canal with shovels. Friedman says, why no heavy earth-moving equipment?
They said, oh, this is a jobs program. So Friedman says, why don’t you give them spoons instead of shovels? (LAUGHTER) I think we understand, now, the sterility of government trying to create jobs.
In September 2011 the Wall Street Journal referred to the “famous Milton Friedman line about government ordering people to dig with spoons to employ more people”. This citation was mentioned by the questioner and provided the initial impetus for this investigation.
In conclusion, this compelling anecdote has many variants. The primary image of replacing the shovels of workers with spoons is very memorable. The acerbic humor touches on deeper issues of efficiency, productivity, and the purpose of human labor.
It is possible that the line about spoons was used on more than one occasion by more than one person. Moore has testified that Friedman told a version of the story. It is possible that Friedman independently crafted the line about spoons, or he may have heard it initially from someone else. In any case, QI believes based on current evidence that the basic tale originated with William Aberhart and he should be given the credit.
Image Notes: Portrait of Milton Friedman from The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Portrait of William Aberhart from the Provincial Archives of Alberta. Both images accessed via Wikimedia Commons. Shovel and spoon illustrations from OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay.
Update history: On October 12, 2011 the citation for The Economist magazine in 2007 was added to the post. On October 11, 2012 the citation for the speech given by William Aberhart on September 13, 1935 was added to the post. Also, the notes were switched to a numerical system. On November 14, 2016 the header picture was updated.
2011 September 8, Wall Street Journal, Section: Opinion, Why the Stimulus Failed, Page A14, New York. (ProQuest) link ↩
2009 May 29, Wall Street Journal, De Gustibus: Missing Milton: Who Will Speak For Free Markets? by Stephen Moore, Section Opinion, Page W.13, New York. (ProQuest) (Also website online.wsj.com accessed 2011 October 10) link ↩
1935 May 18, Lethbridge Herald, 5,500 Hear Social Credit Expounded By Party Leader, Start Page 1, [Continuation title on page 3: “5500 Hear”], Quote Page 3, Column 2, Lethbridge, Alberta (NewspaperArchive) ↩
1991, Aberhart: Outpourings and Replies, Edited by David R. Elliott, [William Aberhart, “Social Credit” Speech to the Canadian Club, Toronto, on September 13, 1935, Proceedings of the Canadian Club (Toronto 1935), pp. 47-59.] Start Page 148, Quote Page 150 and 151, Alberta Records Publication Board, Historical Society of Alberta, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Verified on paper; Thanks to the Duke University Perkins Library) ↩
1966 March 22, Dail Eireann [Irish Parliamentary Debates], Topic: Committee on Finance. – Resolution No. 12: General (Resumed), Speaking: Mr. N. Lemass, Page 65 of 77, Volume 221, Number 12, Irish Free State, Oireachtas. (Website debates.oireachtas.ie accessed 2011 October 5) link ↩
1967 May 3, Hansard, United Kingdom Parliament, Lords Sitting, Industrial Relations, Speaking: Lord Ritchie-Calder, HL Deb 03, volume 282, cc983-1068. (Accessed hansard.millbanksystems.com on 2011 September 23) link ↩
1996 November 30, Cato Journal, Jobs Creation and Government Policy by Jerry L. Jordan, [Article appeared on cato.org on February 18, 2003], Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. (Website cato.org accessed 2011 October 5) link ↩
1997 July 1, Washington Post, Why We Trade by James K. Glassman, Section OP/ED, Page A19, Washington, D.C. (NewsBank) ↩
2007 June 16, The Economist, United States: Lexington: “Vote for me, dimwit”, Page 42, Volume 383, Economist Newspaper, Ltd., London. (Verified with microfiche) ↩
2008, The End of Prosperity by Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous Page 204, Threshold Editions of Simon and Schuster, New York. (Google Books preview) ↩
2009 May 29, Wall Street Journal, De Gustibus: Missing Milton: Who Will Speak For Free Markets? by Stephen Moore, Section Opinion, Page W.13, New York. (ProQuest) (Also website online.wsj.com accessed 2011 October 10) link. ↩
2009 December 13, ABC News ‘This Week’ Full Transcript, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News Internet Ventures. (Website abcnews.go.com accessed 2011 October 10) ↩
Posted on October 10, 2011 October 5, 2018 Author garsonCategories Milton Friedman, William AberhartTags Milton Friedman, William Aberhart
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If You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Going
Winston Churchill? John Randall Dunn? J. Woodruff Smith? Douglas Bloch? Linda Crew? Mario Murillo? Brian Mulroney? Wally Amos? Ron Kenoly? Anonymous?
Dear Quote Investigator: Winston Churchill is often associated with quotations about steadfastness and tenacity. Consider the following saying:
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
I have seen this statement attributed to Churchill several times, but I have never seen any solid citations. Are these really the words of the famous British Prime Minister?
Quote Investigator: Probably not. In 2009 the publication “Finest Hour: The Journal of Winston Churchill” stated that the saying above was “not by Churchill, or at least not verifiable in any of the 50 million published words by and about him”. 1 In addition, the statement was placed in an appendix titled “Red Herrings: False Attributions” in the book “Churchill By Himself” which is the most comprehensive collection of quotations from the statesman. The editor was Richard M. Langworth, the top expert in this domain. 2
This adage is difficult to trace because of the malleability of its expression. The earliest evidence located by QI appeared in a religious context in the October 30, 1943 issue of the “Christian Science Sentinel” journal of Boston, Massachusetts. The saying was presented in dialog form. Boldface has been added to excerpts: 3
Someone once asked a man how he was. He replied, “I’m going through hell!” Said his friend: “Well, keep on going. That is no place to stop!” If you seem to be going through the deep waters of physical anguish and cannot for the moment seem to gain the understanding which binds the strong man, keep on going—keep on clinging to Truth, and hear again the comforting, strengthening message, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” God, divine Love, is eternally sustaining His child, and will “bind the power of pain” as surely as the summer sun will melt the stubborn frost.
The passage above was written by a Christian Science lecturer and editor named John Randall Dunn, but the dialog was attributed to an unnamed man and his anonymous friend.
The saying appeared again in the pages of the “Christian Science Sentinel” in July 1969 in an article by J. Woodruff Smith. He also credited the dialog to anonymous individuals: 4
A man who was going through deep waters of fear called a Christian Science practitioner. In anguish he cried, “Oh, you don’t know what I’m going through. I’m just going through hell.” With vigor his helper replied, “That’s no place to stop. Keep going.” There was a short silence. Then a ripple of amusement followed by a wave of laughter as the mesmerism burst.
In 1990 “The Oregonian” newspaper of Portland, Oregon printed a variant instance. A self-help author and counselor named Douglas Bloch was profiled in an article that contained the following in its title: “If You’re Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop”. The phrase “don’t stop” was used instead of “keep going”. Within the body of the article Bloch spoke a slightly different two-part comment-response version of the maxim to his interviewer: 5
When someone says, “I’m going through hell,” the best response is to tell them, “Don’t stop!” Bloch maintains. If we see that pain, grief and tough times are a process and that it will get better, we’re less likely to get stuck in the hell.
Further below is a 2014 citation in which Bloch disclaimed credit for the expression, and linked it to Winston Churchill.
In 1993 the book “Ordinary Miracles” by Linda Crew was published with a saying that closely matched the title of the 1990 article. The author gave no ascription and indicated that the expression was already in circulation 6
He studied me for a moment. “You do seem to be under a lot of stress with this. Why don’t you consider just taking a breather? Even if you’re determined to go on, nothing says you have to do it right away.”
No, I had to be done with this one way or the other. You know what they say—when you’re going through hell, for Pete’s sake, don’t stop.
In 1994 another instance closely matching the 1990 expression was printed in religious book titled “When Lucifer and Jezebel Join Your Church” by Dick Bernal. The work began with a page of “Quotable Quotes”, and the following three statements were listed first: 7
Life is just a test. This is only a test.—Kevin Gerald
When you’re going through hell, don’t stop.—Mario Murillo
Never, never, never, never quit.—Sir Winston Churchill
The saying was ascribed to Mario Murillo, an evangelist. Note that the adjacent remark was credited to Churchill, and sometimes contiguous quotations have resulted in confusion and reassignment, but QI does not know if an error was introduced at this point.
In October 1995 an article about a shareholder meeting of Archer Daniels Midland Company was published in the “Herald & Review” of Decatur, Illinois. The ADM chairman, Dwayne O. Andreas, described a comment made to him by board member Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister. Mulroney spoke the modern version of the quotation attributed to Winston Churchill, and this was the first linkage to Churchill located by QI: 8
Andreas closed the meeting by admitting he and the company had been through tough times lately. He said Mulroney asked him if the press had been giving him hell. When Andreas said such was the case, Mulroney quoted Sir Winston Churchill: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
In June 1996 Wally Amos, the founder of Famous Amos Cookies, relayed an entertaining variant of the expression during a newspaper interview: 9
“A friend of mine gave me a wonderful quote,” he said. “‘When you’re going through hell, don’t stop to take pictures.”‘
In October 1997 Ron Kenoly, a popular musician and religious worship leader, employed an instance of the saying during a concert: 10
During his performance, Kenoly offered this message to audience members who were going through tough times in their lives: “If you catch hell don’t hold it. If you’re going through hell, don’t stop. Here’s what you do: You go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Don’t stop.”
In December 1997 a message was posted to the Usenet discussion system that contained an instance of the quotation attributed to Winston Churchill. The adage appeared with other sayings appended to the end of a message about the Windows 95 operating system: 11
“When you’re going through hell, keep on going.” — Winston Churchill
In 2014 the author Douglas Bloch uploaded a video to “YouTube” in which he discussed the provenance of the expression containing the phrase “don’t stop”. Bloch said that he first heard it from a minister who had derived it from a remark ascribed to Winston Churchill: 12
Hello my name is Douglas Bloch. I am an author and a depression survivor, and I’d like to share something to you that means a lot to both Noah and myself. It’s a phrase called “When going through hell, don’t stop”.
Now, I first heard this when I was on a radio show in 1989 in California with a minister talking about affirmations, and he used this phrase, and I thought it was very, very clever. So I asked him after the show “How did you come up with it?” He said it was actually his take on a phrase that Winston Churchill had used called “When going through hell, keep going”.
In conclusion, the saying was in circulation by 1943. It appeared in a Christian Science periodical in that year in dialog form, but the attribution was anonymous. The second earliest citation was also in a Christian Science periodical in 1969.
Winston Churchill died in 1965, and QI has found no substantive evidence that he used the expression. Attributions to him appeared only many years after his death. There are two popular variants containing the phrases “keep going” or “don’t stop”, and neither has been found in the writings or speeches of Churchill.
Image Notes: Flames from PublicDomainPictures at Pixabay. Image has been cropped and resized.
(Great thanks to George Mannes whose query led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks to the librarians of the Bethel Seminary Library of St. Paul, Minnesota for helping to verify the 1994 citation. Thanks to the staff at sentinel.christianscience.com for help with the 1943 citation. In addition, thanks to Charles Doyle of the University of Georgia for help with the 1943 and 1969 citations. Also, thanks to Fabrizio Benedetti who told QI that Douglas Bloch had disclaimed credit for the phrase in a 2014 YouTube video.)
Update History: On January 29, 2016 the citations in 1943, 1969, and 2014 were added, and the article was partially rewritten.
2009-2010 Winter, Finest Hour: The Journal of Winston Churchill, Number 145, Around & About, Quote Page 9, Column 2, The Churchill Centre & Churchill Museum, Andover, Hampshire, United Kingdom. (Verified with PDF) link ↩
2013 December 12 (Kindle Edition Date), Churchill By Himself (Winston Churchill’s In His Own Words Collection), Compiled and edited by Richard M. Langworth, Appendix I: Red Herrings: False Attributions, Entry: If you’re going through hell, keep going. (Kindle Location 19706) ↩
1943 October 30, Christian Science Sentinel, Volume 45, Issue 44, Section: Editorial, Binding the Power of Pain by John Randall Dunn, Start Page 1849, Quote Page 1851, Christian Science Publishing Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (Verified with full text and scans; thanks to the staff of The Christian Science Publishing Society at sentinel.christianscience.com; also thanks to Charles Doyle and the University of Georgia library system) ↩
1969 July 26, Christian Science Sentinel, Volume 71, Issue 30, Truth Is the Victor by J. Woodruff Smith, Start Page 1286, Quote Page 1286, Christian Science Publishing Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (Verified with scans; thanks to Charles Doyle and the University of Georgia library system) ↩
1990 November 18, The Oregonian, Edition: Fourth, Section: Living, If You’re Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop by Jann Mitchell (The Oregonian staff), Quote Page L04, Portland, Oregon. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩
1993, Ordinary Miracles by Linda Crew, Quote Page 179, Published by William Morrow and Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩
1994 copyright, When Lucifer and Jezebel Join Your Church by Dick Bernal, Page Title: Quotable Quotes, Quote Page 5 (after table of contents), Published by Jubilee Christian Center, San Jose, California. (Verified with scans of second printing July 1995) ↩
1995 October 20, Herald & Review, Section: News, ‘My rules’ – Despite dissidents, Dwayne Andreas retains a firm grip on shareholders meeting -and ADM by John C. Patterson (H&R Staff Writer), Quote Page A1, Decatur, Illinois. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩
1996 June 12, Omaha World-Herald, Edition: Sunrise, Section: Living Today, Cookie Founder Doles Out Advice by Doug Thomas (World – Herald Staff Writer), Quote Page 43sf, Omaha, Nebraska. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩
1997 October 8, The Florida Times-Union, Edition: City, Section: Rap, Kenoly lifts spirits high in concert by John Clark (T-U Rap staff writer), Quote Page C-2, Jacksonville, Florida. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩
1997 December 23, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroup: microsoft.public.win95.filediskmanage, From: Robert Avery Hornberg <CAS…@earthling.net>, Subject: Re: CD impersonating Neighbor’s Vacumn Cleaner. (Google Groups Search; Accessed September 13, 2014) link ↩
YouTube video, Title: When Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop!, Uploaded on May 14, 2014, Uploaded by: Douglas Bloch, Video description: “In this video, author and depression counselor Douglas Bloch shares an inspirational message from his re-published book, When Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop”. (Accessed on youtube.com on January 29, 2016) link ↩
Posted on September 14, 2014 May 29, 2019 Author garsonCategories Winston ChurchillTags Brian Mulroney, Douglas Bloch, J. Woodruff Smith, John Randall Dunn, Linda Crew, Mario Murillo, Ron Kenoly, Wally Amos, Winston Churchill
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Ragman's Circles
Talking about what the matter was
← The Art of the Deal, or the Man Who Would Be King: University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross
UWM Budget Update–March 10, 2015 →
Has the Time Come for an Expression of No Confidence in UW System Administrators?
Posted on February 19, 2015 by rgrusin
By Richard Grusin
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Gospel of Matthew 7:15, King James Version)
Has the time come for an expression of no confidence in University of Wisconsin System administrators? If so, such an expression must begin at the top with System President Ray Cross. But it should perhaps then go on to include all those Regents and Chancellors who continue to advocate the neoliberal ideology on higher education, preferring efficiencies and flexibilities at any cost—even if they are detrimental to the research, education, and access missions of higher education. For no matter what remnants of these missions survive after the conversion to a public authority, one thing is certain: the overriding logic of the University of Wisconsin System will have formally changed from a state-supported agency governed by the Wisconsin Idea to a public-service corporation whose first goal is to survive economically not to thrive academically.
The predominant narrative in the media and on campuses across Wisconsin pits the evil Republican Governor and his legislative allies against the UW System, defenders of the now restored Wisconsin Idea. In particular this narrative has focused on the devastating proposed punitive cuts of $300 million, the largest in the history of the University System, which come on top of four years of cuts from Walker and the Republican legislature. Unfortunately this narrative misrepresents the role that System President Cross, the UW Chancellors, and the Board of Regents have played in advocating for the conversion of the system to a public authority without having seriously investigated the costs and consequences of such a conversion.
As I argued in this blog last week, Cross has been collaborating with the Governor’s staff for some time in expanding his power and authority from being President of a UW System operating under the constraints of Chapter 36 to President of a public-benefit corporation, the UW System Public Authority. Cross was in fact actively engaged in privatizing the UW System even before he was selected by Scott Walker as UW System President. In his previous position as Chancellor of UW-Colleges and UW-Extension, Cross spearheaded the System’s creation of the University of Wisconsin Flexible Option program, which intensified the system’s ongoing shift from a state agency operating under the ideals of the Wisconsin Idea to one operating primarily to develop the workforce in Wisconsin.
In a November 2012 blog post, I argued that the Flexible Option degree–which will not be formally distinguishable from a degree obtained by a student who spent a full four years (or more) at a public Wisconsin university–diminished the value of a University of Wisconsin degree and threatened the core mission of the university: “By offering college credit for ‘on-the-job training, military experience or previous coursework,’ ‘including the growing number of MOOCs [taught] through universities such as Harvard and MIT,’ these flexible degree programs threaten to supplant the tenured faculty that make up the core of a university’s identity, replacing them with part-time, precarious laborers, which will work in the short run to provide cost-saving in salary and benefits but in the long run to devastate the public research university as we know it.”
A January 2014 post on the UW Flexible Option blog promotes Cross’s leadership role in “turning dreams into reality” by giving Flexible Option students “the ability to save time, save money, and more quickly reach the day when they can achieve their personal and professional goals.” Sadly, under the current leadership of the UW System, the first priority of higher education is economic, Wisconsin Idea or not. Indeed in the words of former System President Kevin Reilly, who chose Cross to lead the program, the Flexible Degree Option is “the 21st century face of the Wisconsin Idea.”
Unfortunately the decision to design and implement these flexible degrees was made in the absence of robust campus and system-wide discussions about the wisdom of doing so, discussions in which faculty, students, staff, and mid-level administrators would have been able to address questions about the efficacy of such flexible degrees and of their consequences and implications for all facets of the University of Wisconsin System. Similarly there has been a total lack of discussion about the move to a public authority, which the public did not hear of until January 26, just one week before Governor Walker’s budget address. Although the public authority still must go through the legislative sausage-making process, the lack of any serious push-back or resistance to this idea from the UW System, UW Chancellors, or the Board of Regents makes it all but certain that at the end of the current legislative session the UW System will have been converted from a state agency to a public authority.
With that in mind, here are a series of questions that must be asked of System President Ray Cross, all UW Chancellors, and the Board of Regents. Failure to receive satisfactory answers to these questions, and to receive them soon, should be cause for expressions of no confidence in the UW System leaders from across Wisconsin’s universities.
What is the rush? Why push for the public authority even though we don’t know the details of the plan? There has been no research into whether it’s the best thing for the system and people of Wisconsin. No faculty, staff, or students were involved in the decision to propose it. There has been no public plan for a transition: Virginia took more than a decade to make a similar transition and the Wisconsin System is much more complex.
Can we afford a public authority? Where are the studies showing how much money will be saved by a public authority? More immediately, how much will such a transition cost? Some estimates of the possible cost put it in the tens or even hundreds of millions.
Why oppose collective bargaining? Why did the UW System lobby against the proposal—in an earlier draft of Scott Walker’s budget bill—to grant UW faculty and academic staff the right to unionize and collectively bargain for wages, the rights other public employees have?
How will citizens be represented in the new system? The UW System Chief Executive and the Board of Regents have tremendously increased powers and responsibilities over the UW System under the proposed public authority. Given that, what rationale is there for retaining the composition and mode of gubernatorial appointment of the Board of Regents, which removes accountability to the citizens of Wisconsin?
What kind of deal is this? Why has the UW System chosen to accept budget cuts in exchange for autonomy rather than lobbying for things like progressive taxes that would contribute to greater state funding for higher education? Why hasn’t anyone in the UW System been explicit about the fact that state funding will come in the form of tuition increases and taxes that fall disproportionately on low-income residents?
Obviously there are many more questions that could (and I hope will) be asked. But the fact that these questions are not being asked of the proposed public authority by those who are supposed to be advocating for the system, and against the politically motivated interests of our governor and the Republican legislature, should lead us to begin to ask one other question: When will the time come for expressions of no confidence from the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Wisconsin System?
About rgrusin
I am an Academic Entrepreneur and Professor of English at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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REMAKING THE UNIVERS… on Locked Out of Chapman Hall; or…
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Job Announcement: Operations Support Program Director
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Program Management (45%)
Lead the growth and development of the Operations Support program, setting the direction of the program
Represent the program externally, meeting with current and potential new partners and exploring how RVC might partner with them most effectively
Supervise a team of Operations Support Program Managers, ensuring that they are working effectively with our partner organizations and growing professionally
Ensure that RVC’s finance, human resource, and legal systems are efficient and user-friendly, strategically assessing them regularly and making improvements
Track our partners’ growth and development as a result of our capacity building efforts and ensure the program is effective and impactful
Learn from other capacity-builders in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of RVC’s programs
Write about lessons learned and effective approaches, building the capacity-building knowledge of the sector
Operations Support (45%)
Onboard new partner organizations, conducting an organizational assessment to understand their strengths and capacity-building needs and ensuring they have a smooth experience joining the Operations Support Program
Manage financial systems, acting as primary point of contact with our external accounting team, ensuring that all paperwork and reports are high-quality and timely, and coaching partner organizations on their budgets and financial practices
Manage our human resources staff, providing coaching on human resources issues and ensuring we are following best practices
Review grants and contracts and coordinate with our legal team to address and legal/risk issues that may arise
Ensure all legal paperwork, licensing, insurance, and other aspects of organizational operations are properly maintained
Act as the primary point of contact with some of our partner organizations receiving operations support, maintaining a high level of responsiveness and building strong, trusting relationships
General Operations (10%)
Collaborate with staff in making key strategic decisions affecting RVC’s future
Coordinate with staff delivering related programs to our partners
Participate in staff meetings, attend community events, and otherwise contribute to strengthening the deep roots within our community, both internally and externally
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
Experience in senior leadership/management roles in the nonprofit sector (or related area), with an understanding of the challenges faced by leaders of small grassroots nonprofits. Work, volunteer, academic, and other life experience are all acceptable
Demonstrated experience (via paid work, volunteer, and/or life experience) in managing various aspects of operations such as finances and human resources
Experience working with communities of color and grassroots organizations, with a nuanced understanding of systemic oppressions
Experience mentoring and supporting leaders in their growth and development
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Able to work some evenings and weekends
High emotional intelligence, able to easily develop deep, trusting relationships with diverse individuals from many different backgrounds
Passion for operations, excited about the nuances of financial management and human resources
Flexibility and adaptability, able to shift communication and consulting styles to fit the needs of a wide range of cultures, people, and organizations
Love of continuous learning, with knowledge of diverse nonprofit capacity-building resources that are relevant to our partners
Highly organized and uses tools efficiently and with consistency
Commitment to our mission and our values of Equity, Integrity, Community, Action, and Transformation
Humble, knowing when to ask for help and advice from others
A great sense of humor!
This is a full-time, exempt position paying $60,000-75,000. Salary offer will be dependent on experience.
We believe in work-life balance, and are committed to keeping the workload in alignment with the true hours worked.
We provide 23 days of Paid Time Off, 11 paid holidays, and a flexible, family-friendly schedule.
We provide medical (zero-deductible HMO and PPO options), dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, life, and AD&D insurance, with RVC covering over 90% of the costs of the insurance package.
