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Very Little Bad Vibes: An Interview With Cult Comedic Hero Tim Heidecker
text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Most people know Tim Heidecker from his brilliant Adult Swim series ‘Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job!’ and ‘Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories.’ While it’s easy to use colorful adjectives to describe his brand of humor, it’s even harder to define it. Whatever it is, he’s developed a massive cult following. He’s an everyman that blends a sort of slobbish machismo with the mind of a stoner philosopher, but there is also something sinister about his wit and irreverent spin on, well, everything. Like every great comedian, Heidecker doesn’t identify himself as one. His role in Rick Alverson’s 2012 film The Comedy proves Heidecker is a brilliant, natural actor with an ability to show a haunting, dispossessed vulnerability that encapsulates a very distinct ennui and disillusionment belonging to the comedown between youth and middle age. As he gets wiser, Heidecker exudes a certain suburban boredom – a boredom that he makes seem exciting in his new album In Glendale. It’s a true ode to the singer songwriters, like Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson, and Randy Newman, who wrote about their surroundings and life with a beautiful banality. Because it’s Harry Nilsson or Zevon or Newman, it works, and just like that, Heidecker can pull it off too. I got a chance to chat with Heidecker about comedy, music, getting stabbed in the back and dream projects that haven’t materialized yet.
OLIVER KUPPER: The new album is great, by the way. I really enjoyed it.
TIM HEIDECKER: Thank you. That’s a good place to start.
KUPPER: Yeah, compliments are a good place to start. This is your first somewhat earnest album, right?
HEIDECKER: Uh huh, whatever that means.
KUPPER: What’s it like writing songs versus writing comedy? Is there a different wavelength you need to be on?
HEIDECKER: I don’t know. Songwriting is a little more meditative. Obviously, it involves an instrument usually - singing, playing guitar, playing piano, noodling around, finding phrases and subject matter. It’s something that I’ve done for years as a hobby or a way of clearing my brain of other stuff. It can be spontaneous; you can be sitting in a car with other friends and start singing something catchy. Comedy is generally driven by a project. What are the ultimate goals of this? It involves a lot more people, a lot more collaboration. I’m very productive when I’m in collaboration with comedy. I don’t sit around and dream up amazing ideas all day long. It generally involves getting lunch or going on a road trip. It’s doing something where there’s a conversation with a buddy – Eric, Gregg [Turkington], or Doug [Lussenhop]. Someone I’m close with. Music is more singular.
KUPPER: Were you craving that singular, cathartic experience?
HEIDECKER: Not really. With this record, I had always written lots of music. Certain songs would end up in a folder on my computer. Like, I don’t really know what this is. It might not be appropriate for comedy. It’s not really funny; it’s sort of sincere. I was reluctant to share that publicly. But once the first couple of songs on the record starting coming out of me, I thought, there’s a theme here that kind of works. It might be nice to put a record out without it being couched in a joke or a character.
KUPPER: How did you team up with [Jonathan] Rado from Foxygen?
HEIDECKER: Through Chris Swanson, who runs Secretly Canadian. I had known him for a while. Those guys financed the movie that I was in, The Comedy. We were friendly. He was a big fan of our work. He knew I was doing music, and he nudged me to take a stab at making records in a more current or straightforward way. He was curious to see what I could do if I did something outside of parody, if I could be a pop music guy that was doing interesting stuff. Rado and I connected on very similar interests in music - 70s singer/songwriter stuff. I love talking about the process, how those guys got the sounds they got, and getting back to that straightforward songwriting. He just wanted to help and be involved.
KUPPER: He’s super talented. That band is really great. Who were some of the singer/songwriters at the top of that list that you would talk about?
HEIDECKER: For me, it’s Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson - the greats, the big ones. I’ve been really enjoying them for the past several years now.
KUPPER: I’m obsessed with Harry Nilsson. When you decided to go in and make this album, did you feel like you had enough songs? Did you throw yourself in the studio and see what you could come up with? Half and half?
HEIDECKER: The process by which this record was made may be interesting, maybe not. Half the songs were written in a period of a month or so. The other half were songs I had written over the years; they didn’t fit into any one category. I had my little home recording studio. I would try to build up the track. You know, not just me and the guitar, but drums, bass. It’s a fun way to work, to build tracks, and getting it to sound good, but never that good. I’m not that good at it. I made a demo version of the album at home. It was in the order of all the songs, with a couple extras. I took this home demo to Rado and his garage, and we started making the songs from scratch at his place. He’s such a great piano player and drummer. We recorded on tape, and we had four or five demos out of that. But they were still demos; they weren’t what we both wanted, which was really clean studio, major-label-sounding recordings. So we took those demos, and I gave them to my band that I play with live - City City. They learned the demos, and then we went into a real recording studio. In the course of a week, we laid everything down. Very quickly, because we knew all the sounds and what we wanted to sound like. We wanted the level of professionalism and the clean sheen that those 70s records had.
KUPPER: You work with a lot of musicians. It’s like a ten-piece band, right?
HEIDECKER: Yeah, there’s a ten-piece band that I put together. It’s mostly that band, City City, and a little horn section. It’s a little bit extravagant; there’s two background singers, two electric guitar players. I could probably shave that down if I needed to. But right now, everyone just gels. They all came in and brought their own talents to the record. I’m very grateful.
KUPPER: Do you think the audience for your music is different from your comedy audience? Your comedy following is big. Will the same people come out for your music, do you think?
HEIDECKER: For right now, a large percentage of my fans will find me through comedy. With this record, we’re trying to present it to the largest group of people possible. I think some people who are coming on board either didn’t know or didn’t care for my work, but they like the music. It’s not intended just for the fans; it’s intended for people who like the music. I get a lot of, “Oh, this Tim Heidecker record is actually pretty good.” They’re surprised. Some fans who have been following me a little closer aren’t surprised because they know that I am a big music lover and music maker. That early music might be sillier, but it has the same core qualities.
"I don’t necessarily identify myself as a “comedian.” I do comedy, I do standup and sketch comedy. I make all kinds of stuff. But I don’t concern myself with what to call it or how I should be perceived...I think it’s unfortunate that we expect people to stay in their lanes."
KUPPER: It’s interesting. Not a lot of comedians can bounce between these different mediums and be taken seriously. Especially when it comes to acting. Your role in The Comedy was a really serious role. There are certain actors, like Robin Williams, whose acting is so good that you don’t necessarily think of them as a comedian anymore. Do you ever think about the implications of being too serious?
HEIDECKER: It’s a thing that’s put on us by journalists and certain people that have perceptions of what people are supposed to do. It doesn’t affect my decision making when I decide to do something or not. I generally try to do something based on the desire to do it, whether or not I think it will have quality and be successful. I don’t necessarily identify myself as a “comedian.” I do comedy, I do standup and sketch comedy. I make all kinds of stuff. But I don’t concern myself with what to call it or how I should be perceived. If anything, it’s more interesting to have different facets and abilities. I think it’s unfortunate that we expect people to stay in their lanes. Actors, musicians, directors, whatever - most of us started out just wanting to make stuff, to do something creative. There was more of a push towards doing comedy, for me. But I still have interest in lots of stuff. As long as there’s a market for it, I want to pursue those things. I also understand that there is context. There’s a challenge when someone who is usually a country singer comes out with a rap album. It’s going to be hard. But some people can do it really well. I admire Steve Martin. He can be silly, very serious and intellectual, he can play music and go on tour. I just hope that you can place this record of mine in the context of my larger body of work and say, “This guy has ideas. He has an interest in expressing himself in different ways.”
KUPPER: There’s a lot of freedom in that. If you see yourself as an artist and not specifically in one lane, you can do anything, even if there’s not a market for it.
HEIDECKER: I want to have that reputation, that you don’t know exactly what to expect when I present something. It should, theoretically make you more interested in what I’m doing next.
KUPPER: You still maintain the cult comedian aura. Is that something that you try to hold onto, or is it a natural progression of you as an artist?
HEIDECKER: It’s all just been fun, playing with identity and the media, trying to create work that leaps the dimensions of television or linear video. It’s been more fun, for On Cinema, to let those characters have a life outside the show. This record, though, is really straight. There’s really not an angle for me to be anybody but myself. If there’s something stupid, like something from the Tim and Eric Show, the work speaks for itself. Let’s just party.
KUPPER: Do you feel like you get a lot of stupid questions? Do you like doing interviews?
HEIDECKER: It depends. It’s interesting to see the spectrum of people who are interested. Our publicist works very hard to get as much press as we can. My attitude has always been, do as much as you can. You never know when someone is going to read something out of the blue, and it turns into their favorite thing. But there are so many young people doing this who don’t seem interested. Like, I had a kid come to the Decker screening, and he ran out of questions for me in, like, a minute. I don’t know if this is the best career choice for you if you can’t think of any questions. He’s like, “Yeah, my editor wanted me to talk about Trump.” He asked me three questions about Trump, and then he got tongue-tied.
KUPPER: They want clickbait.
HEIDECKER: Yeah. But generally, if there’s someone like you, someone thoughtful and interesting, I think it’s pretty harmless. It helps me figure out what the hell I’m doing. You can make stuff, but you don’t really analyze it too much until you start talking to someone about it.
KUPPER: It’s interesting how that works. That’s why real criticism is important, too. People are too focused on clickbait, and they don’t think that the most interesting thing is to analyze the work and talk to the artist to find answers.
HEIDECKER: I think some criticism tends to be very quick, not thoughtful, not researched. The negative criticism I’ve gotten has usually come without a frame of reference to me or my work. It’s a very easy, “This is just Dad rock.” I’m insecure with that person, who doesn’t know the context. It’s safer and quicker to go with a buzzword that they just heard.
KUPPER: You’re premiering Decker next week?
HEIDECKER: Yes, Friday the 17th.
KUPPER: And you’re working with Gregg Turkington again, which is great. What’s that experience been like?
HEIDECKER: Gregg and I have known each other for about 10 years now. I was such a huge Hamburger fan. I roped him into doing our show. Our wives get together. We’ve got kids who are the same age. We just share a lot of common interests. Once we started doing this On Cinema thing, it seemed like we found this endless well of material that we could keep feeding and growing and developing. We established these two characters that are so fun to write for and behave as. It keeps entertaining us, this world. And it keeps getting bigger, because we keep adding fuel to it. Also, he’s just a nice guy. I’m so grateful to do this. On the TV show, we were able to elevate things a little bit. We were doing it as a full time thing. It was one of the most stress-free, joyful experiences. Everyone doing it loves it. It’s an easy thing to make. It’s so shitty. It’s not like you’re doing tons of takes and waiting for the perfect light. There are very little bad vibes in that environment. At my age, you want to be around that kind of energy as much as possible.
KUPPER: Especially in collaborations.
HEIDECKER: Yeah.
KUPPER: It’s been ten years since you had that famous interaction with your neighbor [where he stabbed you in the back]. Do you still think about that, or is it ancient history at this point?
HEIDECKER: Strangely, I’ve been thinking about it lately. Not to pat myself on the back (and not to be ironic), when that kid did that to me, I didn’t want to press charges. It felt like such a futile thing to do. He was 19 or 20 years old. He was on some insane drug. If he was going to go to jail for a significant amount of time, he would end up way worse. He’d be a bigger problem to the world. He ought to be given another shot. Those with white privilege are treated with more leniency, and that’s not fair, but it shouldn’t be, “Let’s throw this kid in a dark cell for the rest of his life.” It should be, how can we give disadvantaged kids better opportunities? We need to look at the prison system as not the answer to our problems. It’s a heavy thing. When you’re actually faced with the choice to punish somebody, it’s a hard thing to do. If you know anything, the prison system is designed to fail. It doesn’t make any sense.
KUPPER: You have to rehabilitate.
KUPPER: Do you have any dream projects that haven’t materialized yet?
HEIDECKER: We’re kind of doing it all. The more of an audience you have, the easier it is to do all these things. That’s the challenge, to get the word out, to get people to tune in. The futility of that is I know I don’t have a lot of power there. It either connects with a larger group of people, or it doesn’t. To answer your question, the next record I want to do, we want to bring in some of the guys that actually played on those old records who are still around. People like Jim Keltner, those guys who are still doing sessions and available. I would love to go in with Murderer’s Row and the people who made that, just to do it, because you can. I think that adds a whole other level.
KUPPER: I look forward to that, for sure.
[helicopter-like sound]
HEIDECKER: Cool. My helicopter is here, so I guess I got to go.
Tim Heidecker's new album, In Glendale, is out now on Rado Records. Text and interview by Oliver Maxwell Kupper. Photographs by Cara Robbins. Follow Autre on Instagram: @AUTREMAGAZINE
In Music, Film Tags tim heidecker, tim and eric, comedy, music, warren zevon, harry nilsson, randy newman, new music, gregg turkington, doug lussenhop, the comedy, adult swim, stoned philosopher, 70s music, standup, sketch comedy, drama, tv, film, super, featured
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Christian boarding schools in Wilmette, Illinois. Free help finding the best Christian boarding school in Wilmette.
Home » Therapeutic Boarding Schools in Wilmette, Illinois
Therapeutic Boarding Schools in Wilmette, Illinois
Is your teenager spinning out of control? Looking for a therapeutic boarding school near Wilmette, Illinois?
There is nothing worse than living with a teen spinning out of control, and no worse feeling than the despair parents experience in the process. It is difficult to know what to do and how to react when your boy or girl daily reaches new lows in disobedience, dishonesty, and disrespect, and chooses the wrong path in life.
We understand, because we went through it with our teenage son. Raised in a Christian home and mostly home-schooled until high school, we suddenly found that we didn’t know him. He had changed seemingly overnight. His marks in school started falling and his interest in sports and old friends shifted to a new group of friends — the kind parents are wary of — the kind of kids that got kicked out of a public school, so the local private school took them in.
Little did we know, our son was already heavy into smoking pot, sniffing solvents, drinking alcohol and just about everything else his new peer group dared him to do. The downward spiral was dramatic — all the way down to holes-in-the-walls rages, running away for days at a time, and finally threatening suicide. After months in counseling, the therapist proclaimed that there was nothing more he could do. A local residential program and school was selected.
Some therapeutic boarding schools are good, and others are not so good. Some target one set of issues; others are experts on other issues. But when you talk to them, they want to fill their beds, so they’ll often present themselves as “experts” in all areas having to do with behavior. But that’s not always so. Some kids are just going through a rebellious stage, while others are dealing with very serious issues that may not be known to their parents. So choosing a “behavioral modification” program when a “therapeutic” program is what’s needed can be a disaster. It can also be a big waste of money.
No one was around to help us find the right school for our boy. We made a mistake to begin with, and that cost us dearly, but after weeks of research we found a good program that was able to help our son. Today, our family and even our son are thankful for that program.
Let us assist you in finding the best program whether or not it is near Wilmette, Illinois. We’ve made it our life goal to know all we can about every school, so we can help parents (without cost) find the best possible option for their troubled teen. We want to help parents avoid the same mistake we did.
Now, every day we hear from scores of frustrated parents in areas like Wilmette, Illinois, who share how their once normal and happy child has become seriously out of control — just like our son was. They talk about how it has disrupted their home and how they fear for their child’s future and very life. “My child is no longer who she used to be,” is an often repeated cry from these parents.
If your son or daughter is out of control, he or she needs you to intervene. That’s why you’ve landed on this site, so allow us to be the help you need to help you find just the right program, hopefully near Wilmette, Illinois. The downward spiral your teen is on can have tremendous destructive potential with lifelong consequences, or even bring a young life to a quick end. Don’t wait. Act today based on what you know is true — your faith, your own beliefs, and what you know is best for your teen.
Give us the opportunity to help you find a Christian boarding school closest to Wilmette, Illinois that will provide your teen with the help and mentoring he or she needs, and within your budget. We’ve visited most of these programs and we know the staff there. We know what they are good at, and what they are not so good at. We poll parents who have placed their teen in these programs, so we know how well they have done to help the teen.
Don’t put your child in a boarding school nearby Wilmette merely out of convenience (like we did). Rather, find the program that is most likely to help your teen, even if it is outside of your state. Give us the chance to tell you about a few of them. Fill in the online form now to begin that process. There is NO CHARGE for this service.
More about Wilmette, Illinois:Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located Convert north of Chicago’s downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district. In 2007, Wilmette was ranked as the seventh best place to raise children in the U.S., according to Business Week.
Excerpt for Christian boarding schools in Wilmette, Illinois, used with permission from Wikipedia.Christian Boarding Schools in St. Petersburg, Florida
Therapeutic Boarding Schools in Wilmette, Illinois | Best Christian Boarding Schools
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Billy Elliot==
This article is a synopsis of Billy Elliot the Musical, both for those who will be attending the show for the first time and for those who recently viewed it and have questions about some aspect of the show
The BETM section of this site contains several articles continually updated to provide the most current info on the show. Here is a list of those articles.
How has the Billy Elliot the Musical creative team come up with all the super talented boys to play the part of Billy. This article summarizes how the Billys are identified and trained for the role.
We’ve collected the birthdays of all the boys who currently play Billy in Billy Elliot The Musical, or have in the past, and listed them here, in one place.
This article provides a listing of the actors who portrayed Billy for all past and current productions of the musical, by performance date.
A compilation of information on all past, current and announced future productions of BETM in an at-a-glance format.
This article contains a comprehensive listing, by debut date, for each of the young actors who have portrayed Billy Elliot on stage in all productions of the show worldwide.
A listing of all cast members of past and current productions of Billy Elliot The Musical.
Meet Billy Elliot: Andrew Klepser
By porschesrule
Note: Andrew Klepser‘s final show as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, presented by the Civic Theatre, was on May 20, 2018.
Debut: May 4, 2018 (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
From Portage, Michigan, Andrew Klepser was 13 years old (d.o.b. = 18-Nov-2004) and in the 7th Grade at the Portage West Middle School upon his debut as Billy Elliot in the Civic Theatre production of the musical.
Outside of performing in musical theatre, Andrew’s interests include singing (he enjoys singing with the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus) and playing the trumpet in his school orchestra.
As far as performing, Andrew most recently appeared in the March 2018 Civic Theatre Youth Musical Seussical, Jr. in the role of a Wickersham brother.
In March of 2018, Andrew Klepser (2nd from right in orange shirt) appeared in the Civic Theatre’s Seussical, Jr. as a Wickersham brother. Also in that show was Max Butkiewicz (3rd from right in the light green shirt), who will play Billy’s friend Michael.
Prior to his involvement with the Civic, Andrew has been involved in the summer productions for the Kindleberger Festivals. The Festivals, typically held in July each summer in Kindleberger Park in Parchment, Michigan, feature a week of community activities including a parade, an arts and crafts show, a car, truck and motorcycle show, a 5K run, and a children’s play and an adult play. It’s in these latter two activities that Andrew has been involved in the past. As examples of the types of plays performed during the festival, the 2018 Children’s play will be The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and the adult play, Little Shop of Horrors.
With regard to Andrew’s starring role in the Civic’s BETM production, though it is about a boy who wants to be a ballet dancer, Andrew had never studied ballet himself before winning the role of Billy. So his biggest challenge is the intensive ballet training he’s undergoing for the role. The creative team for the show has been very surprised and happy to see how well Andrew has taken to these classes. As one theatre official has put it “you’d never guess that he’s never previously studied ballet!”
Andrew says he’s very excited to take on the role of Billy and that he’s enjoyed working with the huge cast and the friendships he’s forming as a result. When asked what he thought opening night would be like, his reply was “Awesome!”
Upon his debut, Andrew Klepser becomes the 243rd boy in the world to portray Billy in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical.
For more information about Andrew Klepser visit:
To the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Main Page
An alphabetical index of the boys who have played Billy Elliot professionally, world-wide, since March 2005 with links to a detailed profile of each.
Torda Vass debuts as Billy in the Hungarian production of Billy Elliot the Musical in Budapest.
Alonso Fernández debuts as Billy in the Spanish production of Billy Elliot the Musical at the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá in Madrid.
Current Productions
Where productions of BETM are currently playing in the world, or will be soon?.
Location Country
Tampere Finland
São Paulo Brazil
Pilsen Czech Republic
North American Regional Productions
Theatre Company City/State/Country
Stratford Festival Stratford, ON, Canada
BETM Cast Information0Billy Elliot The Musical396Billy Profiles - Alphabetical11Billy Profiles - By Location116Billy Profiles - Individual264Billy Reference Information5
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Daily Archives: Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Commissioner Giselle Sterling Highlights Boston’s Office of Veterans’ Services’ Accomplishments
On Tuesday, members of the Boston Bar heard from the City of Boston’s Commissioner of Veterans Services, Giselle Sterling, at a networking reception for members of the legal community who are current members of the military, veterans, and their families and friends. Commissioner Sterling is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose multiple deployments placed her in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Guam, Diego Garcia, and Japan. She was appointed as Commissioner in 2015 and since then has been working to connect more veterans to available resources.
With roughly 20,000 veterans living in Boston and over 200 organizations offering services to veterans and military families, Commissioner Sterling has spent the last three years helping to build the Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative. At the start of the Collaborative, Commissioner Sterling noted there were four organizations participating and that it has now grown to 202 non-profits, government organizations, corporations, and more. Her office is working with those organizations to create a resource network that will better connect veterans to everything that is available to them.
The City’s Operation Thank a Veteran volunteer program is another one of Commissioner Sterling’s initiatives that is bringing the veterans’ community together. Through face-to-face interactions, Commissioner Sterling, her staff, and numerous volunteers are able to thank veterans for their service and provide information about what the Office of Veterans’ Services offers.
Commissioner Sterling hopes to be able to expand the impact her office makes on the veterans community and she thanked the veterans in the room for their service and the attorneys who are working to assist veterans with their legal needs.
The reception was hosted at the Boston Bar Association by the Active Duty Military & Veterans Forum, which works to spotlight legal needs, serve as a network for current and former servicemembers in the legal profession and their families, and advise the BBA’s Lawyer Referral Service on its Military & Veterans Legal Help Line. If you have questions about the Forum or would like to become involved, please email Cassandra Shavney at [email protected]
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12 Now mconcerning1 spiritual gifts,2 brothers,3 I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that nwhen you were pagans oyou were led astray to pmute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that qno one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is raccursed!” and sno one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now tthere are varieties of gifts, but uthe same Spirit; 5 and vthere are varieties of service, but uthe same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is uthe same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 wTo each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of xwisdom, and to another the utterance of yknowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another zfaith by the same Spirit, to another agifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another bthe working of miracles, to another cprophecy, to another dthe ability to distinguish between spirits, to another evarious kinds of tongues, to another fthe interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, gwho apportions to each one individually has he wills.
One Body with Many Members
12 For just as ithe body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, jso it is with Christ. 13 For kin one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—lJews or Greeks, slaves4 or free—and mall were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, nGod arranged the members in the body, each one of them, oas he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,5 yet one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, pall rejoice together.
27 Now qyou are the body of Christ and individually rmembers of it. 28 And sGod has appointed in the church first tapostles, second uprophets, third teachers, then vmiracles, then wgifts of healing, xhelping, yadministrating, and vvarious kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But zearnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
About English Standard Version
The English Standard Version™ is founded on the conviction that the words of the Bible are the very words of God. And because the words themselves—not just the thoughts or ideas—are inspired by God, each word must be translated with the greatest precision and accuracy. As Jesus Himself stressed, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
This passion for God’s Word is the driving force behind the translation of the ESV™ Bible. The English Standard Version™ does not try to “improve” on the original in light of today’s culture or by using trendy language. Instead, the utmost care has been taken to express God’s Word in English that most closely captures the meaning of the original, with understandability, beauty, and impact.
The Classic Reference Edition, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
Copyright © 2016 by Crossway Bibles,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
ESV Text Edition (2016)
Book Introductions and Center-Column Cross-Reference System (as adapted) copyright © 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. The ESV Cross-Reference System is adapted from the original English Revised Version cross-reference system.
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In search of Classical Greece
Pompeii Live
Sowei mask
Pompeii App
WCEC
Coins and the bible
Vikings: life and legend
Silver Service: Fine dining in
Recent acquisitions: Arcimbold
The Art of Influence: Asian Pr
Pompeii goes global
A year of success
Beyond El Dorado
Marsh Volunteer Awards
Africa Programme Update
Shunga: sex and pleasure
Women of the pleasure quarters
Spoliation case settled
The Mostyn Tompion clock
A gift from Count Duerckheim
An early Christmas gift - an extraordinary
collection of modern German drawings given to the British Museum
The British Museum is delighted to announce a very generous gift of 34 important works on paper by 20th-century German artists to the collection. The works have been given by Count Christian Duerckheim who holds one of the world’s finest private collections of contemporary German and English art. Count Duerckheim has presented the Museum with key works by Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Blinky Palermo, A.R. Penck, Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter. The gift, plus an additional loan of around 60 prints and drawings from the Duerckheim collection, will go on display at the British Museum in February 2014.
The gift includes a group of eleven drawings by Baselitz from 1960 to the late 1970s, together with prints from the same period. They cover the principal phases of his career from the Pandemonium drawings of the early 1960s, the development of his ironic ‘Heroes’ in the mid-1960s, the subsequent fracturing of his motifs to the eventual inversion of the motif from the late 1960s. While the seventeen works by Baselitz form half of the gift, there are also an important examples by Richter, including his Pin-up and Installation drawings, the characteristic Ice Age meets cybernetics stick-figures of Penck, as well as sculptural drawings by Lüpertz and Palermo, and a drawing and sketchbook by Polke satirizing the ‘economic miracle’ of post-war reconstruction in West Germany.
In addition, Count Duerkheim has given Erste Konzentration, the enormously significant set of three print portfolios from 1982, comprising some 36 prints by Baselitz, Penck and other German artists associated with the rise of Neo-Expressionism in the early 1980s when their work began to attain widespread international attention.
The donation completely transforms the Museum’s holdings of German post-war graphic art. Prior to this the Museum had only one drawing by Baselitz, for example, and no drawings by any of the other artists in the gift, with the exception of Richter. The gift is an important milestone in the Museum’s collection of German graphic art and enables the story of post-war German art to be told.
Count Duerckheim said ‘I am pleased to give this gift to the British Museum so that the important graphic art of 20th century Germany is reflected within its international collection. The exhibition and my collection is a story of change and movement, of life in progress. I have always felt this constant change and have gone with it, very much inspired by the artists I have collected. For me as collector it is a great honour to show my collection and to be a donor to the British Museum’.
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said ‘This is an extraordinarily generous gift to the collection, transforming our modern German holdings and ensuring that the Museum can now trace the history of drawings and printmaking in Germany from the time of Dürer to the present day. I am hugely grateful to Count Duerckheim for his generosity and for lending us further works from his unparalleled collection to display to the Museum’s wide public’.
Count Christian Duerckheim formed his collection of contemporary German art largely from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. After he first came across the work of Baselitz in the early 1970s, he decided to form a collection that would represent, through key works, the dramatic history of his own times. Count Duerckheim was born in Saxony, near Baselitz’s birthplace, and has always shared a strong bond with the artist which led to him forming one of the most significant collections of his early works in private hands.
The Duerckheim gift will go on display in the exhibition ‘Germany divided: Baselitz and his generation. From the Duerckheim collection’ at the British Museum from 6 February 2014.
Ein neuer Typ (‘A New Type’), 1965, Georg Baselitz (b.1938), grey and yellow ochre watercolour, charcoal, graphite and white pastel on paper. Presented to the British Museum by Count Christian Duerckheim. Reproduced by permission of the artist. © Georg Baselitz
Germany divided: Baselitz and his generation.
From the Duerckheim collection
6 February – 31 August 2014
Opening hours 10.00-17.30 Saturday to Thursday, 10.00-20.30 Fridays.
A scholarly and fully-illustrated catalogue by John-Paul Stonard, Germany Divided: Baselitz and his generation. From the Duerckheim collection, published by the British Museum Press, will accompany the exhibition.
The Department of Prints and Drawings contains the national collection of Western prints and drawings. The department provides access for members of the public to carry out research in its Study Room, which is open to all. Visitors may ask to see any of the 50,000 drawings or 2,000,000 prints in the collection. The collection is also available to research online britishmuseum.org
For further information or images please contact Hannah Boulton on 020 7323 8522 or hboulton@britishmuseum.org
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Teeing it up for Oct. 30
By Staff|Published Wed, Oct 29, 2014
PGA Tour/Asian Tour
Event: CIMB Classic.
Site: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, West Course (6,985 yards, par 72).
Purse: $7 million. Winner’s share: $1.26 million.
Television: Golf Channel (Wednesday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.; Thursday-Friday, noon-4 p.m., 11 p.m.-3 a.m.; Saturday, noon-4 p.m., 11 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).
Last year: Ryan Moore beat Gary Woodland with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.
Last week: Robert Streb won the McGladrey Classic in Georgia for his first PGA Tour title, beating Brendon de Jonge with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff. Will MacKenzie was eliminated on the first extra hole.
Notes: FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel is in the field along with Jason Dufner and European Ryder Cup players Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia. Dufner tied for 23rd last week in Australia in the Perth International in his first start since withdrawing from the PGA Championship because of a neck injury. ... The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions is next week in Shanghai, China. The Sanderson Farms Championship also is next week in Jackson, Miss.
Online: http://www.pgatour.com.
Asian Tour site: http://www.asiantour.com.
Event: BMW Masters.
Site: Shanghai, China.
Course: Lake Malaren Golf Club, Masters Course (7,607 yards, par 72).
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Saturday, 6-11 a.m.; Sunday, 6-11 a.m., 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m.).
Last year: Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano closed with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory.
Last week: Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen won the Perth International, beating France’s Victor Dubuisson by three strokes.