OUR HIRING PROCESS & TIMELINE:
We will continue to review applications on a rolling basis until the position has been filled.
We will begin in-person one-hour interviews in January.
Finalists will be invited to a second-round one-hour interview, at which point we will ask for two work samples relevant to this position, e.g. a process you created, a report you wrote, or other relevant materials.
We would like to have the selected candidate start in February.
In light of the current political climate, the need to invest in communities-of-color-led nonprofits is more urgent than ever. Due to a historic lack of investment in this sector, communities of color are unable to fully participate in civic engagement and advocacy around critical areas such as environmental justice and education equity. Without the involvement of the communities most affected by injustice, policies and practices are often ineffective. Recognizing these challenges, Rainier Valley Corps was formed in 2014. We focused on the lack of staff capacity and launched a fellowship program where cohorts of talented leaders are recruited, trained by RVC, provided a living-wage salary and healthcare, and placed at grassroots organizations led by communities of color, with the goal of helping these organizations develop their capacity. RVC then moved from a single leadership program toward a holistic capacity building model focused on organizations led by communities of color. This new model combines our existing fellowship with four new core capacity-building areas: operations support, capacity-building coaching, partnership fundraising, and collaboration. We believe that the combination of these strategies will unlock the potential of communities of color to mobilize, shape policies, and respond to the current political climate. RVC works in partnership with a variety of communities-of-color-led organizations in Rainier Valley, including Got Green, Puget Sound Sage, Geeking Out Kids of Color, Somali Doulas, MarketShare, Ethiopian Community in Seattle, Powerful Voices, East African Community Services, Families of Color Seattle, Rainier Beach Action Coalition, Voices of Tomorrow, and AGE UP. As RVC grows, we need a passionate Operations Support Program Director who can work with the rest of the team to shape the future of our organization. This is a great opportunity for someone who wants not just a job, but also an opportunity to empower communities of color and cultivate the next generation of leaders. Plus, we’re right in the middle of Columbia City, and it’s awesome here, with diverse restaurants, bars, and shops. And the team is ridiculously dedicated to the mission and fun to work with. It helps that we have the best snacks. RVC is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, especially those from Southeast Seattle, are strongly encouraged to apply.
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Home » Television Magazine » May 2015
Why film is a good fit for the BBC
As her unit marks its 25th anniversary, Head of BBC Films Christine Langan tells Steve Clarke that the corporation is more serious than ever about backing British movies
Christine Langan (Credit: BBC)
Everyone knows that BBC drama is either near or at the top of its game. But what of BBC Films, the broadcaster's infinitely poorer and sometimes neglected cousin?
For the past six years, BBC Films has been led by Christine Langan, a one-time Granada script editor who went on to win acclaim within ITV and beyond.
Langan produced the hugely influential drama series Cold Feet, a show envied by the BBC. Her reputation for identifying high-quality content was enhanced further when she produced two award-winning films that told us insightful things about New Labour: The Deal and the Oscar-nominated The Queen. Both were scripted by the matchless Peter Morgan.
Nowadays, she is overseeing a BBC Films that is punching above its weight more than ever. Remarkably, the outfit will be involved in the release of 15 movies this year. Each of them is partly funded by her total editorial budget of around £9.6m. She also pays for script development.
Latterly, some of the UK's most successful films have reached the silver screen thanks to her. Think of Saving Mr Banks, Philomena and Quartet, all strong performers globally and at home, or Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie and Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, big domestic box-office hits.
In return for the investment, the productions receive exclusive TV premieres on BBC TV channels following their cinema showcase.
Earlier this year, BBC Films, which marks its 25th anniversary this month, was given a special Bafta award for its outstanding contribution to British cinema.
This was the same award that went to Film4's Tessa Ross in 2013. Coincidentally, Langan once worked for Ross.
Langan is softly spoken and eternally affable, but not easily deterred. Her golden smile might crack even Vladimir Putin's iciness.
"Nowadays, there aren't enough really good executives working at broadcasters," says her former Granada boss Andy Harries, CEO of Left Bank Pictures. "A lot of them have left to become independents, but Christine is one of the best. The BBC is incredibly lucky to have her.
"She is a proper, proper producer, a great enabler. Christine never raises her voice but she is absolutely undaunted. Who else at the BBC can handle Harvey Weinstein? She should be given a bigger role."
For now, Langan, who joined BBC Films in 2006 to work as an executive producer for her predecessor, David Thompson, appears more than content with her lot.
Both Director-General Tony Hall and Director of Television Danny Cohen are genuinely engaged by BBC Films, she stresses. She no longer feels she is sometimes working in "a vacuum".
"We have never been so absorbed into the family of the BBC," insists Langan. "Under Mark [Thompson], it just wasn't a priority, but Tony is the kind of DG who, from day one, has taken a very specific interest in every area of what the BBC does."
Hall has even managed to fit in a set visit to one of Langan's productions, a location trip to A Little Chaos, a period drama starring Alan Rickman as Louis XIV
Nevertheless, some film people see Langan as fighting an uphill battle against widespread ignorance in the BBC about the movie business.
"The hardest thing about Christine's job is that hardly anyone else at the BBC understands a thing about feature films," opines a seasoned observer of the film business.
Inevitably, money remains tight. Since 2010, Langan's budget has been slashed by £1m. She points out that Film4's editorial budget is around 50% bigger than that of BBC Films.
"We make the money go a very long way, but I could do with more... We need to explore other forms of funding, such as Worldwide..."
Later in our conversation, she adds: "I would like the funding to be greater. I am not talking about five times as much but 50% more would be such a sea change and make a huge difference to what we can do."
As part of the Delivering Quality First review, BBC Films' overhead was reduced. The department used to employ 17 people. Now it is down to 13. No one can rule out further cuts when the next licence fee is set.
Indeed, sceptics have questioned whether the BBC should be in such a risky, financially complex and precarious activity as film-making at all. "That would be a very reasonable, understandable question," offers Langan. "I have no qualms whatsoever in suggesting that we are providing transparent value for money for our viewers.
"Once we take delivery of a film for the channels, all in all, we've probably paid less for a very high-quality production lasting 90 minutes to two hours, often containing the best of British talent, than a piece of peak-time TV drama. And we can repeat those movies for free. We get great terms."
The films that she commissions are strong on period drama, literary fiction and comedy. Some, of course, such as the new Horrible Histories-inspired Bill (a comedy adventure based on "Shakespeare's lost years"), are derived from the hit BBC TV series.
This month saw the release of a new version of Far From the Madding Crowd, starring Carey Mulligan. Upcoming is Armando Iannucci's take on David Copperfield and Ricky Gervais's David Brent film, Life on the Road.
Pride (Credit: BBC)
Three feature-length documentaries are also being made. Their subjects are the record-breaking jockey AP McCoy, the enigmatic singer Grace Jones and the youngest-ever Royal Ballet star, Sergei Polunin.
"If it is hard to define BBC Films, it is because it is many things," suggests Langan. "There are a lot of true stories in what we do, brave stories of what it is to be human. What it is to push yourself hard and survive. At the end of the day, we're just looking for compelling stories."
Can she single out any movies made on her watch that she is particularly proud of? "It's an invidious thing to have to do because I am very attached to all of them. You have different feelings around different genres, obviously.
"I always find In the Loop subversive and entertaining. I adore Philomena, which I think shows us at our best."
Why? "When Gaby Tana [the producer] talked to me about it, it seemed to me that Steve Coogan wanted to produce this story with her.
"The more we talked, the more apparent it was that he should write it. I think I helped to encourage him. He didn't feel able to write it alone. He wanted a partner and I introduced him to [screenwriter] Jeff Pope.
"That became a very strong collaboration. I hope that's the kind of thing that BBC Films can do – make introductions and be a creative hub and put people together.
She continues: "I think we probably had a similar feeling around Philomena to that around The Queen [both were directed by Stephen Frears]. That it was quite special. And, in its own way, it did make waves. The Irish authorities ended up opening records previously closed to the public. People reached out and found relatives that they needed to know about."
Langan acknowledges that "hits are very hard to pull off. You need everything to align. You just keep plugging away. There are films that haven't performed very well at the box office, but where I've had personal feedback that is very encouraging."
She accepts that there is a case for BBC Films doing more challenging movies: "I would like to find edgier projects. That is an area for us to work on, but it is a full complement. There is a lot to find and fund."
Is it true that horror films are a no-go zone for BBC Films? "Psychological thrillers are great news," she says. "I am all ears for that kind of thing. We've just got a very low-budget film written and directed by David Farr [a writer on Spooks]; really chilling, creepy and zeitgeisty.
I think some of the audience thought, 'Pride is a gay film, so it's not for me.'
"It is all about the quality of ideas. If it is a violent heist and the characters are a bit stereotyped, then I am not that interested.
"Horror tends to be a very commercial genre that is well taken care of elsewhere."
Among the recent box-office also-rans were a version of Great Expectations, directed by Mike Newell, and another Dickens-inspired movie, The Invisible Woman, focused on the life of the novelist's mistress, Nelly Ternan.
While critics loved last year's feel-good feast that was Pride, a story of how the gay community raised money to support the 1984-85 miners' strike, it didn't draw in cinema audiences across the UK.
Says Langan: "I don't know how to say this delicately, but I think some of the audience thought, 'It's a gay film, so it's not for me.' I guess the fact that it was called Pride made that pretty plain. Once they see the film, audiences love it.
"Outside London and the South East, it was quite hard to get them in. I will be interested to see how it does on TV. It could do really well."
Langan comes from a blue-collar, Irish immigrant family. She was raised in Tottenham, north London.
Despite going to Cambridge (courtesy of a grammar school education), gaining a foothold in broadcasting was difficult.
"I couldn't find a way in. I mistakenly ended up working for a business writing company because they'd said something about corporate video scripts."
She then got a job as a copywriter at an ad agency. "At the same time, I was trying continually to get into film," Langan recalls. "That's what I loved. But I didn't have any contacts and I didn't want to be a runner."
Gradually, her facility as a wordsmith led to work assessing film scripts. Her first break was being employed by film-funding body British Screen as Tessa Ross's assistant.
"It was brilliant working for her. The British film industry wasn't as big or as successful as it is now. She was funding development.
"Tessa was very generous in letting me read things and having me sit in on meetings."
Script editing for Granada in Manchester (initially for daytime soap Families) came next. Langan had found her niche.
Her aptitude for working with writers has helped drive her career forward. Coincidentally, perhaps, Langan's partner is the TV scriptwriter Christian Spurrier. His credits include Spooks and Silent Witness.
"Writers are sometimes abused," says Langan. "Or they are paranoid. They are very sensitive people who do a very difficult job. They need to be sensitive to come up with the goods.
"Sometimes, in film, they can be slightly eclipsed by the needs of production or the director, or they don't see eye to eye. So there are often things that you have to resolve or finesse."
She admits that her job requires endless diplomacy: "At times, that is tiring. It's part and parcel of the business. I would say that I am working for a very fair-minded organisation. I am not here to be Cruella de Vil. It's not the ferociously aggressive, cutting edge of the commercial world. The BBC is a bigger project than that."
What, then, of Film4's apparently higher profile? There is no sense that she is envious of Film4's success and carefully acquired reputation for risk taking
"Channel 4 has brilliant marketing," Langan acknowledges. "There is a Film4 television channel. That automatically puts you in a different place.
"It's a smaller bull's eye, in a way, because it's about provocation and edge and purely film-makers.
"Tessa's MO was all about bringing film-makers on at all costs. We want to bring film-makers on but we are also very mindful of BBC TV audiences."
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Single writer or showrunner: what's the best way to succeed in drama?
How to be the best researcher
Armando Iannucci on his 20 years at the top
Is television eating itself?
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You searched for: Contributor Hennepin County Library Remove constraint Contributor: Hennepin County Library Subject Headings Libraries Remove constraint Subject Headings: Libraries Subject Headings Public Libraries Remove constraint Subject Headings: Public Libraries
1. Art Department, Central Library, Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Patrons using stereoscope viewers in the Art Department of Minneapolis Public Library's original Central Library.
Miss Todd in the Art Department of Minneapolis Public Library's original Central Library.
The Art Department in Minneapolis Public Library's original Central Library.
Mrs. Mary Wyatt and another woman view art prints in the Art Department of Minneapolis Public Library's original Central Library.
"Mrs. Margaret A. Norton, 1912 Lyndale Avenue South, is pictured coloring slides in the Minneapolis Public Library Art Department. Making and coloring of slides is now part of the library WPA project. WPA workers have made 7,500 slides in recent years. In 1938, the lilbrary circulated 106,729 slides free."
Kammerdiener, J. H.
"Art Department of the Minneapolis Public Library, Dec. 13, 1926. Before the Music Department was moved from the front room. Leonora Mann (left) and Ruth Thompson (right) at the charging desk. Phot made by J.H. Kammerdiener and given by him to the Minneapolis Collection, April 1942."
Sifford, Bruce
A patron looking at slides in the Art Department in Minneapolis Public Library's original Central Library.
8. Augsburg Park Library, Hennepin County Library, Richfield, Minnesota
Exterior view of Augsburg Park Library which has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
Slides (photographs)
Augsburg Park Library has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
10. Augsburg Park Library, Hennepin County Library, Richfield, Minnesota
A seating area in Augsburg Park Library which has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
The Augsburg Park Library at 7100 Nicollet Avenue South, Richfield, Minnesota, opened in February of 1975. Following the purchase of 2.8 acres of land by Hennepin County from the City of Richfield for $99,500, InterDesign, Inc. was chosen as the architect and the Henry O. Mikkelson Company as the builder. The new building was two and a half times larger than its predecessor, the Richfield Library at 70th Street and NIcollet Avenue.
Exterior view of the Augsburg Park Library. The Augsburg Park Library has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
Circulation desk of the Augsburg Park Library. The Augsburg Park Library has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
Reading chairs in the Augsburg Park Library. The Augsburg Park Library has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
Information desk in the Augsburg Park Library. The Augsburg Park Library has provided service in its current location since 1975. It is named after the park in which it is located. The library serves the Richfield community and residents of nearby Minneapolis. The library was renovated in 1988 and again in 2013.
18. Bloomington Public Library, Hennepin County Library, Bloomington, Minnesota
Patrons browsing in the first Bloomington Public Library, located at 98th St. & Nicollet Avenue.
Patrons reading at a table first Bloomington Public Library, located at 98th St. & Nicollet Avenue.
Exterior view of the first Bloomington Public Library, located at 98th St. and Nicollet Avenue.
23. Book binding machine, Central Library, Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota
A clipping taped to the back reads, "Students visit the book bindery. Mrs. Zoe Oberg, at machine, demonstrates repair work to Roy Holmquist, Wesley Rust, Dorothy Risser and Marlene Cihlar."
24. Bookmobile Branch, Minneapolis Public Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Patrons enter and exit the Minneapolis Public Library Bookmobile.
25. Bookmobile, Hennepin County Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota
"This 1962 Hennepin County Library Bookmobile, one of two serving the 500 square mile area of rural and suburban Hennepin County, replaces a 1950 bookmobile. Carring 3000 volumes, it travels 1000 miles a month, serving over 6000 families, supplementing services of 23 county branch libraries."
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more Physical Format »
City of Minneapolis
Hennepin County Public Library
City of Edina
City of Bloomington
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Bookmobiles
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Tag Archives: Touring
National Cycle Route 81: Welshpool to Aberystwyth
Route 81 of the National Cycle Network runs between Wolverhampton and Aberystwyth. I was touring in Mid Wales when I happened upon a Route 81 sign in Welshpool. Since I had no precise plan of where to go next, I decided to follow the route and see where it would take me. It turned out I wouldn’t regret it.
The route on a map
0 miles From Welshpool rail station, the route briefly follows the Montgomery Canal in a southerly direction. In the absence of a towpath, there is a short section on the A458 ending in a slightly tricky right turn towards Powis Castle. Leaving the canal behind, it’s immediately uphill; a taste of what’s to come.
1 mile Throughout the 15 miles between Welshpool and Newtown the route is impeccably signposted, following quiet roads that dip in and out of the valleys of various Severn tributaries, before eventually joining the river itself. The traverse of Newtown is virtually car-free with the route leaving the B4389 just after Aberbechan to follow towpaths and footpaths for several miles, staying close to the river Severn. Needless to say that this section is slow, as paths are shared with pedestrians most of the way through Newtown.
17 miles As the route exits the riverside park, there is scope for confusion as the signposting here isn’t watertight. I ended up missing a left turn, off the A489, and turned to Google Maps when I got to a big roundabout with no familiar signs. Leaving Newtown beh ind, the route continues on narrow, quiet roads, climbing out of the Severn valley to the oddly named hamlet of Stepaside. From here, the scenic quality is a step up, as is the effort required to cycle up a long and rather steep hill. In the absence of Route 81 signs, I occasionally wondered if I was still on course, which was only confirmed two miles and seven side roads later. The long climb is followed by an exhilarating descent that features an actual hairpin bend. Caution required throughout, as one cannot see very far ahead on this narrow road.
24 miles At Caersws the route briefly checks in with the populated world – an A-road, a shop and a pub, a railway station – before heading off into tranquil countryside again. The narrow road leads over a series of short, steep hills before re-joining the Severn river in the pretty town of Llanidloes. It’s easy to miss some of the signs here – cyclists should make a sharp right turn in the town centre and aim for the old bridge over the Severn, not continue straight on as I did.
34 miles After crossing the Severn one final time, the road goes up and up again to the highest point so far, then down abruptly into the village of Llangurig. Here, it crosses the busy A44 to then team up with the River Wye, which it accompanies for ten very scenic miles. The road does not stay level with the river, but gently rises and falls, offering fantastic views over the deep valley. A few miles into this road, it seems to end in a private farmyard, with a gate blocking the way and no Route 81 signage to help out. Luckily for me, there was a lady at the first farm who clarified that the cycle route passes through their property, and that cyclists are welcome to operate the gates to continue their way. There are another four or five gates over the next few miles, then the route brushes the town of Rhayader, before dramatically changing character.
45 miles From Rhayader, the route coincides with the Elan Valley Trail for about nine miles, and for much of that distance it runs on the disused Elan Valley Railway track. The track is shar ed with pedestrians rather than cars and the surface varies: some sections are unpaved. The change of landscape past Elan Village is sudden: the track now finds itself between a steep rock face and a deep valley, while it continues to climb at a gentle rate. Soon enough, the first of the victorian dams appears and the valley abruptly turns into a lake – the Caban-coch Reservoir. Two more dams and two more reservoirs lie ahead and the track continues to climb ever so slightly, lined with wildflowers for some of the way.
55 miles At the third and final dam, Route 81 becomes a tarmac road again, going across the dam, then northbound, a sign indicating ‘Aberystwyth – via mountain road’. It has climbed its way out of the Elan Valley and now a broad panorama of bare green hills opens itself. There is a very steep descent followed by a short steep climb where the road crosses the river Elan again – only a modest mountain stream here. Then, the route enters what must be one of Wales’ emptiest valleys.
60 miles Over the next six miles, there are perhaps three dwellings that can be seen from the road – otherwise there are just hills and sheep, with the rugged stream giving the shallow valley a Nordic feel. The persistent absence of Route 81 signs further exacerbates the feeling that I have come to the end of the world. But only temporarily, as I find out when rounding the pass between the Elan Valley and the Ystwyth Valley, which tops at 406 metres, the highest point on the route.
64 miles It is a long and beautiful descent into the valley of the River Ystwyth, a much deeper and narrower valley than the one I have just left behind. The road stays level with the river for a couple of miles, then climbs again. At a fork in the road, shortly after Cwmystwyth, the route departs from the main road and descends into woodland, using a gravel track. Signage is lacking in much of the wood section, although the various paths seem to all eventually lead to the same road, which if taken in the right (westerly) direction becomes Route 81 again.
73 miles Pont-rhyd-y-groes is the first village with amenities since Rhayader 25 miles ago. Exiting the village, the route continues to follow the River Ystwysth, crossing some dense forest with hillsides covered in ferns and tiny streams channeling the day’s rain towards the river below. This must be close to what a non-tropical rainforest looks like. After about three miles, the route very briefly joins the B4340. While the B-road departs from the ri ver and disappears uphill, the route takes a right turn onto a path that ends at a stream. The route goes over a small wooden bridge into a wood, which is home to the trickiest off-road section.
79 miles Immediately after crossing the stream, the route follows an extremely narrow unpaved path, which climbs at a decent rate. The path can be muddy, somewhat overgrown with bramble, with no firm ground on either side of it. While it may be great for mountain biking, other cyclists may struggle, like I did, to stay on their bike as they negotiate this track. I am pleased that my struggle is uphill, as riding my packed touring bike down this path would have been asking for trouble. Anyway, it’s only a short interruption, as this path leads to the disused Great Western Railway track, a broad and straight path through the woods – unpaved though.
80 miles For the next few miles, the route alternates between the old railway track and quiet local roads. Occasionally there are gates to be negotiated, including one at the bottom of an off-road downhill. The last section of the route is very well signposted (it coincides with the EU-funded Ystwyth Trail here) and only intersects an A-road at Llanfarian. The final miles, between Llanfarian and Aberystwyth, take the route over beautifully paved car-free paths, to the end of the Ystwyth Valley, then briefly along the sea. When this privilege finally ends, Aberystwyth rail station is already in sight.
I cycled from Welshpool to Aberystwyth between 17 and 19 August 2015 on a Koga Randonneur touring bike with two sets of panniers and a lightweight tent. I camped in Caersws and in Cwmystwyth. Weather was sunny and warm on 17 and 18 August; heavy rain on 19 August.
The total distance of this section of Route 81 is 90 miles (144km). The total elevation gain is approximately 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). The route uses unpaved roads and tracks on numerous occasions, sometimes for a considerable distance.
While there are frequent opportunities for eating, drinking and camping between Welshpool and Rhayader, facilities along the route between Rhayader and Pont-rhyd-y-groes are scarce. There is a campsite in Cwmystwyth but it has no shop or cafe.
Posted in Blog, Cycling, Leisure
Tagged Aberystwyth, cycling, Elan Valley, Guide, National Cycle Network, NCN 81, Newtown, Review, Rhayader, Route 81, Severn, Touring, Wales, Welshpool, Wye, Ystwyth
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Rio Thursdays
Marg Mob
Interested in joining the Rio team?
The Rio is always on the hunt for good, smart, dedicated people to join their family. With a number of employees with over 30-year runs, it’s a place where careers grow and people truly love what they do. Feel free to ask around.
See what our employees are saying about working for the Rio!
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Public Safety Logs — July 8, 2019
Mutual aid log To report an emergency: 911 Sunday 1:49 p.m. Clark Mills and COCVAC Ambulance, accident. 3:49 p.m. Cleveland and Sylvan Beach, Vienna, water rescue. 4:25 p.m. Forestport and STaR …
Mutual aid log
To report an emergency: 911
1:49 p.m. Clark Mills and COCVAC Ambulance, accident.
3:49 p.m. Cleveland and Sylvan Beach, Vienna, water rescue.
4:25 p.m. Forestport and STaR Ambulance, State Route 28, motor vehicle accident/injury.
8:32 p.m. Boonville, tree down.
8:59 p.m. Sherrill, Peterboro Road, Vernon, grass/tree fire.