Notes: The tournament opens the four-event Final Series. The World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions is next week, also in Shanghai, followed by the Turkish Airlines Open and World Tour Championship in Dubai. ... European Ryder Cup players Dubuisson, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Jamie Donaldson, Thomas Bjorn and Stephen Gallacher top the field along with Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Americans Chris Kirk, Kevin Stadler and Ryan Palmer.
Online: http://www.europeantour.com.
Event: LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Site: Taipei, Taiwan.
Course: Miramar Golf Country Club (6,429 yards, par 72).
Purse: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3-6 a.m.; Sunday 2-6 a.m.).
Last year: Norway’s Suzann Pettersen successfully defended her title at Sunrise Golf and Country Club, beating Spain’s Azahara Munoz by five strokes.
Last week: South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace won the rain-shortened Blue Bay LPGA on Monday in China for her first LPGA Tour title. She won the Ladies European Tour’s South African Women’s Open the previous week.
Notes: Inbee Park regained the top spot in the world from Stacy Lewis on Monday. Park is in the field along with the second-ranked Lewis, No. 3 Lydia Ko, No. 4 Pettersen and No. 5 Michelle Wie. Ko won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in December at Miramar. ... Taiwan’s Yani Tseng won the inaugural event in 2011. She won the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in March 2012. ... The Mizuno Classic is next week in Japan.
Online: http://www.lpga.com.
Event: Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Site: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Course: Desert Mountain Club, Cochise Course (6,929 yards, par 70).
Purse: $2.5 million. Winner’s share: $440,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Saturday, 4:30-7 p.m., 7:30-10 p.m.; Sunday, 3:30-6 p.m., 7-9:30 p.m.).
Last year: Fred Couples won by six strokes at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Last week: Michael Allen won the AT&T Championship in San Antonio for his second victory of the year. Bernhard Langer tied for sixth to wrap up the Charles Schwab Cup title.
Notes: The top 30 on the money list qualified for the season-ending tournament. ... Langer has a tour-high five victories – two of them majors – and also has wrapped up the season money title with $2,916,189. ... Tom Lehman won the 2012 event at Desert Mountain. ... The tournament also will be played at Desert Mountain the next two years.
Area Holes-In-One
Gerald Engel, on the 177-yard 17th hole at Elma Meadows, with a 5-wood.
Craig McIntyre, on the 221-yard 9th hole, with a 3-iron.
Curtis Meer, on the 151-yard 8th hole at Sheridan, with a 7-iron
Bill Pelowski, on the 243-yard 3rd hole at Delaware, with a driver.
Scott Rotella, on the 135-yard 2nd hole at Seneca Hickory Stick, with an 8-iron.
Jim Slowey, on the 125-yard 22nd hole at Terry Hills.
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ESA Telemedicine Project Commercially Successful
Home » News Archive » ESA Telemedicine Project Commercially Successful
Three years of collaborative activity between ESA and RDT, aimed at identifying suitable solutions to the provision of sustainable satellite-enabled telemedicine services for the commercial aviation market, is demonstrating commercial success with the recent announcement by Etihad Airways of its decision to install new state-of-the-art technology Tempus IC onboard health monitoring system on its long-haul and ultra long-haul aircraft.
Tempus IC can monitor the condition of passengers who display signs of illness in-flight that might require immediate medical attention. It is designed to enable non-medical users, such as cabin crew, to gather vital information about a passenger's health quickly and efficiently, by monitoring and transmitting to a ground-based response centre vital signs routinely measured in an Emergency Room - including blood pressure, temperature, glucometry and 12-lead electrocardiogram. The crew will be able to simultaneously talk to and send clinical-quality data along with still pictures and moving video to a ground-based medical team of experts specialised in assisting in-flight medical contingencies for diagnosis and support.
Pierluigi Mancini, ESA, Head of the Awareness Activities and Feasibility Studies Division of the Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme adds: "The objective of the activity was to develop and validate a system that enables airlines to manage in-flight medical emergencies more effectively and to reduce the number of costly unnecessary medical diversions. With the emergence of ultra long-haul aircraft such as the A380, this kind of technology is really the only way forward to contain the component of risk that an in-flight medical incident presents, not just for the airline but for the passenger as well. The combination of medical data with the ability to actually see and talk to a patient and crew is a real breakthrough".
Graham Murphy, CEO of RDT, the company that designed and manufactures the ground-breaking medical device, comments, "With the rise of larger aircraft and lower air-fares, the number of people of all ages travelling by air is increasing. As a result, the probability of a medical emergency occurring in-flight has risen and the pilot will often divert the flight to the nearest airport where medical attention can be provided. Commercial airlines are interested in telemedicine technology as a tool to improve medical provision for customers as well as to support their staff and crew. In simple terms, better diagnosis that enables a diversion to be avoided is of direct benefit to the airline and its passengers".
Mancini continues "ESA has been active in the field of satellite-delivered telemedicine for a number of years and this development addresses the use of telemedicine in support of the management of medical emergencies onboard commercial airlines. By investing in new applications ESA acts as a catalyst for European industry to develop and exploit innovative services and markets while, at the same time, fostering and organizing user demand to gain the critical mass necessary to sustain those services. We are extremely pleased with the sustainable service resulting from this project and look forward to further developments".
17 September 2010 - Last updated at 08 April 2015 - 14:36
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American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America
Alfred A. Knopf, 1997 - Art - 635 pages
Writing with all the brilliance, authority, and pungent wit that have distinguished his art criticism for Time magazine and his greatly acclaimed study of modern art, The Shock of the New, Robert Hughes now addresses his largest subject: the history of art in America.
The intense relationship between the American people and their surroundings has been the source of a rich artistic tradition. American Visions is a consistently revealing demonstration of the many ways in which artists have expressed this pervasive connection. In nine eloquent chapters, which span the whole range of events, movements, and personalities of more than three centuries, Robert Hughes shows us the myriad associations between the unique society that is America and the art it has produced:
"O My America, My New Founde Land" explores the churches, religious art, and artifacts of the Spanish invaders of the Southwest and the Puritans of New England; the austere esthetic of the Amish, the Quakers, and the Shakers; and the Anglophile culture of Virginia.
"The Republic of Virtue" sets forth the ideals of neo-classicism as interpreted in the paintings of Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley, and the Peale family, and in the public architecture of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Latrobe, and Charles Bulfinch.
"The Wilderness and the West" discusses the work of landscape painters such as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, and the Luminists, who viewed the natural world as "the fingerprint of God's creation," and of those who recorded America's westward expansion--George Caleb Bingham, Albert Bierstadt, and Frederic Remington--and the accompanying shift in the perception of the Indian, from noble savage to outrightdemon.
"American Renaissance" describes the opulent era that followed the Civil War, a cultural flowering expressed in the sculpture of Augustus Saint-Gaudens; the paintings of John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam; the Newport cottages of the super-rich; and the beaux-arts buildings of Stanford White and his partners.
"The Gritty Cities" looks at the post-Civil War years from another perspective: cast-iron cityscapes, the architecture of Louis Henri Sullivan, and the new realism of Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, the trompe-l'oeil painters, and the Ashcan School.
"Early Modernism" introduces the first American avant garde: the painters Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Stella, Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O'Keeffe, and the premier architect of his time, Frank Lloyd Wright.
"Streamlines and Breadlines" surveys the boom years, when skyscrapers and Art Deco were all the rage . . . and the bust years that followed, when painters such as Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, Thomas Hart Benton, Diego Rivera, and Jacob Lawrence showed Americans "the way we live now."
"The Empire of Signs" examines the American hegemony after World War II, when the Abstract Expressionists (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, et al.) ruled the artistic roost, until they were dethroned by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, the Pop artists, and Andy Warhol, while individualists such as David Smith and Joseph Cornell marched to their own music.
"The Age of Anxiety" considers recent events: the return of figurative art and the appearance of minimal and conceptual art; the speculative mania of the 1980s, which led to scandalous auction practices andinflated reputations; and the trends and issues of art in the 90s.
Lavishly illustrated and packed with biographies, anecdotes, astute and stimulating critical commentary, and sharp social history, American Visions is published in association with a new eight-part PBS television series. Robert Hughes has called it "a love letter to America." This superb volume, which encompasses and enlarges upon the series, is an incomparably entertaining and insightful contemplation of its splendid subject.
86 pages matching things in this book
User Review - questbird - LibraryThing
A well-written overview of the history of American art, from Puritan origins through civil war, growing prosperity, modernism, depression, war, and rampant capitalism at the end of the twentieth ... Read full review
User Review - Kirkus
The ever voluble Hughes tackles 350 years of history with irony and gusto in this eminently readable handbook on American art. We live in a country shaped by colonization and immigration. This means ... Read full review
O My America My New Founde Land
The Republic of Virtue
The Wilderness and the West
abstract Abstract Expressionism Alfred Stieglitz Amer American art American artists architect architecture Armory Show became Benjamin West blue Boston building century Charles Charles Sheeler Church Civil cm).The Cole color Copley Cubism culture death drawing Eakins Eakins's early Edward Hopper England English esthetic Europe Figure French Gallery George Georgia O'Keeffe gift Henry Homer Hopper idea Indian Jackson Pollock Jefferson John John Singleton Copley Kooning landscape later light look Marsden Hartley Modern Art modernist mural Museum of Art National nature never Oil on canvas painter painting Paris Peale Philadelphia photographs picture political Pollock portrait Prout's Neck Puritan Quaker Rauschenberg Robert scenes sculpture sense social Stieglitz style symbol things Thomas Thomas Cole Thomas Eakins tion ture turned Virginia walls wanted Warhol Washington watercolor West Whistler William Winslow Homer wrote York young
Robert Hughes was born in Australia in 1938. He has lived and worked in the United States since 1970. He has been art critic for TIME magazine for more than 25 years. His books include monographs on painters Lucien Freud and Frank Auerbach, a history of Australian art, Heaven and Hell in Western Art (1969), The Shock of the New (1981), The Fatal Shore (1987), a book of social criticism entitled The Culture of Complaint (1995), Barcelona (1992), and a collection of reviews, Nothing If Not Critical (1990). Hughes is the recipient of a number of awards and prizes for his work, most recently an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Title American Visions: The Epic History of Art in America
A Borzoi book
Author Robert Hughes
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf, 1997
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Penguin.com
Barnes&Noble.com - $4.99
Geronimo: His Own Story: The Autobiography of a Great Patriot Warrior
Geronimo, S. M. Barrett
Penguin, Mar 1, 1996 - Biography & Autobiography - 208 pages
“I am thankful that the President of the United States has given me permission to tell my story. I hope that he and those in authority under him will read my story and judge whether my people have been rightly treated.”—Geronimo
This book contains one of the most extraordinary and invaluable documents in the annals of Native American history—the authentic testament of a remarkable “war shaman” who for several years held off both Mexico and the United States in fierce defense of Apache lands. During 1905 and 1906, Geronimo, the legendary Apache warrior and honorary war chief, dictated his story through a native interpreter to S.M. Barrett, then superintendent of schools in Lawton, Oklahoma. As Geronimo was by then a prisoner of war, Barrett had made appeals all the way up the chain of command to President Teddy Roosevelt for permission to record the words of the “Indian outlaw.” Geronimo came to each interview knowing exactly what he wanted to cover, beginning with his telling of the Apache creation story. When, at the end of the first session, Barrett posed a question, the only answer he received was a pronouncement—“Write what I have spoken.”
Now Geronimo’s narrative, with S.M. Barrett’s original commentary, has been set in historical perspective by Frederick Turner’s new introduction on the latest scholarship about the period. These elements combine in Geronimo: His Own Story to provide unique insights into the beliefs, customs, and way of life of a remarkable man and his people.
Geronimo: His Own Story
Geronimo,Stephen Melvil Barrett,Frederick W. Turner
Geronimo was a Bedonkohe Apache leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who led his people's defense of their homeland against the United States. He dictated his autobiography through an interpreter to S.M. Barrett, then superintendent of schools in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Frederick W. Turner is an American historian and writer. He annotated the revised edition of Geronimo's 1906 autobiography.
Title Geronimo: His Own Story: The Autobiography of a Great Patriot Warrior
Authors Geronimo, S. M. Barrett
Contributor Frederick W. Turner
Publisher Penguin, 1996
Biography & Autobiography / Military
History / United States / 19th Century
Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies
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John Luhr Honored with 2018 Alumni Arrupe Award
by Bouvier Law | Jul 26, 2018 | Awards, Firm News, Immigration
One Jesuit Buffalo announces the first recipient of the Arrupe Alumni Award – celebrating Men and Women for others – to be awarded at IggyFest July 31, 2018 to John Paul Luhr
With only one week until the July 31, One Jesuit Buffalo Iggyfest at St. Michael’s Place, we would like to announce John Paul Luhr as the first recipient of the OJB Alumni Arrupe award, celebrating Men and Women for others.
A graduate of Cansius High School, John is a founding member of One Jesuit Buffalo. His passion has been instrumental in the organizing of OJB, which serves to connect Jesuit Alumni and friends for fellowship, faith formation and service.
With humility, John is always there to give freely of time, talent, and treasure in so many important endeavors– including his pivotal role in every facet of the work done by One Jesuit Buffalo.
From plumbing to the practice of law, he lets no skill go unused in the name of service to our community.
The evening before our first service project, he was called on to do plumbing repairs at St Augustine School. Without his effort, our very first project was in jeopardy. He came to help organize for the following day, he proceeded to spend hours on an unexpected and messy repair.
John has participated in events at both Nativity Miguel campuses, at St Michael’s and at St Luke’s Mission.
He is a generous contributor to our community in every way. Most recently, after learning of the need for an immigration lawyer for a parishioner at St. Michael’s, John, an attorney with Bouvier Law, selflessly spent many hours and over a dozen depositions to support a couple that was at risk of being split up due to an ICE misunderstanding.
John is a thoughtful, selfless friend and citizen who embodies the term “Men and Women for others”, which we celebrate in this award.
Please join us at IggyFest and help us recognize John Luhr, the 2018 recipient of the One Jesuit Buffalo, Arrupe Award, celebrating Men and Women for others.
The first IggyFest will be held on the Feast of St. Ignatius, July 31, 2018 at St. Michael’s Place in Downtown Buffalo. The event will being with a 5:15 mass for alumni and friends. The mass will be celebrated by the local Jesuit community, with music provided by the Voices of Mercy from St. Luke’s Mission. At 6pm the streetfest will being with live music by Wilmah (they won the Battle for Bands and performed at Loyolapolooza at Loyola Baltimore) with a cameo appearance by the popular Broadway to Buffalo. All proceeds from this event will support students at Nativity Miguel School in Buffalo, NY.
Pre-sale-sale ticket packages are available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iggy-fest-18-tickets-47491702962?aff=ehomecard.
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How sporting tournaments have lead to a rise in tourism, as more Indians flock abroad?
From MakeMyTrip to Cox & Kings, travel booking firms have reported a huge spike in transactions
Anumeha Chaturvedi
June 20, 2019, 07:27 IST
The multi-billion sports tourism industry is gaining traction in India as more Indians are inclined to visit countries hosting big sporting events, online travel agencies (OTA) and tour operators said. Bookings to the UK continue to be on the rise with travellers trickling in not just for the cricket World Cup but also Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix next month.
India's biggest OTA, Make-MyTrip, said in April advance bookings to London, Manchester and Birmingham for the final ICC World Cup matches, that overlap with Wimbledon and British Grand Prix, soared to a record-high of 100% compared to 2018.
“Indians have shown more enthusiasm than ever before to visit countries hosting big sporting events. Cricket is the first love for many Indians, and the numbers continue to show an upward trajectory with more and more people traveling to watch the games, whether within India for IPL or overseas for mega events like ICC World Cup,” said Rajesh Magow, cofounder and CEO, India, Make-MyTrip. “There has also been a shift in interests for other sporting events like the football world cup and Olympics,” he added.
In 2018, MakeMyTrip witnessed an over 400% jump in bookings to Russia for FIFA and the company is expecting an equivalent inflow of bookings for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics next year. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 24-August 9 next year.
Fanatic Sports, the entity selling tickets for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has not started selling tickets yet, but travel agents said queries have already started coming in from Indian travellers.
Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox & Kings, said although a large number of sports fans have planned to devote their time to the cricket World Cup, a considerable number of Indians are also flying exclusively to the UK to witness the grand slam tennis tournament and F1.
“These are sports that have gained traction from India. Making June and July one of the busiest periods for the UK in terms of tourists coming in, the sporting events have successfully extended tourist season up to the end of July as compared to the traditional summer outing that ends in May for Indians. We see a spike of over 30% in arrivals into UK and Europe during this period,” he added.
The 2019 Wimbledon championship starts from July 1 and goes on till July 14. The British Grand Prix is the oldest in the Formula One calender and will be held on July 14.
About 15 lakh people were expected to visit Russia around the World Cup last year with Indians accounting for more than 20% of the number.
“Owing to demand, Thomas Cook India introduced special World Cup tour packages such as United Kingdom Delights with Liverpool and York, London Delights, United Kingdom Delights with Ireland and others to assist last-minute travellers. With e-business becoming one of the key drivers for the World Cup, we witnessed a surge of 22% in online enquiries for UK packages in comparison to last year,” said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holiday, MICE and visa for Thomas Cook.
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Reading Lolita in Washington
USA Today reports that Azar Nafisi, author of the best-selling Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books — much of which focuses on the secret book club Nafisi held in her home in Tehran after losing her university job — is planning to launch an international online book discussion group.
In a world that she says has become too politicized, she wants to create a “domain of imagination that is not political. … Read Shakespeare or (Margaret) Atwood. We don’t know if they are Republicans.”
Details of her online book club are being worked out. By spring, she hopes to organize free online discussions about books and authors.
The discussions, Nafisi says, will focus on writers who initially may seem unrelated. However, they can be discussed as part of larger themes.
For example, she hopes to contrast Jon Stewart’s satirical textbook, America (the Book), with Allan Bloom’s Shakespeare on Love and Friendship, to give the rest of the world a taste of American diversity. Or, the club will compare Atwood, the Canadian novelist, with human-rights activist Samantha Power and their approaches to human rights.
A book club “is a gold mine in terms of creating ideas” and getting people to communicate, she says. That’s true both in Iran, where books that are considered subversive are banned, and in the USA, where “everything is so polarized that you have very little room for debate and understanding.”
My first reaction: it’s a great idea. One of the problems with today’s public discourse, it seems ot me, is that it is so focused on politics and political issues, including personal issues turned political — to the detriment of all the spheres of thought that deal with the vast aspects of the human condition that exist outside or beyond politics. It’s entirely possible, for instance, to read, enjoy, and derive insights from the novels of Dostoyevsky while finding his politics (which were extremely reactionary and bigoted) abhorrent — or knowing nothing about them. Sadly, too many of the institutions that should be promoting the study, understanding, and love of literature as a source of both truths and pleasures that transcend the present moment are busy politicizing it instead, with English departments as the worst culprits.
I once stumbled on a literature discussion board about a month after the 2000 election. While the board looked interesting, there were threads filled with so much anger and hatred toward Bush voters — perceived in the most stereotypical terms as ignorant bigoted rednecks — that I had no desire to stick around. (Even though I did not vote for Bush.) A woman I know who did vote for Bush, despite disagreeing with him on many issues including same-sex marriage, told me that she left another online book club for the same reason. An online book club tolerant toward political differences sounds like a great idea.
One of the things I loved about Reading Lolita in Tehran was Nafisi’s evocation — and creation — of a world in which books mattered: book, ideas, the life of the mind, the inner life created by reading. It was also a world in which people of vastly different politics and ideologies could meet, and find a common language, in literature’s realm. If Nafisi can recreate that, more power to her.
My second reaction: If Nafisi wants a nonpolitical book club, it’s odd that one of the first projects she mentions is a comparison between Margaret Atwood (who, by the way, we very definitely know is not a Republican) and Samantha Power, not a “literary” writer but a political one who has written about genocide prevention. At the same time, I like the fact that Nafisi’s vision for her book discussion groups includes popular culture (Jon Stewart) as well as “high culture.” It will be interesting to see how this one works out.
More on women, families, and careers
Tuesday’s Boston Globe has an article about women in science dealing with the career/family balance. Highlights:
As a graduate student at Harvard University and also a mother, [Deborah] Rud hopes to inspire female undergraduates to pursue both a career in science and a family. The trouble is, she’s still figuring out if she herself can have both.
Rud nearly dropped out of her doctorate program after she gave birth, and she still fears that her family would suffer if she devoted herself to an academic research career.
The career choices of young women like Rud will to a great extent determine whether their generation will approach equality with men in university science departments.
In Rud’s field, biology, women are 46 percent of the doctorate recipients from the nation’s top 50 biology departments. But they make up only 30 percent of assistant professors and 15 percent of full professors. A similar ”leaky pipeline” is seen in other sciences, as well. A sizable number of the women who train in the sciences never enter the academic profession — and the desire for more family time is a major reason.
”I don’t know how many tenured female professors there are who have children and are a really big part of their children’s lives,” said Rud, 27. ”I don’t know of any who go to soccer games and sometimes pick up their kids from school. I don’t need to be there for all of it — frankly it’s a little mind-numbing — but I want to be there for some of it.”
Rud is a little unusual in having given birth to her first child in graduate school, but her soul-searching was echoed by more than two dozen other young female scientists in interviews with the Globe. Many of them are preoccupied with the question of whether to stay in academia at all, or whether to settle for less prestigious instructor positions.
These women, most of them studying in the booming field of life sciences, often describe working in laboratories where women are a robust minority, or even a majority, of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Few of them say they have experienced much discrimination. The primary barrier, they say, is the conflict between lab and family under the grueling demands of today’s academic culture.
Princeton University president Shirley M. Tilghman, a molecular biologist, has spoken about how in her field, women are nearly half of new doctorate recipients, but only a quarter of faculty job applicants at top-tier universities.
”It does not take much imagination to recognize that the drop coincides with prime child-bearing years,” Tilghman said in a speech this year at Columbia University.
The typical scientist is 32 by the time he or she earns a doctorate. In most cases in the life sciences, graduates then have to spend several more years as low-paid postdoctoral fellows, or ”postdocs,” before getting their first academic jobs.
In a 2000 survey of University of California at Berkeley postdocs, most of whom were scientists, 60 percent of married women with children said they were considering leaving academia.
Rud’s adviser, James A. DeCaprio, said few of the graduate students and postdocs he has trained, male or female, have gone on to academic research positions. Those who have made it tend to work about 70 hours a week. The rest end up choosing business or law school, the pharmaceutical industry, or teaching in less prestigious positions.
”If you work 80 hours a week, you will be twice as successful” than if you work 40 hours, he said, explaining that more hours translates directly into more experiments, and more discoveries. ”They move the science along faster than the competition.”
DeCaprio called Rud smart and creative, and said she has ”as good a chance as anybody to be extraordinarily successful.” What happens will depend mostly on how many hours she is able, or willing, to put in at her bench.
Raised in Pasadena, Calif., by a single mother, Rud always knew she wanted children. Her love for science came later. Today, Rud gushes about the elegance of biological systems — how clever viruses are, for example. ”It’s like an art critic discussing a work of art,” said her husband, Ryan Rud, an English teacher at English High School in Boston.
Still, like many of her peers, Rud found herself in graduate school uncertain about what she wanted to do with her life, except that she and her husband wanted to start their family early.
Her pregnancy brought her confusion to the boiling point. She worried about the hours it would take to succeed — hours away from her family.
At the same time, she wasn’t sure if she loved the repetitive work at the lab bench, altering the salt levels in experiments, for example. And she couldn’t imagine taking a job in a pharmaceutical company lab, where she’d have better hours but feel like ”a drone.”
A six-week maternity leave ballooned into a year-long leave of absence, although she worked as a teaching assistant this fall.
Ultimately, Rud decided to return to school. When she joins her new viral oncology lab in January, she hopes to work weekdays from about 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Her thought now is that she’ll probably pursue a career that’s mostly teaching, for which she has an obvious gift. But if she doesn’t put in 70-hour weeks, she has no idea whether she could still get a tenure-track job at a liberal arts college, or whether her only academic option would be a low-paid instructor position. Maybe, she thinks, she’ll go into patent law.
Rud doesn’t blame her struggles on Harvard. Still, a growing chorus of scientists says that the responsibility for this lab-vs.-life conflict lies with institutions. Recently, the presidents of nine leading universities, including Harvard and MIT, pledged to do more to make academic careers ”compatible with family caregiving responsibilities.”
That will mean changing expectations about work hours and offering more support to families. The Ruds could not afford Harvard day care. They get by on their salaries only because Jackson attends the subsidized center for babies of teenage mothers at Ryan’s high school.
A Harvard task force on women in science, convened after Summers’ comments on women, recommended paid maternity leave and child-care scholarships for doctoral students. It is not yet clear whether Harvard will adopt these recommendations.
A survey of people who received Harvard doctorates between 1997 and 1999 found that three years later, slightly more women than men who studied natural sciences remained in academia. It’s a result that cheers Harvard officials, although they can’t explain the difference.
The article raises some interesting questions.
(1) Is the “leaky pipeline” problem as bad as the article suggests? If women make up 46% of new Ph.D.’s in biology (from the nation’s top 50 schools) but only 15% of full professors, surely this is at least in part a generational problem. It would be helpful, for instance, to know the average age for biology professors.
(2) We are told that 60% of the female postdocs at Berkeley who are married and have children are considering leaving academia. What are the comparable figures for postdocs who are single (male and female), or married without children? And what about men? Is this purely a work-family issue, or also an issue of the work environment in science?
(3) I have no doubt that (for whatever reason) women in science are more concerned with issues of balancing work and family than men are, but shouldn’t at least some attention be paid to men in this discussion? A friend of mine who is working toward a science Ph.D., as is her husband, makes it very clear that they are both concerned with how to balance work and family once they have children. Surely, they can’t be unique.
(4) I’m not sure that the work environment in science can ever be made “family-friendly” for those who are interested in high-level scientific achievement. I’m not sure that the idea of science as a stern taskmaster, of the scientist as somewhat aloof from the real world and living in world of his — or her — own, is merely a cultural “stereotype.” Serious scientific discovery, I think, probably does require a tremendous amount of dedication and focus. But should there be more opportunities for people to teach and to do lower-level scientific work, perhaps teamwork, without having to put in 70 hours a week?
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richmond_center
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Home > Richmond Center > About Us > Leadership
Philip Buchsbaum, LNHA
Phil is a man of many talents, but by far his greatest is running a multi-faceted healthcare complex, and doing it flawlessly. Phil has built a team of experts that are equally adept at complex medical care as they are at making sure everyone here has a good time. His dedication, devotion and compassion are matched only by his attention to detail. Nothing gets by Phil. Not the even the smallest detail. The Richmond Center campus runs so smoothly that he still finds time to pursue his personal passion – rock ‘n roll music!
Marsha Ashby, RN
“I love the challenge” is the quick response from Marsha when asked how she can keep up with the health care demands of a campus with the diversity and breadth of the Richmond Center. “And I love being a nurse. We have lots of nursing home residents here who are very independent and don’t need a lot of skilled nursing. And then we have patients that are restricted to a ventilator, or are recovering from a traumatic brain injury, and they require hospital-level care 24/7. And we have a team here that can do it all”. We have no doubt that Marsha’s leadership, and can-do attitude is one of the reasons that the Richmond Center has earned such an outstanding reputation among hospitals, caregivers and families.
Iris Goldstein, PT
Director of Therapy
Iris Goldstein has been at the Richmond Center for nearly twenty five years. After starting her career at Brookdale Hospital and then to St. Elizabeth’s where she remained until 2102 when the Richmond Center become part of the Centers Health Care family. There may even be some truth to the rumor that Centers added a facility on Staten Island just to get Iris Goldstein. She is the “mother hen” to hundreds of residents and knows them all by name, mentor to a team of energetic therapists and life coach to friends and co-workers. Plus, she does it all while running a state-of-the-art rehabilitation department, where she not only participates in developing the care plans for each patient, she is a hands-on therapist as well. And she does it all with a smile. The only time you can expect to see Iris sad are those bittersweet days when she says good-bye to a resident who became a treasured friend in the therapy department and is walking out of the Richmond Center to return to their own home.
George DaSilva, MSW
Director of Social Services
“Finally!” That’s how everyone here greeted George when he became our Director of Social Services. According to Richmond’s administrator, “Sometimes getting just the right fit takes a little extra work, but it was worth it”. And just the right fit was George, who began his Centers career in the Bronx, then moved to Queens and most recently was at the Neurobehavioral Center right here in Richmond. From the prestigious Wurzweiler School of Social Work and through several Centers facilities, George has used his passion for family, travel and sports to make lifelong connections with scores of residents and their families. “I grew up in suburban New Jersey, in a Brazilian family, and I think that’s why I find it so easy to relate to people of all cultures. Or else I just make friends easily!” says George. And he’s right about that. George is one of the easiest people to be friends with, and as our social services director, he may be one of the first people you meet here at Richmond. Lucky you!
Richmond Center
91 Tompkins Ave Staten Island, NY 10304
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Matt Gibson
Educational Programs Director
mattgib@umich.edu
Bio: Matt is passionate about helping students achieve success through the practical application of entrepreneurship. He combines his unique background in engineering, business, innovation, and education to create meaningful experiential learning opportunities for students across the university. His work includes developing leading entrepreneurship curriculum, forming interdisciplinary partnerships, and managing co-curricular programming. He regularly speaks and shares best practices in entrepreneurship education at conferences, workshops, universities, and events.