Sheriff’s log
12:09 a.m. State Route 31,
Verona, car/deer.
Western, burglary.
12:57 a.m. Western, domestic.
1 a.m. 16th Ave., Sylvan Beach, domestic incident.
1:27 a.m. Sholtz Road, Vernon, animal.
1:42 a.m. Deeley Road, Vienna, aggravated harassment.
2:50 a.m. State Route 274,
Steuben, request to assist.
6:49 a.m. car/deer.
7:47 a.m. Pines Road,
Boonville, abandoned call.
8:13 a.m. Rickmyer Road, Floyd, trespass.
8:19 a.m. Dades Thruway,
Forestport, domestic incident.
9:52 a.m. Annsville, abandoned vehicle.
10:17 a.m. Eaton Road, Marcy, alarm.
10:55 a.m. Park Avenue,
Sylvan Beach, check welfare.
Camden, animal.
11:57 a.m. New Floyd Road, Floyd, motor vehicle accident.
12:16 p.m. White Street, Sangerfield, mischief.
12:53 p.m. Elpis Road, Vienna, dispute.
12:53 p.m. McConnellsville Road, Vienna, domestic.
1:46 p.m. Harris Road, Lee, alarm.
2:20 p.m. Utica Street,
Oriskany, alarm.
3:22 p.m. Cooper Street,
Vernon, harassment.
3:48 p.m. California Road,
Vienna, check welfare.
4:01 p.m. Kiwanis Road, Lee, motor vehicle accident.
4:02 p.m. State Route 46,
Western, domestic incident.
4:18 p.m. Route 28, accident.
5:07 p.m. Post Street,
Boonville, alarm.
5:29 p.m. Brewer Road,
Camden, check welfare.
6:36 p.m. Senn Road, Verona, request to check welfare.
7:21 p.m. accident.
7:42 p.m. Putnam Street,
Waterville, assist.
8 p.m. Mobile Lane, Sylvan Beach, request to check
welfare.
8:10 p.m. Coal Hill Road,
Annsville, domestic incident.
8:17 p.m. Main St., Annsville, domestic incident.
8:55 p.m. Kilbourne Road, Floyd, check welfare.
9:22 p.m. Schuyler Street, Boonville, harassment.
9:43 p.m. State Route 5,
Westmoreland, car/deer.
9:48 p.m. Rock Road, Verona, dispute.
10:24 p.m. Main Street, Sylvan Beach, request to assist.
10:39 p.m. Rome-Taberg Road, motor vehicle accident.
10:42 p.m. Stone Road, Paris, aggravated harassment.
11:09 p.m. Canal Street,
Sylvan Beach, dispute.
11:15 p.m. Route 26, Lee,
request to check welfare.
11:19 p.m. Mobile Lane, Sylvan Beach, request to assist.
11:27 p.m. Stearns Road, Floyd, domestic incident.
11:44 p.m. Potato Hill Road, Boonville, request to assist.
State police log
1:27 a.m. Shol Road, Vernon, animal.
11:08 a.m. Johnnie Cake Road, Camden, attempt to locate.
11:57 a.m. New Floyd Road, Floyd, accident.
12:46 p.m. Taberg-Florence Road, Florence, attempt to locate.
12:53 p.m. Elpis Road, dispute.
3:32 p.m. Railroad St., Camden, trespass.
4:18 p.m. Route 28, Forestport, motor vehicle accident.
Waterville, request to assist.
8 p.m. Mobile Lane, Sylvan Beach, check welfare.
9:26 p.m. Main Street, Sylvan Beach, suspicious activity.
10:39 p.m. accident.
11:19 p.m. Mobile Lane,
Sylvan Beach, request to assist.
Fire log
12:26 a.m. W. Fox St., first aid.
1:53 a.m. Ridge St., first aid.
8:16 am Old Oneida Rd, first aid
8:29 a.m. Floyd Ave., first aid.
11:43 a.m. N. Madison, first aid.
12:45 p.m. N. Madison, first aid.
2:47 p.m. Black River, first aid.
3:30 p.m. Kossuth St., first aid.
3:46 p.m. Rose Lane, request
to investigate.
8:18 p.m. N. James St., first aid.
8:29 p.m. N. Levitt St., first aid.
9:18 p.m. Nock St., investigate.
12:15 a.m. South James St., peace officer.
12:20 a.m. North Washington St., domestic incident.
12:21 a.m. Genesee Place, request to check welfare.
12:26 a.m. Lawrence Street, request to investigate.
1:22 a.m. Craig St., domestic.
1:57 a.m. Ridge St., overdose.
2:06 a.m. Erie Blvd. W, larceny.
2:35 a.m. Park Drive, fight.
7:08 a.m. N. Madison, domestic.
8:13 am E. Bloomfield, burglary
9:24 am Park Drive, investigate
11:06 a.m. N. James, domestic.
11:15 a.m. Phoenix Dr, alarm.
12:18 p.m. Black River Blvd., abandoned call.
12:59 p.m. River St., request for peace officer.
2:41 p.m. Broadway, alarm.
2:47 p.m. Black River, overdose
2:50 p.m. Kossuth St., juvenile.
2:55 p.m. East Dominick Street, request for peace officer.
3:30 p.m. Kossuth St., assist.
3:33 p.m. East Bloomfield Street, property found.
3:59 p.m. Black River., larceny.
4 p.m. Erie Blvd. W, harassment
4:08 p.m. East Bloomfield St., request for peace officer.
4:17 p.m. Myrtle St, welfare.
9:13 p.m. North George Street, report of suspicious activity.
9:14 p.m. River Street,
abandoned call.
9:37 p.m. Bissell Ave., animal.
10:05 p.m. North James Street, report of suspicious activity.
10:56 p.m. North James Street, harassment.
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Mayer writes: "Last month, when President Donald Trump toured a Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, he saw a familiar face in the crowd that greeted him: Patrick Caddell, a former Democratic political operative and pollster who, for forty-five years, has been prodding insurgent Presidential candidates to attack the Washington establishment."
Robert Mercer. (photo: Bloomberg)
Trump's Money Man
By Jane Mayer, The New Yorker
18 March 17
The reclusive hedge-fund tycoon behind the Trump presidency. How Robert Mercer exploited America's populist insurgency.
ast month, when President Donald Trump toured a Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, he saw a familiar face in the crowd that greeted him: Patrick Caddell, a former Democratic political operative and pollster who, for forty-five years, has been prodding insurgent Presidential candidates to attack the Washington establishment. Caddell, who lives in Charleston, is perhaps best known for helping Jimmy Carter win the 1976 Presidential race. He is also remembered for having collaborated with his friend Warren Beatty on the 1998 satire “Bulworth.” In that film, a kamikaze candidate abandons the usual talking points and excoriates both the major political parties and the media; voters love his unconventionality, and he becomes improbably popular. If the plot sounds familiar, there’s a reason: in recent years, Caddell has offered political advice to Trump. He has not worked directly for the President, but at least as far back as 2013 he has been a contractor for one of Trump’s biggest financial backers: Robert Mercer, a reclusive Long Island hedge-fund manager, who has become a major force behind the Trump Presidency.
During the past decade, Mercer, who is seventy, has funded an array of political projects that helped pave the way for Trump’s rise. Among these efforts was public-opinion research, conducted by Caddell, showing that political conditions in America were increasingly ripe for an outsider candidate to take the White House. Caddell told me that Mercer “is a libertarian—he despises the Republican establishment,” and added, “He thinks that the leaders are corrupt crooks, and that they’ve ruined the country.”
Trump greeted Caddell warmly in North Charleston, and after giving a speech he conferred privately with him, in an area reserved for V.I.P.s and for White House officials, including Stephen Bannon, the President’s top strategist, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Caddell is well known to this inner circle. He first met Trump in the eighties. (“People said he was just a clown,” Caddell said. “But I’ve learned that you should always pay attention to successful ‘clowns.’ ”) Caddell shared the research he did for Mercer with Trump and others in the campaign, including Bannon, with whom he has partnered on numerous projects.
The White House declined to divulge what Trump and Caddell discussed in North Charleston, as did Caddell. But that afternoon Trump issued perhaps the most incendiary statement of his Presidency: a tweet calling the news media “the enemy of the American people.” The proclamation alarmed liberals and conservatives alike. William McRaven, the retired Navy admiral who commanded the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, called Trump’s statement a “threat to democracy.” The President is known for tweeting impulsively, but in this case his words weren’t spontaneous: they clearly echoed the thinking of Caddell, Bannon, and Mercer. In 2012, Caddell gave a speech at a conference sponsored by Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog group, in which he called the media “the enemy of the American people.” That declaration was promoted by Breitbart News, a platform for the pro-Trump alt-right, of which Bannon was the executive chairman, before joining the Trump Administration. One of the main stakeholders in Breitbart News is Mercer.
Mercer is the co-C.E.O. of Renaissance Technologies, which is among the most profitable hedge funds in the country. A brilliant computer scientist, he helped transform the financial industry through the innovative use of trading algorithms. But he has never given an interview explaining his political views. Although Mercer has recently become an object of media speculation, Trevor Potter, the president of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, who formerly served as the chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said, “I have no idea what his political views are—they’re unknown, not just to the public but also to most people who’ve been active in politics for the past thirty years.” Potter, a Republican, sees Mercer as emblematic of a major shift in American politics that has occurred since 2010, when the Supreme Court made a controversial ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That ruling, and several subsequent ones, removed virtually all limits on how much money corporations and nonprofit groups can spend on federal elections, and how much individuals can give to political-action committees. Since then, power has tilted away from the two main political parties and toward a tiny group of rich mega-donors.
Private money has long played a big role in American elections. When there were limits on how much a single donor could give, however, it was much harder for an individual to have a decisive impact. Now, Potter said, “a single billionaire can write an eight-figure check and put not just their thumb but their whole hand on the scale—and we often have no idea who they are.” He continued, “Suddenly, a random billionaire can change politics and public policy—to sweep everything else off the table—even if they don’t speak publicly, and even if there’s almost no public awareness of his or her views.”
Through a spokesman, Mercer declined to discuss his role in launching Trump. People who know him say that he is painfully awkward socially, and rarely speaks. “He can barely look you in the eye when he talks,” an acquaintance said. “It’s probably helpful to be highly introverted when getting lost in code, but in politics you have to talk to people, in order to find out how the real world works.” In 2010, when the Wall Street Journal wrote about Mercer assuming a top role at Renaissance, he issued a terse statement: “I’m happy going through my life without saying anything to anybody.” According to the paper, he once told a colleague that he preferred the company of cats to humans.
Several people who have worked with Mercer believe that, despite his oddities, he has had surprising success in aligning the Republican Party, and consequently America, with his personal beliefs, and is now uniquely positioned to exert influence over the Trump Administration. In February, David Magerman, a senior employee at Renaissance, spoke out about what he regards as Mercer’s worrisome influence. Magerman, a Democrat who is a strong supporter of Jewish causes, took particular issue with Mercer’s empowerment of the alt-right, which has included anti-Semitic and white-supremacist voices. Magerman shared his concerns with Mercer, and the conversation escalated into an argument. Magerman told colleagues about it, and, according to an account in the Wall Street Journal, Mercer called Magerman and said, “I hear you’re going around saying I’m a white supremacist. That’s ridiculous.” Magerman insisted to Mercer that he hadn’t used those words, but added, “If what you’re doing is harming the country, then you have to stop.” After the Journal story appeared, Magerman, who has worked at Renaissance for twenty years, was suspended for thirty days. Undaunted, he published an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, accusing Mercer of “effectively buying shares in the candidate.” He warned, “Robert Mercer now owns a sizeable share of the United States Presidency.”
Nick Patterson, a former senior Renaissance employee who is now a computational biologist at the Broad Institute, agrees that Mercer’s influence has been huge. “Bob has used his money very effectively,” he said. “He’s not the first person in history to use money in politics, but in my view Trump wouldn’t be President if not for Bob. It doesn’t get much more effective than that.”
Patterson said that his relationship with Mercer has always been collegial. In 1993, Patterson, at that time a Renaissance executive, recruited Mercer from I.B.M., and they worked together for the next eight years. But Patterson doesn’t share Mercer’s libertarian views, or what he regards as his susceptibility to conspiracy theories about Bill and Hillary Clinton. During Bill Clinton’s Presidency, Patterson recalled, Mercer insisted at a staff luncheon that Clinton had participated in a secret drug-running scheme with the C.I.A. The plot supposedly operated out of an airport in Mena, Arkansas. “Bob told me he believed that the Clintons were involved in murders connected to it,” Patterson said. Two other sources told me that, in recent years, they had heard Mercer claim that the Clintons have had opponents murdered.
The Mena story is one of several dark fantasies put forth in the nineties by The American Spectator, an archconservative magazine. According to Patterson, Mercer read the publication at the time. David Brock, a former Spectator writer who is now a liberal activist, told me that the alleged Mena conspiracy was based on a single dubious source, and was easily disproved by flight records. “It’s extremely telling that Mercer would believe that,” Brock said. “It says something about his conspiratorial frame of mind, and the fringe circle he was in. We at the Spectator called them Clinton Crazies.”
Patterson also recalled Mercer arguing that, during the Gulf War, the U.S. should simply have taken Iraq’s oil, “since it was there.” Trump, too, has said that the U.S. should have “kept the oil.” Expropriating another country’s natural resources is a violation of international law. Another onetime senior employee at Renaissance recalls hearing Mercer downplay the dangers posed by nuclear war. Mercer, speaking of the atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, argued that, outside of the immediate blast zones, the radiation actually made Japanese citizens healthier. The National Academy of Sciences has found no evidence to support this notion. Nevertheless, according to the onetime employee, Mercer, who is a proponent of nuclear power, “was very excited about the idea, and felt that it meant nuclear accidents weren’t such a big deal.”
Mercer strongly supported the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be Trump’s Attorney General. Many civil-rights groups opposed the nomination, pointing out that Sessions has in the past expressed racist views. Mercer, for his part, has argued that the Civil Rights Act, in 1964, was a major mistake. According to the onetime Renaissance employee, Mercer has asserted repeatedly that African-Americans were better off economically before the civil-rights movement. (Few scholars agree.) He has also said that the problem of racism in America is exaggerated. The source said that, not long ago, he heard Mercer proclaim that there are no white racists in America today, only black racists. (Mercer, meanwhile, has supported a super PAC, Black Americans for a Better Future, whose goal is to “get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party.”)
“Most people at Renaissance didn’t challenge him” about politics, Patterson said. But Patterson clashed with him over climate change; Mercer said that concerns about it were overblown. After Patterson shared with him a scientific paper on the subject, Mercer and his brother, Randall, who also worked at the hedge fund, sent him a paper by a scientist named Arthur Robinson, who is a biochemist, not a climate expert. “It looked like a scientific paper, but it was completely loaded with selective and biased information,” Patterson recalled. The paper argued that, if climate change were real, future generations would “enjoy an Earth with far more plant and animal life.” Robinson owns a sheep ranch in Cave Junction, Oregon, and on the property he runs a laboratory that he calls the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Mercer helps subsidize Robinson’s various projects, which include an effort to forestall aging.
Patterson sent Mercer a note calling Robinson’s arguments “completely false.” He never heard back. “I think if you studied Bob’s views of what the ideal state would look like, you’d find that, basically, he wants a system where the state just gets out of the way,” Patterson said. “Climate change poses a problem for that world view, because markets can’t solve it on their own.”
Magerman told the Wall Street Journal that Mercer’s political opinions “show contempt for the social safety net that he doesn’t need, but many Americans do.” He also said that Mercer wants the U.S. government to be “shrunk down to the size of a pinhead.” Several former colleagues of Mercer’s said that his views are akin to Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Magerman told me, “Bob believes that human beings have no inherent value other than how much money they make. A cat has value, he’s said, because it provides pleasure to humans. But if someone is on welfare they have negative value. If he earns a thousand times more than a schoolteacher, then he’s a thousand times more valuable.” Magerman added, “He thinks society is upside down—that government helps the weak people get strong, and makes the strong people weak by taking their money away, through taxes.” He said that this mind-set was typical of “instant billionaires” in finance, who “have no stake in society,” unlike the industrialists of the past, who “built real things.”
Another former high-level Renaissance employee said, “Bob thinks the less government the better. He’s happy if people don’t trust the government. And if the President’s a bozo? He’s fine with that. He wants it to all fall down.”
The 2016 Presidential election posed a challenge for someone with Mercer’s ideology. Multiple sources described him as animated mainly by hatred of Hillary Clinton. But Mercer also distrusted the Republican leadership. After the candidate he initially supported, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, dropped out of the race, Mercer sought a disruptive figure who could upend both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Patterson told me that Mercer seems to have applied “a very Renaissance Technologies way of thinking” to politics: “He probably estimated the probability of Trump winning, and when it wasn’t very high he said to himself, ‘O.K., what has to happen in order for this twenty-per-cent thing to occur?’ It’s like playing a card game when you haven’t got a very good hand.”
Mercer, as it happens, is a superb poker player, and his political gamble appears to have paid off. Institutional Investor has called it “Robert Mercer’s Trade of the Century.”
In the 2016 campaign, Mercer gave $22.5 million in disclosed donations to Republican candidates and to political-action committees. Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who worked for the Trump campaign, said that Mercer had “catapulted to the top of the heap of right-of-center power brokers.” It’s worth noting that several other wealthy financiers, including Democrats such as Thomas Steyer and Donald Sussman, gave even more money to campaigns. (One of the top Democratic donors was James Simons, the retired founder of Renaissance Technologies.) Nevertheless, Mercer’s political efforts stand apart. Adopting the strategy of Charles and David Koch, the billionaire libertarians, Mercer enlarged his impact exponentially by combining short-term campaign spending with long-term ideological investments. He poured millions of dollars into Breitbart News, and—in what David Magerman has called “an extreme example of modern entrepreneurial philanthropy”—made donations to dozens of politically tinged organizations.
Like many wealthy families, the Mercers have a private foundation. At first, the Mercer Family Foundation, which was established in 2004, had an endowment of only half a million dollars, and most of its grants went to medical research and conventional charities. But by 2008, under the supervision of Mercer’s ardently conservative daughter, Rebekah, the foundation began giving millions of dollars to interconnected nonprofit groups, several of which played crucial roles in propagating attacks on Hillary Clinton. By 2015, the most recent year for which federal tax records are available, the foundation had grown into a $24.5-million operation that gave large sums to ultraconservative organizations.
On top of this nonprofit spending, Mercer invested in private businesses. He put ten million dollars into Breitbart News, which was conceived as a conservative counterweight to the Huffington Post. The Web site freely mixes right-wing political commentary with juvenile rants and racist innuendo; under Bannon’s direction, the editors introduced a rubric called Black Crime. The site played a key role in undermining Hillary Clinton; by tracking which negative stories about her got the most clicks and “likes,” the editors helped identify which story lines and phrases were the most potent weapons against her. Breitbart News has been a remarkable success: according to ComScore, a company that measures online traffic, the site attracted 19.2 million unique visitors in October.
Mercer also invested some five million dollars in Cambridge Analytica, a firm that mines online data to reach and influence potential voters. The company has said that it uses secret psychological methods to pinpoint which messages are the most persuasive to individual online viewers. The firm, which is the American affiliate of Strategic Communication Laboratories, in London, has worked for candidates whom Mercer has backed, including Trump. It also reportedly worked on the Brexit campaign, in the United Kingdom.
Alexander Nix, the C.E.O. of the firm, says that it has created “profiles”—consisting of several thousand data points—for two hundred and twenty million Americans. In promotional materials, S.C.L. has claimed to know how to use such data to wage both psychological and political warfare. “Persuading somebody to vote a certain way,” Nix has said publicly, “is really very similar to persuading 14- to 25-year-old boys in Indonesia to not join Al Qaeda.” Some critics suggest that, at this point, Cambridge Analytica’s self-promotion exceeds its effectiveness. But Jonathan Albright, an assistant professor of communications at Elon University, in North Carolina, recently published a paper, on Medium, calling Cambridge Analytica a “propaganda machine.”
As important as Mercer’s business investments is his hiring of advisers. Years before he started supporting Trump, he began funding several conservative activists, including Steve Bannon; as far back as 2012, Bannon was the Mercers’ de-facto political adviser. Some people who have observed the Mercers’ political evolution worry that Bannon has become a Svengali to the whole family, exploiting its political inexperience and tapping its fortune to further his own ambitions. It was Bannon who urged the Mercers to invest in a data-analytics firm. He also encouraged the investment in Breitbart News, which was made through Gravitas Maximus, L.L.C., a front group that once had the same Long Island address as Renaissance Technologies. In an interview, Bannon praised the Mercers’ strategic approach: “The Mercers laid the groundwork for the Trump revolution. Irrefutably, when you look at donors during the past four years, they have had the single biggest impact of anybody, including the Kochs.”
Last summer, Bannon and some other activists whom the Mercers have supported—including David Bossie, who initiated the Citizens United lawsuit—came together to rescue Trump’s wobbly campaign. Sam Nunberg, an early Trump adviser who watched Mercer’s group take over, said, “Mercer was smart. He invested in the right people.”
Bannon and Rebekah Mercer have become particularly close political partners. Last month, when Bannon denounced “the corporatist, globalist media” at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in his first public appearance since entering the White House, Rebekah Mercer was part of his entourage. Bannon supports some initiatives, such as a major infrastructure program, that are anathema to libertarians such as Robert Mercer. But the Wall Street Journal has described Bannon joking and swearing on the deck of the Mercers’ yacht, the Sea Owl, as if he were a member of the family. Bannon assured me that the Mercers, despite all their luxuries, are “the most middle-class people you will ever meet.”
Robert and Diana Mercer brought up their three daughters in a modest home near I.B.M.’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center, in Westchester County. The girls attended public schools, and Robert and Diana worried about paying three college tuitions. According to Donna D’Andraia, a family friend, Diana was a PTA member and a “tiger mom” who “made sure that the girls did all the right things—they were in the honor society, and stayed out of trouble.” D’Andraia recalled Diana saying that Robert was brilliant, but D’Andraia found it hard to tell, because “he was very quiet—he didn’t talk to anybody.”
The eldest Mercer daughter, Jennifer, or Jenji, attended Stanford. Rebekah, the middle daughter, enrolled at Cornell and then transferred to Stanford. Majoring in biology and math, she graduated in 1996; a few years later, she got an M.A., in operations research. The youngest daughter, Heather Sue, “was the spitfire,” D’Andraia recalled. When Heather Sue was a junior in high school, she tried out to be a place kicker on the football team. She made it, and, after enrolling at Duke University, she joined its varsity squad. When the Duke coach refused to treat her as the equal of her male teammates, she sued the school for gender discrimination, and won two million dollars in damages. Ron Santavicca, Heather Sue’s high-school coach, described the Mercers, who still invite him to their Christmas parties, as “the salt of the earth.” He added, “The whole family is very determined. When they have a mission, they go after it.”
In 1993, when Nick Patterson mailed Robert Mercer a job offer from Renaissance, Mercer threw it in the trash: he’d never heard of the hedge fund. At the time, Mercer was part of a team pioneering the use of computers to translate languages. I.B.M. considered the project a bit of a luxury, and didn’t see its potential, though the work laid the foundation for Google Translate and Apple’s Siri. But Mercer and his main partner, Peter Brown, found the project exciting, and had the satisfaction of showing up experts in the field, who had dismissed their statistical approach to translating languages as impractical. Instead of trying to teach a computer linguistic rules, Mercer and Brown downloaded enormous quantities of dual-language documents—including Canadian parliamentary records—and created code that analyzed the data and detected patterns, enabling predictions of probable translations. According to a former I.B.M. colleague, Mercer was obsessive, and at one point took six months off to type into a computer every entry in a Spanish-English dictionary. Sebastian Mallaby, in his 2010 book on the hedge-fund industry, “More Money Than God,” reports that Mercer’s boss at I.B.M. once jokingly called him an “automaton.”
In 2014, Mercer accepted a lifetime-achievement award from the Association for Computational Linguistics. In a speech at the ceremony, Mercer, who grew up in New Mexico, said that he had a “jaundiced view” of government. While in college, he had worked on a military base in Albuquerque, and he had showed his superiors how to run certain computer programs a hundred times faster; instead of saving time and money, the bureaucrats ran a hundred times more equations. He concluded that the goal of government officials was “not so much to get answers as to consume the computer budget.” Mercer’s colleagues say that he views the government as arrogant and inefficient, and believes that individuals need to be self-sufficient, and should not receive aid from the state. Yet, when I.B.M. failed to offer adequate support for Mercer and Brown’s translation project, they secured additional funding from DARPA, the secretive Pentagon program. Despite Mercer’s disdain for “big government,” this funding was essential to his early success.
Meanwhile, Patterson kept asking Mercer and Brown to join Renaissance. He thought that their technique of extracting patterns from huge amounts of data could be applied to the pile of numbers generated daily by the global trade in stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies. The patterns could generate predictive financial models that would give traders a decisive edge.
In the spring of 1993, Mercer experienced two devastating losses: his mother was killed, in a car crash, and his father, a biologist, died six weeks later. With life’s precariousness made painfully clear, and with tuition bills mounting, he decided to leave I.B.M. for a higher-paying job at Renaissance. Brown made the leap, too.
Renaissance was founded by James Simons, a legendary mathematician, in 1982. Simons had run the math department at Stony Brook University, on Long Island, and the hedge fund took a uniquely academic approach to high finance. Andrew Lo, a finance professor at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management, has described it as “the commercial version of the Manhattan Project.” Intensely secretive and filled with people with Ph.D.s, it has been sensationally profitable. Its Medallion Fund, which is open only to the firm’s three hundred or so employees, has averaged returns of almost eighty per cent a year, before fees. Bloomberg News has called the Medallion Fund “perhaps the world’s greatest moneymaking machine.”
In “More Money Than God,” Mallaby, who interviewed Mercer, describes his temperament as that of an “icy cold poker player”; Mercer told him that he could not recall ever having had a nightmare. But Mercer warms up when talking about computers. In the 2014 speech, he recalled the first time he used one, at a science camp, and likened the experience to falling in love. He also spoke of the government lab in New Mexico. “I loved the solitude of the computer lab late at night,” he said. “I loved the air-conditioned smell of the place. I loved the sound of the disks whirring and the printers clacking.” The speech lasted forty minutes—“more than I typically talk in a month,” he noted.
Patterson told me that when Mercer arrived at Renaissance the firm’s equities division was lagging behind other areas, such as futures trading. Mercer and Brown applied their algorithms to equities trading. “It took several years,” Patterson recalled, but the equities group eventually accounted for the largest share of the Medallion Fund’s profits. Mercer and Brown’s code took into account nearly every conceivable predictor of market swings; their secret formula became so valuable that, when a pair of Russian mathematicians at the firm tried to take the recipe elsewhere, the company initiated legal action against them.
Renaissance’s profits were further enhanced by a controversial tax maneuver, which became the subject of a 2014 Senate inquiry. According to Senate investigators, Renaissance had presented countless short-term trades as long-term ones, improperly avoiding some $6.8 billion in taxes. The Senate didn’t allege criminality, but it concluded that Renaissance had committed “abuses.” The I.R.S. demanded payment. (Renaissance defended its practices, and the matter remains contested, leaving a very sensitive material issue pending before the Trump Administration.)
The Medallion Fund made Renaissance employees among the wealthiest people in the country. Forbes estimates that Simons, who has the biggest share, is worth eighteen billion dollars. In 2009, Simons stepped aside, to focus on philanthropy, and named Mercer and Brown co-C.E.O.s. Institutional Investor’s Alpha estimates that, in 2015, Mercer earned a hundred and thirty-five million dollars at Renaissance.
Mercer’s fortune has allowed him and his family to indulge their wildest material fantasies. He and Diana moved into a waterfront estate in Head of the Harbor, a seaside community on Long Island, and called the property Owl’s Nest. Mercer, a gun enthusiast, built a private pistol range there. (He is also a part owner of Centre Firearms, a company that claims to have the country’s largest private cache of machine guns, as well as a weapon that Arnold Schwarzenegger wielded in “The Terminator.”) At Owl’s Nest, Mercer has installed a $2.7-million model-train set in his basement; trains chug through a miniature landscape half the size of a basketball court. The toy train attracted unwanted tabloid headlines, such as “Boo-hoo over 2m Choo-choo,” after Mercer sued the manufacturer for overcharging him. (The case was settled.)
Mercer retains a domestic staff that includes a butler and a physician; both accompany him whenever he travels. But this, too, has sparked bad publicity. In 2013, three members of the household staff sued to recover back wages, claiming that Mercer had failed to pay overtime, as promised, and that he had deducted pay as punishment for poor work. One infraction that Mercer cited as a “demerit” was a failure to replace shampoo bottles that were two-thirds empty. This suit, too, was settled.
Mercer has bought several spectacular yachts, including the Sea Owl, which is two hundred and three feet long. A 2013 photo shows the gates of the Tower Bridge, in London, raised high to allow it to proceed up the Thames. The Sea Owl has a crew of eighteen, and features a hand-carved “tree” that twists through four levels of decks. Designed, in part, as a place where the extended Mercer family can gather, the yacht has many fanciful and didactic touches for the Mercer grandchildren, such as frescoes that allude to the discoveries of Darwin and Newton. There’s a self-playing Steinway, a spa pool, and an elevator.
Mercer has given major credit to his family for the yacht’s special details, telling Boat International that they are “endowed with both exceptionally good taste and exceptionally strong opinions.” The Mercer daughters are indeed forceful. When a Manhattan bakery that the sisters loved, Ruby et Violette, threatened to close, depriving the Mercers of their favorite cookies, they bought it. In a Fox News interview, Heather Sue recalled telling the others, “We are going to buy a bakery!” The Mercers still own the business, although it is now online-only.
After graduating from Duke, Heather Sue began competing in high-stakes poker tournaments; she is admired on the circuit for her cool manner. When Mercer insisted that Heather Sue take a security guard with her, Santavicca said, “they became friends, then they became whatever, and now they’re married, with two beautiful daughters.”
Jenji has a law degree from Georgetown, but she has pursued an interest in horses instead. In 2008, the Mercers bought a horse farm in Wellington, Florida, for $5.9 million. Jenji and Diana regularly attend the Winter Equestrian Festival, in Palm Beach. They are investors in an equestrian center in North Carolina, and have announced plans to open one in Colorado. Diana is also listed as the owner of Equinimity, a horse stable in Florida. According to the stable’s Web site, it specializes in Equine Facilitated Learning, a system that teaches “non-verbal leadership and interpersonal communication skills through non-predatory horse-inspired wisdom.”
Rebekah worked for a few years at Renaissance after graduating from Stanford. A former colleague recalls her as smart but haughty. In 2003, she married a Frenchman, Sylvain Mirochnikoff, who is a managing director of Morgan Stanley. They had four children and bought a twenty-eight-million-dollar property—six apartments joined together—at Trump Place, on the Upper West Side. Now forty-three, she is divorcing Mirochnikoff. She homeschools the children, but in recent years she has become consumed by politics. “She is the First Lady of the alt-right,” Christopher Ruddy, the owner of the conservative outlet Newsmax Media, said. “She’s respected in conservative circles, and clearly Trump has embraced her in a big way.”
Amity Shlaes, the conservative writer and the chair of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, where Rebekah Mercer is a trustee, told me, “In the dull crowds of policy, the Mercers are enchanting firecrackers.” She likened the Mercer sisters to the Schuylers—the high-spirited, witty sisters made famous by the musical “Hamilton.” Shlaes went on, “The Mercers have strong values, they’re kind of funny, and they’re really bright. Their brains are almost too strong.” Rebekah, she noted, supports several think tanks, but grows tired of talk; she “is into action.”
After the Citizens United decision, in 2010, the Mercers were among the first people to take advantage of the opportunity to spend more money on politics. In Oregon, they quietly gave money to a super PAC—an independent campaign-related group that could now take unlimited donations. In New York, reporters discovered that Robert Mercer was the sole donor behind a million-dollar advertising campaign attacking what it described as a plan to build a “Ground Zero Mosque” in Manhattan. The proposed building was neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero. The ads, which were meant to boost a Conservative Party candidate for governor, were condemned as Islamophobic.
In Oregon, the Mercers gave six hundred and forty thousand dollars to a group that attacked Representative Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, with a barrage of negative ads during the final weeks of his 2010 reëlection campaign. This effort also failed—it didn’t help when DeFazio announced that a New York hedge-fund manager and his daughter were meddling in Oregon politics.
Press accounts speculated that Robert Mercer may have targeted DeFazio because DeFazio had proposed a tax on a type of high-volume stock trade that Renaissance frequently made. But several associates of Mercer’s say that the truth is stranger. DeFazio’s Republican opponent was Arthur Robinson—the biochemist, sheep rancher, and climate-change denialist. The Mercers became his devoted supporters after reading Access to Energy, an offbeat scientific newsletter that he writes. The family has given at least $1.6 million in donations to Robinson’s Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. Some of the money was used to buy freezers in which Robinson is storing some fourteen thousand samples of human urine. Robinson has said that, by studying the urine, he will find new ways of extending the human life span.
Robinson holds a degree in chemistry from Caltech, but his work is not respected in most scientific circles. (The Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, has called Robinson an “extremist kook.”) Robinson appears to be the source of Robert Mercer’s sanguine view of nuclear radiation: in 1986, Robinson co-authored a book suggesting that the vast majority of Americans would survive “an all-out atomic attack on the United States.” Robinson’s institute dismisses climate change as a “false religion.” A petition that he organized in 1998 to oppose the Kyoto Protocol, claiming to represent thirty thousand scientists skeptical of global warming, has been criticized as deceptive. The National Academy of Sciences has warned that the petition never appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, though it is printed in “a format that is nearly identical to that of scientific articles.” The petition, however, still circulates online: in the past year, it was the most shared item about climate change on Facebook.
Robinson, who calls himself a “Jesus-plus-nothing-else” Christian, has become a hero to the religious right for homeschooling his six children. Robert and Rebekah Mercer have praised a curriculum that Robinson sells. (An advertisement for it casts doubt on evolution: “No demonstration has ever been made of the process of ‘spontaneous origin of life.’ ”) Robinson has said that the “socialist” agenda of public schools is “evil” and represents “a form of child abuse.”
Even though 2010 was a successful election year for Republicans, the candidates that the Mercers had supported in Oregon and New York both lost decisively. Their investments had achieved nothing. Wealthy political donors sometimes make easy marks for campaign operatives. Patrick Caddell, the former pollster, told me, “These people who get so rich by running businesses get so taken in when it comes to politics. They’re just sheep. The consultants suck it out of them. A lot of them are surrounded by palace guards, but that’s not true of the Mercers.”
By 2011, the Mercers had joined forces with Charles and David Koch, who own Koch Industries, and who have run a powerful political machine for decades. The Mercers attended the Kochs’ semiannual seminars, which provide a structure for right-wing millionaires looking for effective ways to channel their cash. The Mercers admired the savviness of the Kochs’ plan, which called for attendees to pool their contributions in a fund run by Koch operatives. The fund would strategically deploy the money in races across the country, although, at the time, the Kochs’ chief aim was to defeat Barack Obama in 2012. The Kochs will not reveal the identities of their donors, or the size of contributions, but the Mercers reportedly began giving at least a million dollars a year to the Kochs’ fund. Eventually, they contributed more than twenty-five million.
The Mercers also joined the Council for National Policy, which the Times has described as a “little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country.” The Mercers have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The group swears participants to secrecy. But a leaked 2014 roster revealed that it included many people who promoted anti-Clinton conspiracy stories, including Joseph Farah, the editor of WorldNetDaily. The group also brought the Mercers into the orbit of two people who have become key figures in the Trump White House: Kellyanne Conway, who was on the group’s executive committee, and Steve Bannon.
In 2011, the Mercers met Andrew Breitbart, the founder of the fiery news outlet that bears his name, at a conference organized by the Club for Growth, a conservative group. They were so impressed by him that they became interested in investing in his operation. Breitbart, a gleefully offensive provocateur, was the temperamental opposite of Robert Mercer. (In 2010, Breitbart told this magazine, “I like to call someone a raving cunt every now and then, when it’s appropriate, for effect.”) Nevertheless, the Mercers were attracted to Breitbart’s vision of “taking back the culture” by building a media enterprise that could wage information warfare against the mainstream press, empowering what Breitbart called “the silenced majority.”
Breitbart soon introduced the Mercers to Steve Bannon. For a while, Breitbart News operated out of office space that Bannon owned in Santa Monica. A Harvard Business School graduate, Bannon had worked at Goldman Sachs, but he eventually left the world of finance and began making political films. His ambition, apparently, was to become the Michael Moore of the right. In the aughts, he directed polemical documentaries, among them “Fire from the Heartland” and “District of Corruption.” A former associate of Bannon’s in California recalls him as a strategic thinker who was adept at manipulating the media. A voracious reader, he was quick and charming, but, according to the former associate, he had a chip on his shoulder about class. He often spoke of having grown up in a blue-collar Irish Catholic family in Richmond, Virginia, and of having served as a naval officer when he was young. Bannon seemed to feel excluded from the social world of Wall Street peers who had attended prep schools. He had left Goldman Sachs, in 1990, without making partner, and, though he was well off, he had missed out on the gigantic profits that partners had made when the company went public, in 1999.
In 2011, Bannon drafted a business plan for the Mercers that called for them to invest ten million dollars in Breitbart News, in exchange for a large stake. At the time, the Breitbart site was little more than a collection of blogs. The Mercers signed the deal that June, and one of its provisions placed Bannon on the company’s board.
Nine months later, Andrew Breitbart died, at forty-three, of a heart attack, and Bannon became the site’s executive chairman, overseeing its content. The Mercers, meanwhile, became Bannon’s principal patrons. The Washington Post recently published a house-rental lease that Bannon signed in 2013, on which he said that his salary at Breitbart News was seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Under Bannon’s leadership, the Web site expanded dramatically, adding a fleet of full-time writers. It became a new force on the right, boosting extreme insurgents against the G.O.P. establishment, such as David Brat, who, in 2014, took the seat of Eric Cantor, the Virginia congressman. But it also provided a public forum for previously shunned white-nationalist, sexist, and racist voices. One pundit hired by Bannon was Milo Yiannopoulos, who specialized in puerile insults. (He recently resigned from the site, after a video of him lewdly defending pederasty went viral.)
In 2014, Bannon began hosting a radio show that often featured Patrick Caddell, who effectively had been banished by Democratic Party leaders after years of tempestuous campaigns and fallings-out. On the air, Caddell floated dark theories about Hillary Clinton, and often sounded a lot like Bannon, describing “economic nationalism” as the driving force in American politics. Under Barack Obama, he said, America had turned into a “banana republic.”
By 2016, Breitbart News claims, it had the most shared political content on Facebook, giving the Mercers a platform that no other conservative donors could match. Rebekah Mercer is highly engaged with Breitbart’s content. An insider there said, “She reads every story, and calls when there are grammatical errors or typos.” Though she doesn’t dictate a political line to the editors, she often points out areas of coverage that she thinks require more attention. Her views about the Washington establishment, including the Republican leadership, are scathing. “She was at the avant-garde of shuttering both political parties,” the insider at Breitbart said. “She went a long way toward the redefinition of American politics.”
The Mercers’ investment in Breitbart enabled Bannon to promote anti-establishment politicians whom the mainstream media dismissed, including Trump. In 2011, David Bossie, the head of the conservative group Citizens United, introduced Trump to Bannon; at the time, Trump was thinking about running against Obama. Bannon and Trump met at Trump Tower and discussed a possible campaign. Trump decided against the idea, but the two kept in touch, and Bannon gave Trump admiring coverage. Bannon noticed that, when Trump spoke to crowds, people were electrified. Bannon began to think that Trump might be “the one” who could shake up American politics.
“Breitbart gave Trump a big role,” Sam Nunberg, the aide who worked on the early stages of Trump’s campaign, has said. “They gave us an outlet. No one else would. It allowed us to define our narrative and communicate our message. It really started with the birther thing”—Trump’s false claim that Obama was not born an American citizen—“and then immigration, and Iran. Trump was developing his message.” By 2013, Nunberg said, Trump, like others on Breitbart, was “hitting the establishment” by slamming the Republican leadership in Congress, including Paul Ryan. Nunberg added, “It wasn’t like Charlie Rose was asking us on.”
The Mercer Family Foundation kept expanding its political investments. Between 2011 and 2014, it gave nearly eleven million dollars to the Media Research Center, an advocacy group whose “sole mission,” according to its Web site, “is to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media.” The group’s founder, L. Brent Bozell III, is best known for his successful campaign to get CBS sanctioned for showing Janet Jackson’s bared breast during the 2004 Super Bowl broadcast. The Mercers have been among the M.R.C.’s biggest donors, and their money has allowed the group to revamp its news site, and it now claims to reach more than two hundred million Americans a week.
In 2012, the Mercer Family Foundation donated two million dollars to Citizens United, which had trafficked in Clinton hatred for years. During the Clinton Administration, David Bossie, the group’s leader, was a Republican congressional aide, and he was forced to resign after releasing misleading material about a Clinton associate. In 2008, Citizens United released a vitriolic film, “Hillary: The Movie.” Two years ago, after the group received an additional five hundred and fifty thousand dollars from the Mercers’ foundation, it filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding access to Hillary Clinton’s State Department e-mails. When the e-mails were released, her Presidential campaign became mired in negative news stories.
Bannon has often collaborated with Bossie, producing half a dozen films with him. In 2012, Bossie suggested a new joint project: a movie that urged Democrats and independents to abandon Obama in the Presidential election. The film’s approach was influenced by polling work that Patrick Caddell had shared with Bannon. The data suggested that attacking Obama was counterproductive; it was more effective to express “disappointment” in him, by contrasting him with earlier Presidents.
Caddell and Bannon made an unholy alliance, but they had things in common: both men were Irish Catholic sons of the South, scourges to their respective parties, and prone to apocalyptic pronouncements. “We hit it off right away,” Caddell told me. “We’re both revolutionaries.” Bannon was excited by Caddell’s polling research, and he persuaded Citizens United to hire Caddell to convene focus groups of disillusioned Obama supporters. Many of these voters became the central figures of “The Hope & the Change,” an anti-Obama film that Bannon and Citizens United released during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. After Caddell saw the film, he pointed out to Bannon that its opening imitated that of “Triumph of the Will,” the 1935 ode to Hitler, made by the Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Bannon laughed and said, “You’re the only one that caught it!” In both films, a plane flies over a blighted land, as ominous music swells; then clouds in the sky part, auguring a new era. The disappointed voters in the film “seared into me,” Bannon said, the fact that middle-class Americans badly wanted change, and could be lured away from the Democratic Party if they felt that they had been conned.
In 2012, Citizens United’s foundation paid Bannon Strategic Advisors, a consultancy group founded by Bannon, three hundred thousand dollars for what it described to the I.R.S. as “fund-raising” services. Bossie told me that the tax filing must have been made in error: the payment was actually for Bannon’s “film development” work. Charitable groups are barred from spending tax-deductible contributions on partisan politics, yet, as Breitbart News noted at the time, “The Hope & the Change” was a “partisan” film “targeting Democrats” during an election year. Even so, the Mercers took a hefty tax deduction for their two-million-dollar donation to Citizens United.
Bossie told me that “the Mercers are very interested in films.” Indeed, Rebekah Mercer is on the board of the Moving Picture Institute, a conservative group devoted to countering Hollywood liberalism with original online entertainment. Among its recent projects was a cartoon, “Everyone Coughs,” which spread the rumor that Hillary Clinton was mortally ill. The film ended by depicting an animated Clinton literally coughing herself to death.
On Election Night in 2012, the Mercers and other top conservative donors settled into the V.I.P. section of a Republican Party victory celebration, having been assured that their investments would pay off. Obama’s defeat of Mitt Romney particularly infuriated Rebekah Mercer, who concluded that the pollsters, the data crunchers, and the spin doctors were all frauds. Soon afterward, Republican Party officials invited big donors to the University Club, in New York, for a postmortem on the election. Attendees were stunned when Rebekah Mercer “ripped the shit out of them,” a friend of hers told me, adding, “It was really her coming out.” As the Financial Times has reported, from that point on Mercer wanted to know exactly how her donations were being spent, and wanted to invest only in what another friend described as “things that she thinks put lead on the target.”
That year, Rebekah Mercer joined the board of the Government Accountability Institute, a nonprofit group, based in Tallahassee, which Bannon had recently founded. In 2013, the Mercer Family Foundation contributed a million dollars to the institute, and in 2014 it contributed another million. In 2015, it donated $1.7 million, which exceeded the group’s entire budget the previous year. The G.A.I., meanwhile, paid Bannon three hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars during its first four years; it told the I.R.S. that Bannon was working for it thirty hours a week, ostensibly on top of his full-time job running Breitbart News.
The G.A.I. billed itself as a nonpartisan research institute, but in 2015 Bannon told Bloomberg Businessweek that its mission was to dig up dirt on politicians and feed it to the mainstream media. (A G.A.I. staffer called this “weaponizing” information.) The group reportedly hired an expert to comb the Deep Web—sites that don’t show up in standard searches—for incriminating information about its targets. The plan was to exploit the mainstream media’s growing inability to finance investigative reporting by doing it for them. The strategy paid off spectacularly in April, 2015, when the Times ran a front-page article based on the book “Clinton Cash,” a compendium of corruption allegations against the Clintons, which was written by the G.A.I.’s president, the conservative writer Peter Schweizer. (The G.A.I. had given the paper an advance copy.) The book triggered one story after another about Hillary Clinton’s supposed criminality, and became a best-seller. In 2016, a film version, co-produced by Bannon and Rebekah Mercer, débuted at the Cannes Film Festival, as the Mercers’ yacht bobbed offshore.
The G.A.I. also undermined Jeb Bush, the candidate favored by the Republican establishment, with another Schweizer book, “Bush Bucks.” As Bannon put it in a 2015 interview, it depicted Bush as a figure of “grimy, low-energy crony capitalism.”
During this period, the Mercers continued giving money to election campaigns. In 2014, Robert Mercer made a two-and-a-half-million-dollar contribution to the Kochs’ Freedom Partners Action Fund. This exceeded the two-million-dollar contributions of David and Charles Koch, prompting a memorable headline about Mercer from Bloomberg News: “The Man Who Out-koched the Kochs.”