In addition to his work at the Center for Entrepreneurship, Matt is actively involved in startups as a founder, advisor, and leader. He currently works with several startups in the area, including JosNoe Medical (josnoemedical.com), which makes surgical supply products. Previously, Matt served as the Vice President of Research and Development at Iontera, a startup focused on developing drug delivery and cosmetic products. Matt is also a patent agent with deep experience in intellectual property. He was a technical advisor at Ropes & Gray, LLP, where he managed the strategic development and prosecution of intellectual property related to a wide range of medical device and telecommunication technologies for both startups and large corporations. While in graduate school, Matt launched an early stage company with a novel technology for transdermal delivery of macromolecular drugs. Matt received his PhD and MS from the University of Michigan and his BS from Brigham Young University.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @Gibson_Matt
ENTR 407.001 – Entrepreneurship Hour
ENTR 490.013/599.032 – Entrepreneurs Leadership Program
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CubeSats Touching New Heights in Space Research
By Steven Siceloff,
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Part of the scientific cargo packed inside an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft recently launched to the International Space Station is a trio of tiny spacecraft that soon will fly on their own in orbit to look at different aspects of space-based science.
With one examining Earth’s cloud layer, another looking at the cosmic background radiation from the birth of the universe and one evaluating battery storage capacities in space, the three satellites make up NASA’s ELaNa XVII mission, short for Educational Launch of Nanosatellites. The CubeSat Launch Initiative offers launch opportunities for CubeSats proposed and built by teams of engineers and researchers from U.S. educational institutions, non-profits and NASA centers. NASA evaluates each proposal, selects some to fly and then schedules them for a trip into space on an ELaNa mission.
Built to operate on their own and communicate with Earth despite being only a few inches across, the CubeSats are the latest examples from a scientific movement that has seen satellites shrink dramatically to conduct research for far less money while still returning high-quality results.
“The community and industry is growing by leaps and bounds,” said NASA’s Scott Higginbotham, mission manager for ELaNa XVII. “It is amazing what you can do with in a small package at a relatively low price and folks are truly embracing the concept.”
The three ELaNa XVII satellites are:
IceCube – The mission is to demonstrate the technology of a submillimeter-wave radiometer for future cloud ice sensing. This technology will enable cloud ice measurements to be taken in the intermediate altitudes (5 km – 15 km), where no measurements currently exist. It will perform first-of-a-kind measurements of ice particles embedded within clouds. These measurements will advance atmospheric monitoring technology and also fill in critical gaps in understanding how cloud ice affects the weather and how cloud formations process atmospheric radiation.
CXBN-2 – Short for Cosmic X-Ray Background NanoSat-2, the mission will increase the precision of measurements of the Cosmic X-Ray Background in order to constrain models that attempt to explain the relative contribution of proposed sources lending insight into the underlying physics of the early universe. The mission addresses a fundamental science question that is central to our understanding of the structure, origin, and evolution of the universe, by potentially lending insight into high-energy background radiation and the evolution of galaxies.
CSUNSat1 – Short for California State University Northridge Sat1, the primary mission of CSUNSat1 is to test an innovative low-temperature-capable energy storage system in space. The success of this energy storage system will enable future missions, especially those in deep space, to do more science while requiring less energy, mass and volume.
The three satellites flew into orbit inside a small canister tailored to the needs of CubeSats. Astronauts on the station will pull the canister out of the Cygnus and position it at the airlock of the Japanese Experiment Module. Once moved to the outside of the station, the small robotic arm on the Japanese module will point the canister out into space and each spacecraft will be pushed out into its own separate flight path to conduct its mission.
Part of lining up CubeSat missions is evaluating which ones are ready to go when the main payload is ready. Mission planners also work to get as many CubeSats into space with each launch as they can, Higginbotham said.
“We try to match the readiness date and orbital parameter desires of our CubeSats with the vehicles going to those orbits,” Higginbotham said. “We are also always looking for efficient ways to effectively ‘bundle CubeSats together because we often get a volume discount.”
Launch companies are making more room on their launchers for these tiny spacecraft as the interest in them grows. Some companies, such as those contracted under NASA’s Venture Class Launch Services, are building launch vehicles solely for CubeSats and small spacecraft. Those launchers can be sent to many different orbits and are designed to carry dozens of CubeSats into space at a time.
Right now, Higginbotham and his NASA teams are processing eight more ELaNa missions that are in different stages of preparation for their own launches.
“There’s never a dull moment around here,” Higginbotham said.
Author Steven SiceloffPosted on April 24, 2017 May 1, 2017 Categories Kennedy, Launch Services Program
Volunteers Clean Kennedy Space Center’s Beach
About 50 participants led by NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Employee Resource Groups picked up about 20 bags of trash and other large debris along the center’s shoreline before turtle-nesting season as a community service. Sea turtle-nesting season begins in about one month. Unlike what might be found along a public beach, all of the debris that litters Kennedy’s restricted beaches washes ashore after being discarded at sea. Of the 72 miles of beach that form the eastern boundary of Brevard County, Florida, about six of those miles line Kennedy.
Photo credit: Bill White
About 50 employees picked up 20 bags of trash and large debris along the shoreline of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center during a beach cleanup in preparation of the upcoming sea turtle-nesting season.
Led by the center’s Employee Resource Groups, the participants met at the Beach House, worked about an hour and covered approximately two miles in their efforts. Of the 72 miles of beach that form the eastern boundary of Brevard County, about six of those miles line Kennedy.
Unlike what might be found along a public beach, all of the debris that litters Kennedy’s restricted beaches washes ashore after being discarded at sea. So before the group started, Kennedy’s Hazardous Materials team swept the beach to take care of any dangerous/suspicious items. They also stayed with the group through the entire cleanup on ATVs and responded quickly to potentially dangerous items the group found.
Along with cleaning the beach, the group’s team-building effort included attracting a diverse group of Kennedy workers to come together and make a positive impact on Kennedy. With sea turtle-nesting season beginning in about a month, the group deemed the timing ideal. The beach looked completely transformed after the cleanup, said some of those taking part in the effort.
With Kennedy’s shoreline being part of the top nesting area in the Western Hemisphere for loggerhead sea turtles, wildlife agencies consider it important to remove trash and debris along the coast whenever possible.
“We’re hoping those sea turtles can have a safer nesting season with the newly clean beach,” said Pri Thakrar, an engineer at Kennedy. “It was a beautiful day and we got a lot of positive feedback from the participants.”
Thakrar, along with engineer and co-organizer Megan Yohpe, hope to make this a regular event.
Author Bob GranathPosted on April 24, 2017 April 24, 2017 Categories Uncategorized
20 Years Ago: Cassini Arrives at Kennedy for Launch
Before heading to Saturn to conduct unprecedented science in the orbit of the gas giant, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made a comparatively short jaunt from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida inside an Air Force C-17 transport aircraft. April 1997 saw the arrival of Cassini and its move to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility for assembly and prelaunch processing. After 20 years in space and delivering spectacular images, the massive spacecraft is beginning its final chapter. Engineers at Kennedy took a look back to how their contributions to the mission began: https://go.nasa.gov/2ocAe0g
Author Steven SiceloffPosted on April 21, 2017 Categories Kennedy
Kennedy ‘Swarmed’ as Students Develop Computer Code to Support Exploration
Students from colleges and universities from across the nation recently participated in a robotic programming competition at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Their research may lead to technology which will help astronauts find needed resources when exploring the moon or Mars.
In the spaceport’s second annual Swarmathon competition, aspiring engineers from 20 teams representing 22 minority serving universities and community colleges were invited to develop software code to operate innovative robots called “Swarmies.” The event took place April 18-20, 2017, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
In her welcoming remarks, Kennedy’s deputy center director, Janet Petro, pointed out to the students that their endeavors to develop robotic software code are more than an academic exercise.
“All of the work that you have done – designing, coding, testing – will soon be put to the ultimate test,” she said. “You should be extremely proud of your accomplishments. You have shown tenacity, problem-solving, teamwork and innovation – all qualities that NASA highly values.”
A team from Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico won this year’s Swarmathon capturing a $5,000 cash prize.
The small, four-wheeled Swarmie robots were designed through a collaboration between Kennedy’s Swamp Works laboratory and the University of New Mexico. It is a technology that could revolutionize space exploration by more effectively and efficiently locating hidden resources while astronauts explore distant destinations.
Computer scientists are developing Swarmies to focus not so much on the hardware, but the software. The Swarmathon is designed to help students improve their skills in robotics and computer science, as well as integrating software with hardware. What makes these robots noteworthy is the coding each carries in its silicon brain that makes them search for water, minerals and elements that could be refined into useful resources such as building materials or rocket fuel.
NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) selected the University of New Mexico to manage the Swarmathon challenge in a joint effort with the agency. Through the MUREP program, NASA’s goal is to increase the number of NASA-focused science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, experiences that engage underrepresented groups in active education.
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Orbital ATK CRS-7 Mission Begins
With blue sky for a background, the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module is carried atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orbital ATK’s seventh commercial resupply services mission, CRS-7, will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the International Space Station. Liftoff occurred April 18 at 11:11 a.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Sandra Joseph
Orbital ATK’s seventh cargo delivery flight to the station launched at 11:11 a.m. EDT Tuesday on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This is the fourth flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft, and the third using the Atlas V launch system.
The on-time launch marked the conclusion of a smooth countdown and the beginning of a three-day pursuit of the International Space Station, where resident crew members await the arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft and its 7,626 pounds of scientific research materials, crew supplies and station equipment. Cygnus is due to arrive at the station early Saturday morning, April 22.
For further updates on the Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/orbital.
Author Anna HeineyPosted on April 18, 2017 April 19, 2017 Categories Commercial Resupply
Review Gives CRS-7 Team ‘Go’ For Tuesday Launch
United Launch Alliance and Orbital ATK’s Launch Readiness Review for the Atlas V rocket with the Cygnus cargo resupply module was held April 15 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch managers from ULA, Orbital ATK and NASA determined all is ready for a targeted launch to the International Space Station on Tuesday, April 18. The liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 is scheduled for 11:11 a.m. EDT and there is a 30-minute launch opportunity available.
NASA TV launch coverage will begin at 10 a.m. EDT on air and streaming at www.nasa.gov/ntv. Ten minutes prior to liftoff, NASA TV’s YouTube channel will debut full, 360 coverage of the launch at http://youtube.com/nasatelevision
Learn more about the 360 video coverage at https://go.nasa.gov/2ove1Yw
Author Steven SiceloffPosted on April 16, 2017 Categories Uncategorized
Engineers Tickled Pink to Help Kennedy Robotics Team
Comprised of students from Cocoa Beach, Rockledge, Viera and Space Coast high schools, the robotics group known as the “Pink Team,” its mentors and support personnel celebrated a successful season near the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on April 5. The Pink Team fared well in the two regionals it competed in this year in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Photo credit: Charles Babir
A robotics team that did not exist six months ago stormed back into competition this spring after a new group of engineering mentors at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida opted to work with high school students to build intricate machines capable of performing by remote control some of the same functions NASA asks its own robots to perform.
Called the “Pink Team,” the Kennedy-sponsored group competes in the FIRST events, short for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Two of the three team mentors retired last year leaving the group devoid of the mentorship necessary to compete.
So the Kennedy Engineering Directorate stepped up with 10 or so mentors eager to help.
The team was led by engineers Greg Clements and Andrew Bradley. Those involved celebrated the successful season April 5 at a facility near the Shuttle Landing Facility.
“It took a lot of teamwork, skill, communication, and a whole lot of brain power to get where we are,” said Bradley, a control systems engineer at Kennedy and Pink Team mentor since its inception 20 years ago. “It was great to see our engineering group step up and help make this happen.”
The team kicked off the season in January. They had six weeks to prepare for a pair of regionals, the first in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the second at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. With teams from Google, Microsoft, General Motors and representatives from each of the space centers, the competition was extraordinary.
The Pink Team faired very well in both competitions.
“Despite this being a rebuilding season, we couldn’t have been more proud of our group of students,” Clements said. “And it looks like nearly everyone is coming back for next year, so we have high expectations.”
Comprised of students from Cocoa Beach, Rockledge, Viera and Space Coast high schools, Kennedy’s house robotics team chose the phoenix mascot as a sign of rising from the ashes, Clements said.
And of course, the phoenix was pink.
Flown Orion Crew Module Moves to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
The Orion crew module from Exploration Flight Test 1, secured on its custom-made ground support equipment, is moved into the IMAX Theater at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold
The Orion crew module that traveled into space beyond low-Earth orbit on Exploration Fight Test 1 (EFT-1) completed a different kind of trip this week at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Secured on a custom-made ground support equipment transporter, Orion was moved from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, less than three miles down the road. The crew module will become part of the NASA Now exhibit inside the IMAX Theater at the visitor complex.
The Orion spacecraft launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket Dec. 5, 2014, from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft built for humans traveled 3,604 miles above Earth, and is the first U.S. spacecraft to go beyond low-Earth orbit in 42 years. The Orion crew module splashed down approximately 4.5 hours later in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles off the shore of California.
Author Linda HerridgePosted on April 11, 2017 Categories Kennedy, Orion Spacecraft
Space Agriculture Planted in History
A look at the Biomass Production Chamber at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center back in 1991. Photo credit: NASA
For more than 30 years, NASA’s Dr. Raymond Wheeler has studied growing plants for space. Earlier this year, Wheeler published a paper titled Agriculture for Space: People and Places Paving the Way. It is a historical narrative outlining agricultural research conducted for space spanning the past 70 years. Wheeler’s space farming research highlights novel technologies and findings that have been produced over the years, including the first use of LEDs to grow plants, as well as hydroponics and vertical gardening techniques. In Wheeler’s work, one also sees that space agriculture has contributed to, and benefited from terrestrial, controlled environment agriculture and will continue to do so into the future. To read more about Wheeler’s and other space farmers’ work, go to https://go.nasa.gov/2nPAlM9.
Author Anna HeineyPosted on April 6, 2017 Categories Kennedy
New Ground Launch Sequencer Software Demonstrated in Launch Control Center
NASA engineers and test directors gather in Firing Room 3 in the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to watch a demonstration of the automated command and control software for the agency’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. In front, far right, is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Exploration Mission 1 launch director. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
A demonstration of the automated command and control software for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, recently took place in Firing Room 3 in the Launch Control Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The software, called the ground launch sequencer, will be responsible for nearly all of the launch commit criteria during the final phases of launch countdowns.
The Ground and Flight Application Software Team, or GFAST, demonstrated the software for Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, launch director for the first integrated flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft. Also attending were representatives from the NASA Test Director’s Office.
The software is in the advanced stages of development. It includes nearly all of the core capabilities required to support the initial use during Ignition Over-Pressure / Sound Suppression and follow-on tests through launch of the agency’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. The suppression stage ensures the water dampening system initiates in the final second of launch countdown. It also produces the pattern and volume needed to dampen the pressure waves and acoustic environment caused by the firing of the SLS core stage RS-25 engines and solid rocket motors.
“We were pleased to be able to demonstrate the continued evolution of the ground launch sequencer for members of the launch team, and look forward to its first use in operations support,” said Alex Pandelos, operations project engineer for Launch Integration in the Ground Systems development and Operations Program (GSDO).
The software was developed by GSDO’s Command, Control and Communications teams at the center. Development of the software will continue, with a goal of beginning verification and validation of the software in summer 2017.
Author Linda HerridgePosted on April 5, 2017 Categories Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Journey to Mars, Kennedy
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Kennedy Space Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Official: Brian Dunbar
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boundaries, bygones, love, Reader Questions, Relationships
#1106: Breaking up because: Geography
I moved to a different country (Country A) for my first job out of university. I’d visited before and loved everything about it, and was feeling pretty sick of my home country (Country B) at that point. However, I was also always confident that I would eventually move back to my home country to be near my family and friends from childhood/university.
While still living in Country A, I started dating an amazing man. We started the relationship very casually: I was up front about my long-term desire to move back to Country B, and he was equally up front about never wanting to leave Country A. However, we fell very much in love and stayed together for two years. I could write 1,000 words about how amazing this man is. The short version is that, you know how a lot of people say they knew their partner was “the one” because their partner felt like home? That’s how I felt (feel?) about him.
While I was falling in love with Country A and this man, some family problems made me realize how hard it was to be away from my family and closest friends. Last November, I was offered an amazing job back in Country B. It was the hardest decision I have made in my life; in the end, I took the job and moved back to Country B because I couldn’t shake the feeling that I want to be there in the long term, and staying in Country A was just prolonging the inevitable. My then-boyfriend and I broke up. In a series of very painful conversations, he made it clear that he supported my decision but would never follow me to my home country.
I’ve been in Country B for five months now. I like being close to my family and friends (my social calendar hasn’t been this packed in years!). A lot of relationships important to me have been strengthened. But I miss Country B, and I miss my ex SO MUCH. Every part of my daily life feels like he should be there, and I can’t imagine a future without him. We still text every day (trying to do the “friends” thing, though we’ve both been pulling back a bit). We’ve had a few “feelingsbomb” conversations where we talked about how much we care for and miss each other, but he reiterated that he is not moving for me.
Captain, how do you get over someone who could have been the love of your life if not for geography? I feel like I had one inner voice screaming at me to go home to my family when I was living in Country A, and now I have an inner voice screaming at me to go to my “home” with this man. I feel like I’m being torn in half.
I Don’t Believe In The One But What If He Was It? (she/her)
Hi I Don’t Believe In The One,
There’s no easy answer here, but if you truly want to move on from this person and commit to your life in Country B, here’s the hard necessary stuff that will help:
End contact or take a long break from being in contact with your ex. You’re not friends and you won’t be friends as long as this big wave of longing flows between you. This “texting every day” routine is keeping your hopes and your feelings alive, the phone is the umbilical cord feeding the relationship.
Remind yourself: He had the opportunity to move to be with you, and he chose not to. He could end this separation any time he wants to, but he isn’t choosing to do that. I think you still hope that he will change his mind and come be with you. Every day he doesn’t do that he is re-affirming his choice.
Remind yourself: You had the opportunity to stay and be with him, but you chose not to. You could end this separation any time you want to, but so far you’ve chosen not to do that. If this were really the right long-term relationship for both of you, wouldn’t one of you have made the decision to stay or move so that you could be together? Is moving back and being with him what you really want to do? If so, do that! If not, throw yourself into life where you are and let go of him.
It’s one of the saddest truths that you can love someone and still not be able to build a happy life with them. You’ve both made the hard choices and had the hard conversations. Now it’s time to grieve what might have been and let distance and time do their work. This will heal if you let it.
Hello readers, over on Patreon we have a “useful thing” recommendation thread going, stop in if you like.
justinpbg said: May 29, 20189:43 am
This sux. I’ve been there.
Captain is right – you two need some (electronic) space. Please take it.
TheLadyK said: May 29, 20189:51 am
Echoing to take the space you need and really love the life you are choosing for yourself.
I had a break up with a love because his career choice would cut out my ability to have a career that I wanted. I loved him dearly but I chose a different, more independent life. You meet other people. You have other relationships. Let yourself do that growing and healing and embrace the choice to be with your family. Give yourself the gift of letting yourself build the life you’ve chosen.
iceberry said: May 29, 201812:59 pm
I had a relationship with truly the most wonderful man who was incredibly kind and always kept life interesting. His career was flourishing with epic opportunities, including a big move to another country. It became apparent that if I had followed him, or if he had given up these opportunities, we would not be the most authentic version of ourselves. The things that I admired most about him were the reason he had to take on these challenges and changes, but I would have lived in the shadow of that and have had to adapt my career to follow his. It was hard, and we tried to be friends right after which made it harder. The space really helps and allows you to focus on being your best self.
Vicki said: May 29, 201810:22 am
I’ve been doing the long-distance thing for a long time, and frequent email and/or texting are a lot of how we’ve kept that connection alive. Based on that experience, I agree with the Captain that since you have broken up with this person because long distance doesn’t work for you, you should take a serious break from the texts.
Pick an amount of time–I will arbitrarily suggest four months–and tell him that you love him, but since neither of you is moving, you need a four-month break to move on with your life, and hope it will help your ex do the same. I wouldn’t block instantly after sending that, because this isn’t the standard “don’t contact me” situation. In this case, it would be reasonable for him to reply with “OK, I’ll miss you” or even “if you change your mind and want to call sooner, I’m here,” so maybe give a few hours for him to reply before you block him, but don’t get into a long discussion of whether this is a good idea, or whether the length of time you’ve picked is appropriate.
Lizards80 said: May 29, 201810:33 am
“It’s one of the saddest truths that you can love someone and still not be able to build a happy life with them.”
And. You can love someone else. I don’t believe in The One (as in, there only being one in the world). Imagine how many unfulfilled people there would be.
Tara said: May 29, 20183:07 pm
Yea, its more like he was A One. Even that’s a little debatable considering how it isn’t working out. But even if that were true, there are definitely more “The One”s out there for OP.
Mrs Morley said: May 29, 201810:34 am
Dear LW,
The Captain often points out that Perfect except for [huge glaring incompatibility] is not perfect at all.
Your ex would be perfect if he wanted to live with you more than he wants to stay home. But he doesn’t. That’s pretty huge.
So yeah, break off contact for a while, the Captain is right.
Jedi hugs if you want them.
Amy said: May 29, 201810:37 am
I feel like a lot of times, when people talk about getting over a breakup, there’s an underlying assumption that the breakup probably happened because someone Was A Jerk. Sometimes that’s the case…but a lot of breakups are more about a single point of dealbreaker-level incompatibility than the entire relationship being wrong. That’s what’s happening here–each of you has decided which country you’re going to live in, those aren’t the same country, therefore the two of you aren’t compatible as a couple, no matter how good everything else is.
I think all you can do in a case like this is remind yourself of why you’re making the right choice for you, and lean on that for security. You chose to move back to B for solid, important reasons–reasons that haven’t gone away since then. Being with this person was not enough to make it feasible for you to live in A forever, and going back probably wouldn’t change that. This person is not willing to move to B, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. That’s your solid ground here: you made the best choice you could, given the options you had available.
I think the Captain’s advice about cutting down on contact until your heart recovers a little is a good idea. Right now, you’re functionally in an indefinite LDR that you’re refusing to call by that name. I think it might help to cut that cord for a couple months and focus your time and energy on building yourself a happy and fulfilling life in A. When you’re feeling more settled and your romantic feelings for your ex have faded, that’s a good time to reach out and see if you can have a real friendship with each other again.
Anonyish said: June 1, 20187:15 am
I think that your first paragraph is really useful to bear in mind. People feel guilty about breakups, and it can be easier to deal if the other person is a jerk, and people also feel societal pressure to stay in relationships that aren’t working for them because the other person hasn’t done anything bad, so it isn’t fair to break up with them. But often the reality is that lives or personalities aren’t compatible and no-one is the bad guy. I think that when someone is a jerk and that ends the relationship it can be good to acknowledge it, but when they’re not that doesn’t mean the reason to leave is less important. Two nice people here have incompatible and insurmountable desires in life that are unlikely to change, certainly not for now. So the best thing is to accept that and take the steps necessary to move on. It’s going to hurt, and that’s really hard, but it sounds like it’s necessary.
bopper said: May 29, 201810:41 am
You have done the right thing…I lived in a Country A for a while and met women from my Country B who were stuck in Country A even after being divorced because they had kids and they couldn’t leave Country A if they wanted to see their kids on a daily basis.
Rebelx said: May 29, 201812:08 pm
I don’t see how that’s exactly relevant here… Presumably those women made the choice to get married & have kids knowing there was some risk that if the marriage didn’t work out, they’d be in that situation. I also have met some people in the situation you describe, as well as people who have lasting international marriages/relationships. Lots of people (myself included) make the decision to start a family in a country that’s not their home. Just the possibility that maybe it won’t work out isn’t reason in itself to not bother trying. The relevant thing is to think through the different options and figure out what your dealbreakers are. If the prospect of being “stuck” in a country post-divorce is unacceptable then perhaps you come to the conclusion that the risk of marriage & starting a family there is too high, but not everyone comes down on the same side of that risk-reward evaluation.
Nanani said: May 29, 20181:47 pm
Seconded. The particulars of countries, individuals, and the ever-changing legal and political landscape means there is never a one size fits all answer to questions like “should I Relationship with someone from another country.” Even attempting to offer blanket advice is a bit side-eye worthy tbh.
ReanaZ said: May 29, 20184:11 pm
I think it’s relevant to the LW, who is sure she doesn’t want to live long-term in Country A and is trying to come to terms with that decision. Or at least I find “What are some of the worst-case scenarios if I made the Other Decision (which I know wasn’t right for me but I am I still struggling with)?” to be helpful in quieting the voice that wants all possible versions of my life simultaneously.
LMC said: May 29, 201810:59 am
What a tough spot! One angle that you might want to consider: If one of you were to move from your home country to be with the other, perhaps the sacrifice would eventually drive you apart. If you were to move to Country A, the potential for resentment towards your beau might grow over time, as being away from your family and home country is a huge sacrifice on your part. And the same thing for him – would you want to live with the sense that you caused his sacrifice? Yes, love and being together is a big reward and incentive. But with such strong feelings that you each have about wanting to be “home”, I’m not sure that love is enough to overcome that underlying desire. I wish you luck and eventual peace with whatever decision you make.
Jadelyn said: May 29, 201811:59 am
Speaking as someone in a similar situation who has made the decision to move to be with someone, let me second this. I’ve done it twice – or, rather, once that I did it, once that I’m planning on in another couple of years. The first time I moved with a man to a place that was supremely Wrong for me: I have grown up near the coast my whole life, I love the ocean and go sailing every chance I get, and politically I’m very well-suited to my home region. I moved to a landlocked state that’s about 100x more conservative than (queer, polyamorous, pagan leftist) I could handle. I managed almost 2 years there and then came home. It wasn’t that I didn’t love him, but I couldn’t be happy there, and there was definitely a growing element of resentment because of how unhappy I’d been there. We tried to do long-distance after I came home, but couldn’t make it work.
The person I’m with now has family in another state and is really unhappy living here. We are staying a couple more years for personal reasons, but after that we’ll be moving up north. But I’m willing to do it, because while I’ll miss my home area, I’ll still be on the coast, I still like it up there (have visited a few times to make sure of it) and I’ll be close enough to drive down on the occasional weekend. So while it’s not what I would have chosen if left to my own devices, I accept it willingly and am okay with doing it in order to be together. And that really does make all the difference. If you’d stayed for him, or if he moved to be with you…it would always be a little bit grudgingly so, I think, and that is relationship poison in the long run.
Temperance said: May 29, 20182:08 pm
Yep. I made the opposite choice that LW did, BUT (and this is a huge but), I’m not close with my family, and the place where I grew up is very conservative, pretty anti-education, and very Christian. I’m decidedly none of those things. I had a way better chance of getting a good career-track job out where we moved to, too.
And now, I can’t imagine moving back “home”. This is my home! For LW, it’s clear that it wasn’t, and that’s okay, too.
MsM said: May 29, 20184:30 pm
I also made the opposite choice (albeit on an intra-country level), and while I don’t regret it, I would still move back in a heartbeat if that were an option. My spouse knows and understands this and is even open to moving should circumstances change to make that possible, but I know it still makes him sad that this will never be home to me the way it is to him, and it makes me sad that I can’t shake the feeling for his sake no matter how hard I try to make the best of things. There is no right or good answer in situations like these. There is only what sacrifices you will ultimately have an easier time living with.
sofar said: May 29, 20189:27 pm
I also made the opposite choice. I chose the guy and moved from a place that made me very happy to one that made me not miserable, necessarily, but a lot less happy. As you say, it will never be “home” like it is for my spouse.
So I could have easily written this letter but opposite: “How can I get over the place I left?” And the answer is roughly the same. Accept that I made a choice. Find ways to be happy. Stop randomly browsing apartments in the city I chose to leave. Enjoy the consequences of the choice I made.
Smithy said: May 29, 20185:21 pm
Yes yes yes to this.
I lived away from my home country for many years – and after I’d been there for about 5 years and someone asked me if I would stay there forever, it became super clear to me that for me Country A could never be a true long term option. During that time a few of my expat friends married residents of Country A and the decision of staying or leaving was not an easy decision for couples. In some cases an inability to resolve that contributed to divorce, in other case a “permanent” move away from Country A was made – but only under the condition it would be for a period of 5-10 years. And in some cases a more permanent move was made – but I can truly say, that for a lot of these couples it hasn’t been easy.
Permanently moving to a new country is just not for everyone. That doesn’t invalidate the love or wonderful times had with a partner, but for many it’s an incredibly difficult choice. When I was living abroad, I only saw my family once a year for three weeks. That worked at that time in my life. As my parents get older, it’s a choice that really does not feel workable for me.
So yes, if the option of being away from your home country “forever” will never feel right – the chance of it creeping into the relationship may very well be inevitable. The challenges of living abroad and away from family/friends really are what they are. Whether it’s the health of our parents, the weddings of our friends, the chance to meet the babies of friends/families – that is part of it. There will be new friends, potentially new family, and new moments of joy – but those other pieces do remain. And if those are choices that will always haunt you – then you really did make the right choice.
Parenthetically said: May 30, 20188:22 am
Just adding to the chorus of amens to this one.
My now-husband moved one zillion miles from the only place he’d ever lived to live with me. It took two years of work to (mostly) address my constant, crippling guilt and anxiety over the fact that he gave up an amazing community, proximity to family and friends, a great house, a fulfilling job, and a beautiful city to come be broke and unemployed and grapple with a ridiculously drawn out immigration process in a country without universal healthcare.
The sacrifice for us was worth it, but I do NOT recommend this course of action to other people. It’s infinitely more complex and difficult than I personally could have imagined. And we are eventually planning to move back to his country, which I’m sure will introduce a whole different level of complexity.
All that to say — this stuff is hard, OP. Love really isn’t all you need. “I love you but I’m miserable, homesick, and lonely here” is indeed a recipe for resentment and frustration. Maybe you could work through it with a lot of time and effort, or maybe you couldn’t. But whatever choice you make isn’t going to be easy. I echo LMC’s wish for peace for you.