Rebekah Mercer, meanwhile, was growing impatient with the Kochs. She felt that they needed to investigate why their network had failed to defeat Obama in 2012. Instead, the Kochs gathered donors and presented them with more empty rhetoric. Mercer demanded an accounting of what had gone wrong, and when they ignored her she decided to start her own operation. In a further blow, Mercer soured several other top donors on the Kochs.
In 2012, one area in which the Republicans had lagged badly behind the Democrats was in the use of digital analytics. The Mercers decided to finance their own big-data project. In 2014, Michal Kosinski, a researcher in the psychology department at the University of Cambridge, was working in the emerging field of psychometrics, the quantitative study of human characteristics. He learned from a colleague that a British company, Strategic Communication Laboratories, wanted to hire academics to pursue similar research, for commercial purposes. Kosinski had circulated personality tests on Facebook and, in the process, obtained huge amounts of information about users. From this data, algorithms could be fashioned that would predict people’s behavior and anticipate their reactions to other online prompts. Those who took the Facebook quizzes, however, had been promised that the information would be used strictly for academic purposes. Kosinski felt that repurposing it for commercial use was unethical, and possibly illegal. His concerns deepened when he researched S.C.L. He was disturbed to learn that the company specialized in psychological warfare, and in influencing elections. He spurned the chance to work with S.C.L., although his colleague signed a contract with the company.
Kosinski was further disconcerted when he learned that a new American affiliate of S.C.L., Cambridge Analytica—owned principally by an American hedge-fund tycoon named Robert Mercer—was attempting to influence elections in the U.S. Kosinski, who is now an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford’s business school, supports the idea of using psychometric data to “nudge” people toward socially positive behavior, such as voting. But, he told me, “there’s a thin line between convincing people and manipulating them.”
It is unclear if the Mercers have pushed Cambridge Analytica to cross that line. A company spokesman declined to comment for this story. What is clear is that Mercer, having revolutionized the use of data on Wall Street, was eager to accomplish the same feat in the political realm. He screened many data-mining companies before investing, and he chose Cambridge Analytica, in part, because its high concentration of accomplished scientists reminded him of Renaissance Technologies. Rebekah Mercer, too, has been deeply involved in the venture. Cambridge Analytica shares a corporate address in Manhattan with a group she chairs, Reclaim New York, which opposes government spending. (Bannon has reportedly served as a corporate officer for both Reclaim and Cambridge Analytica.)
Political scientists and consultants continue to debate Cambridge Analytica’s record in the 2016 campaign. David Karpf, an assistant professor at George Washington University who studies the political use of data, calls the firm’s claim to have special psychometric powers “a marketing pitch” that’s “untrue.” Karpf worries, though, that the company “could take a very dark turn.” He explained, “What they could do is set up a MoveOn-style operation with a Tea Party-ish list that they could whip up. Typically, lists like that are used to pressure elected officials, but the dangerous thing would be if it was used instead to pressure fellow-citizens. It could encourage vigilantism.” Karpf said of Cambridge Analytica, “There is a maximalist scenario in which we should be terrified to have a tool like this in private hands.”
Cambridge Analytica is not the only data-driven political project that the Mercers have backed. In 2013, at a conservative conference in Palm Beach, an oil tycoon named William Lee Hanley, who had commissioned some polls from Patrick Caddell, asked him to show the data to Mercer and Bannon, who were at the event. The data showed mounting anger toward wealthy élites, who many Americans believed had corrupted the government so that it served only their interests. There was a hunger for a populist Presidential candidate who would run against the major political parties and the ruling class. The data “showed that someone could just walk into this election and sweep it,” Caddell told me. When Mercer saw the numbers, he asked for the polling to be repeated. Caddell got the same results. “It was stunning,” he said. “The country was on the verge of an uprising against its leaders. I just fell over!”
Until Election Day in 2016, Mercer and Hanley—two of the richest men in America—paid Caddell to keep collecting polling data that enabled them to exploit the public’s resentment of élites such as themselves. Caddell’s original goal was to persuade his sponsors to back an independent candidate, but they never did. In 2014, Caddell and two partners went public with what they called the Candidate Smith project, which promoted data suggesting that the public wanted a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” figure—an outsider—as President. During the next year or so, Caddell’s poll numbers tilted more and more away from the establishment. Caddell’s partner Bob Perkins, an advertising executive and a former finance director of the Republican Party, told me, “By then, it was clear there wouldn’t be a third-party candidate. But we thought that a Republican who harnessed the angst had a real chance.” At one point, Caddell tested all the declared Presidential candidates, including Trump, as a possible Mr. Smith. “People didn’t think Trump had the temperament to be President,” Caddell said. “He clearly wasn’t the best Smith, but he was the only Smith. He was the only one with the resources and the name recognition.” As Bernie Sanders’s campaign showed, the populist rebellion wasn’t partisan. Caddell worried, though, that there were dark undertones in the numbers: Americans were increasingly yearning for a “strong man” to fix the country.
Caddell circulated his research to anyone who would listen, and that included people inside the Trump campaign. “Pat Caddell is like an Old Testament prophet,” Bannon said. “He’s been talking about alienation of the voters for twenty-five years, and people didn’t pay attention—but he’s a brilliant guy, and he nailed it.” The political consultant and strategist Roger Stone, who is a longtime Trump confidant, was fascinated by the research, and he forwarded a memo about it to Trump. Caddell said that he spoke with Trump about “some of the data,” but noted, “With Trump, it’s all instinct—he is not exactly a deep-dive thinker.”
Robert Mercer, too, was kept informed. Perkins said, “He just loves the numbers. Most people say, ‘Tell me what you think—don’t show me the numbers.’ But he’s, like, ‘Give me the numbers!’ ”
During the 2016 campaign, as the Mercers considered which Presidential candidate to back, they rejected insiders such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, who they believed couldn’t win. They initially gravitated toward Ted Cruz, in part because he was an outsider in the Senate—loathed by even his Republican peers. During the primaries, the Mercers gave eleven million dollars to a super PAC supporting Cruz, run by Kellyanne Conway. According to Politico, Rebekah Mercer soon “wore out her welcome” with the Cruz campaign by offering withering appraisals of his debate performances. She also insisted that the campaign hire Cambridge Analytica, even though Cruz campaign officials were skeptical of it.
After Cruz dropped out, many Republicans—including Cruz himself—recoiled from Trump. The Mercers, however, joined the Trump camp, and publicly rebuked Cruz, giving a statement to the Times. If Clinton won, the Mercers claimed, she would “repeal both the First and Second Amendments of the Bill of Rights.” Given the stakes, they said, “all hands” were “needed on deck” in order to insure a Trump victory. Cruz, they noted, had “chosen to stay in his bunk below.”
The Mercers redirected their Cruz super PAC to support Trump, and gave two million dollars to it. According to one Trump adviser, there were strings attached to the donation. He says that, two weeks before Cruz dropped out, Bannon urged the Trump campaign to talk to Alexander Nix, Cambridge Analytica’s C.E.O., about hiring the company. (The previous year, the Trump campaign had rebuffed a pitch from the firm.) The adviser said that Nix followed up and offered cash inducements, in the form of a “finder’s fee,” to a Trump operative. (A Cambridge Analytica spokesman denied that this occurred.) Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager at the time, said that he knew nothing of Nix’s cash offer but gave Cambridge Analytica a limited contract, though he didn’t see the need, in deference to the Mercers.
Later that summer, Manafort was forced to resign, after the press reported his links to Ukrainian oligarchs. In the vacuum, the Mercers soon established control over the Trump campaign. Rebekah Mercer successfully pushed for a staff shakeup that led to the promotions of three people funded by the family: Bannon became the campaign’s C.E.O., Conway its manager, and Bossie its deputy manager. William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard and an adamant Trump opponent, warned, “It’s the merger of the Trump campaign with the kooky right.” But an e-mail that Bannon sent to a friend in 2015, and that was later leaked to the Daily Beast, confirms that the elevation of the Mercers and their operatives was, in many ways, a formality. A year before Bannon joined Trump’s campaign staff, he described himself in the e-mail as Trump’s de-facto “campaign manager,” because of the positive coverage that Breitbart was giving Trump. That coverage had largely been underwritten by the Mercers.
Brendan Fischer, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, said that the Mercers’ financial entanglement with the Trump campaign was “bizarre” and potentially “illegal.” The group has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, which notes that, at the end of the 2016 campaign, the super PAC run by the Mercers paid Glittering Steel—a film-production company that shares an address in Los Angeles with Cambridge Analytica and Breitbart News—two hundred and eighty thousand dollars, supposedly for campaign ads attacking Hillary Clinton. Although Bannon was running Trump’s campaign, Fischer said that it appears to have paid him nothing. Meanwhile, the Mercers’ super PAC made a payment of about five million dollars to Cambridge Analytica, which was incorporated at the same address as Bannon Strategic Advisors. Super PACs are legally required to stay independent of a candidate’s campaign. But, Fischer said, “it raises the possibility of the Mercers subsidizing Steve Bannon’s work for the Trump campaign.”
On December 3rd, the Mercer family hosted a victory celebration at Owl’s Nest—a costume party with a heroes-and-villains theme. Rebekah Mercer welcomed several hundred guests, including Donald Trump. In extemporaneous remarks, Trump thanked the Mercers, saying that they had been “instrumental in bringing some organization” to his campaign. He specifically named Bannon, Conway, and Bossie. Trump then joked that he’d just had the longest conversation of his life with Bob Mercer—and it was just “two words.” A guest at the party told me, “I was looking around the room, and I thought, No doubt about it—the people whom the Mercers invested in, my comrades, are now in charge.”
After the election, Rebekah Mercer was rewarded with a seat on Trump’s transition team. “She basically bought herself a seat,” Fischer said. She had strong feelings about who should be nominated to Cabinet positions and other top government jobs. Not all her ideas were embraced. She unsuccessfully pushed for John Bolton, the hawkish former Ambassador to the United Nations, to be named Secretary of State. So far, her suggestion that Arthur Robinson, the Oregon biochemist, be named the national science adviser has gone nowhere. Like her father, she advocates a return to the gold standard, but as of yet she has failed to get Trump to appoint officials who share this view.
Still, Mercer made her influence felt. Her pick for national-security adviser was Michael Flynn, and Trump chose him for the job. (Flynn lasted only a month, after he lied about having spoken with the Russian Ambassador before taking office.) More important, several people to whom Mercer is very close—including Bannon and Conway—have become some of the most powerful figures in the world.
Rebekah’s father, meanwhile, can no longer be considered a political outsider. David Magerman, in his essay for the Inquirer, notes that Mercer “has surrounded our President with his people, and his people have an outsized influence over the running of our country, simply because Robert Mercer paid for their seats.” He writes, “Everyone has a right to express their views.” But, he adds, “when the government becomes more like a corporation, with the richest 0.001% buying shares and demanding board seats, then we cease to be a representative democracy.” Instead, he warns, “we become an oligarchy.”
A note of caution regarding our comment sections:
For months a stream of media reports have warned of coordinated propaganda efforts targeting political websites based in the U.S., particularly in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
We too were alarmed at the patterns we were, and still are, seeing. It is clear that the provocateurs are far more savvy, disciplined, and purposeful than anything we have ever experienced before.
It is also clear that we still have elements of the same activity in our article discussion forums at this time.
We have hosted and encouraged reader expression since the turn of the century. The comments of our readers are the most vibrant, best-used interactive feature at Reader Supported News. Accordingly, we are strongly resistant to interrupting those services.
It is, however, important to note that in all likelihood hardened operatives are attempting to shape the dialog our community seeks to engage in.
Adapt and overcome.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
+44 # ddd-rrr 2017-03-18 14:01
YIKES! What an article! Thanks, M. A., for putting this on RSN!
It does appear that with a mix of the possession of huge amounts
of money, great cleverness and skill in some fields, an overall lack
of wisdom, foresight, and hindsight in an individual (especially with
one who possesses little regard for anyone but himself in terms of
"profit and gain") results in a person who represents "a clear and
present danger" to a country's institutions and government. Add
to this an involvement in the new field of computerized
manipulations of masses of people, and
we are in trouble!
+33 # norman markowitz 2017-03-18 14:05
Mercer sounds a lot like Henry Ford. Trump resembles the swindler Jay Gould. Bannon a cross between Lee Atwater and Joseph Goebbels.
Hedge funds must be put under public control and placed into the public sector. In Europe after WWII, private corporations which were directly connected to the Nazis and their collaborators, Volkswagen in Germany and Rennault in France for example, were nationalized by capitalist governments, although later conservative government's denationalized them. This is the fate that the Koch Brothers, the Mercers, the Kushners, et al deserve for the horror that that have funded
+9 # ericlipps 2017-03-19 08:34
People who believe in one person, one vote should overturn the Electoral College as well, since it was expressly designed to weigh individual votes from small states more than those from small states, giving small, rural (and often virtually all-white) states. That's how the Rump got to be president despite losing the popular election by almost three million votes.
+9 # vt143 2017-03-19 09:20
Stunning and monumentally depressing. I am glad I am 67 and not a millennial. We are doomed.
+6 # draypoker 2017-03-20 11:25
I find it hard to watch and listen to Trump when he appears all too often on the British tv news. He lies so much and behaves like a fascist dictator - and wasn't actually elected by most countries' standards - 3 million votes behind. He is repulsive on so many levels.
+1 # kate@kseley.jazztel.es 2017-03-20 23:25
Mercer is clearly a scary alt right type whose indispensable role in Trump's victory has been sorely under reported. Kudos to Jane Mayer. However I am also fascinated by contradictions in the shadowy portrait of Cadell, who originally seems like a progressive anti- establishment Democrats more likely to be a Sanders supporter. Though one can level legitimate criticisms of Carter for his NSA pick(undoubtedl y uncharacteristi cally bowing to establishment pressure) and to his support of Bin Laden as a "lesser evil" in Afghanistan, his prescient stance against global warming and fossil fuels was very admirable as have been many of his stances as ex president; it's hard to to find two more antithetical presidents than Carter and Trump. I wish Mayer had elaborated more on this apparent contradiction and whether it was a sudden conversion inspired by Bannon and Mercer or a more gradual evolution to the right.
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Goldie Taylor, The Daily Beast
Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Farmers' Markets Have New Unwelcome Guests: Fascists
Kelly Weill, The Daily Beast
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The word ‘TERF’
Rebecca R-C in Uncategorized November 1, 2016 November 3, 2016 1,244 Words
The label ‘TERF’, or ‘Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist’:
Is not a meaningful description of any feminist politics.
Radical feminism is an approach to analysing the oppression and exploitation of the class of female people by the class of male people. It seeks to uncover and challenge the root causes and origins of that system of oppression, which it labels patriarchy. Different radical feminist analyses will emphasise different elements – access to female reproductive labour, sexual access to women’s bodies, compulsory heterosexuality, male-dominated religion – as central to understanding the function and continued maintenance of patriarchy. So we should not assume that there is unity or homogeneity among those whose views can be called radical feminist. However, a key assumption underpinning radical feminist analyses is that the word “female” denotes a biological category, referring to the class of persons capable of menstruating, ovulating, gestating, and lactating. Radical feminist analysis starts from the assumption that living in a sexed body brings with it particular experiences that are of social and political significance, and that if we are to explain and dismantle patriarchy, we need to be able to describe and understand those experiences.
For this reason, it makes little sense to describe, and still less to criticise, a radical feminist approach as “trans exclusionary”. Radical feminism seeks to make sense of the social and political reality of living in a particular type of body – a female body – and to eradicate the oppression and exploitation associated with the social relations between female-bodied people and male-bodied people. Therefore, its analysis of patriarchy as a system of sex-based oppression has little to say about the experiences of people who identify as women but do not inhabit female bodies. This is not an oversight or an illegitimate act of exclusion. It is simply not the aim or purpose of radical feminist theory to seek to analyse or explain the specific experiences of transwomen, which will, necessarily, be importantly different from those of female people. None of this is to deny that transwomen will experience marginalisation, discrimination and injustice. It is merely to note that these injustices are not rooted in biological sex, unlike the oppression of female people. Insofar as they are not, they are not intended to fall under the purview of radical feminist analysis. To criticise radical feminist analysis for being trans-exclusionary is to operate under the false assumption that the aim and purpose of radical feminism should be to explain and dismantle all forms of injustice and marginalisation, rather than to limit its focus to the sex-based oppression of female people. It is legitimate and reasonable for radical feminists to focus narrowly on analysing and dismantling sex-based oppression, and therefore criticism that their efforts do not also explain and challenge other unrelated social ills is misplaced.
Is rarely, if ever, accurately applied, even if it were a meaningful label.
Many of the people who are labelled TERFs do not meet the description of any of the words included in the phrase. The label TERF is often applied to men, to people who are not feminists of any kind, radical or otherwise, and even to anti-feminists. You can be called a TERF for believing that female and male are biological distinctions, rather than identities. Statements such as “only female people can get pregnant”, or “the penis is the male sex organ”, will frequently attract accusations that the speaker is a TERF. One need not subscribe to the analysis of sex-based oppression outlined in point 1 to be called a TERF. It is sufficient that one believes that female and male are real biological categories, and that there are genuine differences between the two that cannot be reduced to identity or feelings, to be labelled a TERF.
Furthermore, the first half of the phrase is equally ill-defined, and inaccurately applied. It is not clear what, exactly, transwomen (or transpeople more generally) are being excluded from. Many people would argue, quite reasonably, that male-bodied people who identify as women should not have an absolute and unqualified right of access to all women’s spaces, where this includes women’s prisons, refuges, or changing facilities. It does not follow from this that those people think all transwomen should be excluded from all women’s spaces, or from all feminist projects and activism. Add to this the vagueness and lack of clarity about what the word “trans” actually means, and what criteria a person has to meet to be defined as “trans”, and it becomes even more apparent that the description “trans-exclusionary” is so vague and ill-defined as to be incapable of being applied meaningfully and accurately.
Is inextricably associated with misogynistic, abusive, violent rhetoric.
The vast majority of people who use the word TERF intend it to be an insult, and apply it indiscriminately, frequently accompanied by threatening, aggressive and abusive language. Those who label women TERFs routinely threaten violence, employ misogynistic slurs and anti-lesbian rhetoric. There is no shortage of evidence of this; there is far, far more evidence of the word being used as an abusive slur, than there is of it being employed as a neutral description of a political position. Given that it is overwhelmingly used as a term of vitriol and abuse, and often accompanied by violent threats, it is not a term that anyone who wishes to be taken seriously as a credible political commentator should be using, or attempting to rehabilitate.
Furthermore, commonly invoked attempts to present it as a neutral descriptive label fall flat when it is compared with other comparable slurs. It is often said that it cannot be abusive because it is merely an acronym; however, few would suggest that the word “tranny” is not a slur, because it is merely an abbreviation. Context, intent and actual usage matter hugely, as do the perceptions of the person to whom the label is directed. Most transpeople justifiably perceive the word “tranny” to be more than just an abbreviation. It is an offensive term of abuse intended to belittle, demean and dehumanise, and as such, it is perceived as a slur by those subjected to it. Those people may or may not choose to reclaim it and refer to themselves by that term, but those who are not subjected to it have no authority to tell transpeople that they ought not to find the word offensive, or ought not to feel threatened and dehumanised by those who use it. The same considerations apply to the word ‘TERF’. No feminist, radical or otherwise, adopts the label as a description of herself or her politics. Most if not all to whom it is applied perceive it as a slur, and given its connotations, will feel threatened or belittled by it.
It is sometimes claimed that the word cannot be a slur because it was allegedly coined by self-described radical feminists who wanted to distance themselves from other radical feminists who they perceived to have the wrong politics. It’s not clear if this is true, since various trans activists have claimed that they are responsible for coining or popularising the term. But it makes little difference, since the history and etymology of the word does not determine its current usage. What matters is the context in which the word is now used and the connotations it currently has, and those are undoubtedly abusive and misogynistic.
All those who perceive themselves to have progressive politics and to be allies to women should stop using the word TERF immediately.
biological sex
gender critical
radical feminism
ABC Radio Philosopher’s Zone – Interview on Gender Identity
Some basic questions about sex and gender for progressives
47 thoughts on “The word ‘TERF’”
Will Shetterly says:
Unfortunately, words quickly fill vacuums, whether they make sense there or not, and the war between feminists who prioritize gender and those who prioritize sex needs labels. If you hope to remove “terf” from civil discussions, you have to propose the non-judgmental alternative. Those who reject terfs might be called gender feminists, but I suspect it would just confuse things to call the other side sex feminists, and “biology feminists” sounds like feminists who work in labs.
Rebecca R-C says:
Nah. We don’t need another word to replace ‘TERF’, because 1) we don’t need a word to replace something that doesn’t meaningfully describe anything, and 2) we don’t need a word to replace something that functions primarily as a slur.
Oh, I agree we wouldn’t want a word that suggests gender-prioritizers are right to demonize sex-prioritizers, but among the many divides in feminism, that may be the most prominent one currently. If your side doesn’t claim a name, you’ll be stuck with the one the haters give you. I noticed this when I was a teen studying Buddhism—some Mahayana Buddhists call Theravada Buddhists by the diminutive of “Hinayana”, but the polite ones do as most of us do and call everyone by the name they prefer.
GingerRadFem says:
There is already a name for radical feminists and radical feminist analysis – Radical Feminist and Radical Feminist analysis/theory.
I also use the terms, for myself, gender critical and gender abolitionist.
You are I think slightly missing the point here that the slur terf is mostly misogynous, and used to try and limit where women can apply their critical thinking, in order to promote the insidious upgraded version of patriarchy: (neo) liberal feminism.
DoubleXMarksTheSpot says:
Interesting how we have a special word for the women who disagree with trans, but there’s no special word for the men who kill trans.
Sequoia says:
Why not “feminists” for activists who focus on female-specific issues and “trans rights activists” for people focused on trans-specific issues? Trans people face their own distinct set of challenges with their own distinct set of solutions. They need their own advocacy groups apart from female advocacy groups. The same is true in reverse.
Activism that is not focused on issues that affect females is not “feminist” activism. An anti-racist activist (or trans rights activist) can *also* be a feminist, but feminism isn’t inherently about race or trans rights, it’s about females. There’s no reason trans folks shouldn’t have their own advocates but that doesn’t give them or their advocates the the right to
A) appropriate feminism & direct it away from challenges facing females specifically or
B) attempt to strip feminists of the name “feminist” & put a new, hateful, exclusively pejorative name on them.
Every group that’s large enough to have subsets will have people who want to claim the overall name for their subset and say all the others should be called something else. It never works. Just as there’s bourgeois feminism and socialist feminism (the divide that most interests me), there’s gender feminism and, well, chromosome feminism. I completely agree that the experiences of ciswomen and transwomen are different, so it’s entirely appropriate to have groups that are exclusively ciswomen or exclusively transwomen, and that doesn’t make them any less potential allies than Protestants and Catholics.
But humans like having names for themselves and those they see as different in some way. Maybe the polite way to discuss this divide is to talk about cis feminism and trans feminism. I’m really not arguing for a particular name. I’m just pointing out that if you object to “terf” (and you should!), you need an alternative that’s reasonably terse and self-explanatory.
Radical feminism is inherently based on biological sex. The idea that gender is a social construct and the core mechanism of the patriarchal oppression of women is the foundation of radical feminism. The purpose of “TERF” isn’t to fill a void where no word existed. The purpose of “TERF” is denigrate and bully women who dare to support things like sex-separated spaces, girls’ sports, lesbianism, etc.
Most radical feminists do not agree with the reasoning behind the word “cis” and would not freely apply it to themselves any more than they would “TERF”. If you Google search the phrase “cis radfem”, ALL of the results are derogatory. Cis means “not trans”, and as the meaning of “trans” becomes broader and broader, “cis” becomes narrower and narrower, to the point where it’s no longer an accurate descriptor of the people the trans activists would like to label “cis”. Many radical feminists could easily fall into various trans/genderqueer categories based on our “gender expression”, but choose not to adopt those labels because we don’t subscribe to that ideology. This supposedly makes us “cis”, even though a “cis” person is supposedly someone comfortable with their assigned gender. Well, obviously radical feminists aren’t comfortable with our assigned gender! That’s why we’re here!
I used cis and trans because they’re short. But they’re also examples of the way words will be used to fill voids. We currently effectively have four genders who somehow must coexist in a world designed for two. I use cis and trans neutrally, but if you hear them as derogatory, that’s all the more reason to come up with another distinction that most people can agree is only descriptive.
Oh, I should add that I hope before I die, our society will abandon the concept of gender entirely and stick to sex. It’s been a useful analytical term, but the current brouhaha suggests it’s nearing the end of its run.
Anonymous because I don't like death threats says:
TERF has never been a part of civil discussions, as a cursory Google search will show. If you believe this word to “fill a vacuum,” what exactly is it describing? Radical feminism is a form of analysis, and radical feminists certainly don’t exclude transgender individuals from that analysis. Those who use “TERF” don’t bother to determine whether the woman they so label is a radical feminist, or even whether she’s a feminist at all. Being a woman who questions any aspect of transgender ideology is enough to garner the label. “TERF” is just lesbian baiting, updated for modern times. It’s meant to convey that only old, ugly man-hating extremists — the popular stereotype of “radical feminists” — could possibly object to the demand that any man who says he is a woman must be socially and legally accepted as such.
Taylan Ulrich Bayırlı/Kammer says:
I think “radical feminist” is sufficient as a label for those feminists who prioritize sex / see gender as an oppressive social construct based on sex. Correct me if I’m wrong.
If it’s too long, I think “radfem” is generally considered a neutral abbreviation. (For instance there’s the website radfem.org which is a radical feminist literary archive.) See also libfem.
darthtimon says:
If I might be permitted to comment, I have read radical feminist articles that speak of how men are inherently violent and dangerous, because they are men, and that therefore transwomen are equally dangerous, for their biology is inherently male, and therefore dangerous. The presumptive attitude is that a transwoman will inevitably seek to hurt women, for that is what is hard-wired into their DNA.
I understand that the concept of gender is considered by radical feminists to be a construct of society – one that hurts women and men alike – but the idea that either men or women are biologically pre-determined to certain behaviour is to suggest we cannot change our behaviour. It’s also fuel to the fire for MRAs, MGTOWs etc that women should behave in accordance with biology.
All I know is – if someone is trans, then they run the risk of being shunned by several elements of society. They are targets for MRAs, for conservative religious groups, and I as I said at the start, I have read radical feminist articles that are decidedly exclusionary of transwomen. Your article is very good, and presents a more moderate and considered response to this issue than most.
I can’t really comment on that, because it’s not a view I hold. I do not think that men are inherently violent and dangerous (although I do think that their increased levels of testosterone are likely to make them more violent than women are; that doesn’t mean they are all violent, only relatively more likely to be so.) I do not think that either male or female biology makes either sex pre-determined or pre-destined to certain behaviour, and thus I cannot respond to the criticism. I’m not sure if other feminists think that, or if some self-described radical feminists think it. You’d have to take it up with them.
I agree that trans people face stigma, discrimination, harassment and abuse. These things are unacceptable. However, it doesn’t generally speaking come from feminists. I haven’t seen feminists threatening to set trans women on fire on social media, but I have seen the reverse happen.
Do you have any links to those articles, where radical feminists allegedly claim male violence is hard-wired into male DNA? I’m not sure if I ever heard any radical feminist make such a claim. Maybe it was meant in the sense that all men *under patriarchy* are conditioned to abuse women, which is not a claim of biological determinism but may have sounded like one because the result is the same so long as we still live under patriarchy: every male-born person is socialized into masculinity so the fact that they are biologically male is concrete grounds for excluding them from female spaces as a safety measure. It’s easy to confuse this with a claim of biological determinism.
Half anecdote half statistic: In a small poll that was held in radical feminist circles on Twitter, asking what radfems think is the source of male violence, the results showed “pure biology” to be an extremely rarely held position (one or two votes I think, may have as well been trolls), “pure socialization” also quite rare if I remember correctly, and by far the most voted answer was “mix of biology and socialization.” All in all, while I can’t speak for them, I always had the impression that there’s consensus among radical feminists that sex segregation is kind of an emergency response, whereas fixing boys’ socialization is the long-term solution to male violence. I.e. they may be more prone to become violent due to their hormones, but it’s not so that proper socialization can’t teach them to just keep that under control.
Screen says:
You’ ve never heard it because radical feminists, as a category, don’ t believe in it. It would be like believing in female brain, which is something they would never be on board with. What radical feminism says is that it’ s socialization that needs to be held responsible.
I did attempt to post this earlier, but it seems to have gotten swallowed by the net. Such is the wonder of modern technology!
The first such article that makes the implication male behaviour is rooted in biology and that men are inevitably inclined toward violence is here: https://radicalwitch.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/the-push-to-normalize-pedophilia-and-the-demonic-male/
https://radicalwitch.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/men-committing-violence-against-women-and-girls-in-restrooms-locker-rooms-and-dressing-rooms/
https://radicalwitch.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/commentary-on-trustyourperceptions-latest-series-of-blogposts/
https://radicalwitch.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/there-is-no-rape-culture-only-men/
I’m certainly not saying this is indicative of all radical feminists, and I don’t know what circumstances have led the authors to their conclusions, but the implication of these posts is clear – men are inevitably dangerous, and will inevitably hurt women, and this has nothing to do with social conditioning – it is biological.
As a father to a little girl, it would not surprise you to learn I take offence to this idea. I would sooner die than harm my wife or daughter.
Lavender Blume says:
It doesn’t matter whether male violence is inborn or socially produced; either way, transwomen are male and as such they belong to the same biological sex and therefore receive the same social conditioning as all males do. Even male-bodied people who transition early on don’t receive the same socialization or have the same embodied experience as females. Feminists seek the liberation of females. It’s not our responsibility to save males who experience their own challenges (violence from other males, mostly) or to downplay the fact that transwomen commit crimes at the same rates as other males. Trans people aren’t inherently predatory. It’s just that males, for whatever reason, are responsible for most of the violence in this world and no amount of negative feelings or oppressive experiences negate that truth. The truth hurts, and mostly it hurts women and girls. We do not have to acknowledge the problems experienced by trans people each and every time we talk about our the oppression of females. The guilt trip and gaslighting is plain old male domination and it needs to stop.
lovetruthcourage says:
” The presumptive attitude is that a transwoman will inevitably seek to hurt women, for that is what is hard-wired into their DNA.” “…the idea that either men or women are biologically pre-determined to certain behaviour is to suggest we cannot change our behaviour.”
Here are some more fallacies of yours to be corrected. Let me attempt it. A predisposition to do something does NOT indicate that people can not change their behavior. Males may be more biologically hard-wired for violence, but it is also indisputable that they are socialized to be more violent. Radfems are not saying that it is 100% nature. “Transwoman” commit violence against women for the same exact reasons other men do: because they can get away with it, it is socially sanctioned, transwomen have male upbringings and socialization, we live in a male-supremacist patriarchy, and because they are also men biologically and thus predisposed to violence. (Again, “predisposed” does NOT mean that violence is inevitable, or change is impossible.)
Yeah, if someone believes that male violence is inevitable then there’s literally no point to radical feminism. Why bother destroying patriarchy if men will still be just as violent in the end? How can you even meaningfully destroy patriarchy if there’s no way to change male violence, given that patriarchy is a violent system? The two concepts are totally at odds.
Thebigredtoaster says:
Men are not inherently dangerous but socialised to be so.
Wearing a dress does not undo your socialization.
Woman who speaks truth says:
We need to remember sex roles did not invent themselves. Sex roles are just a tool males invented to make male domination seem less imposed on females. I think before males socialised girls from a young age to be submissive, there would have been more obvious force used against us. Most non human primate societies are male dominated. The ones that are not form female coalitions against males, such as bonobos. (Incidentally in these societies they is more same sex contacts between both sexes.)
Rose M. Jordan says:
The problem is that women confronted with a man whether or not that man identities as not a man cannot be expected to work out whether they will be violent or not. The only safe option is that women have safe and separate spaces at this time in history. When one day no men are violent it might be different.
Sharon Thrace says:
“Radical feminism seeks to make sense of the social and political reality of living in a particular type of body – a female body… Therefore, its analysis of patriarchy as a system of sex-based oppression has little to say about the experiences of people who identify as women but do not inhabit female bodies. This is not an oversight or an illegitimate act of exclusion. It is simply not the aim or purpose of radical feminist theory”
I love this succinct explanation so much. Filing away for future use.
I agree. That paragraph is excellent! Perfectly stated.
Chris Wiggins says:
Women don’t have the class power to exclude male bodies from anywhere, so to be called a Trans Exclusionary woman is wildly inaccurate.
Hypersleeping says:
Maybe you should do a follow up on the legions of so-called TERFs who call trans people ‘pigs’, ‘roaches’, ‘fetishists’, ‘autogynephiles’, ‘rapists’, ‘perverts’ etc. The hypocritical bigots who do everything they can to denigrate and dehumanise trans people but then whine about how ‘TERF is a slur’. But I appreciate it if you don’t want to upset your little twitter fanbase. God knows self-awareness isn’t their strong suite.
I’m a bit bemused as to why you have left this comment on my blog, since if you have read anything I have ever written you will know that I don’t do any of those things. I haven’t ever called anyone pigs or roaches, and I don’t denigrate or dehumanise anybody. All I ever do is make careful, reasoned arguments against a particular conception of innate gender identity that I think is incoherent and harmful. In response, I get called a TERF, a bitch, a cunt. I get threats of violence. I get people threatening to come to my place of work to harass me.
If you see people calling trans people abusive names, I suggest you take it up with them, instead of inexplicably holding me responsible for the abusive behaviour of others.
You are something of an opinion-leader amongst people who use that kind of language* all the time and yet you and the other “respectable” anti-trans feminists never say anything about it. What you do – intentionally or not – is provide a veneer of “reason” and respectability for those people to hide behind. If that’s something you’re comfortable with, then good for you. But perhaps you should consider why that kind of bigotry is so commonplace amongst “gender critical” feminists.
*That’s why many people don’t care if those particular people find “TERF” offensive, by the way. If they want to be bigots then I have about as much sympathy for them as people who think “homophobe” or “racist” are slur words.
This is a rather unfair comment, as Rebecca hasn’t personally used any of these terms.
Late “transing” males do have autogynephilia, this has been written about many times, even by some AGP themselves. It is even included in the DSM as a cause of gender dysphoria. Being sexually aroused by the thought of being a woman, because one gets off on the idea of being a member of the supposed submissive sex class, IS a fetish. There is no point trying to claim these men do not exist because they do. As I said some even admit to it, a quick google search will soon reveal that it is true. Many women do not like the idea of males getting off on the idea that women are inherently sexually submissive. Women do not have to passively accept every male sexual desire, without criticism. Feminists will not stop criticising males sexual objectification of us, in whatever form that takes.
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M Willis says:
If radical feminism “has little to say about the experiences of people who identify as women but do not inhabit female bodies”, why is it that a) radical feminists frequently do say to things about trans-women b) those things are invariably perceived as hostile by trans-women. Surely it’s no accident that the label TERF exists (whether it’s a slur or not) but e.g. TEA (“trans-exclusionary accountant”) doesn’t.
I get the impression that by their very existence, trans-women undermine radical feminist dogma (i.e. an analysis based on the idea of class-oppression based on biological sex, that rejects gender as a valid or useful concept), and rather than update or reject their theories, radical feminists choose to either dismiss trans-women as confused or deluded, or attack them as agents of the “patriarchy”.
Saying that the “existence” of transwomen undermines radical feminism is like saying that the existence of Christians undermines atheism. I don’t believe in Jesus, but I know Christians exist. And I fully believe there exists a small population of males who want to live socially as women. The existence of their desires and the fact that the patriarchy does not approve of their desires and unsurprisingly discriminates them for it does not undermine radical feminism in the least.
Additionally, radical feminism doesn’t reject gender as a concept, we believe gender itself is a system of sex based behavioral roles and expectations used to enforce a hierarchy of males over females. Gender itself is a symptom of oppression. Class oppression is a different kind of oppression not based on sex. If this makes no sense to you it’s because we have very different definitions of what “gender” is. As far as I’m concerned, transwomen have no coherent definition of gender or woman outside of vague assertions of “essence” and “feelings”.
Shelducks says:
Help me understand the problem here please. If throughout the course of my life I am the subject of many, perhaps small (perhaps not), disadvantages *because* I am perceived by others to belong to a certain group (biological females); and if this is a situation is experienced ubiquitously by biological females, wouldn’t it be interesting/useful/important for people to take an interest in this dynamic and its roots, and perhaps study it? Are you suggesting it isn’t legitimate for the study of such experiences to exist? And why would it be important for people working in this field to also study the lives of trans-women, a different group (i.e. not biological females)?
NotHostileJustCurious says:
I wonder how you or other radical feminists feel about those born intersexed. Where do you draw the line between male sexed and female sexed people? If you’re an intersexed child raised and socialized to be a woman, are you a biological woman? What if you’re born with the internal genitalia associated with female sexed people, but at least the appearance of external genitalia associated with male sexed people, such as fused labia and an enlarged clitoris? Are these people not still biological women? Does it then just become a question of how you’re socialized? Is this a separate category all together that radical feminism also doesn’t focus on? I guess my main question is what defines biological sex for you? What if you can’t lactate, but can do everything else you list? Maybe I’m missing some very obvious information here, sorry.
I’m not trying to suggest that your way of thinking is wrong or flawed, just curious as to how radical feminism handles situations where biological sex is not so cut and dried. But perhaps intersexed people then become another group ‘excluded’ by radical feminist theory, in that they are not the group of people the theory is focusing on. I apologize if these questions come off as insulting in any way, as this is not my intent. If you or others have written about this before and you prefer not to reiterate, I would really appreciate a link to some material if you’re willing to provide it.
Ah, yes, the intersex canard! It always surfaces! You did not disappoint. Trans aren’t intersex. Intersex people are not mythical creatures halfway between men and women either, btw. They are usually pretty clearly male or female, albeit with some birth defects. A Y chromosome = male. Doesn’t matter if it is normal XY, or XXY, or some more exotic variety. Chromosomes determine sex. Period!
Mister Cat (@balthcat) says:
Where do you suggest incarcerating transwomen? Is that dilemma simply not your concern?
Hilary Greene says:
Have you considered that most people concerned with trans-rights probably regard the views of radical feminists towards trans-people as a form of bigotry, and therefore consider it an appropriate response to talk about radical feminists in a derogatory fashion – why should they extend toleration to the intolerant?
Because good people extend toleration to everyone. I’ve been quoting this a lot lately:
“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.” – Malcolm X
Have “terfs” laid a hand on anyone?
abutterflysdiary says:
In what way is highlighting sex-based oppression, and therefore the need to maintain sex as a meaningful category, bigotry? Female biology is the starting point of the violent discrimination women face at the hands of men, and pointing this out is not bigotry. Trying to silence us by smearing and insulting us is misogyny, pure and simple.
Muddy Mae Suggins says:
For the same reason Christians refer to atheists who criticize their beliefs as “bigoted” and “intolerant.” It is a meaningless way to disengage with the actual substance of the argument and instead make it a battle of personalities.
The radical feminist position is that “gender” is not an innate property of the human psyche, but is, in fact, a belief system. As with any belief system, there are going to be non-believers who criticize and cross examine not only the claims of that belief but the harm the belief does to people as well. Gender, as a belief system, has been extraordinarily harmful to women for pretty much the duration of human civilization, and radical feminism aims precisely to dismantle and abolish this belief system for that reason.
I don’t doubt there are people for whom gender is an integral part of their “identity” any more than I doubt there are Christians who sincerely believe they have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” But you can not disallow criticism of the belief just because it “means something” to the person who holds it.
From my perspective, trans-rights activists simply can not handle criticism of their belief in gender because it threatens their worldview and sense of self. This just further signifies the inherent harm of the belief as a prison of the mind. It can not be taken out on radical feminists, nor should it fall on feminists to dismiss the very real and urgent aims of anti-patriarchal activism just for the sake of upholding the beliefs of others, especially those whose aims are often at odds with their own.
tl:dr, it is not “bigotry” or “intolerance” to criticize a belief, no matter how much that belief is tied up with a person’s “identity.”
Alexandra Hanson-Harding says:
The insult that always amazes me is when (whoever) calls Terfs “cunts” as an as insult. Are cunts supposed to be bad? Are they not kind of missing the point?
I was recently pulling together an article quite a bit like this, but you covered all bases perfectly with this one so now I don’t have to. I like it so much I’ve added it to the navigation on my site as a reference.
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What I believe about sex and gender
Selected writing and talks
Essay writing: advice for students
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January 6, 2017 addiction
Fentanyl: The Rising Opioid Crisis, and the Facts You Need to Know
Up to 40 times more powerful than heroin—and up to 100 times more powerful than morphine—fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has steadily contributed to recent overdoses and overdose-related deaths across the US.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), fentanyl is a schedule II prescription drug, and is typically used to treat patients with severe, post-surgery pain. When abused, the risks associated with fentanyl are astronomical; when mixed with other drugs, as it often is, fentanyl can be deadly. Its potency is strong and its effects are swift—and the crisis it has played such a significant role in shows no signs of slowing down.
When an individual uses fentanyl, the drug targets pain-related receptors in the brain. As the drug then takes effect, the individual experiences a euphoria-like sensation, and a numbness may spread over the body. The pain, for a period of time, subsides, and the potential to become addicted is high.
If fentanyl is abused, the associated side effects can include:
Muscle stiffness
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, increased by 73 percent from 2014 to 2015. A recent ABC News report on the subject states that law enforcement believes this increase to be closely related to fentanyl.
Source: Black Bear Lodge
Even the smallest amount of fentanyl can kill. The ABC News report goes on to explain that Drug Enforcement Administration agents are required to wear protective suits in order to avoid contact with the drug when performing raids and making arrests.
The DEA also issued a warning directly addressing the fentanyl epidemic. ABC states the warning came from “two investigators from Atlantic County, NJ that accidentally ingested the drug after a seizure.”
After experiencing the harrowing effects of the drug firsthand, the investigators are working to educate the public on the dangers of fentanyl. It is a substance that has spread rapidly across the nation, with many users combining it with other potent drugs such as heroin or cocaine, often with fatal results.
As the epidemic swells, it is of the utmost importance that we continue to educate the public of fentanyl’s dangers, and that treatment be available for those who are in need.
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Performers & Displays
15 Wing Moose Jaw
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Stearman PT-17
The importance of the Stearman PT-17 to the US war effort cannot be overemphasized. Approximately 50% of all US military pilots, who fought in WW II received their initial flight training in this sturdy aircraft.
The RCAF was supplied with 300 PT-17s in the summer of 1942, to expand its fleet of basic trainers. They served with No. 3 Flying Instructors’ School, Arnprior, Ontario and four Elementary Flying Training Schools, in the Prairies.
CT-114 Tutor
The distinctive roar of its turbojet engine announces that the celebrated CT-114 Tutor is passing overhead. As the aircraft flown by the Snowbirds—Canada’s famed Air Demonstration team—the nimble Tutor is a Canadian Air Force icon.
The Tutor was originally procured in the mid-1960s to train student pilots. It was replaced in 2000 by the CT-156 Harvard II and CT-155 Hawk. Today, the Tutor is flown primarily by 431 Squadron’s Snowbirds. However, it is also used in aircraft testing at the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment (AETE) in Cold Lake, Alberta.
The Tutors flown by the Snowbirds are slightly modified from the training version. In addition to show features, the modified version has a more highly-tuned engine to enhance performance during low-level aerobatic flying.
DHC-1 Chipmunk
The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a tandem, two-seat, single-engine primary trainer aircraft. It was developed shortly after the Second World War and sold heavily throughout the immediate post-war years, typically as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the Chipmunk was procured in large numbers by military air services such as the RCAF, RAF, and several other nations’ air forces, where it was often utilised as their standard primary trainer aircraft.
CT-155 Hawk
The CT-155 Hawk was selected for the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program because of its similarities to frontline fighter aircraft. Student pilots graduate from the CT-156 Harvard II to this highly advanced jet trainer. Its Rolls-Royce turbofan engine generates more than 6000lbs of thrust and powers the jet to supersonic speeds.
The Hawk’s sophisticated glass cockpit features:
a heads-up display (HUD)
hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls
integrated navigation and targeting systems
With its superior technology, the jet can perform a wide range of high performance training missions.
NFTC students train on the Hawk during the program’s final stage. Once they’ve logged 125 flight hours, Canada’s student fighter pilots are ready to join 410 Squadron, the Operation Training Unit, which flies CF-188 Hornets.
Canada is not alone in selecting this modern trainer. Fifteen countries, including the British Royal Air Force rely on the Hawk to prepare their pilots for combat. The United States Navy uses its own version—the T-45A Goshawk—as an advanced trainer for carrier operations.
CT-156 Harvard II
Canada’s student pilots prove their mettle in the CT-156 Harvard II. This agile turboprop trainer is the aircraft of choice for the early stages of the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program.
Boasting an impressive thrust-to-weight ratio, the CT-156 has an initial climb rate of about 1km per minute. It can handle sustained 2G turns at an altitude of 7,500 metres.
Canadian Forces Snowbirds
The Canadian Forces (CF) Snowbirds, 431 Air Demonstration Squadron are a Canadian icon comprised of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and National Defence Public Service employees. The CF Snowbirds proudly and eagerly uphold the legacy of military aviation excellence as Canada’s Air Demonstration Team.
Serving as ambassadors of the CAF, the CF Snowbirds demonstrate the high level of skill, professionalism, teamwork, discipline and dedication inherent in the men and women of the CAF and they inspire the pursuit of excellence wherever they go in North America.
Your 2019 Canadian Forces Snowbirds reflect the diversity and opportunities available equally to men and women in the Canadian military. Each member of the Snowbirds’ team is a full-time serving member who demonstrates the skill, professionalism, and teamwork essential to achieving aviation excellence.
In their 49th season, the Snowbirds continue to inspire with thrilling aerobatic performances and breathtaking fly-bys over cities and towns across Canada and the United States.
Read more about the Canadian Forces Snowbirds – http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/snowbirds/index.page
Brent Handy
Brent Handy is an unrestricted, surface-rated aerobatic performer. Born in small town Wyevale, Ontario, Brent knew from a young age that he wanted to spend his time in the air. His air show journey began in 2012 when he flew in the opposing solo position for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. Expect an adrenaline-filled, heart-pumping series of tumbles, torque rolls, and loops. The Pitts Special is THE air show airplane to inspire young and old to pursue their passions!