Light37 said: May 29, 201811:01 am
At this point you are separated geographically. Now, you need to separate electronically. You can’t give Country B a fair shake when you’re focusing on a might-have been. End contact with him for at least six months, and then do your best to invest in where you’re living.
This. Neither of you is wrong or a bad person. You both made a choice- you to return to your home country and him to stay in his. That’s OK. Let yourself mourn the ending by ceasing contact for a time.
jenfullmoon said: June 2, 20183:22 pm
I think what it sounds like is that both of you love your countries more than you love each other. You have to try to make a life you like regardless of relationship and it may just be easier to find someone else who also loves your country.
Redaly said: May 29, 201811:36 am
Piling on to the theme of (kindly) cutting contact with him for a specified period while you settle in to your life where you are now.
There is nothing wrong with deciding that you aren’t willing to move for him, and there is nothing wrong with deciding that you are willing to move for him- but sticking in the middle, taunting yourself with the person who is ALMOST perfect (if only he would just move like you want him to), is almost by definition bad for you. You may find that after you don’t speak for a few weeks or months, you stop missing him so much. You may find that after you don’t speak for a few weeks or months, you would happily chuck the new job to be with him. You may even find that you need to keep not speaking for months or even years because it breaks your heart that you can’t have both of the things you want most in the world. But the only way I can see to get to any of those places is to not speak for a while.
The hardest thing about a break-up like this is that no one did anything wrong. But it might help to look at it like this: at the moment, neither of you feels like being with the other person is more important than where you live while you’re together. Maybe you wouldn’t have worked out anyway, and this is just pushing you to that decision faster.
Traffic_Spiral said: May 30, 20186:10 am
Yup. She’s just torturing herself and dwelling on what she doesn’t have and what could have been. If she just makes a clean break she might find she finds a lot more happiness in her home.
Belle said: May 29, 201811:53 am
I think it’s one of the worst things about this ‘one go at life’ thing (depending on beliefs), that sometimes you HAVE to make a choice between two things you desperately want and there is just no way of reconciling the two. The Captain is right, you and he have both decided that your location is your priority, live in that choice and stop torturing yourself with an imagined alternate reality where the two things are compatible.
Also grieve as much as you need to and look after yourself, this stuff stinks xxx
Emma9 said: May 30, 20185:33 pm
~you and he have both decided that your location is your priority, live in that choice and stop torturing yourself with an imagined alternate reality where the two things are compatible.~
Very well summed-up. A lot of the reason Country A never really felt like home could be because you were in the mindset of waiting to go back to Country B. Now you’re in Country B and trying to build a life, but you can’t fully do that from a mindset of ‘this is what’s waiting for me in Country A’.
PPK said: May 29, 201812:12 pm
You also may be experiencing the “remember all the good times” effects extra strong (especially when there wasn’t a horrible bad breakup to counteract). You are at a fun event, it would be great if he was at fun event. Even when the breakup is bad, it’s easy to go back to just the fun/good stuff. But if he were actually here and squeezing the toothpaste in the middle and leaving his socks around, you might be back at reality a little more about being together.
JMegan said: May 29, 201812:57 pm
You’ve probably thought of many of these already, but I’m going to throw out some ideas for you just in case.
*Are Countries A and B the only options for you both? Or might there be a Country C where you could both be happy instead?
*Could you plan to live in either A or B for a set number of years, and either move to the other A/B country or Country C at that point?
*Is it possible to live in either A or B part time? Or live in A/B full time, but one of you commutes to B/A? (This largely depends on geography – for example, if the countries are France and Italy, it’s a very different situation than if they are Canada and Mali.)
*Could you agree on a long distance relationship, where you live apart in your home countries and visit when you can?
Obviously, there’s a lot we don’t know about your situation, and I have no idea if any of the above ideas are workable. But from your letter, it looks like you’ve settled into a thought pattern where the only options are to live together in one country or the other, or break up. Neither of you wants to move to the other person’s home country, and it’s pretty clear that you also don’t want to break up, so maybe there are other ways of working it out.
Just J said: May 29, 20182:37 pm
When I read your letter, LW, and parse out the words, I see lots of strong happy words used for Country A. You use ‘amazing’ and ‘love’ multiple times. For Country B, those words aren’t there. You use “like” and “strengthened”. For me the tone of the letter says, if it weren’t for family, I’d be in Country A.
So, maybe take a look at that? Is your family pressuring you to be close? Are you listening to their voices or your own voice? What do YOU, LW, really want from life?
If it were me, and yes, I have been here (my ex-husband and I split up over geography), I would be taking a time out to look not just at tomorrow or 10 days from now, but what you want 10 months from now, and then 10 years from now. What do you really want and where do you really want to be?
Jedi Hugs and warm wishes.
jennthemighty said: May 29, 20181:40 pm
LW, jedi hugs if you want them. I can offer another reframing device that might help with the painful moving on part of the Captain’s advice: Intercultural relationships can incredibly challenging. A relationship that worked beautifully in one context might crack and crumble in a different context. This is not to say that the beautiful relationship you had wasn’t real, but that it might not be transplant-able even if he were to move to your country. Your relationship might (almost certainly would) fundamentally change in a new context with an entirely new set of pressures, and neither of you can really know what that will look like. The happy future you imagine might not materialize. All you can know is whether you are up for the challenge, and he is giving you the gift of honesty. Whether he phrases it this way or not, he is not up for the challenge of making a go of it in a new country. In time you might be grateful for the beautiful memories you have of this relationship, grateful for the fact that you have almost exclusively beautiful memories. You won’t have to undergo the agony of (maybe) watching him turn into a different person after he moves to your country; the agony of (maybe) realizing the solid foundation you thought you had is cracking beneath you; the agony of (maybe) confronting the awful truth that moving was a mistake. These are all possible outcomes of him moving to your country. When you think about how happy you would be if he were in your country, remind yourself that it is a fantasy; if he moved it might well end very differently and more painfully than you imagine now.
Clarry said: May 29, 20183:02 pm
Also note that Mr. One becomes even more perfect the longer you’re away from him. In local relationships eventually you see the Object of Affection in a bad mood. You see him sick and smelly. You see him make a bad decision and become temperamental over it. You see him put his foot in his mouth. I could go on and on about the unattractive things that make all of us human and not so wonderful.
AsterRoc said: May 29, 20183:20 pm
As an alternative thought, I know some long distance married couples, for example one spouse in London and the other in Paris, or one in NYC and the other in DC. Depending on your distance, travel, and work conditions, would a long term long distance relationship be something you’d be interested in trying?
BigDogLittleCat said: May 29, 20184:37 pm
I know someone who is deliciously happy in a NYC-LA marriage!
bemusedlybespectacled said: May 29, 20185:36 pm
I know of a Japanese/American couple (they’re decently popular Youtubers) that lived apart for something like four years. Eventually she came to live with him but only after completely quitting her job (she was in the military).
Me said: May 30, 20181:05 am
I know a number of couples doing this, often between continents (it’s pretty common in my field to be long distance for a period of years). I wouldn’t recommend it as a long term solution. Even when a couple is actively trying to be together (by getting jobs in the same place) or it’s a temporary thing, it puts a big stress on the relationship, and there’s a high rate of failure. The people I’ve seen do it successfully over a long term period tend to be fairly independent – they’re actually quite happy living as a single person, with an occasional cool vacation with the other person, and don’t particularly want to live day in and day out with someone. Also – you shouldn’t do this if you want or have kids, and you either have to be really good at being mostly celibate, or okay with an open relationship. Money is often an issue – you need a pretty good salary to be able to afford regular international travel, not to mention ample vacation time, and you’re maintaining totally separate households so there’s less money than if you weren’t long distance.
Anonyish said: May 30, 20185:34 am
I think it depends a lot on circumstances as well as personalities as to whether that is a goer. It particularly gets a lot more difficult if a couple want to have children and raise them together, because you can’t do that when one of you is away a lot of the time AND home is two separate places as opposed to a home you both have as your primary base, but one person sometimes has to leave it. My own LTR suits me brilliantly, but because I’m older, don’t have and never wanted kids, and enjoy my own space. It would not suit me if I were younger and wanting children and someone to eat breakfast with on a routine basis.
goddessoftransitory said: May 29, 20184:58 pm
LW, may I recommend the fabulous collection of Dear Sugar columns, Tiny Beautiful Things, and most especially the piece inside entitled The Ghost Ship That Didn’t Carry Us.
Not only does it show how to make room for the wake of your sister life’s ship, the one you didn’t board, but contains a suggestion to read Tomas Transtromer’s poem The Blue House. Here’s the link: https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-blue-house/
We all have lives that we didn’t lead, loves we didn’t stay with, pain incurred from one choice that we’d feel in a different heart if we’d made another. Pain doesn’t mean, always, that you did something wrong or that someone wronged you. It’s just the Angel of Life showing up with a bill and saying sorry, but this is owed.
J said: May 29, 20187:38 pm
There isn’t just ‘one’ person for us. You guys are torturing yourselves and each other. I’d be doing it too so not judging! So sorry and cap is right. Take a break and work on healing and reality and not banging heads against walls. Really I’m sorry though. It sounds miserable.
SnowflakeGirl said: May 29, 20187:55 pm
I have been on both sides of this where I made 2 different decisions. I dated someone from another country. We loved each other. He was so kind and so sweet and I truly loved him. But I could not move half way around the world to be with him. We stayed in touch after his visa expired and wrote letters and talked every week (back in the days of having to buy an international calling card). He surprised me by visiting here… but at the end of the day, I just knew I’d never leave here and he would never leave there. I have such fond memories of him. He could have been The One. But he was not.
Then I met my husband. Despite living my entire life in the mountains and living my absolute dream life at the time. I ended moving away to a place without mountains—same country though—to be close to his family. That place was awful for me and in some ways I felt so more alone than I ever had in my life. It was very conservative, no mountains, couldn’t do the things I loved most, people were so different from me, but not in a good way. I was homesick. Eventually we moved to another area where there are not mountains but I fit in better. We will be married 15 years this summer. I miss the mountains everyday. Yet, we have built a beautiful life together and I am grateful to have gone through the hard times with him to be where we are now. So now when I think about how I could have moved away to a different country all those years ago, I don’t feel sad. I feel glad this isis the choice I made. As wonderful as he was, there was a reason I wasn’t willing to leave. Whatever that reason was—who knows why, my gut told me to stay. And as fond as those memories are, I’m not wishing for them to be anything more now. Because I have a wonderful life. And I want to trust that you will too. With or without him. This stuff is messy and hard and it’s easy to second guess yourself. But one of my favorite quotes is by Goethe,”Just trust yourself. Then you will know how to live.”
S.H. said: May 29, 20188:09 pm
I’m really sorry. This must be so heartbreaking.
I hope it will help to remember this: the fact that you met one person who felt like “the one” means that there is a high statistical likelihood of there being more such people out there. Now you know that your heart can love this deeply, and that you can feel profound connection. That means it will happen again.
Let yourself grieve, and feel the sorrow of letting go. And, someday, the time will come when you find yourself loving somebody else, just as wonderful. And you’ll be able to look back on your first love with fond remembrance.
slythwolf said: May 29, 20188:39 pm
LW, if choosing between a great love and living near your friends and family is something you don’t want to have to do, you need to free yourself up to meet someone who won’t put you in that position. There are people who live or want to live in your area who can inspire those feelings in you if that’s what you want.
Clowder of one said: May 29, 20188:40 pm
Letter Writer, my heart goes out to you. I know that feeling of longing, and how consuming it can be, and how in the back of your mind it seems it HAS to work out, because of true love. I made a similar choice, and just want you to know that your feelings are REAL. But it’s also true that you can love again if you choose. I did. All the hugs if you want them.
CrushLily said: May 29, 20189:45 pm
I also had an inter-country relationship many years ago and if I’d been honest with myself and him then about our situation, I would have saved both of us a lot of grief, time and money.
Over the years of reading this column I have seen many letters from miserable people being strung along by someone who can not decide what they’re going to do, people who move but are then miserable and take it out on the other partner, or vice versa.
So I admire that you have both been upfront about not wanting to move. This gives you both a clean break.
I realise it completely sucks and it may do for awhile. But you know you’re own mind and that is a real gift.
spd said: May 30, 20181:25 am
I’m in an international marriage, and it’s hard. Before getting serious about my husband, I had to honestly look at whether I would be willing to leave my country if circumstances change–immigration laws, his family needing help, etc. That’s because neither of us was comfortable making a lifetime commitment otherwise–laws can change, people get sick, and if one partner doesn’t have room for that in their possibilities, you can’t actually commit to stay with your partner under all the probable circumstances.
It sounds like even if you decide that *you* could move back to ex’s country, he is not willing to make that sort of commitment (if LW could never vote here because laws change, we would move. If LW’s parents needed LW as a caregiver, moving would be one of the things we consider as a couple). So maybe that will help you move on, as well–knowing that even if *you* change your mind, his intransigence on moving is a serious impediment to making a real commitment.
anon for this said: May 30, 20184:35 am
Hi LW,
This is a slightly different situation, but still with long distance. I met A online about 7 or 8 years ago. We hit it off immediately. When we visited each other in our home countries, we had strong chemistry and there was an obvious attraction. But for many years, we went back and forth on whether to actually commit to each other, mainly because of the distance and thinking about Future Commitments is really hard when you’re baby 20-somethings. In the end I put my foot down and said if we weren’t willing to commit we had to stop even entertaining the idea, because it was becoming damaging **for me personally** (I’m a Future Planner and A very much is Not) to continue to entertain this idea. I felt like I was being strung along and I NEEDED to draw a line under it for my own health.
It relaxed our relationship CONSIDERABLY. We were able to remain close friends, and keep things lighthearted. I got drunk one night and realised I was still in love with them, but I also decided that was *my* issue to handle and I was not going to dump that on their lap. A few months ago, A brought up the subject again. They had decided, basically, “fuck the distance, I want to be with you and nothing is going to stop that”. So we are now together. All those things we thought stood in our way, like the distance, like the seriousness of the commitment, like uprooting and moving countries for one another, just melted away. Basically, we both enthusiastically consented to the relationship, how it works now, and a shared plan for how we will navigate the challenges that come our way in the future.
I share this as a *contrast* to your story. At the end of the day, we make our relationship work because… it isn’t work. It’s a shame we don’t live together right now, or even on the same continent, but that isn’t causing me mental or physical pain. We both have long term projects that are keeping us tied to different countries right now, so we have time to test run the relationship for several years. We have active social lives outside of one another. And at the end of the day, we’re BOTH willing to make the sacrifice of moving to different countries for each other. Heck, one possible plan is to move to a country NEITHER of us are citizens of. They are sacrifices that, to me, don’t feel like sacrifices.
If there is One Person for everyone out there (which, eh, I don’t think there is, but then I look at my parents and well….. #ishipit), you know they are the One Person because any obstacles to your relationship melt away. Yes, moving countries is a pain in the ass (I’ve done it), and navigating a new culture is a pain in the ass, but those things are not insurmountable. People do them. People survive them. And people survive breakups and go on to find new, amazing people who are on the same page as them about their expectations and dreams for the future. Those expectations don’t have to be The Exact Same. But usually, in long-term long-lasting relationships, they tally more or less equally. The differences tend to be “I want two kids and my partner wants three,” not, “I want no kids and my partner wants four”. It’s when the broad strokes differ that issues can arise, because the broad strokes reveal when you are not actually as compatible long term as you FEEL you are right now.
Ask yourself, LW, the kind of questions I have spent the last few years asking myself. What is YOUR ultimate future? If you could choose anywhere to live, a place where your heart would sing, where would it be? And note: is that place a specific country/city, or is something more abstract like “close to my family”? What would you enthusiastically consent to? With the right person, what sacrifices or compromises would not be deal breakers? Because right now, it sounds like you have a good job, with a good Team LW. I know you miss him, and the country, but the country itself will always be there. You can go back. But deep down I get the sense from your letter that you are in a place where you can thrive.
It’s so, so easy to get sucked into the narrative of “if onlys” and “what could have beens” and “oh god i was already secretly fantasizing about our wedding how do i fill that space”. So, like other commenters have mentioned, spend time away from these thought patterns. Focus on what’s happening around your Right Now. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of “this person is The One (if not for this one teeny tiny flaw about them that i can change hopefully)” but… By definition if that person has a flaw you hope you can change, they are not The One for you. That flaw is an incompatibility. The best way is to take a break from that person. Let yourself live a life without them in it (or at least, with them as one of many emotional contacts).Try it on. See how it feels. Five months along is still not that far from the breakup. Throw yourself into that social calender. Let yourself be sad in your private time, and with people you trust. But remember, you both made choices that are true to your own selves. It’s okay that those don’t align. You have the capacity for great love, and there is a person (people!!) out there who can be their true self AND be a good long term partner for you.
I am sending you love, LW, and the promise that in a few years, this break up will become part of your history, a part of of your own story, and that it will not hurt forever. You are clearly resilient. You can survive this. Be true to yourself and your happiness. Good luck.
B said: May 30, 20185:31 am
I’ve been there too; it wasn’t necessary for me to stop talking to my former boyfriend, but it was necessary for me to find someone new (I, er, hadn’t formally decided to break up when I met someone new, but I did before I really started seeing them). My messy transition aside, try to go out and do the things it takes to find someone new. It can definitely happen, and happen naturally, but only if you’re meeting people, probably people doing the things you like to do. Got an hobbies or events to throw yourself into?
QoB said: May 30, 20185:44 am
If it feels awful and just UNDOABLE to not speak for [amount of time] then can you set a date with your ex? Put a Skype chat in the calendar for [x] months from now, and agree that you won’t contact each other til then, unless it’s to reschedule that date. Feeling like someone you love is Gone Forever is very difficult and could be preventing you from taking the (very necessary) step to cut off contact for now.
I’ve been there, but for what my example is worth: continued contact is not serving you, or him. You can find your way to one another again, or find another love who is even better for the person you will become.
Catamount said: May 30, 20187:01 am
(This is my first time commenting, I hope I can be kind and constructive!)
I think this may be a time for the advice the Captain* recommended many, many letters ago:
1) Grieve.
2) Fuck around.
3) Do the thing.
And it’s impossible to grieve when you’re texting the ghost of this relationship every day, and hearing “I do still love you! I want this thing to work! Only, I’m a ghost, and dead.” It may be time to stop this metaphorical séance for a while. This is a sad and painful situation but you can recover and adapt. Jedi hugs if you want them ❤
*I seem to remember this is second hand advice but I am at work and unable to Google the original creator right now, apologies!
Hysteria said: May 30, 201811:19 pm
Been through this. It hurts like fuck.
My ex and I, after several months of “oh yeah we’re totally broken up we just talk everyday” finally limited ourselves to once a week, which I think is what eventually healed us. It wasn’t as Panic inducing as going cold turkey, but it still allowed us to look up and see what was around us in our actual lives. That, along with much later having the “I am really not choosing you” conversation eventually allowed us to have pretty deep occasional friend talks.
LW_1106 said: May 31, 201811:56 pm
LW here.
Thank you, Captain, for your advice. You put into words all the things I knew but could not bring myself to think yet. It was a terrifying yet comforting post to read. To be reminded that I had very good reasons for making the choice, and that it felt so right at the time, and that underneath all the hurt it is still (probably) the right choice. I’m two days into low-to-no contact with The Man, and I’m starting to see some glimmers of light on the other side.
And thank you commenters, for your support, and especially your stories. I feel like part of what makes it hard is that I hear so many stories about “true love conquers distance!” and “you know when it’s the right one!” that I felt alone in having to decide between geography and love. To know that other people have made my choice, and survived and thrived, has been helpful beyond words. Your kind words and Jedi hugs have made me feel much stronger; thank you again. 🙂
mysticcontradance said: June 1, 20185:42 pm
The story of my life, except I dragged each relationship out, squeezing out any last drop of passion until there was nothing else. I’m not proud of it. Now, I’m still single at 55. Don’t do what I did reader. Let him go and move on.
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Showing results for tags 'Restoration'.
Program For The Reel Thing Technical Symposium Unveiled
The Reel Thing, a symposium focusing on the preservation and restoration of audio visual collections, will open with the U.S. premiere of a 4K restoration of Billy Wilder’s “The Apartment” (1960), which won five Oscars including Best Picture. A recently restored version of Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves” will also be shown during the three-day event, which runs August 23-25 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The Reel Thing offers insight into the latest preservation and restoration efforts throughout the motion picture community, and brings together experts who are using the latest technologies to make cinema’s legacy accessible for future audiences. In addition to restored screenings, this year’s program addresses topics of vital interest to preservation and restoration professionals around the globe. Case studies will examine the specifics of project restorations, and thematic sessions will look at the many challenges and solutions being utilized in real-world preservation efforts. For the full program and speaker lineup, visit www.the-reel-thing.org. Co-founded by Grover Crisp and Michael Friend, The Reel Thing was developed to address the wide range of critical issues facing archivists, technicians, asset managers and curators of image and sound. Sessions examine problems and solutions involving digital creation workflows (2K/4K/6K/8K+HDR), data storage access and recovery, image scanning and recording, image resolution metrics, traditional video and audio preservation, and restoration issues from a variety of perspectives. The Reel Thing creates a common ground for discussion and evaluation of methodologies, and deployment of both traditional and emerging technologies. The Reel Thing supports the programs and services of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). For more information or to register, visit www.the-reel-thing.org. Discounts are available for industry groups and students.
The Reel Thing
Archivists and Preservationists Gathering at AMIA Conference in New Orleans
Sue Smith posted a topic in Off-Topic
The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) has announced a robust program for its annual conference, which brings together over 600 experts to share perspectives on the latest methodologies and technologies being used in the acquisition, preservation, restoration, exhibition and use of audiovisual media. The event runs Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 at the InterContinental New Orleans, and is preceded by two days of workshops, including a Community Archiving Fair, a Hack Day, and a presentation of The Reel Thing, a technical symposium that explores recent restoration projects. A detailed schedule and session descriptions can be found on the AMIA conference website: www.amiaconference.net. Over 40 seminars will address topics such as the management of efficient transfer and migration workflows; strategies for licensing archives; updates on tools and processes in annotation, metadata, and modeling; approaches for handling and protecting rare elements; and case studies on the preservation of important analog and digital collections. Screenings will include AMIA’s Archival Screening Night – a program of rarely seen clips from archives around the world; “Dawson City: Frozen in Time” followed by a Q&A with director Bill Morrison; and “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People,” a documentary offering devastating insights into the origins of stereotypic images and their development at key points in U.S. history. This year, AMIA shines a spotlight on efforts being made to preserve and provide access to underrepresented archives. Specialists from Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Asian/Pacific American Institute, Israel Film Archive, Jack G. Shaheen Collection and the Shoah Foundation, to name a few, will share their experiences and offer their expertise. Highlights include: · The New Preservationists: How Documentary Filmmakers are Excavating Rare Media Artifacts to Tell Their Stories – A new emphasis on archival-based programming from Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Hulu, ESPN, and other international players has shined a new light on archives. With Academy Award® and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Robert Stone and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Shola Lynch, this session will explore the craft of the archive-inspired film and show how these projects themselves are vehicles for preservation efforts. · Reel News: Broadcast Videotape and the Historical Record of Resistance – A significant portion of moving image records from U.S.-based social movements in the 20th century, including the struggle for African American, Chicano/a, LGBTQ, and civil and human rights, exists on endangered 2-inch videotape. This panel will screen footage and illuminate the vital, socially relevant content emended on tapes, while providing attendees with strategies for developing initiatives at their own institutions for preserving this material and presenting it to the public. · Let the Computer and the Public do the Metadata Work! – The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), with Pop Up Archive, has created more than 71,000 transcripts of historic public broadcasting recordings using the open source Kaldi speech-to-text software. At this panel, WGBH will share a game called FixIt to crowdsource correction of speech-to-text generated transcripts, and panelists will discuss potential computational linguistic tools and methodologies to enhance discoverability of digital media collections. · The Great Migration: A Public Digitization Workflow – The Great Migration is a public digitization program initiated by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Visitors are invited to bring their home movies, on any format, to the museum and have them inspected and digitally scanned by NMAAHC media preservation staff. This session highlights how museum preservation efforts and public education coalesce, revealing basic steps for personal digital archiving while building the nation's largest research collection of African American home movies. “Every year, AMIA’s annual conference brings together the largest gathering of the restoration/preservation community who are making incredible progress in their work to ensure treasures from the past are accessible for the future,” said AMIA President Andrea Kalas. “AMIA members are the cultural caretakers of important audiovisual media, and this event marks an incomparable opportunity to learn and connect with a worldwide contingency of professionals in the field.” To register, visit the AMIA Conference website for full details: http://www.amiaconference.net/
Dennis Doros Elected AMIA President
The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) announces that Dennis Doros, co-owner of Milestone Films, has been elected president of the international association by AMIA members. Doros will be inducted into office at the annual AMIA Conference in New Orleans (Nov. 29 – Dec. 2), when he will begin a two-year term. He succeeds Andrea Kalas, who has led the organization forward for the past two years. AMIA members have also elected three new directors to the Board of Governors: Casey Davis Kaufman, senior project manager for the WGBH Media Library and Archives and project manager for the American Archive of Public Broadcasting; Andrea Leigh, moving image processing unit head at the Library of Congress National Audio Visual Conservation Center; and Yvonne Ng, senior archivist at WITNESS, an organization that supports people using video to protect human rights. They join board members Jayson Wall of The Walt Disney Studios, consultant and doctoral student Lauren Sorensen, doctoral student/field scholar Melissa Dollman, John Polito of Audio Mechanics, and Teague Schneiter from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMIA is the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to the acquisition, description, preservation, restoration, exhibition and use of audiovisual media. The association’s programs help members stay abreast of the latest methods and technologies, ensuring that our cultural treasures are accessible for future generations. The AMIA membership includes archivists, educators, librarians, digital asset managers, technologists, collectors, genealogists, filmmakers, historians, consultants, studio executives, environmentalists, distributors, and broadcasters from around the world — all of whom are actively engaged in the art and science of media preservation and presentation. Doros comments, “I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to serve AMIA, an organization that has meant so much to me both personally and professionally. The friendships, connections, and camaraderie I have found here have helped me discover, research, and preserve some of the most challenging and rewarding projects of my career. I am inspired on a daily basis by this passionate and supportive international community. I know that working together, we can bring greater diversity, fairness, and outreach to our field while saving a lot of great moving images for generations to come.” Doros began his career at Kino International in 1984, where he was responsible for restoring Erich von Stroheim’s Queen Kelly and Raoul Walsh’s Sadie Thompson, both starring Gloria Swanson. In 1990, he co-founded Milestone Films with his wife, Amy Heller. Working with film archives and labs around the world, they have restored and distributed a wide range of independent films that include works by Shirley Clarke, Charles Burnett, Margot Benacerraf, Billy Woodberry, Kathleen Collins, Marcel Ophuls, and Kent Mackenzie. Filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Barbara Kopple, Steven Soderbergh, Thelma Schoonmaker, and author Sherman Alexie have worked with Milestone to promote special restoration projects. For the past 12 years, Doros has been a consultant to Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Doros and Heller have been awarded the National Society of Film Critics’ Film Heritage Award five times and first Special Archival Award; the International Film Seminars’ Leo Award; the NY Film Critics Circle’s Special Award twice; the LA Film Critics’ first Legacy of Cinema Award; and a Film Preservation Honors award from Anthology Film Archives. Doros served three terms on the AMIA Board of Directors, and was the 2016 winner of AMIA’s William S. O’Farrell Volunteer Award in recognition of his contributions to the field. For more information, visit www.amianet.org.
The Reel Thing Explores Restoration of Legacy Films to Modern Preservation Techniques
LOS ANGELES (August 15, 2016) - The 38th edition of The Reel Thing, a three-day symposium addressing audio/visual restoration and archiving, will explore the constantly evolving ecosystem of film and digital restoration and preservation. This year's program will examine legacy film restorations and showcase modern technologies being used to futureproof collections and keep them viable for future display and distribution formats. The event will take place August 18-20 at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. In addition to discussions with industry leaders, premiere screenings of several restored films are scheduled, including the original, uncensored version of John Huston's BEAT THE DEVIL; Marlon Brando's single directorial project ONE-EYED JACKS; and Robert Altman's MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER. Created and co-founded by Grover Crisp, executive vice president of asset management for Sony Pictures, and Michael Friend, director of digital archives and asset management at Sony Pictures, the event supports the programs and services of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). "At The Reel Thing, our presenters continue to demonstrate the recovery of the achievements of the first century of cinema even as we assess the challenges presented by the first decades of digital moving image culture," says Friend. "Ever-more effective tools are being devised to address the mechanical and optical challenges of film restoration, and significant new technologies for the long-term preservation of digital data are rapidly evolving. At the center of this activity, technicians, archivists and the rest of the subjective human audience for cinema continue to examine, refine and redefine our understanding of the notion of preservation for both analog and digital moving image art." "It is an exciting time for the archival community as we address the changing technologies that help to preserve collections and our cultural heritage, whether it is film, audio, video or any flavor of digital you choose," notes Crisp. "Our audience is interested in the problems and potential solutions surrounding how we can cope with the issues we encounter in this still hybrid analog/digital landscape we find ourselves in." Presentations at The Reel Thing will feature expert-guided discussions on such topics as UHD/HDR, scanning, color correction, frame rate adjustment, color space and gamut. Case studies on the approach to preserving legacy films in higher quality standards and the processes applied will highlight several panels. Audio restoration will also be explored, looking at the latest technologies in sound. Speakers are expected to include: Michael Pogorzelski, Academy Film Archive; John Polito, Audio Mechanics; David Marriott, Lynette Duensing and Craig Rogers, Cinelicious; Lee Kline and Ryan Hullings, The Criterion Collection; Chris Reynolds, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group; Steve Kochak, Digital Preservation Laboratories, Inc; Wojtek Janio, Fixafilm; Andrew Oran, FotoKem; Gilles Barberis, L'Immagine Ritrovata; and Snowden Becker, UCLA, among others. For more information and to register for The Reel Thing, go to www.the-reel-thing.org. The symposium offers several registration options, as well as discounts for certain industry groups and students.
audio restoration
Film Labs - How many film labs are left?
Milovan Kristo posted a topic in Film Stocks & Processing
How many professional film labs are left?
film scanning
film printing
"Gone With the Wind" - Restored Technicolor Print
Bill DiPietra posted a topic in On Screen
Saw the restored 35mm Technicolor print at the Museum of Modern Art, yesterday. Quite a nice experience. Considering the age of the print, the George Eastman House did an amazing job. I'd like to know the specific history of the print and I'm really surprised there's no information on the restoration on it. I e-mailed the George Eastman House in the hope of obtaining some. If it was indeed struck at the time the film was first released, it's a 76 year-old print. There was one scratch on the right side of the frame which lasted about 10 minutes, which made me think this print was most likely projected at one time or another. I also saw some color shifting within scenes, and some shots were a bit more faded than others, but all this could have been due to the age of the print. But that was more prevalent in the first 40 minutes of the film than anywhere else. The shots that blew me away - which made up the majority of the film - were the ones that featured crisp contrast and lush colors. Very sharp print, too. Overall, a great cinematic experience.
FotoKem's Restoration of The Sound of Music Takes Center Stage at TCM Classic Film Festival
BURBANK, Calif. (March 10, 2015) - FotoKem's restoration of Twentieth Century Fox's The Sound of Music will kick off the sixth annual TCM Classic Film Festival on March 26 in Hollywood. Originally released in 1965, the re-mastered version of this cinematic treasure will grace the screen of the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX as the fest's Opening Night Film, as previously announced by TCM. The movie's stars - Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer - will be on hand to introduce the film, along with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. Directed by Robert Wise and photographed by Ted D. McCord, ASC, The Sound of Music earned five Oscars® for Best Picture, Director, Sound, Editing and Score. The Rodgers & Hammerstein musical tells the true story of a nun (Andrews) who leaves the convent to serve as governess at the nearby Von Trapp household, where she falls in love with Captain Von Trapp (Plummer) and the family encounters dangers and eventual triumph in Nazi-era Austria. This marks the second consecutive year that a movie restored by FotoKem has opened the TCM Classic Film Festival. Last year, Twentieth Century Fox's Oklahoma! was unveiled for attendees. FotoKem completed the restoration of both 65mm classics through 8K scans from large-format film elements, down-sampled to 4K for restoration and digital cinema mastering. "The popularity of The Sound of Music is in part a testament to the power of 65mm capture," says Schawn Belston, Executive Vice President, Media and Library Services at Twentieth Century Fox, who supervised the restoration. "FotoKem's 8K scanning and complimentary digital post resulted in a stunning digital version of this timeless classic, and made our new 4K restorations of The Sound of Music and Oklahoma! a perfect fit for the opening night screening slot at a festival as prestigious as TCM's." FotoKem, which provides digital workflow and creative finishing solutions, and continues to operate one of the last motion picture laboratories in the United States, has been providing skillful restoration and preservation services for decades. Their expertise in the entire post production process makes the facility uniquely positioned to restore and deliver 65mm sourced images to today's audiences. "We're honored to have been entrusted with the job of digitizing and restoring the The Sound of Music," says FotoKem's Andrew Oran. "This 50-year-old film comes alive today in a whole new way - with a vividness and emotional impact that arguably exceeds even its original release - because of its 65mm pedigree, and the great care we've taken throughout the post process to honor that unique, ultra-high quality source." For the restoration of The Sound of Music, Oran and his team began by creating the highest quality 65mm intermediate film components possible on the facility's re-engineered 65mm contact printers. Next, those film elements were digitized at 8K on the 65mm IMAGICA scanner. FotoKem colorist Mark Griffith mastered the film from re-scaled 4K files, utilizing powerful digital tools to address quality issues present in the sourced material, such as flicker and variable color fading. "At FotoKem, we employ many of these same restoration tools and techniques on 65mm originated images week in and week out for new Hollywood features, giant screen documentaries, and theme park attractions," adds Oran. "Working with 65mm requires precision, whether the images are new or old. Whatever the vintage, we consider it our duty to retain the intentions of the original filmmakers." FotoKem is a sponsor of the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival, which runs March 26-29. The golden anniversary of the film's premiere launched March 2 in the UK, and March 10 in the U.S. with the release of the 5-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition 50th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD, which features over 13 hours of bonus content. Additionally, through a Fox partnership with Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies, the restored film will also be shown for two days only, April 19 and 22, in over 500 theatres across the U.S. For more information about FotoKem, visit www.fotokem.com. For details about the TCM Classic Film Festival, go to http://filmfestival.tcm.com.
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Oldham Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History
1) (Oldham, co. Lancaster). (Cainham Court, co. Salop; Joseph Oldham, Esq., was High Sheriff of the co. 1789). Sa. a chev. or, betw. three owls ar. on a chief of the second as many roses gu. Crest—An owl ppr.
2) (Manchester, co. Lancaster, 1664). Same Arms. Crest—An owl ar. in front of a holly bush vert.
3) (Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, 1505-19; arms in the Hall of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Visit. Oxon, 1566). Sa. a chev. or, betw. three owls ar. on a chief of the second as many roses gu.
4) (Hatherleigh, co. Devon). Quarterly. 1st and 4th, sa. a pale ar. over all a chev. betw. three owls counterchanged, a chief erminois, thereon three roses gu. barbed and seeded ppr., for Oldham; 2nd and 3rd, per fess or and ar. three piles in point, each charged with a thistle stalked and leaved of the first, for Laing. Crests— 1st, Oldham: On a mount vert in front of a tree an owl all ppr.; 2nd, Laing: A mount vert, thereon a cock, the dexter claw resting on a thistle ppr.
Hugh Oldham (1452-1519), Bishop of Exeter, at Oldham Chapel, Exeter Cathedral
Hugh Oldham's tomb in Exeter Cathedral
Origin, Meaning, Family History and Oldham Coat of Arms and Family Crest
Oldham Surname Name Meaning, Origin, History, & Etymology
First, Oldham is likely a habitational name for a person who came from a place so named in Lancashire, deriving from the Middle English word ald or old (meaning old), and holm (meaning island, promontory). Second, it may be a topographic name deriving from the old English world eald (meaning old) and hamm (meaning water meadow or low-lying land near a river). Third, it may be of Norse or Viking origin or Anglo-Saxon origin, deriving from the Norse word holmr, meaning “old lands”, assumedly meaning an area of land that had been farmed for many years. The town’s name was first documented in the Book of Fees as Aldholm and in the Assize Rolls of Lancashire in 1226 AD. In his book, A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis states “Oldham was for a long period celebrated for the manufacture of hats, which was established as early as the fifteenth century”. He also proffers the following origin theory: “This place anciently Fernet, was held in the reign of Henry III by Alwardus de Aldholme, founder of the family of Oldham. His daughter and co-heiress conveyed the manor to the Cudworths, a branch of a Yorkshire family; and from them the estate passed by sale to Sir Ralph Assheton, of Middleton”.
Spelling Variations
Some spelling variants or names with similar etymologies include Oldom, Ouldham, Aldeham, Aldham, Ouldome, Houldham, Oldam, Olydamn, and others.
Popularity & Geographic Distribution
The last name Oldham ranks 2,604th in popularity in the United Status as of the 2000 Census. The name ranks particularly high in the following five states: Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah. The surname Oldham frequency/commonness ranks as follows in the British Isles: England (1,428th), Scotland (2,768), Wales (1,747th), Ireland (4,308th) and Northern Ireland (3,129th). In England, it ranks highest in counties Cheshire and Nottinghamshire. In Scotland, the surname ranks highest in Peeblesshire. In Wales, it ranks highest in Glamorganshire. In Ireland, it ranks highest in county Carlow. In Northern Ireland, it ranks highest in county Down. The name is also present throughout the remainder English speaking world: Canada (5,736th), New Zealand (1,617th), Australia (2,341st), and South Africa (12,715th).
Early Bearers of the Surname
The earliest known bearer of this name was Achard de Aldeham, who was recorded in the Feet Fines of county Kent in 1218 AD. Other early bearers include Richard de Oldham (Calendary of Inquisitiones Post Mortem, Lancashire, 1324 AD), Robert Oldum (Close Rolls, London, 1470), and Ralph Oldham (Coroner’s Rolls, Nottinghamshire, 1508). The Poll Tax of Yorkshire in 1379 AD lists two bearers: Agnes de Oldom and Robertus de Oldom. The Register of the University of Oxford lists one John Oldham of Nottinghamshire in 1610. An early baptism involving this surname was Susann, daughter of Thomas Ouldome, at St. James Clerkenwell, London, England in 1633. An early marriage involving this surname was Charles Oldham to Margaret Coho at St. George’s Chapel, Mayfair, in 1746.
Oldham Family Tree & Oldham Genealogy
The progenitor of this family was John Oldham who was born around 1400 AD. He had a son named Roger. Roger was born in Lancashire, England around 1424 AD. He married Margery and had a son named her named Hugh. This son, Hugh Oldham, was the Bishop of Exeter and was born around 1452 AD. He married Abigail Wood and had a son with her named John. Sir John Oldham was born in Derby, England around 1480. He had a son named John. John I, known as John Oldham or Houldham, was born in Kirkburton, West Yorkshire around 1505. He married a woman named Johanna and the following issue with her: John Thomas II, William, Thomas, James, Mary, and Lucretia. John Thomas Oldham of Odom II was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England in 1530. He married Isabell Hall and had a son with her named William. William Oldham (or Ouldham) Sr. was born in Derby around 1568. He married Philippia Sowter in 1588 at All Saint’s Parish Diocese, and had the following issue with her: Margaret, Thomas Sr., John, Mary, Lucretia (Brewster), and William Odom. Thomas Sr. was born in Derbyshire, England in 1592. He married Elizabeth Rhodes and had the following issue with her: Ann, John, Thomas, Sarah, Joseph, Rebekah, and Jethro. His son Thomas Oldham was born in Derby, England in 1624, and he came to colonial America. He married Mary Wetherell and had the following children with her: Thomas Jr., Grace, Isaac, Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Lydia, and Mary (Bisbee). His son Thomas Jr. was born in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1660. He married Mercy Sprout and had the following issue: Joshua, Mercy, Elizabeth (Damon), Abigail, Anna, Desire, Thomas, Caleb, and Grace (Eames). His son Joshua Oldham was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1684. He married Mehitable Gorham and later Bathsheba Brock, and had a daughter named Mehitable. She was born in 1717 and married Jon Nichols, having a son with him named Joseph.
Thomas Oldham was born in Clwyd Calverton, Flintshire, Wales in 1680. He married Susannah Few, and later went to Pennsylvania and married Rachel Minshall. He had the following children : Thomas Jr, Mary (Rowles), Thomas, Elizabeth, Deborah, Susannah, Martha, William, Hannah, and Rachel Ann (Rogers). His son Thomas Jr. was born in 1695. He had a son named William. William Oldham was born in Bethel Township, Pennsylvania in 1692. He married Sarah Dicks and had a son with her named Isaac. Isaac Oldham was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1739. He married Sarah Anderson and had two children with her: Elizabeth and Samuel Sr. Samuel Sr. was born in Pennsylvania in 1792. He was a schoolmaster and taught Seneca Indians on the border on Pennsylvania and New York. He married Rebecca Wylie and had two children with her: Samuel Hr. and Mary M. (Armstrong). Samuel Jr. was born in Ohio County, West Virginia in 1826. He married Mary Jane and had a daughter with her named Blanche. Blanche Lizabeth Oldham was born in Pennsylvania in 1859. She married James Montague Hogden and had the following issue with him: Anna Elizabeth (Hardy), James Montague Jr., and Robert Samuel.
Early American and New World Settlers
The book Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers, mentions one bearer of this last name: John Oldham, of Plymouth, who came to America in 1623 aboard the Ann. He attempted to establish the settlement of Cape Ann, but was unsuccessful. He was killed by Indians in 1636 in the events leading to the Pequot War. It is unknown if he had a wife and children. Other seventeenth century settlers include Margaret Oldham (1620), James Oldham (Plymouth, MA 1623), and Lucretia Oldham (Plymouth, MA 1623).
In Australia, one of the first settlers was John Oldham, a convict from Middlesex, England, who came to New South Wales aboard the Albion in 1826. In 1838, a family of this name came to Adelaide aboard the Lord Goderich, including: Frederick Bagot Oldham, William Oldham, and Sarah Oldham. In New Zealand, a family of this name came to the city of Auckland aboard the Mermaid in 1859, including the following: Alfred, Elizabeth, Frank, William, and Herbert Oldham.
Early Americans Bearing the Oldham Family Crest
Charles Bolton’s American Armory (1927), Matthew’s American Armoury and Bluebook (1907), and Crozier’s General Armory (1904) do not contains any entries for this last name.
Mottoes
I have identified one Oldham family mottos: Sapere aude “Dare to be wise”.
Colonel William Oldham (1753-1791), American Revolution veteran
credit: Brian Bohannon
There are hundreds of notable people with the Oldham surname. This page will mention a handful. Famous people with this last name include: 1) Christopher Marin Oldham (1968) is a retired NFL football player from Sacramento, California who player for five different teams from 1990 to 2001, including the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, 2) George Ashton Oldham (1877-1963) who was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany from 1929 to 1950, born in Cleveland, Ohio, 3) John Oldham (1653-1683) who was an English satirical poet born in Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire, 4) John Cyrus “Red” Oldham (1893-1961) who was a pitcher in the MLB who played for the Detroit Tigers and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914-1926, born in Zion, Maryland, 5) Richard Dixon Oldham (1858-1936) who was a British geologist born in Dublin, known for work on P-waves, S-waves, and surface waves on seismograms, 6) John Oldham (1779-1840) who was an Irish engineer best known for creating the Oldham coupler, 7) Colonel William Oldham who served in the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth during the American Revolution, 8) William Kavanaugh Oldham who was the Acting Governor of Arkansas for six days in 1913, born in Richmond, Kentucky, 9) William Simpson Oldham Sr. (1813-1868) who was a confederate state senator from Texas from 1862-1865, and 10) Derek Oldham (1887-1968) who was an English actor and singer most well-known for his tenor roles in the Savoy Operas.
Oldham Coat of Arms Meaning
The two main heraldic symbols in the Oldham family crest are the owl and rose. The three owls are said to be a pun on the name of the town of Oldham (Owldham) in Greater Manchester, England. Birds of great variety occur throughout heraldry, at least in name. The decorative edges of the chevron and chief may represents diagonal stripes or “bendlets” in the arms of the Radcliffes, who held Oldham at one point in history. The owl has long been associated with heraldry and is depicted in a clearly recognized aspect, always with its face to the viewer. It comes as no surprise that previous generations of heraldic writers ascribed to it the traits of “vigilance and acute wit”. In Greek mythology, the owl is the bird of Athena (Minerva), Zeus’ favored daughter, and the goddess of Wisdom. She also embodies strength and reason. According to the Aberdeen Bestiary, “In a mystic sense, the night-owl signifies Christ. Christ loves the darkness of night because he does not want sinners – who are represented by darkness – to die but to be converted and live… The night-owl lives in the cracks in walls, as Christ wished to be born one of the Jewish people, saying: ‘I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’. But Christ is crushed in the cracks of the walls, because he is killed by the Jews. Christ shuns the light in the sense that he detests and hates vainglory… The night-owl flies at night in search of food, as Christ converts sinners into the body of the Church by preaching. In a moral sense, moreover, the night-owl signifies to us not just any righteous man, but rather one who lives among other men yet hides from their view as much as possible. He flees from the light, in the sense that he does not look for the glory of human praise“.
Natural objects abound in heraldry, and one category that gives especial delight are the many flowers and flowering plants that frequently occur. The rose is also of this type, being drawn, at least a little, realistically and often to very pleasing effect. It has long been present in English heraldry, and as a badge and symbol played an enormous in English history throughout the conflict between rival dynasties known as the War of the Roses. In addition to these familial uses, Wade suggests that red roses signify “beauty and grace” and the white represents “love and faith”. A heraldic rose consists of five symmetrical lobes, five barbs, and circular seed. It is likely one of the top two most common charges in heraldry, along with the fleur-de-lis. In addition to being a symbol of the English Tudor dynasty, it was also on the seal of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther. It also served as a mark of the seventh son.
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Start Over You searched for: Authors Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.) ✖Remove constraint Authors: Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.) Collections Medicine in the Americas, 1610-1920 ✖Remove constraint Collections: Medicine in the Americas, 1610-1920 Subjects Periodicals as Topic ✖Remove constraint Subjects: Periodicals as Topic Dates by Range 1850-1899 ✖Remove constraint Dates by Range: 1850-1899
1. Library of the Surgeon General's Office, United States Army: supplement to catalogue
Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.)
Washington [D.C.] : G.P.O., 1872
Libraries, Medical
2. Alphabetical list of abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals employed in the Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, United States Army, from volume I to volume XVI inclusive
Washington [D.C.] : Government Printing Office, 1895
3. Alphabetical list of abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals employed in the Index-catalogue
Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office, 1886
[Washington, D.C.? : Library of the Surgeon-General's Office?, 1880?]
Catalogs, Library
5. Abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals to be used in the subject-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office
6. Medical periodicals and transactions of societies in the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.), U.S. Army: arranged alphabetically by countries
[Washington, D.C.? : Library of the Surgeon General's Office?, 1888?]
NLM Publications and Productions6
Periodicals as Topic✖[remove]6
Libraries, Medical3
Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.)3
Catalogs, Library2
Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.)✖[remove]6
Alphabetical list of abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals employed in the Index-catalogue2
Abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals to be used in the subject-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office1
Alphabetical list of abbreviations of titles of medical periodicals employed in the Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, United States Army, from volume I to volume XVI inclusive1
Library of the Surgeon General's Office, United States Army: supplement to catalogue1
Medical periodicals and transactions of societies in the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office (U.S.), U.S. Army: arranged alphabetically by countries1
Abbreviations4
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Deshawn Corprew Sports Men's basketball Men's sports Basketball College sports School athletics Education Social affairs College basketball Gender discrimination Gender issues Social issues Discrimination Human rights and civil liberties Title IX compliance School discipline Education issues Men's college basketball School coaching
Texas Tech Big 12
Texas Tech player Corprew suspended over Title IX complaint
- Jun. 26, 2019 01:43 PM EDT
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech basketball player Deshawn Corprew has been suspended while the school investigates a Title IX complaint against the junior forward.
The school said coach Chris Beard suspended Corprew after learning of the allegations. Title IX complaints can involve allegations of sexual misconduct or gender discrimination, but the school declined to comment beyond its statement.
Corprew averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game as a sophomore in his first season with the Red Raiders, who lost to Virginia in overtime in the national championship game.
The 6-foot-5 Corprew, who attended a prep school in North Carolina, spent his freshman year at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, about 30 miles west of Lubbock.
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Matt Haarms B.J. Stith Carsen Edwards Xavier Green Eric Hunter Nojel Eastern Ahmad Caver Elbert Robinson III Sports College sports Men's basketball Men's sports Basketball College basketball Men's college basketball NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
Edwards leads Purdue past ODU 61-48 in 1st round of NCAA
Old Dominion's Kalu Ezikpe (22) blocks a shot by Purdue's Carsen Edwards (3) as Purdue's Grady Eifert (24) and Old Dominion's B.J. Stith (3) look on during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Mar. 21, 2019 11:22 PM EDT
Old Dominion's Jason Wade goes up for a basket between the defense of Purdue's Aaron Wheeler and Eric Hunter Jr., right, during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Old Dominion's Justice Kithcart, right, keeps the ball in play as Purdue's Sasha Stefanovic, left, defends during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Purdue's Carsen Edwards reacts during the second half of a first round men's college basketball game against Old Dominion in the NCAA tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Old Dominion's Kalu Ezikpe (22) blocks a shot by Purdue's Carsen Edwards (3) during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Old Dominion head coach Jeff Jones reacts on the bench during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Purdue's Grady Eifert (24) dives to control a rebound against Old Dominion's Aaron Carver (13), Xavier Green (10) and Ahmad Caver (4) during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Purdue's Carsen Edwards shoots over Old Dominion's Ahmad Caver during the second half of a first round men's college basketball game against Old Dominion in the NCAA tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Old Dominion's Ahmad Caver, right, shoots over Purdue's Eric Hunter Jr. during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Purdue coach Matt Painter calls out to his players during the first half against Old Dominion in a first-round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Purdue's Matt Haarms, left, is fouled as he goes to the hoop by Old Dominion's Elbert Robinson III (25) during the first half of a first round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
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Wayde Sims Naz Reid Jalen Smith Eric Ayala Bruno Fernando Darius Days Tremont Waters Darryl Morsell Skylar Mays Sports NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship College basketball Basketball College sports Men's college basketball Men's basketball Men's sports
Maryland Big Ten LSU SEC North Texas
Waters' drive beats Maryland 69-67, sends LSU to Sweet 16
By MARK LONG - Mar. 23, 2019 10:12 PM EDT
LSU's Marlon Taylor, left, congratulates Tremont Waters after he made the game winning shot against Maryland in a second-round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2019. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — It's probably the same play suspended LSU coach Will Wade would have called.
After all, it worked several times during the regular season. And now it has the Tigers in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006.
"Great players make great plays, and he made a great play," interim coach Tony Benford said.
After Maryland's Eric Ayala failed to get off a shot from midcourt before the final buzzer, LSU players mobbed Waters under the basket. They could have done the same to Skylar Mays, who scored 16 points and hit a huge 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining that put the Tigers (28-6) up 67-64.
Jalen Smith answered on the other end, sending the packed crowd into a frenzy and prompting LSU to call timeout.
Benford dialed up the final play for Waters, a dynamic sophomore who has been terrific all season.
"The players knew exactly what was coming," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said. "We all knew what was coming. It was whether we were going to be able to stop it or not."
The 5-foot-11 Waters got a pick from big man Naz Reid, drove into the lane and somehow got off the winner.
"I was in the bottom of the dog pile, and just the feeling, it feels amazing," said Waters, who laughed off those who questioned whether he traveled. "I'm going to continue to do everything I can to help this team win and just keep pushing for my guys."
Wade could only celebrate from afar. The head coach was banished indefinitely after details emerged about him talking to a recruiting middleman about a "strong ass offer" he made to a high schooler. If true, Wade clearly violated NCAA rules.
Maryland fans had some fun with the allegations.
One fan unhappy with the refs yelled "How much did Will Wade pay you?" Others chanted "Where's your coach?" during timeouts.
Regardless, the Tigers advanced in the East without Wade and mired in controversy. They will face No. 2 seed Michigan State on Friday.
They also dedicated the season to the memory of Wayde Sims, their teammate shot and killed in late September.
"It's huge for these guys," Benford said. "They're the ones that paid the price. They've been through a lot. ... I give it to these guys. They have taken ownership of this team."
"They trust each other and respect each other, they love each other, and when you have a team like that, you have a chance to win games, he said.
Waters finished with 12 points and five assists. Reid added 13 points, and Darius Days chipped in 10.
LSU outscored Maryland 34-24 in the paint.
The Terrapins (23-11) rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to make it a nail-biter down the stretch. Coach Mark Turgeon switched to a zone defense, which slowed Waters, and his guys started making shots. They even had a 3 point lead with 5 minutes to play.
"I never thought we were going to lose until the kid made the lay-up, to be honest with you," Turgeon said.
Maryland trailed 46-31 with 16 minutes remaining after Turgeon was hit with a technical foul. But the call seemed to ignite — or maybe infuriate — Maryland.
Smith led Maryland with 15 points. Bruno Fernando added 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Maryland entered the postseason with the fourth-youngest team in the country, according to KenPom. Kentucky is the only team in the NCAA field with a younger roster. So the Terrapins could be in position for another run in 2020.
"I always grew up watching these type of games, these big-time games," guard Darryl Morsell said. "So just to be able to be in it, it's a great feeling, and just to have all these young guys coming back and stuff, it's just going to make us hungrier."
LSU improved to 13-5 in games decided by 6 points of less, and Waters has been a big reason for the late-game success.
Maryland waits to see what Fernando does regarding the NBA. The 6-foot-10 sophomore entered the draft after his freshman season, but returned to school and averaged 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds.
LSU will play the Michigan State winner in Washington D.C. on Friday.
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/MarchMadness and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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Home » Governance » Capability building for traffic management in Metro Manila
Capability building for traffic management in Metro Manila
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has been on the news lately due to the perceived shortcomings of the agency on traffic management in the metropolis. The current administration has designated the Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) to take charge of traffic management/enforcement at six identified choke points along EDSA. EDSA or Circumferential Road 4 has been a battleground of sorts for Metro Manila, representing the capital’s transport and traffic woes with just about all the conceivable problems including severe traffic congestion, high incidence of road crashes and a malfunctioning rail line (MRT Line 3) along the corridor.
The agency was criticized when its head went to Cebu City with a team of enforcement personnel in an apparent effort to augment that city’s traffic personnel. Cebu City has its own traffic management unit in the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM), which has been managing traffic in that city for quite some time now. They have been actually ahead of Metro Manila with their own traffic engineering center already integrated with CITOM way back in the late 1980s. The traffic signals around the city were already under CITOM when Metro Manila’s Traffic Engineering Center (TEC) was still under the DPWH. It was only in the last decade that the TEC was formally transferred to MMDA and modernised to the current modern facility beside the MMDA headquarters at EDSA-Orense St. in Makati City. People observed that Cebu was already ahead of Metro Manila on this part and that the MMDA already had their hands full with Metro Manila’s traffic woes. The joke among major cities is that they were learning about traffic management and enforcement from Metro Manila by checking what the MMDA was doing. They will do the opposite. These cities in on the joke include Cebu, Davao and Iloilo, which are all highly urbanized cities looking to alleviate their own transport and traffic problems before these become the level of Metro Manila’s.
The MMDA has the capacity for traffic management as it has the resources including staff to manage traffic around Metro Manila. It even has people to spare that the agency can deploy to assist or supplement traffic personnel in adjacent local governments (e.g., in Rizal, Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan). However, capacity does not mean capability. And MMDA clearly has limited capabilities despite the resources at its disposal. In fact, their traffic management group should be integrated if not closely working with their planning group. Transport engineering, planning and enforcement should go together, working cooperatively in order to come up with comprehensive schemes and solutions that address problems that are progressive in nature.
The old Transport Training Center (TTC) of the University of the Philippines was established to build both capacity and capability for government agencies that included the then Constabulary Highway Patrol Group (CHPG) that was under the then Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police (PC/INP) headed by the then Gen. Fidel V. Ramos. The PC/INP became the PNP and the CHPG became the Traffic Management Group (TMG) (later becoming the current HPG) but they all trained under the TTC, which became the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS).
The MMDA trained under the NCTS since the 1990s but most of those who did so over the years are now out of the agency and working elsewhere (including those who have migrated to other countries). The remaining training graduates have limited capability and some have quite a bit of overconfidence (this probably is a by-product of the BF era when the agency and its staff were basically taught that they were better than their DPWH and DOTC counterparts and everything they did was right). Mix this with what seems to be confusion about what they need to do and the result is quite amusing.
The MMDA recently established an Institute for Traffic Management (ITM) with the intent of providing training for their own staff and those from local government units. This is apparently with the instigation of their consultants who include a few academics without transport planning and engineering expertise and experience yet dabble in it anyway. I think the ITM is not necessary at this point and it is actually not in the agency’s mandate to provide training programs other than to their own staff. MMDA should focus instead on capability building. If not under NCTS or other local entities they can probably get the knowledge and skills required to manage Metro Manila traffic elsewhere and abroad. In fact, I would recommend that they explore programs offered by the Land Transportation Authority Academy (LTA Academy) of Singapore. These are professional programs that have been developed in cooperation with leading institutions in Singapore like the National University of Singapore (NUS) that can provide a fresh infusion of knowledge to the MMDA. But attendance in such programs is not an assurance that the agency can be better afterwards. The key ingredient would still have to be an effective and progressive leadership that is not under the influence of politics and is committed to no-nonsense traffic management even without the media covering these activities.
Tags: MMDA, opinion, PNP, traffic management
By d0ctrine in Governance, Policy, Traffic Congestion, Traffic Management on September 7, 2015 .
← Causes of congestion along Ortigas Ave. Extension Misleading information on comparing modes of transport →
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Daviess County Historical Society
Distinguished Flying Cross to Capt. Jim Sears, Jr. for Heroism Against Taliban
Awarded for actions during the Global War on Terror
General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Central Command Air Force (USCENTAF), Special Orders G-334 (August 21, 2002)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Action Date: January 20, 2002
Service: U.S. Air Force
Company: 18th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat “V” to Captain James R. Sears, Jr., United States Air Force, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as F-16CG flight lead, 18th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron on 20 January 2002.
Captain Sears distinguished himself as On Scene Commander for a downed CH-53 in a heavily defended area of Taliban control in Northern Afghanistan during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. During the Combat Search and Rescue he organized, directed, and controlled a total of 13 aircraft including three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, five helicopters, one C-130, two F-16s, and two F-18s. He rapidly developed a deconfliction plan that ensured the safety of all assets and allowed them to operate within a five nautical mile radius of the downed helicopter. After receiving the initial coordinates of the crash site he realized they were over one nautical mile off the actual location in heavily mountainous terrain.
After a diligent, methodical search of the area, Captain Sears was able to get his eyes on the site, provide a perfect talk-on for his wingman, and direct the other support assets to the crash site. Using on-board sensors, Captain Sears was quickly able to pass updated coordinates to the thousandth of a degree to command and control agencies without compromising the safety of the entire rescue operation. He expertly sanitized the 60 nautical mile ingress and egress route through enemy territory.