When a child dreams and wants something so deeply in their soul, anything is possible. Every detail of their life becomes aligned with achieving their goal. Family gathers in support. True friends are separated from the rest. And when born in a nation so rich with opportunity, the impossible becomes reality!
Read more about Brent’s journey and his team – http://brenthandy.com/
CF-18 Demonstration Team
Every year, the Air Force selects a special group of people to make up the CF-18 Demonstration Team. The CF-18 Demonstration Team is a truly national team; all members come from Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) units across the country, and each one is selected for his or her superior performance, dedication to excellence, and the desire to represent Canada’s operational air force. Without the hard work of each and every team member, the CF-18 Demo Hornet would never get off the ground.
The team is comprised of thirteen members including the Demo pilot, eight technicians, three safety pilots and a public affairs officer/narrator. Captain Brian Kilroy is the pilot for the 2019 CF-18 Demonstration Team.
Captain Kilroy will wow audiences around Canada during the 2019 air show season, flying his specially-painted CF-18 Hornet commemorating the RCAF’s pathway to the stars and the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The supersonic CF-188 Hornet, popularly known as the CF-18, is a multipurpose, high performance twin-engine fighter. This impressive jet generates enough thrust to lift 24 full-sized pick-up trucks off the ground!
Read more about the CF-18 Demonstration Team – http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/cf-18-demo-team/index.page
Kent Pietsch
Airshow spectators around the world have been treated to the unique variety of acts performed by veteran pilot and consummate entertainer Kent Pietsch and his Jelly Belly airplanes.
His shows, which include specialty acts designed to thrill audiences of all ages, showcase aerobatic stunts featuring airplanes that lose parts, engines that quit in mid-flight, and landings onto runways mounted on moving vehicles. Kent has enjoyed presenting the fun of flight to air show audiences for 40 years.
Kent’s enthusiasm for flying started in 1967 when, at age 16, he completed his first solo flight. His passion turned into a full-time career just three years later when he began flying commercially. In 2007, Kent took early retirement from a major airline to pursue his real passion of performing in the air show circuit. As a premier air show performer Kent strives to show the freedom of flight. While his acts push the limits of what he and his airplane can do, Kent adheres to strict safety standards making him a true professional in the air show field.
Read more about Kent Pietsch and his colourful Jelly Belly airplanes – http://www.kentpietschairshows.com/
Gord Price
Gord Price sponsored by The Dam Pub has been performing airshows since 1976. He has been a RCAF fighter pilot, an airline captain and represented Canada at 3 FAI World Aerobatic Championships. Not only is Gord an incredibly experienced pilot, he also designed, built and flew the ‘Ultimate ‘series of biplanes. Today, Gord flies the prototype YAK 50 with a newly installed 435 hp engine. This is the only YAK 50 registered in Canada.
77 years old still pulling +7 G and pushing -5.
RCAF 422 Squadron Nuclear strike pilot from 1964-66.
Performs 3 lomcevaks, as taught by Ladislav Bezak, the inventor of the manoeuvre.
Air Canada Captain for 36 years. Retired from Boeing 747-400 in 2001.
Developed the ultimate wing and doubled the roll rate of the Pitts Special.
Flew CNE in 1988, 2017, 2018, Oshkosh 4 times in 80s.
Designed, built and flew the ‘Ultimate ‘series of biplanes.
Designer of the extremely popular ‘Ultimate Biplane’ model aircraft.
Read more about Gord Price and his YAK 50 – http://gordpriceairshows.com/
F-16 Viper Demo Team
The Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team at Shaw AFB, S.C., performs precision aerial manoeuvres to demonstrate the unique capabilities of one of the Air Force’s premier multi-role fighters, the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The team also flies in Air Force Heritage Flight formations, exhibiting the professional qualities the Air Force develops in the people who fly, maintain and support these aircraft.
The team’s F-16CM Fighting Falcon, affectionately known as the ‘Viper,” is a single-seat, multi-role fighter with the ability to switch from an air-to-ground to air-to-air role at the touch of a button. With its lightweight airframe and powerful General Electric engine generating 31,000 pounds of thrust, the F-16 can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2.
Read more about the F-16 Viper Demo Team – https://www.shaw.af.mil/Viper-Demo-Team/
Yellow Thunder
Yellow Thunder is a two ship aerial demonstration team flying ex-Canadian military aircraft, the Harvard. Pilots Dave Watson and Drew Watson skillfully demonstrate aerobatic manoeuvers based on RCAF pilot training. Airshow spectators will see manoeuvers that were taught to advance the pilot’s hand and foot coordination with the airplane. These manoeuvers were also the foundation for dogfighting, which would be used in the next airplane the student would move onto after the Harvard; usually the P-15 Mustang, the Spitfire, or the Hurricane.
The formation content in the Yellow Thunder display is used in pilot training, both pre and post war. Formation tactics that are taught to this day. Their formation demonstration moves past what most military students are taught and include aerobatics such as:
Barrel rolls
Cuban-eights
Hammerheads
Lots of smoke
Formation loops
Formation rolls
A tail chase
Formation banana passes
Read more about Yellow Thunder – www.yellowthunder.ca
Kyle Fowler
Kyle Fowler began following his father’s footsteps at a very young age. Looking to his father, Ken Fowler of Team Rocket, as his role model, Kyle moved forward with his dreams of becoming an Aerobatic Pilot by the age of 12, announcing his father’s performance at several airshows. Then at the age of 21, his dreams began to manifest. Kyle obtained his Private Pilot’s License, with Eric Hansen of Team Rocket, as his flight instructor, and began his journey toward his airshow career.
Kyle’s new plane, the Long EZ, is the perfect combination of comfort and style. Though not capable of aggressive aerobatics the Long EZ makes up for it with its unique look in the delta wing canard design. This small tandem seating airplane has an impressive range of 1000nm and cruising at speeds of 160 knots.
Read more about Kyle and the Long Ez – http://longez.ca/
Rob Mitchell
Rob Mitchell, affectionately known as Scratch to his friends, is a third generation military pilot. Originally from Victoria, BC, he wears many hats, balancing flying, acting and producing films and TV. Rob’s guiding principles, “passion, focus and action” have led to more than 6,500 hours in jet aircraft including the CF-18 as a fighter pilot, F-86 for Vintage Wings of Canada, CT-114 Tutor as a Snowbird and more recently the T-33 Shooting Star as an airshow pilot with Ace Maker Airshows.
Rob will be demonstrating his skills at the Saskatchewan Airshow in the T-33 Shooting Star. As America’s first operational jet fighter and trainer, these aircraft represent a piece of American history that ushered us into a new generation, and have helped pave the way for the lives and freedom we enjoy today.
Read more about Rob “Scratch” Mitchell and the T-33 Shooting Star
P-40E
The P-40 is an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47, and played a vital role in winning the War. By November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.
Warbird pilot Bernie Vasquez is flying the P-40 at the Saskatchewan Airshow. Bernie became fascinated with flight as a young boy. Riding his bike to the local airport, he befriended Steve Seghetti who had a P-51. “He opened his hangar up and I never left! From the first time he let me sit in the P-51 I was hooked! I told him someday I’m going to fly one.” So, at the age of 11, Bernie worked at the local glider port, trading hours for glider lessons. Eventually he went looking for the same trade at the airport and was given the job of fuel boy. He earned enough hours of flight time to receive his private license and soloed on his 16th birthday, when most of his friends were just learning how to drive a car.
Spitfire Mk IX
Its iconic silhouette, fame from the Battle of Britain, legends of its aerobatic qualities makes the Spitfire the quintessential World War II fighter! The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works. The Spitfire was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and was also the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the war.
Experienced pilot Warren Pietsch is flying the Spitfire at the Saskatchewan Airshow. Warren began flying at a young age and soloed on his 16th birthday. He continued obtaining his certificates to fly charter for the family business with his father Al Pietsch. In 1980, after restoration of his T-Craft, Warren joined his father and brother, Kent, in the Air Show industry, performing at shows across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to flying Air Shows, Warren was a captain for a major airline for 20 years, flying Lockheed 1011, B-727, and B-737’s worldwide. Warren has accumulated over 30,000+ hours of flight time in aircraft ranging from gliders, J-3 Cubs, antique aircraft and vintage WWII aircraft. He is qualified for aerobatics in numerous aircraft, including the P-51 Mustang.
The KC-135 Stratotanker provides the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and has excelled in this role for more than 60 years.
This unique asset enhances the Air Force’s capability to accomplish its primary mission of global reach. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. The KC-135 is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations.
The PC-21 is Pilatus’ next generation trainer aircraft. The PC-21 is designed to allow future military pilots to perform most of their training using a single aircraft type. The PC-21 is as benign and easy to fly for the ab-initio student as it is challenging and rewarding for the pilot preparing for the front line.
As an advanced single pilot IFR, seven passenger aircraft with the ability to adapt to diverse demands without compromising safety, and unrivaled service support, the Bell 429 is in a league of its own.
King Air 350
The King Air 350 is part of the world’s most successful and flexible line of business/utility aircraft with a number of mission configurations optimized for VIP transport, ISR and maritime surveillance, air ambulance, and cargo transport. More than 7,000 King Air aircraft have been produced and its technology mirrors aviation industry advancement, resulting in constantly improved features, improving comfort, productivity and performance.
The Beechcraft King Air range of aircraft is the most efficient and versatile in its class currently in production anywhere in the world, offering unrivaled performance, productivity and value, all backed by Textron Aviation’s industry-leading, global product support team. King Airs offer performance advantages when compared with aircraft in this size category – shorter take-off and landing distances, more efficient per-hour operation, comparable speed and range, payload – all at costs much less in terms of acquisition, operation and maintenance.
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Home > USC_COLUMBIA > HONORS_COLLEGE > SENIOR_THESES > 219
#ReadyForRio: How a Revised Rule 40 Impacted Sponsorship at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Anthony Carson, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow
School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management
Dr. John Grady
Dr. Khalid Ballouli
When planning and executing the Olympic Games, a premier event in modern sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relies heavily on sponsorship revenue from their official sponsors. “Worldwide Olympic Partners,” the top 11 sponsors of the 2016 Olympics, had exclusive rights during the Olympic cycle from 2013-2016.
With the purchase of these expensive sponsorship deals, brands are looking to capitalize on the “glow” of the Olympics, and use excusive Olympic intellectual property to make ties from their brand to the Games. In order to make these sponsorship deals more valuable, the IOC has historically provided official partners with added exclusivity legislation that prevents competing brands from entering the marketing space, both figuratively and literally, during the period directly before, during, and after the Olympic Games. This has become known as the “Olympic blackout period.” With that legislation, an Olympic bylaw known as Rule 40, Olympic athletes have recently become restricted in their own ability to engage with their personal sponsors during the peak of competition at the Olympic Games (unless their personal sponsor is an official Olympic partner.) This has created public backlash from the competitors; most notably in the 2012 Olympics in London.
In 2015, in preparation for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC decided to “relax” Rule 40 and allow athletes and non-affiliated brands to engage in “generic” advertising during the Olympic Games. This study aims to analyze the effect of the revised Rule 40 legislation at the 2016 Olympic Games, both on-site and online, using qualitative methods of observational research.
Carson, Anthony, "#ReadyForRio: How a Revised Rule 40 Impacted Sponsorship at the 2016 Summer Olympics" (2018). Senior Theses. 219.
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/senior_theses/219
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Marketing Commons, Other Legal Studies Commons, Sports Management Commons, Sports Studies Commons
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Stadium Proposal is Unfair to Taxpayers
By Timothy B. Lee on Apr 03, 2006
Supporters of a subsidy of the Truman Sports Center say that the proposal will spur economic growth. In fact, a tax would hurt Kansas City by taking money away from other local businesses. It would mainly benefit the owners of the Chiefs and the Royals. The proposed subsidy is unfair to taxpayers and loyal fans.
Saint Louis Can't Afford an Earnings Tax
By Rex Sinquefield, Timothy B. Lee on Mar 13, 2006
For 30 years, the city of Saint Louis has lagged behind its suburbs in economic growth. The city’s earnings tax drives businesses and residents out of Saint Louis and penalizes workers who remain in the city. Repealing the earnings tax will attract economic development and generate greater revenue for the city.
One-Size-Fits-All Education is the Wrong Direction
By Timothy B. Lee on Feb 02, 2006
Governor Blunt is to be commended for his focus on accountability and student instruction. But dictating how schools spend their money is the wrong approach. Instead of focusing on accountability to the state, he should be supporting school choice, which makes schools accountable to their customers: parents.
'A La Carte' Cable: Bad Economics, Bad for Consumers
By Timothy B. Lee on Jan 04, 2006
Some activists are demanding that the government force the cable industry to offer its television channels “a la carte.” That may sound good in theory, but in practice it’s a bad deal for consumers. Customers’ bills aren’t likely to go down very much, but they’ll get a lot fewer channels for their money.
Missouri Needs a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights
By Michael J. New on Dec 21, 2005
The passage of Referendum C last month in Colorado has editorial boards swooning. Colorado voters had "good reason" to suspend their state’s revenue limit, cheered the St. Louis Post-Dispatch while the New York Times proclaimed that "Colorado Got Its Government Back." In their eyes, the victory of Referendum C proves that Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) was a failure and cripples efforts to enact similar proposals in other states. However, these editorial boards greatly overstate their case. An honest appraisal of the past 13 years shows that TABOR was a success in Colorado and that similar limits have a bright future in Missouri and across the country.
Telecom Policy is Stuck in the 20th Century
By Timothy B. Lee on Dec 13, 2005
Municipalities currently have the power to regulate cable TV service in their community through the use of franchise agreements. Increasing competition has made that system unnecessary, and, ironically, it has become a major impediment to competition. Missouri should follow the lead of Texas and replace it with a streamlined, state-wide franchise system.
'Jock Tax' Is Poor Sportsmanship
By Timothy B. Lee on Nov 28, 2005
We teach our kids that however much we may hate losing, that doesn't make it ok to lash out at the other team or at officials. Rep. Jeffrey Roorda (D-Barnhart), it seems, never learned that lesson. He blames the Cardinals' loss on bad decisions by the umpires, and he's decided to express his frustration through legislation. He wants to extend the state's athletes and entertainers tax--some call it the "jock tax"--which levies taxes on out-of-state athletes who play away games in Missouri, to include the umpires as well. His proposal isn't just bad sportsmanship, it's bad public policy too.
School Choice: A Truly Intelligent Design
Here we go again. In a bitter 6-4 vote, before a standing-room-only crowd, the Kansas Board of Education adopted new curriculum standards last week that cast doubt on the theory of evolution. Whatever one thinks of the theory of evolution, there's a larger issue at stake. The dispute in Kansas isn't ultimately about the merits of the theory of evolution, or whether all the alternatives are, as opponents argue, based on religious faith. The bigger fight is about who gets to impose their beliefs on whom. It's just the latest symptom of a deeper illness that necessarily afflicts a school system where all the educational decisions are made by government bureaucrats.
Law Enforcement Shouldn't Profit from Forfeiture
Missouri's asset forfeiture laws avoid a conflict of interest by prohibiting law enforcement officials from keeping forfeiture profits. Instead, the money is dedicated to a public education fund. And under Missouri law, seized property cannot be auctioned off until its owner has been convicted of a crime. But some law enforcement officials don't like those sensible safeguards for property rights.
Eminent Domain Destroys Affordable Housing
By Timothy B. Lee on Oct 26, 2005
It's true that the McRee Town was in distress. Some buildings had problems so serious that condemnation and demolition was the only option. But the use of eminent domain to seize and demolish entire city blocks was unfair, unnecessary, and wasteful. It destroyed badly needed affordable housing and uprooted dozens of poor people, most of whom were forced to start over in another bad neighborhood. A better renovation plan for McRee Town would have focused on helping those already living and working in the neighborhood by expanding the stock of affordable housing.
An IRC Bonus Pay Program Would Benefit the Ozarks
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state-sponsored genocide of Jews by Nazi Germany
The Holocaust, sometimes called The Shoah (Hebrew: השואה), was a genocide in which Nazi Germany, systematically killed people in a planned and forced way during World War II. About six million Jews were killed,[a][13][14] as well as five million others that the Nazis claimed were inferior (mostly Slavs, communists, Romani/Roma people, people with disabilities, homosexuals, and Jehovah's Witnesses). These people were rounded up, put in ghettos, forced to work in concentration camps and then killed in gas chambers.[15] Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David, a symbol of their religion.
Part of World War II
Hungarian Jews arriving at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Poland in May 1944.[1]
Genocide of the European Jews
Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe
Genocide, ethnic cleansing
Around 6 million Jews[a]
Nazi Germany and its collaborators
Nuremberg trials, Subsequent Nuremberg trials, Trial of Adolf Eichmann, and others
Piechart showing distribution of Holocaust deaths during World War II, 1939–1945
Why were the Jews killed?Edit
See also: Anti-Semitism
There was hatred and persecution of Jews (anti-Semitism) in Europe for hundreds of years. Many people wrongly thought that all Jews became rich by stealing money from other people, such as Christians; that they did not like people other than their fellow Jews; and that they harmed children to use their blood for religious rituals (blood libel). These beliefs were not true, and were based in stereotypes and prejudice.
These simple ideas were popular in the German-speaking world and elsewhere in the late 1800s.
Adolf Hitler was born in Austria during this time, when many people disliked Jews. He may have been jealous of Jewish success in Austria. However, in a book he wrote called Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), he said it was the Jews' fault that Germany and Austria lost World War I. He also wrote that Germany's economic problems were the Jews' fault. Many people agreed with Hitler’s ideas and supported him as the leader of the Nazi Party.[16][17]
Main article: Holocaust victims
The numbers below are not known entirely because many of those killed were never written down. The numbers given below are those most thinkers[who?] agree on.
Jews (5.1–6 million killed),[18][19] including:
Polish Jews (3 million killed)
Ethnic Poles (1.8-2 million killed)
Romani/Roma people (200,000–800,000 killed),
Disabled people (200,000–250,000 killed),
Homosexuals (22,000–25,000 killed),
Jehovah's Witnesses (950–2500 killed)
Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazis killed millions of Jews. They forced Jews to wear the golden Star of David on their upper bodies. Jews were rounded up by the thousands and crammed into trains that took them to concentration camps as well as death camps. Most of the Jews killed in the Holocaust were not German; they were from Poland or the Soviet Union.
The Nazis killed millions of people, hundreds at a time, with poison gas in gas chambers. They forced others to dig giant holes in the ground where, after days of hard work, they were shot, buried, and burned in a mass grave. The Nazis executed many others by shooting, stabbing, or beating them to death. Still others died in forced marches from one camp to another. Many other people died of starvation, diseases, and freezing to death because of the terrible conditions in the concentration camps.
On the other hand, there were people who saved Jews from The Holocaust, because they thought it was the right thing to do. Some of them were later given "Righteous Among the Nations" awards by Yad Vashem.
Holocaust denialEdit
Main article: Holocaust denial
Some people say the Holocaust did not happen at all,[20] or was not as bad as historians say it was. This is called Holocaust denial. However, almost all historians agree that the Holocaust did happen, and has been described correctly.[21] Many Holocaust deniers profess that the Nazis did not kill as many people as historians say. Instead, they claim many of these people died from disease or lack of food, usually in order to shift blame from the Nazis. These theories have been disproven by historical accounts, eyewitness evidence, and documentary evidence from the Nazis themselves. Also many were killed by executive order of Hitler.
In some countries in Europe, it is against the law to say that the Holocaust never happened.[22]
↑ 1.0 1.1 Matt Brosnan (Imperial War Museum, 2018): "The Holocaust was the systematic murder of Europe's Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War."[3]
Jack R. Fischel (Historical Dictionary of the Holocaust, 2010): "The Holocaust refers to the Nazi objective of annihilating every Jewish man, woman, and child who fell under their control."[4]
Peter Hayes (How Was It Possible? A Holocaust Reader, 2015): "The Holocaust, the Nazi attempt to eradicate the Jews of Europe, has come to be regarded as the emblematic event of Twentieth Century ... Hitler's ideology depicted the Jews as uniquely dangerous to Germany and therefore uniquely destined to disappear completely from the Reich and all territories subordinate to it. The threat posted by supposedly corrupting but generally powerless Sinti and Roma was far less, and therefore addressed inconsistently in the Nazi realm. Gay men were defined as a problem only if they were German or having sex with Germans and considered 'curable' in most cases. ... Germany's murderous intent toward the handicapped ... was more comprehensive ... but here, too, implementation was uneven and life-saving exceptions permitted .... Not only were some Slavs—Slovaks, Croats, Bulgarians, some Ukrainians—allotted a favored place in Hitler's New Order, but the fate of most of the other Slavs the Nazis derided as sub-humans ... consisted of enslavement and gradual attrition, not the prompt massacre meted out to the Jews after 1941."[5]
Raul Hilberg (The Destruction of the European Jews, 2003): "Little by little, some documents were gathered and books were written, and after about two decades the annihilation of the Jews was given a name: Holocaust."[6]
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, UK (2019): "The Holocaust (The Shoah in Hebrew) was the attempt by the Nazis and their collaborators to murder all the Jews in Europe."[7]
Ronnie S. Landau (The Nazi Holocaust: Its History and Meaning, 1992): "The Holocaust involved the deliberate, systematic murder of approximately 6 million Jews in Nazi-dominated Europe between 1941 and 1945."[2]
Michael Marrus (Perspectives on the Holocaust, 2015): "The Holocaust, the murder of close to six million Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War ...".[8]
Timothy D. Snyder (Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, 2010): "In this book the term Holocaust signifies the final version of the Final Solution, the German policy to eliminate the Jews of Europe by murdering them. Although Hitler certainly wished to remove the Jews from Europe in a Final Solution earlier, the Holocaust on this definition begins in summer 1941, with the shooting of Jewish women and children in the occupied Soviet Union. The term Holocaust is sometimes used in two other ways: to mean all German killing policies during the war, or to mean all oppression of Jews by the Nazi regime. In this book, Holocaust means the murder of the Jews in Europe, as carried out by the Germans by guns and gas between 1941 and 1945."[9]
Dan Stone (Histories of the Holocaust, 2010): "'Holocaust' ... refers to the genocide of the Jews, which by no means excludes an understanding that other groups—notably Romanies and Slavs—were victims of genocide."[10]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2017): "The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators."[11]
Yad Vashem (2019): "The Holocaust was the murder by Nazi Germany of six million Jews."[12]
↑ "Deportation of Hungarian Jews". Timeline of Events. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
↑ 2.0 2.1 Landau 2016, p. 3.
↑ Brosnan, Matt (12 June 2018). "What Was The Holocaust?". Imperial War Museum. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
↑ Fischel 2010, p. 115.
↑ Hayes 2015, pp. xiii–xiv.
↑ Hilberg 2003, p. 1133.
↑ "The Holocaust". Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Archived from the original on 10 February 2019.
↑ Marrus 2015, p. vii.
↑ Snyder 2010, p. 412.
↑ Stone 2010, pp. 1–3.
↑ "Introduction to the Holocaust". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
↑ "What was the Holocaust?". Yad Vashem. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019.
↑ Rubenstein, Richard L.; Roth, John K. (2003). Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-664-22353-3.