Captain Sears then executed the demanding task of rescue escort for two helicopters. This involved maintaining visual contact and constant coverage while flying over 300 knots faster and being 15,000 feet higher than the helicopters. Captain Sears, in conjunction with command and control assets, coordinated a plan to move three separate tankers close enough to the crash site to ensure constant command for the entire time on scene.
Captain Sears’ flawless flight leadership allowed him to intercept and visually identify a Red Cross aircraft flying in the vicinity of the downed helicopter, not identifiable by electronic means or talking to command and control assets, ensuring the safety of the entire rescue effort. Captain Sears passed off On Scene Commander duties to two United States Navy F-18s after 4.5 hours on scene.
Captain Sears’ tireless efforts and tremendous focus was unprecedented considering in his single-seat F-16 he flew more than 3500 miles, logged 11.1 hours, and ten air refuelings requiring more than 120,000 pounds of fuel to be onloaded through hostile territory. Captain Sears’ courage, superior airmanship, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of personal danger were instrumental in accomplishing this hazardous mission and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force.
[Source: http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=5557]
Author darrylPosted on June 15, 2017 June 21, 2017 Categories People You Should Know, Veterns
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Tag Archives: democracy
WINNING A VOTE WITHOUT WINNING AN ARGUMENT DIDN’T START WITH TRUMP OR THE BREXITEERS
Tagged Brexit, Britain, citizens, demagogue, democracy, fear of the majority, herd mentality, js mill, manipulation, net optimism, net society, participative, passive, political communication, Politics, republican, the uncivil war, trump, uk
The TV drama, Brexit: The Uncivil War, gave an entertaining, accurate and worrying glimpse of the future of political communication and of democracy itself. It would be comforting to think it particularly British but it could happen anywhere. The conditions are certainly present in Ireland and the methods will be applied where and whenever possible.
A first glance can lead off into the mistaken view that this is all utterly new and a product of the net society. The reality is that today’s technology is being used to exploit something that has been ever present in democracy and feared by democrats.
The Brexit e-campaign
Before going on to talk about that old and feared weakness in democracy, lets look at what the Brexit campaigners did and which is available to any campaigner, party or candidate with the will and the money to emulate.
1. They studied the issues, fears, prejudices etc. which preyed on the minds of their target voters.
2. They distilled these feelings into a small number of slogans which connected the feelings of their targets to the political objective of their clients.
3. Knowing what their target voters wanted to hear, they told them: that delivery – or indeed their voters’ deliverance – was not only possible but crucially it was without any risk of negative consequences.
4. They achieved messaging that was close to bespoke. Using extensive data, amenable on-line voters were identified and sent simple, tailor-made messages – telling them what they wanted to hear.
In brief, this amounts to nothing more than routing quite particular, near-personal messages to voters, messages telling them that voting the client’s way will sort out their issues or whatever concerns them. Familiar? Of course it is. That’s because it’s not new. However, the delivery system and the scale of information on the targeted voters are new, i.e. there is now the web and the ability to mine it for masses of personal data.
There is, moreover, one other new feature – and it’s crucial. Opponents of democracy with deep pockets have become aware of something radical. They know that undesirable election results can be achieved by using today’s technology to exploit democracy’s oldest and most intractable flaw: the manipulation of passive citizens, their target audience. Mass manipulation has become both possible and affordable.*
The risk of tyranny inherent in democracy
Generations of democrats have worried about the dangers of passive – as opposed to participative or deliberative – voting. The march towards universal suffrage consisted of reforms allowing wider and wider participation in voting. Each enlargement was supported by democrats who saw all as equal – at least in terms of voting – and opposed by conservatives who feared what the uneducated mob or easily swayed herd might vote to implement.
As any democrat would be quick to point out, the conservative arguments were not only elitist but served to defend wealth and other privileges. However, the arguments were not dismissed as nonsense. Democrats could see the danger of huge numbers of votes cast without deliberation. John Stuart Mill for example feared the masses, feared that they might impose majority doctrines and limit liberal freedoms, might be easily swayed by and elect demagogues. Mill considered weighted voting – giving more than one vote to the educated – but eventually he placed his faith in people. He argued that the responsibility of voting would change voters, that – aware of the power of their voting decisions – they would engage, examine arguments, deliberate, come to judgement and only then vote. In other words, voting would improve them: make participative, engaged, republican citizens of them.
Fairly similar arguments appeared in recent decades when the democratic potential of the net became apparent. Net optimists felt that those deprived of the information necessary to full citizen participation would find it on-line; citizens would free themselves of the influence of demagogues, conventional wisdom and anyone who would stifle information.
Today’s demagogues and other anti-democratic chancers who want to win an election without winning an argument know full well that Mill’s faith and the hopes of net optimists have not been realised. Not only are there masses of voters – perhaps constituting a majority – ripe for manipulation but the technology exists to find and message them.
There is of course a question of law here. The e-Brexiteers certainly violated electoral laws – laws on funding – and they violated emerging norms, soon perhaps to become law, in relation to gathering and effectively selling personal data. This raises the question of whether electoral law is capable of protecting democracy from an inherent flaw which has been routinely exploited largely without criticism by virtually all parties and candidates.
The little anti-democratic attacks that became the norm
What the e-Brexiteers did differed only in scale and efficiency from conventional campaigns. Indeed, it’s likely that for a very long time now electoral success has been impossible without patronising passive voters who have no wish to be addressed with political arguments or talk of risks, priorities, alternatives, unpleasant consequences, clashes of interest etc. On the contrary, they want to be soothed, told that their problems will be solved or that sought-after resources will be delivered. Candidates know this and crave effective methods for delivering a simple, preferably local, targeted message. In Ireland cynics reduce this to the cliche, “All politics is local.”
Political campaigners use many different media. Taking a look at one of the oldest reveals it to be a small, inexpensive version of what the e-Brexiteers did so spectacularly on a huge scale. The similarity is so great that the difference is almost pathetic.
Now, very few people will admit to paying a blind bit of attention to political leaflets/pamphlets delivered into their domestic letterbox. Most regard these as junk mail and bin them on sight. This is well known and it can be hard to explain why campaigners resort to them. Explanations are offered: they’re relatively cheap; they give some level of public visibility; delivery can give loyalists and activists something to do; and crucially in a world of mass media, leaflets can be localised.
The most cursory look at leaflets reveals that they tend to have little or no political content in any meaningful sense of the term. They deliver useful public information on the likes of welfare entitlements or changes to the tax regime. They tie the candidate to the locality in two ways: pictures in the locale or with local notables at an event; and expressions of support for local campaigns for, say, a swimming pool, a library, playing field or school.
There is no intention here to open up a discussion of local political leafleting. The practice is raised merely to illustrate that patronising local, passive citizens is a mundane, accepted feature of political campaigning. That it is so accepted is telling: democracy has been reduced to numbers and the thoughtful, deliberative, participating, republican citizen has been largely forgotten. Securing a vote has become a tactical affair of showing concern for or involvement in resolving issues. Argument is not uppermost and contradicting a voter would be almost out of the question. Indeed pointing to the existence of thoughtful, republican voters risks being dismissed as elitist or “out of touch”.
Long promised comes to pass
It is hardly surprising then that when the technology and data became available to exploit the passive citizen, it would be used enthusiastically by those smart enough to realise its potential. What is surprising is that so many who ought to know about or who pretend to know about democracy express shock at a large well-executed attack on democracy while they have been unconcerned at the thousands and thousands of small but similar attacks that have been allowed to form an accepted part of the political process. What the e-Brexiteers did was waiting to happen and the ground was prepared by activists, many of whom now appear shocked and silly.
* There’s a seeming paradox here which will be left for now: the mass is accumulated by near-bespoke messaging.
Deciding Brexit: Theresa sees the constitutional threat
December 10, 2018 – 8:15 pm
Tagged Brexit, constitution, democracy, pariament, populist, referendum, sovereignty, theresa may, united kingdom
RTE reported a warning from the UK’s PM, Theresa May. She put it that every MP raising the issue of another Brexit referendum “needs to consider very carefully the impact that it would have”. She said: “I believe it would lead to a significant loss of faith in our democracy. I believe it would lead many people to question the role of this House and the role of members in this House.”
She’s too late. The damage to the UK constitution has already been done by the first referendum and by its aftermath. Before the Brexit referendum parliament was sovereign. After it, even to say that parliament was sovereign invited being called a traitor.
Since then there’s been struggle and the UK parliament has failed to perform as the constitution requires. A sovereign parliament would heed the people and then decide. Today’s parliament is looking to the people (in a referendum) not for advice but for a decision.
Theresa May recognises constitutional change when she sees it and she realises the dangers for a country without a written constitution but she has presided over parliament’s decline. After the referendum parliament should have asserted its authority. Instead noisy, populist street fighters were allowed to assault with impunity the UK’s old constitution.
Paradoxically, the damage having been done, the safest course might be another referendum but it would have to be such that the alternatives are tested and it would have to deliver a decisive result. It’s a risky course but it might steady the boat for long enough to allow parliament to assume its primacy once more.
The UK might also consider a written constitution which would provide for referenda and circumscribe what they might decide. The danger is that if drift continues, constitutional change may be decided in the streets.
The Presidential Election 2018; the power to decide the questions
October 30, 2018 – 10:27 pm
Tagged audience, citizens, debate, democracy, dragons, joan freeman, journalism, mass political communication, michael d. higgins, news, republic, RTE, television, uachtaran
It is interesting and revealing that journalists are complaining about how poor the debate was during the Presidential election campaign. With some exceptions, they speak as if journalism had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
The televised debates illustrate the fissure between journalism and those citizens who rely on media to deliver meaningful public debate. The questions put to the candidates on TV were deliberate, the result of thoughtful, editorial selection. If the debate was trivial, failing to deliver for participative citizens, that was determined by the questions. It could have been otherwise but that would have involved different editorial judgement and decisions.
The questions chosen reflected the campaign, referring to the news stories that had dominated. This is in keeping with the most prominent view of what journalism is about. It is a part of being dispassionate, neutral: “We don’t make the news; we simply report it.”
Let’s consider the “question” or the questionable proposition that occupied most time: That the President is variously a millionaire, a money-grabbing man who chooses to stay in fabulous hotels and travel by government jet, that he is a landlord whose property had been upgraded at state expense, that thousands were spent by the state on having his dogs groomed, that he is utterly out of touch with reality and can’t see how his extravagance appears, that he is not to be believed in attempting to address these charges etc. etc.
Clearly this was not worth the time devoted to it. At best it was hyperbolised gossip and at worst a smear, spreading accusations of corruption against a person who in a fifty year career in public service had not heretofore attracted a hint of scandal. More importantly, yes, it was incredible but it was news. It was “true” because someone really had made the allegations. Seeing a very popular President struggle to fend off allegations might make for “good” television and if it damaged his reputation and “opened up the race”, that would be a show-biz bonus. Indeed, someone with a perverse grasp of the concept could see it as a bonus for democracy.
It might be argued from principle that everything including the accusations had to be allowed rather than censored. However, the final RTE TV debate did not operate to that principle; in an effete show of outrage, the presenter/moderator came down heavily on the explicit use of the word “liar”. In effect the situation was that anything goes as long as it’s done politely. As Joan Freeman might have phrased her frequently repeated lie, “With all due respect, a hUachtarán, you – like the three dragons – are a millionaire.” She could do this because like the others she was confident that the presenter would side with news over truth.
The dominance of news is an old problem for mass political communication and this is not the place to explore it. Suffice it to say, that not everyone wants to engage thoughtfully with politics and serving those who do will very likely reduce audience numbers.
However, it would be a waste to let this occasion of unusually widespread dissatisfaction slip by without discussion of what is actually required of political journalism and broadcast politics in particular. At the very least the editors who decided on the questions owe the citizens an explanation as to whom they thought they were serving and what service was being offered.
Questioning ritual comment in news reports and the strange selection of SF to comment on a gun attack
Tagged bray, bray boxing club, community leader, democracy, editorial policy, gun attack, john brady, mp, murder, news, peace process, priest, public representative, republic, RTE, Sinn Fein, td, war crimes, wicklow
On June 5th there was a mysterious gun attack on Bray Boxing Club. The journalist covering it for RTE included in his report the views of local TD, John Brady. This inclusion prompts two questions.
Firstly, what is the purpose of broadcasting the views of a member of parliament in news reports of this kind? They seldom add significant information and they never offer a unique perspective. On some occasions similar comments are sought from a local priest. If local comment is a feature of journalism, any number of bystanders or neighbours is available. It would seem that the choice has nothing whatsoever to do with the news report or recognising local interest or effect and a great deal to do with pointing out who is recognised as important – even a leader – in a community.
When a priest is selected, atheists and non-catholics might find it anything from extremely odd, through partisan, and all the way to downright antagonistic. When a TD (MP in other countries) is selected, it might be argued that democracy is advanced, that a person elected by citizens and frequently referred to as a public representative, should be recognised as their spokesperson. It might also be argued that encouraging representation of this kind is intensely anti-democratic, that citizens in a republic do not vote to elect community leaders and certainly not to appoint those who will provide soothing – almost ceremonial – utterances for news reports of murder.
The second question is the selection of the particular politician for inclusion. Perhaps selection is not the best term. Perhaps some public representatives with an eye to publicity and re-election chase around in the knowledge that journalists consider a politician’s comment to be a standard component of their news product. This of course would constitute manipulation of journalism.
Whatever the reason, a Sinn Féin TD appeared in the RTE report of a savage gun crime. Five TDs are elected for Wicklow and eight councillors for the Bray area. Two are members of Sinn Féin. Now, there there may be editorial policy that selecting SF speakers somehow serves the peace process, that having them talk on all manner of occasions stitches them into constitutionalism. That just might be worth addressing but the immediate reaction on this occasion must be: This was a gun attack. There’s a citizen dead and two wounded. Bringing in a SF rep to comment is downright perverse. It mocks the nation.
The notion that media can serve the republic, its constitution and peace by having SF speak on all manner of issues is utterly wrong. It does precisely the opposite. It serves to normalise them and their values. It says that these are ordinary public representatives with views that are within the limits of democracy. That’s not the case. In our republic the normalisation – constitutionalisation, if you like – of ceremonies and celebrations of war crimes (bombing etc. of civilians) and those who hold those odious views has to be resisted.* Journalism generally evades responsibility by talking in terms of mere reportage, coverage, impartiality and news.** Perhaps the only resistance now will come from ordinary citizens – maybe just a handful – who are prepared to say to a member of SF, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself”. ***
* This was manifest when SF’s relatively late opposition to the 8th Amendment (The constitutional ban on legislation to permit abortion) was hidden, while RTE presented their president as a leader of the move to repeal:
https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/the-media-preference-for-mary-lou-mcdonald-during-the-referendum-campaign-showed-partiality-in-coverage-of-a-different-and-fraught-public-controversy/
** https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2018/02/24/journalism-and-the-struggle-to-decide-what-is-normal-the-case-of-sfs-desire-to-celebrate-the-prov-ira/
*** https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/the-division-between-supporters-of-sf-and-other-irish-people-is-and-ought-to-be-fundamental/
POPULISM ISN’T JUST A MATTER OF AUSTERITY AND SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
Tagged alienation, amusing ourselves to death, austerity, barack obama, capitalism, class politics, culture of contentment, deliberation, democracy, establishment, galbraith, Labour, majoritarianism, marxist, neil postman, neo-liberal, ordinary people, participative citizen, passive citizen, plebiscite, public discourse, referendum, representative democracy, republic, socialism, technology, vast triviality
Populism is not another word for democracy. It is, however, a word for a crude kind of majoritarianism which the market-oriented right finds very attractive. Unfortunately those leftists who have abandoned universal aims and class politics feel a similar attraction.
Concern over democracy descending into a crude head count is certainly not new. Since the development of mass democracy there has been a consistent fear of what a majority might do, possibly harming a minority or overriding individual rights which have been progressively established. There are two responses to the fear. One is to limit democracy. The other is to enhance democracy by accentuating its usually ignored feature, deliberation.
And there’s the jump-off point for today’s concerns over populism. The will to democratise has always rested on a belief that citizens will be informed, thoughtful and deliberative, that they will participate in the affairs of their republic not merely as volunteers, community activists and the like or as self-interested members of pressure groups but as people who will talk, argue and participate in public discourse.
Of course no democrat could ever have been confident that all citizens would be participants. There would always be those who would opt out, having no active interest in the direction of the republic, no interest in politics, or who would be excluded, lacking resources of income, leisure, education or ability.
This then gives the most basic division in a republic between, let’s call them, passive citizens and participative citizens. The latter want public discourse, the former want leadership, simplicity and promises. Both can vote.*
It has long been possible – perhaps even necessary – to be elected by offering services, goods, promises or even a focus for anger to citizens who have no participative interest. What has dawned in recent years is a full realization of the size and political potential of passive citizens. These are citizens who don’t want to hear and discuss contending arguments but who want reassurance and deliverance. They want leadership and there are leaders and parties with simplicities who are anxious to compete for their support, populist leaders. Again, it’s not new but it has been growing for two reasons. Firstly, potential leaders have increasingly sought out data about what people want to hear so that they can patronise rather than convince voters. Secondly, passive citizens – previously content – have lost faith in a political system which they thought catered to them at least adequately.
The fear now is that meaningful democracy will be reduced further in the direction of crude majoritarianism. Before looking at how passive citizens lost their faith, it would be sensible to set down the characteristics of populism. Nowadays they are all too familiar.
Populism: its familiar features
There is an essential belief that society is composed of two antagonistic but internally homogeneous sections:
a) The “establishment”, undifferentiated but including the rich, business, banks, media, elected politicians, state officials intellectuals and experts;
and b) The “ordinary people” who are more wise and virtuous than the “corrupt establishment”.
Populists have an uncomplicated approach to democracy. They seek strong and charismatic leaders who will reflect the will of the people. They also like direct and majoritarian democracy, favouring referenda and plebiscites over representative democracy whose checks and balances might give undue attention to minorities and thwart the will of the majority.
They are strongly nostalgic, looking back to what they consider better, simpler times both economically and culturally, when industrial employment gave a basic prosperity and the prospect of inter-generational improvement, and before cosmopolitan values, multiculturalism, “political correctness” and feminism made life less certain. This can lead to expressions of support for isolated nationalism and for crude misogyny to the point of foul-mouthed sexism.
The passive citizen’s loss of faith
There is no point in pretending otherwise, things have changed for very many people who are passive/disengaged but who were formerly more or less content. Their employment is gone, their expectations are undermined, their understanding of family, gender, community and race now seems incongruent. And yet, it is clear to them that others are flourishing in the new circumstances. They feel as though they’ve been left behind and are in need of rescue, restoration, deliverance, a leader, even something familiar in which they can have faith.
When this is theorised there tends to be two approaches. One talks about economic insecurity, emphasising the low pay consequences of declining industrial production and the attendant increase in unskilled and semi-skilled work which rarely leads to promotion. **
The second talks about a cultural backlash, an objection to the progressive value changes and increased migration that were concomitant with the loss of industrial jobs.
Austerity and the decline of the left
The rise of populism is frequently contrasted with the decline of Socialism, social democracy and Labourism. The conventional argument is that people are angry over left involvement in business and especially in the defensive cuts to pay and welfare (austerity) thought necessary to stabilising – even, saving – the capitalist system.
It is true that for the greater part of the 20th century socialists were complicit in a deal with capitalism which saw the system encouraged and promoted in return for relatively good pay, conditions and systems of welfare. It is equally true that right wing as well as left wing elements were deeply unhappy with this arrangement. Right wing dissent took the form of neo-liberalism which wanted a reduced role for the state and an increasing resort to markets, especially labour markets. Left wing dissent saw participation in the management of capitalism as a sell-out. They claimed a monopoly on the term, socialism, while social democracy became a term of abuse applied to socialists who operated within representative democracy.
The early 21st century economic crash was a happy day for both sets of dissenters; clearly the deal they hated could no longer deliver. Worse, the establishment – including socialists – moved to save or stabilise the system by rescuing banks, investors and industry, and cutting wages and welfare provisions.
At this point, according to conventional argument, people were no longer convinced that those who ran the deal and did well out of the deal – the establishment – would protect them, and they turned to alternative leaders who offered deliverance.
The flaw in this conventional argument is located at that word, “convinced”. The thing is that when considering populism it is a mistake to think in terms of a Demos comprised of thinking citizens who no longer hold with the argument behind the 20th century deal, who no longer agree with what has been termed social democracy. Rather, it is more accurate to think in terms of passive people who were never convinced of anything.
The truth is in a range of criticism appearing over the greater part of the 20th century which was concerned with citizen abandonment of appraisal, analysis, discussion and judgement, i.e. participation. That old fear of mass society crackles across the thoughts of democrats from Marxist alienation, through the “descent into a vast triviality” to just at the birth of the web, “The Culture of Contentment”. Then a decade and a half later there’s Barack Obama, “… in politics and in life ignorance is not a virtue”. Now it’s opposition to populism but it’s the same old fear: democracy stripped of citizen deliberation. Democracy reduced to brutal majoritarianism. ***
Leaders of the passive
The right will seek power by trying to manipulate passive citizens. A revolutionary left could try the same. A left which has, however, abandoned revolution but wants to lead the masses faces a dilemma: oppose right wing demands even when expressed by “ordinary workers” and lose their support or agree with them and go over to the other side. ****
Democrats – as opposed to majoritarians – know that without deliberation the whole point of the democratic project/tradition is lost. It would be undesirable – as well as unlikely – that liberals, socialists and some conservatives elide their differences and come together but as democrats they must always be aware that populism is a common foe. To be blunt, political controversy whether arguing individual freedom, equality or class conflict is part of the establishment that is now threatened.***** Fortunately, there remain citizens who are amenable to argument. They must be addressed. They must be encouraged to speak up, to participate as they wish. No democrat should ever patronise passive citizens; that’s partly what led to this crisis for democracy.
* https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/worried-about-simplistic-lies-in-public-debate-consider-the-audience-for-them/
** https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/full-employment-in-this-century-will-be-different-as-work-befitting-educated-skilled-workers-grows-scarce/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602869/manufacturing-jobs-arent-coming-back/
On alienation and later: https://aeon.co/essays/in-the-1950s-everybody-cool-was-a-little-alienated-what-changed
“descent into a vast triviality.” Neil Postman (1985) Amusing Ourselves to Death, p.6
https://quote.ucsd.edu/childhood/files/2013/05/postman-amusing.pdf
“Contentment sets aside that which, in the longer view, disturbs contentment; it holds firmly to the thought that the long run may never come.” – J.K. Galbraith (1993) The Culture of Contentment, p.173
John Waters, Amused to Death, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsspXqCe4kI
Barack Obama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjGUUGw0pQ8
**** https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/the-conservative-embrace-a-home-for-former-revolutionaries/
***** Anti-establishment is no longer a matter of opposing the entrenched position of the rich or the structure of inequality. It has more or less changed sides. It is now a matter of opposing the established way of doing things, the slow processes built up over many years on which reform and progress, depend. This anti-establishment is no place for a socialist. Indeed, socialists must resist the temptation to strike a faux-revolutionary pose and oppose the thoughtless barbarism of the new anti-establishment.
Day-to-day conversation and the struggle for decency
Tagged barbarism, bbc panorama, Brexit, citizen, civilisation, communication and media studies, decency, democracy, discursive, Ireland, journalists, news values, normalisation, public discourse, racism, tolerance
Ordinary citizens appear increasingly to be democracy’s and indeed decent, civilised behaviour’s last line of defence. In their day-to-day interactions it now falls to citizens to struggle against those who promote and support barbarism. That is to say, if it was ever sensible to remain silent – to opt for a quiet life – while someone in the company – perhaps a friend or family member – spouts nonsense or savagery, it’s no longer a safe option; democracy and decency are now under too much pressure.
During a recent BBC Panorama documentary on the rise of racist attacks in the aftermath of the Brexit poll, a social scientist made a telling point: it’s not that the racists have majority support; it is that they think they have.*
Those who hold and express vile views seldom if ever face an adverse reaction in social and family circles. Too few people or perhaps no one at all expressly disagrees with them, tells them that they should be ashamed of themselves or refuses to socialise with them. Moreover, they are allowed to take part in routine conversation and banter without reference to the knowledge that their most basic views are an affront to civilisation. To borrow a term from communication and media studies, racist thugs are being normalised. **
The same failing has resulted in the current friction over what men can and cannot say to and about women. There are those who hold that despicable behaviour is part of routine banter. The thing is, they are telling the truth and it is the truth because no one in their circle says otherwise. Colleagues, associates, friends and family – knowing their views and character – are willing to socialise with them, are willing to normalise them.
A key moment for me came some years ago on a bus queue of all places. I tend to talk to strangers. I engaged when the person beside me started on about what was wrong with Irish society. Soon it became apparent that immigrants were the cause of Ireland’s problems. It got worse: each race, it was contended, brought particular failings and these were enthusiastically listed. Certainly I was shocked to be talking to an extremist but more shocking was that someone so extreme would be open with a complete stranger. When I gathered myself and began to argue, it was her turn to be shocked. Clearly she was unaccustomed to questioning and contradiction. She fell silent shortly before the bus arrived.
Thinking about the incident afterwards, I was made despondent by the idea that those views had become utterly routine, that in this woman’s circles her views were accepted as ordinary. My belief now while still chilling, is a little better. Yes, her views are held by many – far too many – but she is mistaken in thinking that she enjoys near universal approval. She is lulled into assuming approval by the absence of confrontation, contradiction and criticism and by being made welcome into the company of decent people.
Tolerance is now so pervasively misunderstood that public discourse is endangered. “I’m entitled to my opinion” has come to mean, “I’m entitled to say what I like without having to answer for it.” An added variant is, “I’m entitled to talk about drains and football without mention of my more basic, noxious views.” Too many thinking people now consider trenchant argument to be impolite. They flop into an effete silence while racists, misogynists, liars, conspiracy theorists, even supporters of war crimes, and others with similarly vile views move and operate as if they were normal citizens of a decent and democratic society.
There might have been a time when journalists were expected to act but nowadays they are almost completely in thrall to news values and have for the most part left the field of struggle over fundamental values. They prefer to report comments on current issues without reference to a speaker’s basic and sometimes vile views; bluntly, they are activists in the process of normalisation.
That leaves the last line of defence: the thinking, participative citizen, aware of three things: i) that democracy is recent and fragile ii) that it depends on effective public discourse; and iii) that beyond issues, current affairs, even the differences between conservatives, liberals and socialists, there is a small number of shared positions that mark out democracy, civilised behaviour and human decency. That is now threatened and quiet politeness is complicity.
* About 22mins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yetFgoAkrGE
** qui tacet consentire videtur
Worried about simplistic lies in public debate? Consider the audience for them.
July 2, 2016 – 5:39 pm
Tagged amusing ourselves to death, austerity, authoritarian, Brexit, Britain, controversy, debate, deliberation, democracy, establishment, frankfurt school, Greece, Ireland, journalism, js mill, leadership, models of citizenship, neil postman, participation, patriarchy, Politics, populism, public discussion, republican citizen, roger waters, scaremongering, Syiza, theory, uk
At the heart of all the fretting over populism there is a dispute about the essential meaning of citizenship. Populism is often defended by reference to its root, populus, and presented as ordinary people taking control. The reality is that the last thing on earth that a supporter of populism wants is control over their own or the affairs of the republic; they are passive citizens. When thinking people complain of the lies and simplicities which fuel populist campaigns, they fail to appreciate that this content is not directed at them. They are irrelevant onlookers to a play for the support of fellow citizens who have a fundamentally different outlook. Crucially it is journalists who ensure that content reaches its intended target.
You see, one view of citizenship pays little or no heed to meaningful participation – to deliberation – and cedes thinking to an elite. Because adherents complain about elites (variously labelled the establishment, the government or the political class) a fake anti-authoritarian image can appear; in truth it is more like petulant but dependent children complaining about their parents. It is a view that reduces citizenship to a desire to be well managed or led by a patriarchy which the dependent, passive citizen hopes will be benign.* There is competition then for the support of these citizens.
Competition for the votes of such citizens is characterised by political communication which plays down, ignores or lies about risk. The most recent example is Brexit. Passive citizens were told that they could leave the EU without fear of adverse consequences. They could have been asked to assess the risks and decide on balance what would be best but that would not have served them. It would have made them unhappy and prompted cries for “leadership”.
The first Syriza election win in Greece was another example. Frightened citizens were told that everything would be fine, that they could be delivered unproblematically from austerity. It turns out that a whole swathe of the coalition that was Syriza was fully aware of the risks, were talking among themselves about the Drachma and an isolated fresh start but they stayed quiet rather than perturb the simplicity.
In Ireland we are burdened with the same authoritarian nonsense. When our entirely predictable property crash finally arrived, citizens who would prefer to be untroubled by risk assessment were offered a wide choice of potential parents. All said that there was an easy way out of austerity, that a country in desperate need of loans to pay welfare and state salaries could refuse to accept the conditions imposed by its one remaining lender and that there would be no adverse consequence.
It is difficult to imagine a political controversy which does not involve the consideration of consequences, of advantages for some and disadvantages for others. However, the idea that a controversy over matters as large as the above could be presented by anyone as having small or few consequences is not merely absurd. It is an authoritarian gambit.
The citizen who doesn’t want to be troubled with participation, argument, evaluation, judgement is a willing target for the authoritarian who will reassure, will relieve them of meaningful citizenship by offering leadership. This is the authoritarian who tells them not to worry, that nothing bad will happen, who talks in terms of being in touch with the people, who will likely even try to identify as anti-establishment. Crucially, complex argument and possible consequences will be dismissed as “scaremongering”, while expertise will be spurned as “establishment”.
Familiar? Of course it’s familiar; it’s the parody of political discourse that has become not merely acceptable but normal. If you are not a citizen in need of a leader but one who wants to participate in the affairs of the republic, wants to have all the information and arguments in order to discuss what matters before coming to your decision, you may wonder how the repeated lies and simplicities could gather supporters. You may even have a haughty disdain for your fellow citizens, questioning their intelligence. The reality is that many citizens seek soothing codology because they prefer a quiet life. Moreover, the populist leader knows this and has no intention of wasting time in addressing the republican citizen. Indeed, there is no need to do so because the number of passive citizens is sufficient for success at the polls and may constitute a majority, even a large majority
There’s nothing new about concern over citizen passivity. It has a track record from before J.S. Mill’s fear of the herd, through the Frankfurt Marxists, on even into music with Roger Waters *, inspired by Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, and on it goes. In short, it’s a staple in theorising about democracy and the nature of citizenship. **
Finally, where do journalists come into this? Well, they have a problem and a decision to make: they cannot at the same time serve the republican citizen while holding the passive citizen’s attention or serve the passive citizen without dismissing the needs of the republican citizen. Generally they stay out of trouble by covering everything in a fair, objective, impartial way and that’s one reason why public discourse and republican participation are threatened.
* A note to leftists who might be tempted to lead populism: The citizen who wants to be patronised is working class only in the way that the term is used by pollsters.
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsspXqCe4kI
*** http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/citizenship/
The 1916 Proclamation: sacred text or material for discussion
Tagged 1916 proclamation, active citizenship, argument, authoritarion, children, citizen, conservative, constitution, controversy, debate, democracy, enda krnny, Facebook, government, Ireland, Irish, mary lou mcdonald, people of ireland, political values, priorities, proclamation for a new republic, proclamation of the irish republic, referendum, sein fein, taoiseach
Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Fein posted the following on Facebook and in a few hours, i.e. by midday on April 1st 2015, it had been shared over a thousand times.
“There was some mention earlier on that the Taoiseach and the Fine Gael/Labour government want to rewrite the Proclamation as we head towards 2016.
The Proclamation of the Irish Republic belongs to the people of Ireland. No government, not least the current government, has any right to alter or rewrite it.” – https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD/photos/a.498206116331.275763.58340031331/10152707553836332/?type=1&theater
Clearly it is ridiculous to suggest that a document produced a century ago could be rewritten. Three things, however, need to be said. Firstly, it is important that no document be elevated to the status of sacred text to be placed beyond examination and criticism. In the case of the 1916 proclamation its opening lines for example about Ireland summoning her children to her flag are incompatible with citizenship of a republic. Summoning children is more deeply daft and offensive than the UK monarchic tradition of referring to citizens as subjects.
Secondly, MLMcD is taking the familiar authoritarian line of speaking for the people. To say that the wording of a text belongs to the people of Ireland is meaningless other than in reference to the constitution where that ownership involves not stiffened preservation but vesting the power to change the text in a referendum. While the claim that the 1916 proclamation belongs to the people is meaningless, the devious intention behind the claim is not. This is an incident in a longer power play. It is a device that has been used many times. The trick is to put matters beyond discussion, to create blinding loyalty, respect and willing obedience. A person or group is to be insinuated as the true representative of the people and/or interpreter of special texts in opposition to an elected government, parliament or indeed the entire constitutional state. It is profoundly undemocratic relying on a perverse understanding of “the people”.
Thirdly, if the Taoiseach or anyone else wants to open a discussion on some sort of Proclamation for a New Republic, then let a debate begin. However, it must be emphasised that the discussion is essentially about choosing between contested political values. To be effective it will be a fraught discussion because Ireland is unused to contests over values, setting priorities and limits, and marking behaviour and beliefs as unacceptable – with the intention of change from time to time.
Charlie Hebdo: While trying to understand, don’t forget the nature of the crime
Tagged active citizenship, algeria, blasphemy, charlie hebdo, crime against humanity, democracy, freedom of expression, french, international, je suis charlie, liberty, paris, public discourse, public discussion, public sphere, religion, robert fisk, terrorism, wanted list., war, whataboutery
When those men went into a Paris workplace and gunned down the staff, they committed a crime against humanity. Yes, in that they reduced human beings to mere messages, they were terrorists but it was also a crime against humanity – an act so vile that no talk of war, blasphemy, recent or ancient wrongs can be allowed into consideration.
Too much of the subsequent discussion focussed on freedom of expression, its defence and its limits in a democracy. Part of the discussion revealed some sympathy if not for the gunmen themselves, then for their perspective. This part was anxious to talk about the level of abuse a well-off elite might be permitted to direct at a minority or to what extent religion might be permitted to put topics beyond public discourse or ridicule. With all this in full spate there was little explicit mention of the chasm between expression and blood soaked flooring but at an intuitive level that seems to have been grasped and made clear in the willingness of people who would never utter an offensive word, to express themselves, “Je suis Charlie!”
In other words, faced with a crime against humanity, decent people were prepared to side with vulgarity, insult and profanity. It may not be discussed very often but the majority of people know that there are transgressions so heinous as to offend humanity, so heinous as to exclude nationality, race, religion, conflict and even war from consideration.
Robert Fisk wrote that he knew from the outset that Algeria would figure in this atrocity.* However, he called it for what it was, a crime against humanity, a crime beyond justification but linked to the Franco Algerian War of the 50s and 60s and the Algerian civil war of the 80s. While he emphasises the struggle with imperialism, he reminds the reader that those years were marked by crimes against humanity including the French bombardment of villages. Many of the perpetrators and their associates are likely still living and not on anyone’s wanted list.
There’s been a considerable amount of “whataboutery” too from those either supportive of the murderers in France or anxious to characterise media and people in the developed west as selective in their condemnation. While this is a familiar tactic of those anxious to spread the blame, make light of the offence by pointing to something worse or undermine the hunt for perpetrators and their accomplices, it does highlight something that needs to be addressed.
Many crimes against humanity are not covered by world media. That does not mean, however, that humanity has no interest in pursuing the guilty. What it does is point to the need for an international institution to which a citizen of any country can bring for investigation a crime against humanity.
Far too often the victims of crimes against humanity are forced back into festering resentment in local identity or religion. This will be their only course unless humanity can intervene to make it clear that the crime was against every living, breathing person and that the perpetrators, their commanders and supporters will be hunted for the rest of their lives. They may be protected within their country or by a peace agreement but humanity – as represented by the wider world – wants them in the dock and when possible will have them arrested.
* http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/charlie-hebdo-paris-attack-brothers-campaign-of-terror-can-be-traced-back-to-algeria-in-1954-9969184.html?origin=internalSearch
If the county council is not a little parliament, what is it?
Tagged active citizenship, citizen, class, clientalism, community work, conservative, controversy, democracy, Fine Gael, government, ideology, Ireland, Irish, journalism, Kenneth Egan, Labour Party, liberalism, local government elections, management, media, political class, political values, Politics, public controversy, public discussion, public sphere, republican, Sinn Fein, socialism
I couldn’t say that I know Kenneth Egan, the Olympic boxing silver medallist, but I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and I’ve heard him on radio and TV. He’s a decent man who would like to give something back to boxing and to his hometown. When I heard that he intended to be a Fine Gael candidate in the 2014 local government elections, I knew that the smart asses would attempt to flitter him. They did.
He was characterised at worst as a fool and at best as naïve, knowing nothing about politics. Well, he’s certainly not a fool. He readily admits that he knows little about politics and that he’s with Fine Gael because they were first to ask him.
Kenneth Egan was open and honest about his intentions. He wanted to do community work. He reckoned that being on the Council would facilitate this. He was elected.
A cursory reading of the 2014 local election material – leaflets and posters – reveals that he was not at all unusual. Local election material was of two familiar – almost ritualistic – types. Firstly, there were lies that national controversies like property and water taxes could be resolved at local level, and futile Labour/FG efforts to counteract the lies. A variation on the lie was that the County Council was irrelevant and that the election was a method of sending a message to national government. Secondly, there was canvassing to secure employment/recognition as a community worker. Completely absent from the election material was any suggestion that the council would be an assembly which would debate politically, a chamber in which local issues would be addressed from the standpoints of competing ideologies and political values.
A consideration of the role of lies and indirect messaging in election campaigns and how mass media encourage or at least facilitate them will have to wait for another day. Here the intention will be to consider the election of community workers to local government.
At first glance politics and community work are quite distinct and it is tempting to view the routine approach to local elections as a misunderstanding or even as a kind of corrupt populism but it might be better to treat it more seriously. There are two possibilities: 1. that candidates believe local government to be non-political; and 2. that the community-work approach reflects a political perspective to rival, say, both liberalism and socialism. Let’s look at the two possibilities in turn.
1. Belief that local government is non-political has its equivalent on the national scale where clientelism thrives. Here candidates compete to provide some sort of service while trying to avoid anything divisive, like a political argument or an overall political perspective. There is a view that a national interest exists which supersedes all divisions including the entire structure of economic inequality. Many people dispute this view and it is particularly rejected by the left. However, its equivalent in local government goes largely unchallenged. Leftists seem to be as committed to the notion of “the community” or “local people” as anyone else.
After the recent 2014 local elections Labour councillors formed a second coalition with Sinn Fein and others to govern South Dublin County. A party member objected on Facebook to involvement with SF. The last part of a Labour councillor’s reply is revealing, “In local government, the people are the focus. My community is what matters to me.”
It is true that power has been shifted to the county manager. It is also true that it is difficult to identify particular council votes that split along ideological lines. The problem is this: If the council is not a battleground of political values, then it has little function. That is to say, if it manages by reliance on a shared view, then it is no more than a supervisory management board and it could or should be replaced by a smaller board or even by an individual. The small board or individual could be charged with being the community’s representative to counterbalance the career managers. Whether or not election is necessary to choosing the counterbalance will be put to one side for consideration another day but the point is that if the council is not riven by political values, there is no reason to continue with its present quasi-parliamentary form when something a great deal smaller would suffice.
2. There is a danger that commentators and political scientists will fail to take the community-work approach seriously, that they will refuse to consider it as a political perspective – a complex, functional, conservative whole, very suited to maintaining privilege in today’s conditions.
A Fine Gael TD (MP) of my acquaintance – a very decent, hard-working person – argues that ideologies are divisive and unnecessary. He sees his election to the Dáil (parliament) as voter recognition for the years of hard work he put in as a county councillor. In other words, voters promoted him to a higher grade. He takes his role as public representative seriously but it is a role which many would dispute or indeed decry. He attends meetings, holds advice clinics etc. He is, to use the familiar term, “active on the ground”. His activity has a purpose: it is how he establishes what his constituents want. Once he’s established that they want something, his role is to do what he can to help them get it. He will write letters/e-mails, attend and speak at public meetings, lead deputations to government ministers or to senior managers in state services or companies. He uses his status and influence to apply pressure for the delivery of some local demand. He might operate similarly on behalf of a family or an individual provided it did not contradict what the community generally wanted. This is his political perspective; this is politics for him. He is aware of course that many criticise him on the basis that all of his activity is about nothing more than ingratiating himself with voters in order to be re-elected. He agrees that his activity “on the ground” is necessary to re-election but he also enjoys doing it, sees it as his function as an elected representative and supports the whole as a sensible, working political system. He is not in the least odd; he’s mainstream.
This is an old, conservative perspective perhaps best understood as the Fianna Fáil tradition of constituency service. They insinuated themselves into each and every locality and organisation and developed a reputation for “getting things done” or “delivering” and indeed bizarrely for being anti-establishment. Leftists behave no differently but they tend to have a different rationale for precisely the same activity. Leftists tend to be in thrall to “working people”, “ordinary people” or increasingly seldom, “the working class”. Like my Fine Gael acquaintance above, leftists sincerely want to advance popular demands but they also want to lead “working people” who are viewed as essentially progressive.
I know quite a few Labour county councillors. They are thoughtful and acutely aware of inequality and the class-divided nature of Irish society. They live to change that society by way of gradual reform, i.e. the parliamentary route. They realise that there is little or no conflict over political values at council level and that they must do community work. Some have ambitions to be elected to the Dáil and see the county council as a stepping stone. Again like my Fine Gael acquaintance above, they work “on the ground” hoping that voters will promote them. They are aware too that promotion to the Dáil will not mean elevation to a realm of political conflict with a constant clash of political values because re-election will to a great extent depend on that same work “on the ground”. There is no easy escape because not only is that the established way of things but the vast majority of electors shares the political view expressed by my Fine Gael acquaintance. Some voters, candidates and elected representatives may adopt a bogus anti-establishment swagger by talking in terms of the “political class” being pressured by “working people” but it amounts to the same stable conservatism: politics reduced to getting facilities or services for one group of citizens/constituents at the expense of others. Community work – together with protest, agitation and pressure – has become part of the management of dissent, a way of avoiding differences over political values.*
It is very different at party meetings. At times a meeting can inhabit another world, a world in which class, oppression, equality, legitimacy, power and their likes have real currency. Here’s the thing: A prospective council candidate seeking support at a Labour convention or – I presume – any other left party’s convention simply could not say that socialism was irrelevant and that they were putting themselves forward as an excellent community worker. The tradition (It may be a myth at this stage.) has to be maintained that community work, leading protests, etc. are directed towards socialism or at least a more equal society. The thought that they might be directed towards maintaining the system would be unbearable for most socialists.**
There is little point in suggesting or debating reforms at this stage. That is to say, there’s not much point in talking about elected county managers or elected supervisory boards because the overwhelming majority – including most of those who would see themselves as anti-establishment – support the system. There is a more basic argument to be addressed first. The republican approach which would include both liberalism and socialism views democracy as a matter of citizen participation in debates about the direction of the republic. It’s a tiny minority viewpoint. Given the forces opposed, it could be termed deeply unfashionable or even eccentric but it is old, basic, democratic and worthy of support.
Yes, council elections are for the most part about appointing/ recognising community workers. Voting for community workers or local-delivery agitators – even when they belong to ideological parties – is at best mildly democratic but in any republican sense might better be seen as counter-democratic.
It would seem time to recognise that a county or a city council is not a little parliament and making an explicit difference between the two might help to revitalise citizenship and push parliament back towards its neglected deliberative role.
* This is not the place to consider the possibility of a post-political age.
** https://colummccaffery.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/now-that-almost-everyone-is-anti-establishment-whither-dissent/
Media diversity: Hours of on-line searching or trawling obscure channels and journals is not mass participation
Tagged active citizenship, agenda setting, citizen, consensus, controversy, debate, democracy, democratic gulf, dissent, diversity of ownership, diversity of voices, herd, Ireland, Irish, j.s. mill, journalism, liberty, media, media diversity, media training, nessa childers, net optimist, philosopher, political communication, Politics, public controversy, public discussion, public sphere
There’s a lot of talk these days about media diversity. (On Monday last I was at a useful conference on the subject hosted by Nessa Childers, MEP.) A problem is that “media diversity”, like so many terms, is increasingly becoming drained of meaning. Indeed, on media training courses it can mean as little as knowing the full range of available media.
There are, however, two dominant meanings: i) Diversity of ownership and ii) diversity of voices. Their dominance means that a central issue for political communication is generally ignored. You see, there could be – generally there are – masses of material coming from all sorts of different people and they could all be saying the same thing or broadly similar things. Net optimists and activists can get very cross at the mention of a long dead philosopher but we really are back to J.S. Mill and the oppressive danger of the herd and its consensus. Even the apparent dissent is now a matter of consensus!
The problem for the citizen who wishes to take part in public discourse remains unchanged since the 19th century: how to have easy access to the complete debate. There is a democratic gulf between “access” and “easy access”. To argue that the rich pickings of today’s diverse media offer all that any citizen could possibly need misunderstands both democracy and the real busy lives of engaged citizens. No, hours of on-line searching or trawling obscure channels and journals is not mass participation. Citizens need a thorough agenda and thorough debates brought to their attention, and when they are get a poor service, they need a mechanism to complain and put things right.
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House Committee : Armed Services House Committee : Rules Referred to House Subcommittee : Commerce|Telecommunications and Finance
1. H.R.2903 — 104th Congress (1995-1996) Balanced Budget Act of 1995 for Economic Growth and Fairness Sponsor: Rep. Kasich, John R. [R-OH-12] (Introduced 01/26/1996)(by request) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Budget, Ways and Means, Commerce, Banking and Financial Services, Judiciary, Agriculture, Economic and Educational Opportunities, Government Reform and Oversight, House Oversight, National Security, Veterans' Affairs, Resources, International Relations, Rules Latest Action: House - 02/09/1996 Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Hazardous Materials, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman. (All Actions) Tracker:
2. H.R.2530 — 104th Congress (1995-1996) Common Sense Balanced Budget Act of 1995 Sponsor: Rep. Orton, Bill [D-UT-3] (Introduced 10/25/1995) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: House - Budget, Agriculture, Banking and Financial Services, Commerce, Economic and Educational Opportunities, Government Reform and Oversight, House Oversight, Judiciary, National Security, Resources, Rules, Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 12/20/1995 Mr. Taylor (MS) notified the House of his intention to offer a resolution that raises a question of the privileges of the House relating to the statutory responsibility of enacting a budget into law. The Chair announced that, under the provisions of rule IX, a... (All Actions) Tracker:
3. H.R.2517 — 104th Congress (1995-1996) Seven-Year Balanced Budget Reconciliation Act of 1995 Sponsor: Rep. Kasich, John R. [R-OH-12] (Introduced 10/20/1995) Cosponsors: (0) Committees: House - Budget, Agriculture, Banking and Financial Services, Commerce, Economic and Educational Opportunities, Government Reform and Oversight, International Relations, Judiciary, National Security, Resources, Rules, Science, Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 11/06/1995 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. (All Actions) Tracker:
4. H.R.1923 — 104th Congress (1995-1996) Restructuring a Limited Government Act Sponsor: Rep. Solomon, Gerald B. H. [R-NY-22] (Introduced 06/22/1995) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Agriculture, National Security, Banking and Financial Services, Budget, Economic and Educational Opportunities, International Relations, Government Reform and Oversight, House Oversight, Commerce, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Resources, Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Small Business, Science, Veterans' Affairs, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 09/05/1995 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Legislative and Budget Process. (All Actions) Tracker:
Rules Remove
Commerce, Trade, and Hazardous Materials [4]
Telecommunications and Finance Remove
Government Reform and Oversight
Government Management, Information and Technology [1]
Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations [1]
Military Readiness [1]
Legislative Process [1]
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation [3]
Public Buildings and Economic Development [3]
Kasich, John R. [R-OH] [2]
Orton, Bill [D-UT] [1]
Solomon, Gerald B. H. [R-NY] [1]
Baesler, Scotty [D-KY] [1]
Brewster, Bill K. [D-OK] [1]
Browder, Glen [D-AL] [1]
Condit, Gary A. [D-CA] [1]
Cramer, Robert E. (Bud), Jr. [D-AL] [1]
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CONSUMER | HEALTH
Obamacare ruling spares 127,000 in state with health care subsidies
Reporters wait outside the Supreme Court as justices upheld part of the Affordable Care Act that gives tax subsidies to more than 8 million Americans to help with the cost of health care. (Photo by Jamie Cochran)
By Nick Wicksman | Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – For Arizona resident Jorge Mendez, subsidies under the Affordable Care Act made it possible for him to afford the health insurance that helps him cope with debilitating joint and muscle issues.
Which is why Mendez was “so happy” to learn that the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the latest challenge to Obamacare and upheld the subsidies that help lower-income Americans get insurance.
“It was really great,” said Mendez, one of an estimated 127,000 Arizona residents – and more than 8.5 million nationwide – who used the subsidies to buy coverage and who stood to lose it if the court ruled the other way.
In one of the most highly anticipated decisions of this term, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Thursday that federal tax credits can be offered in federally run “exchanges,” even though the law says those credits can only be offered in exchanges run by a state.
The 127,000 Arizonans who get tax subsidies to offset the cost of health care under Obamacare are spread across the state, according to Families USA. Click on map for larger image.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said that a literal reading of the law could “destroy” the health insurance exchanges and that the court must interpret the law, when it can, in a way that does not do that.
“In every case, we must respect the role of the Legislature and take care not to undo what it has done,” Roberts wrote.
In a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Antonin Scalia said the court’s decision is evidence that “the Supreme Court of the United States favors some laws over others, and is prepared to do whatever it takes to uphold and assist its favorites.”
At stake were subsidies in 34 states – including Arizona – that opted not to set up their own exchanges but to let the federal government run the exchange, known as healthcare.gov.
More than 8.5 million people have purchased healthcare using the tax credits given by the IRS, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The White House said that more than 16 million people have been able to get health coverage under the law, which helped hospitals saved more than $7 billion in 2014 through a decrease in the cost and number of uncompensated visits, among other benefits.
Advocates hailed the decision, while members of the state’s congressional delegation split on it, with some vowing to renew their efforts to repeal the law completely.
Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Mesa, said in a statement that this ruling “does nothing to stop health insurance premiums from skyrocketing.”
Big month at the high court for Arizona
The Supreme Court took action an a slew of Arizona issues in June:
Supreme Court lets stand ruling rejecting Arizona’s immigrant bail ban
Supreme Court sides with Gilbert pastor, strikes down town’s sign law
Even superheroes have limits: Court turns down Spider-Man toy inventor
Arizona advocates vow to fight on as Supreme Court OKs same-sex marriage
Court upholds use of lethal-injection drug used in botched Arizona execution
Convicted former congressman Renzi’s last-ditch appeal turned down
Arizona voters can overrule Legislature on redistricting, high court says
States’ bid to require citizenship proof for federal voters falls short
Supreme Court agrees to hear new challenge to redistricting commission
But Tara Plese, senior director for external affairs at the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, said this ruling will keep premiums low. Had the court ruled the other way, she said, “more people would be unable to afford the health plans” when the next round of marketplace sign-ups opened.
Families USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for affordable healthcare, estimates that 127,000 Arizona residents used a government tax subsidy toward the purchase of health care through healthcare.gov. It said that those subsidized customers were distributed throughout the state’s congressional districts.
Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, said last week that the cost of healthcare in Arizona would have more than doubled if the tax credits were found unconstitutional.
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Flagstaff, applauded the court’s decision, saying in a prepared statement that she was “pleased that the Supreme Court ruled to protect affordable health coverage for thousands of Arizona families.”
But what Democrats were calling a major victory, Republicans were calling a major disappointment.
“Today’s Supreme Court’s decision is a disappointment to Arizonans hurt by Obamacare’s broken promises,” Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said in a statement Thursday.
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, said that he remains “committed to repealing Obamacare in its entirety.” In a statement from his office, he pointed to his introduction last week of a bill to replace the Affordable Care act “with an affordable, free market solution that ensures all Americans have access to quality healthcare.”
But for Mendez, who said he had nervously waited for the court’s decision, it was “beautiful” news to hear that the Obamacare tax credits survived.
Mendez, a former soccer player who now drifts from job to job, said the tax credits let him afford proper care for his leg.
Without the tax credits offered, Mendez said he probably would not have been able to afford proper health insurance for his leg.
“I used to have one leg skinnier than the other,” Mendez said. “Because I had really bad right leg muscles.”
The leg got so bad that at one point he could not balance enough to stand properly.
“When I got Obamacare, it was one of the best things in my life to have, to take care of my health,” he said.
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Not Much of a 'Marvel': Brie Larson Seems Lethargic in the Decidedly Ho-Hum 'Captain Marvel'
It looks like somebody forgot to tell Brie Larson to have fun and let loose in Captain Marvel. Her turn as the title character, aka Carol Danvers, is laced with lethargy and bizarre line deliveries.
Samuel L. Jackson and an orange tabby fortunately seem to be enjoying themselves, but Larson is stiffer than Church the cat on the Creed’s front lawn after his unfortunate encounter with a speeding truck. (Say, is my excitement for the upcoming Pet Sematary reboot evident?)
A similar problem plagued Larson in Kong: Skull Island. The Academy Award-winning actress seems to be in her wheelhouse when the budget is low, but seems miscast when she shows up in a blockbuster. She gives off a detached vibe; it’s odd. The movie should be called Captain Meh: I Dunno … I Got Better Things to Do.
If the movie around her were really good, her seemingly bored disposition might’ve been forgiven—but Captain Marvel is also riddled with awful special effects and haphazard storytelling.
I went in hoping for a badass movie about Captain Marvel, but found myself more intrigued by the subplot involving an up-and-coming, low ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Nick Fury, played by Jackson. The de-aged Jackson, along with a returning Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), who died in the first Avengers movie, are so good that you’ll wish they got their own film.
I’m not putting the blame solely on Larson; the character itself is a bust when it comes to superheroes. All she does is fly around and send out energy bursts from her hands. She has moments when she goes into full Marvel mode, bringing on some sort of light show where she glows and gets white eyes, as well as a goofy-looking mohawk. As for superpowers … they just don’t register as anything that exciting. The Marvel light show isn’t aided by the special effects, which look rushed and cartoonish. Captain Marvel in her full glory doesn’t integrate with the worlds around her; she looks animated and out of place.
As for the orange tabby named Goose, he’s your basic super-cute cat—with a few surprises under his fur. Again, the special effects are a letdown when Goose goes full Goose, another example of the visual team coming up short.
Part of the film is set on Earth in the 1990s, and Jackson’s Fury has a full head of hair and both eyes. It also lends to music by Nirvana and No Doubt, both of which are used in situations that feel awkward and forced. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck got a little carried away in their efforts to be cute with the tunes.
There’s a big supporting cast, including a strong Annette Bening as a scientist and murky memory in Carol’s dreams. Lashana Lynch does good work as Maria Rambeau (pronounced “Rambo!”), an earthly friend of Carol’s. Jude Law gets a change of pace with an action role as an alien named Yon-Rogg, while Ben Mendelsohn plays Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D. boss, another character with a few surprises to offer.
The film isn’t completely devoid of fun; it’s just not on par with other Marvel offerings, although I concede that’s a high bar to hit. As for Captain Marvel, the end of Avengers: Infinity War hinted at some major participation for her, so this is just the start for the character. Let’s hope things get better.
As always, stay all the way through the credits. There are plenty of things happening that you won’t want to miss, even if you’ve had your fill with the events that happened before all those words splashed across the screen.
Captain Marvel is playing at theaters across the valley, in a variety of formats.
Published in Reviews
Home Video Review: 'Mississippi Grind' Is the Latest Fantastic Film to First Be Released On Demand and Online
This business of sending some movies directly to iTunes/Amazon.com and on-demand services while they show on limited screens across the country is turning out to be really cool. Some great films, including Michael Fassbender’s Slow West, have been released this year using this method.
Now another great film has been released in this way: Mississippi Grind.
Powerhouse performances are delivered by Ben Mendelsohn as Gerry, a depressed gambler, and Ryan Reynolds as Curtis, his artificially upbeat counterpart. The two meet at a low-stakes poker game, share some bourbon and wind up on a road trip to New Orleans with the intent of getting in on a huge money game.
Things don’t quite work out that way, with Gerry recklessly gambling the money Curtis stakes him, while Curtis womanizes and steals bicycles. Still, the two men continue to be drawn to each other—and it all leads up to some big events.
Reynolds is having a banner year in smaller projects, proving he has more than blockbuster good looks. The man is supremely talented, and this is his best performance to date: Curtis is a fully realized character backed by the kind of script and direction his talent deserves. Reynolds was also great in this year’s funny and sick The Voices (which also did the limited release/on demand thing).
Matching Reynolds note for note is the always-amazing Mendelsohn. His Gerry is everything you would expect from a person suffering from gambling addiction. He’s desperate; he’s unruly; and he’s a genuinely good human being who is trying to make things right. It’s easy to feel sorry for Gerry. Mendelsohn gives him a beating heart.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, responsible for the very good Sugar and Half Nelson, wrote and directed this. They are, without a doubt, one of the more underrated writer/director teams working today. This film and its performances need to be remembered in a few months: Mendelsohn and Reynolds deserve year-end award consideration.
Mississippi Grind is available on demand and via online sources such as iTunes and Amazon.com.
Published in DVDs/Home Viewing
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ARCHIVE REVIEW: Elephant
Posted on July 10, 2010 by matterspamer
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Written by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, and Kristen Hicks
Had the tracking shot never been invented, Gus Van Sant’s searing humanization of the Columbine shootings wouldn’t have made it. As we literally wonder the halls of a fictional suburban high school, the camera follows several students in a semi-warped time frame. We often see the same event from different perspectives, much like the end of Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. The time before and after these intersections shows us the same setting in very different lights.
Van Sant is one of the leading auteurs of the gay film movement, and though not all of his films have those themes, his best films often do. Elephant contains a controversial shower kiss between the two shooters, Eric (Eric Deulen) and Alex (Alex Frost), before they embark on their killing spree. It’s not a romantic moment, or even a passionate one, it’s just there.
The rest of the film is largely just there too, and this is why it can be so powerful. The most chilling moment is not when Eric and Alex unleash their ammunition on the helpless student population. It happens the day before, when a girl asks Alex why he’s writing things in a notebook.
“It’s my plan,” he says.
“For what?” she asks.
“You’ll see.”
This moment rises out of nowhere, and since you’ve already seen the two decked in camo and hauling in duffel bags filled with guns, you already know. Van Sant’s gift in this film is not really for storytelling, but in creating a fully realized high school in an hour and twenty minutes. We see the world from different perspectives; some enjoy it, some don’t take it seriously, and others are trapped before the shooting even starts.
By using a virtually unknown cast of actual high school students, this film feels even more real despite the fact that there isn’t really a performance that sticks out. Most of the characters share the first name of the actor who plays them.