↑ Willoughby, Susan (2002). The Holocaust (20th Century Perspectives). Heinemann. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-431-11990-8.
↑ The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking March 1, 2013 The New York Times
↑ Kershaw, Ian (2010). Hitler: A Biography. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-33761-7.
↑ Stern, Fritz (2007). Five Germany’s I Have Known. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-53086-0.
↑ Benz, Wolfgang (1996). Dimension des Volkermords. Die Zahl der judischen Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (in German). Dtv. pp. 145 ff. ISBN 978-3-423-04690-9.
↑ Bauer, Yehuda; Rozett, Robert (1990). "Appendix". In Gutman, Israel (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. New York: Macmillan Library Reference. pp. 1797–1802. ISBN 978-0-02-896090-6.
↑ Lipstadt, Deborah (2011-02-17). "Denying the Holocaust". BBC. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
↑ "Denying the Holocaust". The Week. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
↑ "Push for EU Holocaust denial ban", BBC News, January 15, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
More readingEdit
Sheehan, Sean (2007). The Holocaust (How Did It Happen?). Franklin Watts. ISBN 978-0-7496-7723-7.
The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Paulsson, Steve. "A View of the Holocaust". BBC. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
"Introduction to the Holocaust". Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Holocaust&oldid=6596027"
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Alberta in Canada
Alberta is a province in Canada. It lies in the western part of Canada. The province of British Columbia is west of Alberta. The province of Saskatchewan is east of Alberta. It is north of Montana, one of the states in the United States.
Alberta is the fourth largest Canadian province. It has an area of 642,317 km².[1] Alberta has over or less than 3,305,800 people but there are three provinces in Canada that have more people.
The capital of Alberta is Edmonton. Edmonton is close to the middle of Alberta. Calgary is another city in Alberta. It is south of Edmonton.
2 Weather
3 Work in Alberta
History[change | change source]
Canada became a country in 1867, but it was much smaller than it is now, and did not include the parts of the country to the west. From 1670 to 1870, the southern part of Alberta was included in "Rupert's Land," land owned by the Hudson Bay Company. The land was owned by the company so that they could catch animals to kill for fur, which they sold. The northern part of Alberta was called the "Northwest Territories." Today, the Northwest Territories still exist but they are north of Alberta.
Alberta was made a province of Canada in 1905, at the same time as Saskatchewan.
The Aboriginal peoples are referred to as First Nations or by the Name of their Nation. Mixed (European/Aboriginal) People are called Metis.
Weather[change | change source]
Some parts of Alberta get a lot of snow in the winter. Alberta is very cold in the winter. There is a dry part of Alberta in the south.
Work in Alberta[change | change source]
Alberta has a huge amount of oil (in the Athabasca Oil Sands) and natural gas.
There are also a lot of farms in Alberta. Farmers grow several different types of crops Farmers mainly grow wheat. There are also a lot of cows on Alberta farms, and Alberta beef is exported.
There is diesel fuel in Alberta.
Notes[change | change source]
↑ There are also two larger parts of Canada called Nunavut and Northwest Territories. However, Nunavut and Northwest Territories are territories, not provinces.
Provinces and territories of Canada
Former colonies and territories in Canada
Territorial evolution of Canada after 1867
Proposed provinces and territories of Canada
Language policies
Name etymologies
This short article about a place or feature can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
This short article about Canada can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alberta&oldid=6367504"
1905 establishments in North America
1900s establishments in Canada
Geography stubs
Canada stubs
This page was last changed on 27 December 2018, at 16:12.
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Written by Taariq Shabazz, sub-pages written by Kurt Kessler.
The world of men and women’s soccer has many intriguing aspects that make the game the most popular sport in the world. In this webpage I will be delving into the fan base differences between men and women’s soccer and the difference in atmosphere that fans create. Through the different demographics, routines, and reasons for attendance the fan base varies greatly between men and women’s soccer.
There are differences in the fan bases of men and women’s soccer, though there are similar aspects as well. For example, the demographics vary highly between men’s and women’s soccer fans. Two of the aspects are the gender and age group of the fans at the game. Gender and age are big components of the atmosphere of the crowd. By having this information about the fans alone, you can grasp an understanding of the ambiance of the crowd.
Through research from the world cup and other major soccer events, we know the majority of the fan bases of men’s soccer games were around the ages of 19-25, while the fan base of women’s soccer is comprised of youth between 10 -15(boston globe). The age difference of the fans is not extremely large, but the group and stage of life the fans are in completely change the feel or atmosphere of the stands. Fans between the ages of 19-25 would be predominantly college kids compared to preteens and young teenagers who are in the younger age group. College kids would be a lot more rowdy and more likely to drink alcohol, which could lead to more erratic behavior. On the other hand, preteens would be more likely watch and attend the game more for the love of the sport or to root for a popular player who might be a role model for the young viewer. In the next section, I will address the importance of role models for fans’ motivation.
Major League Soccer Fan Demographics. (2010, May 17). Retrieved April 22, 2015, from https://petervamador.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/major-league-soccer-fan-demographics/
The genders of fan bases of men’s and women’s soccer also play a role in the environment of the crowd. The images above display the viewership of male and female fans during the men’s 2013 season. As shown, 68% of the total number of fans were men, while only 32% of the total number of fans were woman. However, intriguingly, a study by Funk, Mahony and Ridinger in 2002 of the 1999 Nike cup (a women’s soccer tournament) showed 61% of fans were women and 39% (the atlantic) were men, which shows a complete reverse of genders. By looking at this statistic and then trying to imagine the crowds, I would picture that the men’s game would be more likely to have aggressive yelling fans, while the fans at women’s games may be slightly more passive. In the section researching motivation for fans, I will hope to shed light on whether or not this hypothesis is true.
Looking at age and gender together in men’s games, we can see predominantly male young adults at men’s soccer games, and in woman’s games, we can see female preteens. The crowd demographics, by these extremes, will completely alter the fan experience between the two games. In my next section about the motivation of fan attendance, I will analyze why certain fans attend women’s games, and why fans attend men’s games. Since men and women are playing the same game, how can something as trivial as gender completely alter the fan base?
The section above shows us that a general conclusion can be made that there is indeed a difference in fan base between woman and men’s teams. From this conclusion, the next step would be to analyze why this is. The question to ask is what motivates certain groups to attend woman’s games and what motivates certain groups to attend men’s games. Since the audience of women’s soccer games is mostly teenage girls, it is not surprising that a study by Funk, Mahony and Ridinger shows that the main reason that fans attend women’s soccer games is for role models. This makes a lot of sense because they are at a impressionable age. Also, there is a big push in todays society for women and men’s roles in sports and the work place to become equal. The push for gender equality would make the professional women soccer player a perfect role model.
Men’s sports in general are more watched on average than women’s mainly because men’s sports have been around longer than women’s. Since the push to watch women’s sports is relatively new, the motivation for the fans will not be the same as men’s sports. Men’s soccer fans motivation is more based off the traditional excitement and thrill of the game. Since men’s soccer fans mainly are in the age group of 18-25 year olds, the search for role models is not really present. The main reason for male attendance is the thrill and excitement and less the moral learning or development like women soccer fans go for.
World Cup 2014: Meet the U.S. Soccer fanatics. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Lho1cjs2U
The atmosphere in men’s games is a lot more intense then women’s games. In the video you can see the soccer fanatics with painted faces, crazy chants, and drinking alcohol. In the video it said purpose for the fanatics is said to support the team but also to take part in the team’s victory. The fans strongly highlight winning with chants of defeating the other team. The intensity of the fans towards there team and emphasis on winning turn the stadium into a war like area where the pressures of winning have skyrocketed. In the women’s video chants uplifting there team were held also posters with popular player names on them. This coincides with the evidence found earlier where young teenage girls are more there for player support and role models. As you can see in the men’s idolization of certain key players are present but more focused on insuring that the player preforms highly.
2003 FIFA WOMENS WORLD CUP: USA vs Sweden (Match 1). (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6IKeyyW-iI
As you can see from the video the environment of preparation for the women’s game is a lot more festive. It seems almost like a celebration for the player getting ready to play. The intensity compared to the men’s game is a lot lower and on the video there did not appear to be any alcoholic beverages around. The chants by the women were rooting for the team and some players and the ones about victory were not nearly as intense as in the men’s game. You can see the mass amounts of glittery posters with some of the soccer stars names on them highlighting the research done in sections above about role models being the motivation for women’s soccer fans.
Egypt soccer riot video: Over 70 dead at Port Said stadium. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0XEK5oyio
Although an extreme incidence, riots like this are not rare when it comes to men’s soccer matches. In the sections above I described the intensity of the fans chants as war-like, which also creates a violent atmosphere in the stadium. The riot caused the death of 73 people. How could a soccer game spark such a horrific event? Games like this get fans so emotionally involved that when the team loses it is completely devastating to them and in response to the devastation violence is the action that fans seem to take. In the video, hundreds of fans stormed the field fighting, trampling and throwing objects at people. The fans have no personal conflict with the opposing team’s fans, but because they still feel obligated to attack them. Similar to war, where soldiers have no personal conflict with the other soldiers but attack them for a greater cause, in soccer riots, it is their countries pride. The war/ battleground atmosphere that fans create is part of what makes the sport and makes soccer the most popular sport in the world, but it also causes horrific incidents like this to happen. How could a soccer match lead to such a incident where people lose their lives? This is jaw-dropping.
Rush, J. (2014, April 30). Revealed: How Barcelona players PLANNED banana-eating riposte in advance – as fruit-throwing fan is arrested. Retrieved April 24, 2015, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2616673/Football-fan-accused-throwing-banana-Dani-Alves-arrested-Spain-inciting-hatred.html
The picture above shows a display of racism by an out-of-control fan. During soccer match in Villareal stadium, Dani Alves had a banana thrown at him as he approached to take a corner kick. Racism is still a problem in soccer and is mainly displayed by fans. Dani Alves and his team, who were very much aware of the possibilities of racist acts being displayed during the game, told each other if someone were to throw a banana at they were to eat it in mockery of the racist gesture. The eating of the bananas was commonly done because this is not the first instance of a fan throwing a banana at a player. Throwing bananas is one of the most displayed forms of racism in soccer. The home team was fined $17,000 for the incident and the fan was banned for life from all Spanish games. The surprising thing about the fan was that was a youth soccer coach. A youth soccer coach must encounter many people of different races and for him to act in such a way is disturbing. The one question that arises is it that he is an awful human being or was he an example of how the war-like stadium, which causes riots, fights and verbal disputes be a major cause of why he did what he did. A question widely discussed is whether the soccer stadium causes people to have a loss in morals. Situational ethics is a commonly coined term for this, which strongly applies to fans and players. Situational ethics is when people choose when to use ethical reasoning and when its acceptable to put them aside. Situational ethics may be the cause for the youth soccer coach and other people that you may never think would do horrible things to do them solely because they are pumped up in a soccer stadium.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=2523971
The picture above is from a woman’s soccer match. Looking at the fan base, it appears to be mostly young girls. The atmosphere from the photo seems to be very much a safe family environment. As you can see, the young girls are rooting for their teams with lots of energy and there does not seem to be any room for violence or any aggressive behavior by the fans. Like described in the section, the purpose for attending women’s games is for youth to look at role models and also for support of the players. The picture is a prime example of the clean, friendly environment, which is created due to the purpose of the fans attending the game.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/06/why-being-an-obsessed-soccer-fan-can-make-you-really-really-happy/259178/
In this picture, you can very much see the aggressive pumped-up behavior that is expected at a typical men’s game. In the front row you can see the men yelling with their shirts of holding the flag in a battle-like manner. In an environment like this you could definitely expect a fight or a violent act to break out and there be little to no surprise of it occurring. The picture is an example of how fans get completely invested in their team and are clearly all for the team during the game.
Fan cultures of European Clubs: Men vs. Women
Fan cultures of American franchises: Men vs. Women
4 thoughts on “Fan Cultures”
Kirk Cypel July 5, 2015
Recently returned from Vancouver after watching Canada v Switzerland and Japan v Nederland. To say that women’s soccer fans are subdued is something of an understatement. Lots of painted faces, flags, jerseys, and emotion.
The fever is spreading.
Corrections May 21, 2015
Riot wrecks African women’s cup final
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 25 (Reuters) – The African women championship final between hosts South Africa and Nigeria had to be abandoned in the second half after a riot broke out at the Vosloorus Stadium near Johannesburg on Saturday.
Riot police, who arrived 40 minutes after the trouble started, fired tear gas at the crowds and fought running battles with youths who were throwing bottles at them.
Before that spectators threw bottles and other objects at match officials and at the Nigerian players after Nigeria had taken a 2-0 lead midway through the second half.
Police said at least five people were injured as South African fans fought with Nigerian supporters in the crowd. Police had to carry several children, who were caught up in the fighting, to safety.
Fans continued to throw objects on to the pitch for at least 30 minutes after the game was stopped, despite appeals for calm from Gauteng premier Mbazima Shilowa.
The match was eventually called off and the trophy awarded to Nigeria.
The 35,000-capacity stadium was overflowing for the match between the two African superpowers. Officials attempted to close the gates three hours before the kickoff to limit the number of spectators.
‘This is a very sad day for football in both Africa and South Africa,’ said Molefi Oliphant, president of the South African Football Association. He also criticised police for lack of control.
Laurent Dubois April 27, 2015
Additionally, as we discussed in class, be careful not to generalize too quickly from anecdotal evidence about differences: be specific in terms of what kinds of differences you can actually identify between fans in different situations, and be clear about what you are comparing (i.e. professional vs. international games often have different types of behaviors).
The information on here looks good, but you need to make sure to structure the pages correctly by making the “World Cup 2015” guide the parent page, and then making this intro page the parent page for the sub-pages. Since this will change the url, you’ll have to re-do the links on the pages as well.
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Applying to South Kent School
Admissions on the Road
Campus Map & Facilities
South Kent Social
Form Program and Affinity Groups
Prep Soccer
Pro and College List
Varsity Soccer
U18 National Hockey
About SKSA
Cardinal Hockey
Junior Varsity Basketball
Junior Varsity Baseball
Elite Golf
Enrichment Activities and Clubs
Day Students
St. Michael’s Chapel
Students Parents Alumni
Support South Kent School
Transforming Young Men Since 1923
HVAL Champions - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011
From its beginning, the tennis program at South Kent has focused on integrity, self-discipline and hard work. The program attempts to instill these values in its players, as well as concentrate on the fundamentals. Although tennis is a sport of individuals, the tennis program emphasizes its need for each player on the team, without which there could be no overall match victory. The varsity program competes in the Hudson Valley Athletic League (HVAL) with other schools of similar size as well as schools that are larger. Since joining the HVAL in the spring of 1999, the team has been undefeated in league play and has captured many league championships. The team also gained a birth in the New England Interscholastic Tennis Association tournament during the 2000 season. These accomplishments have come through the hard work and determination of the players.
South Kent believes strongly in sportsmanship and participation. We strive to help each player compete to the best of his ability, whether he is an accomplished tennis player or someone picking up the racket for the first time. Our goal is to create a team from a group of individuals, and win a championship by playing top-level tennis with determination and integrity. We strive to win, but understand that the outcome of a match does not determine internal success. We want our athletes to compete for every point no matter what the score and expect them to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.
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© 2019 South Kent School. All Rights Reserved.
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First Look At The New ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Movie, It Looks Good
Ghost in the Shell is more than just a global multi-million dollar anime, manga, film and video-game franchise. Ghost in the Shell is a revolution that started turning 25 years ago. A fire that still burns today.
Now here we stand 25 years later with a brand new Ghost in the Shell film on its way. The revolution still rages on as the very definition of anime is once again redefined. The impact of Ghost in the Shell has made a lasting impact on the anime medium with countless series drawing inspiration from the classic.
Production I.G. have released a trailer showcasing the first look at the upcoming 2015 anime film. To put it lightly, it looks good, to put it extremely, I think I just wet myself. See for yourself in the trailer below. Do be sure to stay tuned for further updates on the film as we head towards its imminent release into the world.
TagsGhost In The Shell • ghost in the shell 2015 • ghost in the shell new movie
0 comments on “First Look At The New ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Movie, It Looks Good”
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Swedish weeklies – data from 8 500 journal pages
Photo: Torbjörn Berglund
Are you interested in Swedish press history? Then the study Swedish weeklies 1920-1975 can be something for you. In this study, which is available via SND, there is data on the content in more than 40 magazines in the genre "popular press".
Responsible for the study in the 1970s was Forskningsgruppen för samhälls- och informationsstudier. The main purpose of the data collection was to highlight the substantive variations over time in the weekly press.
"To get a deeper understanding of the function and the situation of the weekly journal today and tomorrow, we want to pull the strings back in time and see how the current situation developed from yesterday," writes Roger Bernow and Torsten Österman from the research project in the report Swedish weeklies 1920-1975 (published 1979, only available in Swedish).
The magazines included in the study covers most of the popular press release during the period in question, both in terms of total circulation and the number of journal names. Popular press is defined in the survey as journals that:
• have a general popular content available to the general public
• can be purchased freely in trade
• are published at least once a month and preferably – but not more than – once a week.
Content analysis covers all the material in each magazine covered by the study, which means a total of about 8 500 journal pages. Both editorial and advertising materials have been identified in the investigation. Each journal name that has been selected has been reviewed four times every five years.
The material in Swedish weeklies is useful both to investigate short-term changes and long-term trends. Among the broad subject areas that are encoded, you find social issues, crime, economy, politics, consumption, culture, sports, relationships and occult phenomena. This to name just a few. It is also possible to study changes over time in terms of the qualities attributed to the persons mentioned in for example the articles. Here, the variables are primarily focused on gender, that is, how men and women are described in the journals. Attributes such as brave, strong, happy, stupid, criminal, selfish, independent, clever, unhappy, etc. have been entered by the ten keyboarders who worked with the material when it was collected.
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Gigi Hadid Bombarded by Anti-Fur Protesters Pretending to Be Fans at Meet-and-Greet
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byJason Pham 1 year ago
With designers waiting to dress her and millions of fans desperate to copy her looks, Gigi Hadid is an undeniable fashion icon. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is a fan of her outfits. On Thursday, the 23-year-old model was bombarded at a meet-and-greet by a group of anti-fur protesters who had an issue with her history of wearing fur.
The incident occurred at a signing for Hadid’s collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger at a Macy’s in New York City’s Herald Square. In a video obtained by the Daily Mail, Hadid can be seen sitting at a table, waiting for the next fan as a woman, pretending to be a fan, approaches her. Hadid reaches up for a hug as the woman tells her something and tries to show her something on her phone.
When Hadid looks away to sign a card for her, the woman reaches from under her clothes and pulls out a sign with the words: “Gigi Kills.” Seconds later, another woman approaches the table with a sign reading, “Fur Scum.” The women are seen chanting, “Gigi Hadid. Shame on you!” as their signs are wrestled away from them and they’re ushered off the premises by security. The video shows Hadid briefly looking up at the women’s signs when they begin chanting before looking toward the crowd and back down at the table until the commotion is over.
MORE: A Complete Guide to Gigi Hadid’s Flawless Style
The video then cuts to moments later when Hadid is escorted away from the stage to compose herself. According to fans who were there, Hadid returns minutes later to continue her signing. However, almost immediately after her return, the model was approached by protesters again, leading security to cancel the event.
Though it’s unclear whether she was wearing real or faux fur, Hadid has been photographed wearing fur-looking clothes on many occasions.
Aside from a couple Instagram pictures from the event Hadid hasn’t addressed the incident. Ironically enough, Tommy Hilfiger, Hadid’s collaborator, went fur-free in 2007. We wonder when, if ever, Hadid did the same.
MORE: The Evolution of Gigi Hadid—From Fresh-Faced Newbie to Runway Ruler
anti-fur
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Javelin thrower Davinder Singh fails dope test
Kang’s dope failure was intimated to the Athletics Federation of India by the IAAF yesterday and his name was immediately removed from the starting line-up of men’s javelin throw at the Indian Grand Prix held at NIS Patiala.
New Delhi 28 February, 2018 15:23 IST
Last year, Davinder Singh had also tested positive for marijuana, traces of which were found in his urine sample collected by the NADA officials during an Indian Grand Prix event here on May 15. - Getty Images
Top Indian javelin thrower Davinder Singh Kang has been suspended provisionally by the world athletics governing body after he returned positive for a steroid in an out-of-competition test last week.
The 29-year-old Kang’s dope sample was taken by the officials of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the IAAF’s new anti-doping body which started operations last year, four days ago in Patiala. It was found to contain a banned steroid and Kang now faces the prospect of being banned for four years. In that case, his career could well be over.
READ: Asian Games test: Gold for Davinder and Sonia
The AIU officials tested Kang at a time prescribed by him under the “whereabouts” clause of the WADA Code as he is one of the five Indian athletes placed in the IAAF Registered Testing Pool.
“The athlete gave the timing window of 10am to 11am on that particular day (four days back) in his ‘whereabouts’ information. The AIU people came to Patiala and took his sample and that contained a banned steroid. He is now provisionally suspended,” an official of the AFI told PTI from Patiala on condition of anonymity.
Last year, the Punjab athlete had also tested positive for marijuana, traces of which were found in his urine sample collected by the National Anti-Doping Agency officials during an Indian Grand Prix event here on May 15.
Kang, a medal prospect in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games this year, was not suspended by the NADA at that time, since marijuana falls under the “specified substance” category in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list of the performance-enhancing drugs.
He took part in the 2017 World Championships in London and became the first Indian to reach the javelin throw final round in a World Championship. He was training under German legend Uwe Hohn at NIS Patiala, preparing for the Commonwealth and the Asian Games.
This latest case though has nothing to do with NADA and his earlier marijuana case.
“This case will be dealt by the IAAF only. He will have to present his case in front of the AIU, an independent body set up by the IAAF,” the official said.
Davinder Singh
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Benzema and Morata can play together: Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is open to combining Karim Benzema and Alvaro Morata in attack after Real Madrid squandered numerous chances during a 2-2 draw with Las Palmas.
Stephen Creek
25 September, 2016 08:20 IST
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
Morata played from the start while Benzema came off the bench to score Real's second against the islanders, but Zidane was left to rue earlier misses when Las Palmas substitute Sergio Araujo levelled the match in the 86th minute.
Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to find the net despite having several opportunities and Zidane said he would analyse the causes of his side's wastefulness in front of goal.
"From the kick-off to the final whistle what we did was good. We played good football and created many chances," said the Frenchman.
"We created chances, but lacked concentration. We controlled the game, but didn't convert our chances. We deserved to win.
"You must be 100 per cent focused until the end. I will return and analyse why we couldn't score. Karim and Morata can play together."
Zidane took Ronaldo off after 72 minutes — a decision that was brought into question after Real spent the final minutes of the game trying to score a winner without the talismanic Portuguese.
But Zidane revealed the call was made with the Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund in mind.
"I'm happy with the team's performance," he said.
"I subbed Cristiano because we play again on Tuesday. He always wants to play. Sometimes this happens in football. We just needed to convert the many chances we created.
"We deserved to win. We won't give up. There were two crucial errors that cost us the win.
"We are obviously disappointed with the result, but we're still at the top of the table and must keep fighting to maintain it.
"These things can happen. I'm not going to complain. We have an important game on Tuesday and I'll be focused on that."
He added: "When we score a late winner we are happy. I will not complain."
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