Where this film succeeds is taking a tragedy like the Columbine shooting and making it into more than censored media clips sparsed with tragic statistics. Each student we follow’s name flashes on the screen, as if they are each saying “Remember me.” Though they don’t all fall under the maniacal shooters, you will still remember most of them.
John (John Robinson), a boy coping with his alcoholic father that the principal mistakes for skipping school needlessly, delivers the film’s most interesting character. He is the first to see something is wrong when he spots the two shooters carrying bags into the school.
Another one to watch for is Michelle (Kristen Hicks), a tormented girl endlessly ridiculed. Her shocking death is proof that Van Sant is after something different. In a typical indie film, the jocks and cheerleaders would be left to rot while the awkward ones escaped. In Elephant, no one is safe.
The two shooters are treated as ordinary students. Alex is the only one we see in school prior to the shootings, Eric is never there or just not shown. When the two hang out after school, they do sometimes play violent video games. This was a big issue surrounding the shootings, and Van Sant does seem to suggest that it did have an effect on the boys with a chilling POV shot during the shootings that mimics the first-person perspective of the game. However, though they shoot people in video games, they also play Beethoven and, in Alex’s case, pay attention in class.
Another critique Van Sant has is how easily the boys obtained guns, and Michael Moore would be proud that he makes this a priority to show us in the film’s limited time-frame. We see them order an assault rifle, and then go into the garage and practice shooting it on a stack of firewood.
In Elephant, parents are either a nuisance, as in Jonathan’s case, or simply not around to see what their kids are doing. Even the school principal is treated as an overbearing authority figure. Though the movie doesn’t explicitly blame them for anything, the absence of a competent adult is something people notice.
One problem I had with this film is that it probably wouldn’t reward multiple viewings. It is essentially a movie about kids walking around, and without the suspense of a shooting spree breaking out at any moment, it would be duller. However, for a kinetic movie experience that makes you think as it draws you into its maze, it’s a fine achievement.
Grade: B-
This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged Columbine shooting, Elephant, Gus van Sant, High school movies, John Robinson, Movies with a lot of tracking shots, Movies with gay subtext, School shooting, Teen centered movies, Violent video games by matterspamer. Bookmark the permalink.
3 thoughts on “ARCHIVE REVIEW: Elephant”
CMrok93 on July 11, 2010 at 2:57 PM said:
Van Sant is known for making pretty dull movies (Paranoid Park, Gerry), but this is as dull as it gets, but that’s what makes it so good for some reason.
matterspamer on July 11, 2010 at 5:46 PM said:
He kind of has two different styles. There’s the slow-paced, indie ones like this and Paranoid Park, and then there’s the really glossy, Hollywood-type entertainments like Good Will Hunting and Milk.
gwosh on September 24, 2013 at 1:54 PM said:
I think that Eric and Alex are really gay.
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Our Certified Nurse Midwives
As an Atlanta native and long time Decatur, GA resident, Lori attended Emory University School of Nursing earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She worked as a RN in both the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and in Labor and Delivery. After several years of bedside nursing, she realized that she could make a more profound difference in women's lives by partnering with them as their provider. Her desire to work with and support birthing women and their babies led her to Georgetown University where she received her Master of Science degree in Midwifery and Women's Health in 2016. She loves empowering women to make well informed medical decisions, teaching women about their bodies, hearing each woman's story, and honoring her decisions on her healthcare experiences.
Outside of the office, Lori is married with a 10 year old son who is the center of the universe. As a family they enjoy martial arts, reading books to each other and spending time in their neighborhood with their friends. They spend time working with the local refugee community and volunteering at school functions. Their family motto is "What you do matters".
Chakeeta Williams began her education with a biology degree from Savannah State University. She knew she wanted to become a nurse and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Emory University. During her education at Emory she fell in love with birth work and women’s health care. Chakeeta worked as a registered nurse in a cardiac step down unit before starting her journey to become a midwife. She furthered her career and obtained a Master of Science in Midwifery through Frontier Nursing University.
Now Chakeeta has found her calling in helping women daily. She is able to inform and support them in making their health decisions.
In her free time Chakeeta enjoys reading, spin class and spending time with her family and friends.
Antoinette is an only child, born and raised in Compton, CA. At an early age she was submerged in the medical field, starting off as a file clerk, working as a receptionist, and eventually a medical assistant in a sports medicine clinic in Inglewood, CA.
Encouraged by her mother to experience life outside of LA, Antoinette attended undergrad at Villanova University in Pennsylvania where she obtained her bachelor's degree in nursing. She worked as a registered nurse for 10 years before returning to school to obtain her master's degree in nursing with a concentration in certified nurse midwifery and women's health nurse practitioner through Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Antoinette moved to Georgia in 2009, was married in 2011, and had her first child in 2012. She is family oriented, loves to help others, loves to travel, and loves the beach. She brings with her a heart of compassion and she is eager to bestow on this community the love and support that she was given by her own growing up.
Dinah Augustin is a Haitian- American who is originally from Massachusetts. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and minored in Biology at Salem State University. During her service as a nurse she was captured by the insufficient knowledge women possessed regarding their body. It behooved her to search for an alternative way that she can assist. Dinah later attended New York University to pursue her passion and become a Certified Nurse- Midwife. She is hoping that she can inspire women to view their body as sacred and care for it by making informed decisions.
Dinah Augustin is married and loves to spend time with her family, travel, and go to church. She is also fluent in Haitian- Creole.
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Lia Kohl and Katinka Kleijn, “Water On The Bridge” at the Eckhart Park Pool
Chicago Park DistrictKatinka KleijnLia Kohl
Dan DehaanMocrepboatscellosfloatingmusicperformancepools
Lia Kohl and Katinka Kleijn, Water On The Bridge at the Eckhart Park Pool, Images by Todd Rosenberg Photography.
The following is a review of Katinka Kleijn’s and Lia Kohl’s performance “Water On The Bridge” in the pool of the Eckhart Park Natatorium on March 16th, 2019.
The first thing we see is a row of 30 cellos waiting to be held near the edge of the water at Eckhart Park’s Ida Crown Natatorium, a beautiful window-lined space defined by a gently arching ceiling. Slowly, the two performers, Katinka Kleijn and Lia Kohl (both accomplished cellists) appear, dressed in androgynous, sheer blue smocks over their bathing suits. One wears a red swim cap, the other a one yellow one, like two characters from a storybook— somewhat but not entirely human. At the edge of the pool they find rubber gloves, also red and yellow, waiting for them; they put them on and get to work.
The two walk with purpose towards the waiting cellos and proceed to cleanse each of the instruments, dipping them into the water and rubbing them down with their rubber gloves. This creates the kind of squeaking sound you’d expect, but it is orchestrated into a varied rhythm for each of the cello bodies. A soundscape, composed by Dan Dehaan, consisting of similar pre-recorded sounds plays continuously in the background holds the piece together as a kind of framing device. Slowly each cello is cleansed, assessed, held in one form or another, and then either gently or aggressively tossed into the pool.
After the final cello is played and discarded Kleijn and Kohl enter the pool, first attending to one another and then turning their attention to the cellos, floating awkwardly, childlike on their backs. They gather the instruments, struggling to wrap their bodies around them, use them as floating devices. More often than not the cellos do not cooperate.
Are we witnessing a kind of tenderness or violence? A caring for or a destroying? This piece rides that line—as relationships do—with codependence, love, fear, and our desire to tame wrapped up with our desire to connect. “As cellists, we develop an intense relationship with the cello as an object, as an almost human-sized being. I’ve been playing for half my life, after that, the cello is almost like one’s own body” Kohl noted in conversation. While all of the cellos used in the piece would have otherwise ended up in the garbage (indeed, some had to be dramatically refurbished to even look like cellos), it is shocking to watch the instruments being thrown into the water. Yet this is what we are all here to see. We have come to watch these cellos be destroyed because the thought of it was implausible.
Kleijn and Kohl have been working with cellos and water for the last several years. Kleijn, currently a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and declared “Chicago’s First Lady of the Cello” by Timeout Chicago, is widely known for her innovative individual projects and experimental collaborations. Kohl is a multidisciplinary artist and cellist based in Chicago, as well as a curator and member of the acclaimed performance ensemble Mocrep. The first two iterations of what is now “Water on the Bridge” were collaborations with New Orleans-based cellist Helen Gillet and Chicago dancer Jasmine Mendoza, respectively, and took place on (and in) Lake Michigan. As Kohl explains, these early pieces were highly improvisational and experimental, both exploring the lake as a site of safe harbor and as an embarking point. While the performance at Eckhart Park still involved a significant level of improvisation, it was also more tightly woven in form, as well as the first version of the piece to use recorded sound.
Ultimately one leaves the performance with a sense of calm like nothing much has happened, only the beauty of everyday life played out before us in all its mess. The performance ends as simply as it begins. There is no climax. The actors depart and the cellos are left floating like bodies waiting for the next thing to come along, peaceful, at rest.
Iris Bernblum (b. 1975) is a cross-disciplinary artist and curator who works with performative-based themes which are manifested in photography, video, drawing, installation, and sculpture. Her work challenges and explores ideas around human nature, looking primarily at the way in which our psychologies test our sense of self in regards to gender, co-dependence, and desire. Bernblum has shown at venues including Aspect/Ratio Gallery, The Arts Club, Goldfinch Projects, September Gallery, Terrain Exhibitions, and Weinberg/Newton Gallery in Chicago, Illinois; The Brooklyn International Film Festival, Artist’s Space and The Elizabeth Foundation in New York, New York; The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
View all articles by Iris Bernblum
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Is China a developed country?
Is China a developed country? Top
Highly developed countries are often able to effectively convert their power resources into desired outcomes, but determining what exactly constitutes a developed country is subject to debate. The World Bank considers countries with a per capita income of less than $12,275 as developing countries. According to the World Bank, China’s per capita nominal GDP was $7,594 in 2014, which ranked 79th among 183 countries. Yet in other ways, China might be considered a developed country. Over 97 percent of Chinese have access to tap water and over 95 percent of Chinese over the age of 15 can read and write. Additionally, 95 percent of the Chinese population owns a mobile phone.
What do the experts think?
David M. Lampton
Hyman Professor and Director of SAIS-China and China Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS, Chairman of the Asia Foundation
Jeremy Wallace
Associate Professor in Cornell University's Department of Government
Björn Conrad
Vice President of the Mercator Institute for China Studies
As of June 30, 2014, Bank cumulative lending (IBRD and IDA) to China was about $54 billion for 376 projects. The portfolio is concentrated in environment, transportation, urban development, rural development, energy, water resources management, and human development.
Wallace:In many ways China is both a developed and a developing country… the vast majority of Chinese people are poor. . . . Yet, because China is such a huge country it is still the case that there are huge number of rich people in China. There are more rich people in China than there are people in the United Kingdom. Watch
Lampton: Precisely what makes China a difficult policy problem is that it’s both. . . . In important respects China is a developing country. A developed country has institutions; political institutions among the most important of which are succession institutions. China really has no well-accepted, describable, constitutionally grounded succession process. Watch
Conrad: It’s a developed country in its shiny cities on the Eastern coast, it’s a developing country in its poor regions in the West. It’s a developed country if you look at number of Starbucks or literacy rate, it’s a developing country if you look at the numbers of doctors per capita or percentage of the workforce that works in agriculture. Watch
Are there internationally accepted metrics to determine what is a developed country and what is a developing country?
In the second half of the twentieth century, China increased its average life expectancy at birth from around 40 years to over 70 years, a feat that took many advanced economies nearly a century to achieve. How does Chinese life expectancy compare to life expectancy in other countries?
Wallace: We might need to move beyond this language of developing and developed countries . . . it obfuscates more than it actually clarifies. . . . We could talk about high-income countries vs. low-income countries. The World Bank talks about separating the populace of countries into low-, lower middle- upper middle- and high-income countries. Watch
Lampton: Economic indicators are well established in the metrics; now that doesn’t mean that China provides great data or reliable data, so there is always the question of what is the underlying reality. China in terms of its longevity and life expectancy is a highly developed country, almost in the category of the United States. Watch
Conrad: China is perhaps the most challenging of all countries for determining . . . the different stages of development through such an indicator because of its diversity, because of its enormous size. So I think for China it can always use these measures as a first approximation, but a closer look will always be necessary to come to a good answer. Watch
Does it matter whether China is labeled a developed or developing country by the world?
Over the past decade China has also emerged as a global leader in wind and solar energy. In 2015, China accounted for one third of global wind energy capacity. How is China’s energy footprint changing?
Conrad: Wherever you have a pre-classification of responsibilities, a different set of rules that apply to developed countries and to developing countries…there the classification really makes a very practical and very intense difference…this ambiguity in China, standing right in the middle of these two statuses . . . is also one of the reasons for many tensions within these international conventions vis-a-vis China. Watch
Lampton: I think trying to describe China in a single summary indicator is probably a pretty futile task. . . . You have to try to describe China from a number of perspectives. It’s really all of those data points that then begins to paint a differentiated picture. Watch
Wallace: I think you will see a change in the language that the Chinese government uses as it continues to economically develop because it will become increasingly clear that it is a different kind of country than the countries that we refer to as developing.Watch
Wallace: In the climate change negotiations . . . this language of a dichotomy between developed and developing can be seen as influencing international negotiations, even though I think it doesn’t help, it actually harms our understanding of the realities. Watch
Whether or not China is classified as a developed country can impact multilateral agreements. For instance, when it comes to climate change negotiations, President Xi Jinping noted, “As a developing country, China has stuck firmly to the principle that industrialized nations should bear most of the burden when it comes to cutting carbon emissions.”
Does China consider itself to be a developed or a developing country?
Wallace: China certainly uses the rhetoric of calling itself a developing country, without question. Yet it calls itself often a big developing country or a special developing country. They appreciate the fact that they are allowed to call themselves a developing country because it helps them get away with some things. Watch
Conrad: I think that China established the AIIB for a number of reasons. One, I think it was an opportunity for China to show its leadership in the region. . . . It also obviously was a very pointed commentary with regard to the other institutions that were offering financial aid to the world. Watch
Photo Credit: Richard Barton/ Flickr
China Power Team. "Is China a developed country?" China Power. March 9, 2016. Updated August 11, 2017. Accessed July 17, 2019. https://chinapower.csis.org/is-china-a-developed-country/
TechnologyHow web-connected is China?
SocialDoes China have an aging problem?
SocialDeveloping or developed? Assessing Chinese life expectancy
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Catalan elections: Historic defeat for Spanish nationalist reaction
Movement mobilises once more for the Catalan Republic
Esquerra Revolucionaria (CWI in Catalonia)
The Catalan elections on 21 December were a massive defeat for the Spanish nationalist “block of article 155” and an even bigger blow to this block’s main force, the PP party. The capitalist media try to minimise the magnitude of this defeat by talking about the “victory” of Ciudadanos (right wing Spanish nationalist party) but the reality is different. Even if we take only the votes of Junts per Catalunya (JuntsxCat the list led by Catalan President Puigdemont) and ERC together, they won more than 800,000 voted more than Ciudadanos.
This result is even more important if we take into account the fact that the electoral campaign was full of irregularities, threats and desperate attempts by the Spanish and Catalan ruling classes to prevent the mass support for a Catalan Republic being expressed.
Since calling the elections, the PP government tried to demobilise the vote in favour of a Catalan Republic by stating that even if these parties won and tried to fulfill the mandate of the people, the only result would be the maintenance of article 155 and more repression. The have opened up new judicial proceedings against leaders who participated in the 1 October referendum, like Marta Rovira, Artur Mas, Ana Gabriel and others. The campaign of fear promoted by the Spanish and Catalan capitalists since 1 and 3 October (with the withdrawal of companies from Catalonia, threats of economic collapse, and even apocalyptic talk of dead bodies, and civil war) has continued and intensified in the days prior to the elections and on the day of the vote itself. JuntsxCat and ERC have also been obliged to run their campaigns without their lead candidates (in prison or exile).
None of this has been able to deter millions of Cataland from struggling for their legitimate democratic will to be implemented, expressed already on 1 October against vicious repression. Far from representing a shift to the right, as Pablo Iglesiaas and other leaders of Unidos Podemos have said, these results represent a new impressive mobilisation of the same masses who confronted batons and rubber bullets on 1 October. More than 2 million people have again shouted loud and clear to all those willing to listen, who have not been silenced by fear or parliamentary cretinism, that they want to break with the repressive regime of 1978 and will not allow their struggle for a Catalan Republic which guarantees real social improvement and change, to be shut down.
The PP, the biggest loser
Soraya Sainz de Santamaría, Spanish Vice President, who plays the role of viceroy in conquered territory in Catalonia following the application of article 155, boasted days before the referendum that the independence movement had been decapitated. However, those who were decapitated and crushed in these elections were the PP, the most corrupt party in Europe, inheritors of Francoism, champions of repression and censorship. The PP lost almost half its votes since 2015, and went from 11 to 3 seats, not even able to form a parliamentary group.
Conscious that the PP is met with massive rejection in Catalonia, the Spanish and Catalan capitalists have made the biggest money and propaganda investments in living memory to try and channel the vote of the more confused and backward layers of Catalan society, those most impacted by the campaign of fear, around the campaign of Ciudadanos, led by Ines Arrimadas. However, their plan, which was to prevent a majority in favour of the Republic and form a government controlled by the reactionary monarchist block, has failed. Ciudadanos has won 300,000 new votes but these are votes mostly taken from their rivals, including traditional Socialist Party (PSC) voters which the PSC had hoped to recover. These voters preferred Ciudadanos (who they had still not seen in government) to the promises of “regeneration” from the PSC which is more and more discredited. 165,000 PP voters also switched to Ciudadanos.
Ciudadanos campaign was based on the absence of any concrete programme (it’s programme is that of big business, the same as the PP is applying). Arrimadas made constant demagogic declarations, calling for attention to be paid to social problems rather than the independence process and using the flight of companies and capital to present scenario of nightmares if independence was declared. This was all mixed up with lies designed to play on the feelings of wide sections of the Catalan population with origins in the rest of the Spanish state. This demagogic campaign allowed them to win the votes of sections of the right and far right, but also of a layer of workers from industrial neighbourhoods in the “red belt” of Barcelona and Tarragona, who have been hit by the crisis and demobilised by the collaborationist policies of the major trade union (CCOO and UGT) leaders, and disappointed by the lack of a strong Left alternative.
The grave mistakes of Podemos and Catalunya en Comu
Incredibly, the leaders of Catalunya en Comu (Catalan electoral list supported by Podemos and IU) and Unidos Podemos (Spanish Left electoral list) refused to put the fight against the reactionary monarchist block and article 155 in the centre of their campaign, linking the defence of the result of the 1 October referendum and for the Republic, with mobilisation for social demands. Instead they put the reactionaries who have locked up activists and politicians for their ideas, on the same level as the leaders of the mass movement which has most directly threatened the monarchy and regime of 1978 in the last 40 years. They even refused to clearly denounce the existence of political prisoners or demand their freedom. The rhetoric of the Unidos Podemos and Catalunya en Comu leaders repeated the false arguments of the right wing like Ciudadanos, saying that the referendum was illegitimate or that the struggle for the Republic was to blame for the threat of fascism. Some leaders like Monedero, even justified article 155. This all served to strengthen reaction and facilitate that Ciudadanos could capture the votes of layers of workers who were demoralised and affected by the campaign of fear.
If their campaign has reflected political bankruptcy, the most deplorable are the statements by Alberto Garzón and Pablo Iglesias assessing the results of the elections. To hide their political failure, to hide their inability to intervene in the national liberation movement of Catalonia defending a class programme, these same leaders who during the campaign advocated respect for the regime of 78 supporting a referendum agreed with the same PP and the same State that will never allow the right to decide, now they have the nerve to say that in these elections “The two right wings have won” trying to blame the people of Catalonia for their failures.
The reality is exactly the opposite of what Alberto Garzon and Pablo Iglesias say. It is the repressive, Francoist character of the regime of 1978 which pushes millions of people to want to break with it and fight for a Catalan republic as the first step to resolve their problems. If Unidos Podemos and Catalunya en Comu clearly supported the struggle for a Catalan Republic, linking it to the fight against the PP corruption and in defence of a socialist programme, it would be possible to already bring down the Rajoy government, deal a decisive blow to the discredited system and open the way for the fight for a Republic in the rest of the Spanish state.
For a united front of the fighting Left to fight for a workers’ Republic
One of the results which will have surprised many Left activists is that JuntsxCat won more votes than ERC within the independence camp, and that the CUP lost votes and seats. It would be mistaken to identify votes for JuntsxCat as political support for the right-wing PdeCat party. Hundreds of thousands of young people, middle class and even layers of workers who have fought against PdeCat and Convergencia (its predecessor) voted for JuntsxCat because they see Puigdemont as someone who has fought against the state and who is denouncing repression and organising a struggle from exile. The JuntsxCat list was seen by many as the list officially linked to the ANC (main pro-independence social movement). Its campaign was also more clear in its rejection of repression than that of the ERC leaders like Forcadell, Rovira and Junqueras, who said they would accept article 155 and the Constitution. In the face of the threat of a victory for the pro-155 parties, many voters decided to concentrate their vote in ERC and JuntsxCat to guarantee a majority for the pro-independence parties.
The results for the CUP also show how it is not enough to merely state that the Republic must have a social content in electoral rallies. As we have explained elsewhere, the CUP comrades have played a key role in guaranteeing the referendum on 1 October and fighting to respect its result through the CDR committees (Committees in Defence of the Republic) and on the streets against the repression of the PP, Ciudadanos and PSOE. However, the CUP is paying for its leaders’ mistake, in deciding to prop up the PdeCat in government, vote in favour of its budgets and generally tail-ending the other pro-independence parties. This policy was maintained also on the streets, in their refusal to develop an independent strategy of struggle which would have allowed them to overcome the PdeCat leaders from the Left and take forward the struggle for a workers Republic of Catalonia. When, under the pressure of their rank and file, they took a clearer turn to the Left (refusing to coalesce with PdeCat in the elections), it was too late.
The scenario following the elections is a nightmare for the Spanish and Catalan bourgeoisies, who are threatening to strengthen repression and in practice, to refuse to recognise the result of the elections. They maintain the threat of prison for Puigdemont and the other exiles, and are keeping the political prisoners in jail and have not lifted article 155. We must go back on to the streets and mobilise, where we have already shown our strength as recently as 11 November. The streets should never have been abandoned. We have to mobilise massively, while demanding that ERC and JuntsxCat continue the fight for a Catalan Republic with a real social content to win over the whole of the Catalan working class and prevent the plans of the ruling class to divide the working class neighbourhoods using the demagogy of Arrimadas and Ciudadanos.
The principal conclusion to draw from these elections is that the ruling class have not been able to end the revolutionary crisis which was opened up by the victory of the masses against repression on 1 and 3 October. This explains why their faces were like funerals on election night, despite all the propaganda about Ciudadanos.
Even Catalan leader Albiol was forced to admit defeat saying “they should celebrate their victory, as it will only last 5 minutes”. The reactionary block has suffered a defeat. The key question is how the Left now organises the struggle to take advantage of this defeat and continue the struggle in the streets for a Catalan Republic which responds to the needs of the people.
Som Alternativa (the formation around Albano Dante Fachin who was pushed out of Podemos for supporting the movement) and the CUP could play a key role in this task. An anticapitalist united front of the Left is necessary, which calls on the rank and file of Catalunya em Comu to break with the policies of its leadership in this campaign and defend a programme which links the struggle for national liberation with the socialist transformation of society.
For a workers Republic of Catalonia!
Tags: article 155 Catalonia Ciudadanos Democracy Esquerra Revolucionaria Francoism PdeCat Podemos PP party Puigdemont Repression right of self-determination Socialism Spain workers' Republic
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14.October 2017
Making-of: How The Game of Thrones Battle at Frozen Lake Was Born
It is the most successful series in the world: Game of Thrones. While the shooting of the 8th season is in full swing, we use the waiting time to look back on the battle at Frozen Lake. It's a battle of unbelievable proportions: Seven heroes and two dragons fight against thousands of ice zombies and the Night King, who ends up killing Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen.
The end of the 7th season may have shocked many fans, but how do you turn a scene of this magnitude in icy cold weather? The makers of Game of Thrones have now demonstrated this in a 13-minute making-of.
The battle at Frozen Lake was filmed in two locations, in Iceland and Belfast, with hundreds of actors, with the days of shooting - at least in Iceland - mostly in deep darkness. The frozen lake that the spectators see in the 6th episode was artificially constructed without water: the lake was dug out with an excavator and concreted in Belfast so that a smooth ice sheet could be concreted on it.
And the dragons? The best thing you can do is take a look at the Making-of, because this is how the makers of Game of Thrones staged the two dragons of Daenerys Targaryen. Would you have thought that? We are looking forward to your opinion in the comments.
Video: HBO
Apple Switches From Bing to Google For Siri And Spotlight Searches
Vessel Bathtub: Floating Bathtub For Relaxation And Style
Fotograf Robert Grischek im Portrait
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Sat 27th Jan
TO KILL A KING (BALCONY)
Islington Assembly Hall
Upper Street, London N1 2UD
No smartphone? Take a look at our FAQs.
Latest drop, single Spiritual Dark Age see's their racing folk rock take on a new extreme. With serious sincerity in the lyrics and tone, complemented with the sprinkling guitars and drums, a catchy cruise from start to finish.
To Kill A King have been crafting melodic folk that's packed full of love, loss and heartbreak since their debut Cannibals With Cutlery, but it was 2015's self-titled LP that really struck a chord with fans and critics alike.
Receiving support from BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens and publications like Shortlist and The Guardian, it was an album that led to comparisons with bands like The Maccabees and The National, and took them to a huge headline date at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Now back to lay it down live, they're taking on the Islington Assembly Hall.
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Home > Members > Representative Anthony Brindisi
Representative Anthony Brindisi (1978 - )In Congress 2019 - Present |
Image courtesy of the Member
New York 22 House: 116th (2019-Present)
https://brindisi.house.gov
Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Anthony Brindisi
1. H.R.3735 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To require the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide information on suicide rates in law enforcement, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] (Introduced 07/12/2019) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
2. H.R.3672 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To provide relief for small rural hospitals from inaccurate instructions provided by certain medicare administrative contractors. Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 07/10/2019) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 07/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
3. H.R.3657 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To require the Comptroller General of the United States to study how certain individuals who are granted pretrial release are monitored, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] (Introduced 07/09/2019) Cosponsors: (8) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 07/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. (All Actions) Tracker:
4. H.R.3483 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Integration of Baseball Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Richmond, Cedric L. [D-LA-2] (Introduced 06/25/2019) Cosponsors: (113) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
5. H.R.3375 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Stopping Bad Robocalls Act Sponsor: Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6] (Introduced 06/20/2019) Cosponsors: (152) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/25/2019 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote . (All Actions) Tracker:
6. H.R.3325 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Locking Up Robocallers Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. McEachin, A. Donald [D-VA-4] (Introduced 06/18/2019) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 06/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
7. H.R.3260 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) No Raise for Congress Act Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 06/13/2019) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - House Administration, Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 06/13/2019 Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the... (All Actions) Tracker:
8. H.R.3195 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act Sponsor: Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [D-NJ-2] (Introduced 06/11/2019) Cosponsors: (146) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 06/19/2019 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 21 - 13. (All Actions) Tracker:
9. H.R.3125 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) School Milk Nutrition Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (Introduced 06/05/2019) Cosponsors: (36) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/05/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
10. H.R.3077 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (Introduced 06/04/2019) Cosponsors: (54) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 06/04/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
11. H.R.3010 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Honoring All Veterans Act Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Kathleen M. [D-NY-4] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (54) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 05/23/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker:
12. H.R.2977 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) DISCLOSE Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (178) Committees: House - House Administration, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/23/2019 Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
13. H.R.2972 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve the communications of the Department of Veterans Affairs relating to services available for women veterans, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 05/23/2019) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/13/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
14. H.R.2831 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Building U.S. Infrastructure by Leveraging Demands for Skills Sponsor: Rep. Mitchell, Paul [R-MI-10] (Introduced 05/17/2019) Cosponsors: (9) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/17/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
15. H.R.2825 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3] (Introduced 05/17/2019) Cosponsors: (34) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/17/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
16. H.R.2681 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report on the availability of prosthetic items for women veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sponsor: Rep. Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1] (Introduced 05/10/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 06/11/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
17. H.R.2679 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) 529 OPTIONS Act Sponsor: Rep. Norcross, Donald [D-NJ-1] (Introduced 05/10/2019) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
18. H.R.2648 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-10] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. (All Actions) Tracker:
19. H.R.2629 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Care And Readiness Enhancement for Reservists Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 05/09/2019) Cosponsors: (7) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 05/29/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
20. H.R.2517 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) United States Postal Service Shipping Equity Act Sponsor: Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-14] (Introduced 05/03/2019) Cosponsors: (35) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform, Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/31/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
21. H.R.2504 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Willie O'Ree Congressional Gold Medal Act Sponsor: Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (70) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 05/02/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
22. H.R.2483 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Fentanyl Sanctions Act Sponsor: Rep. Rose, Max [D-NY-11] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (20) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, Oversight and Reform, Judiciary, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Armed Services, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/31/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
24. H.R.2481 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act Sponsor: Rep. Luria, Elaine G. [D-VA-2] (Introduced 05/02/2019) Cosponsors: (165) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 05/02/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
25. H.R.2455 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Joyce, John [R-PA-13] (Introduced 05/01/2019) Cosponsors: (6) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 05/01/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
26. H.R.2447 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Jobs and Premium Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 05/01/2019) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 05/01/2019 Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
27. H.R.2442 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Puppy Protection Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (Introduced 05/01/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Agriculture Latest Action: House - 05/16/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture. (All Actions) Tracker:
28. H.R.2411 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tobacco to 21 Act Sponsor: Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1] (Introduced 04/30/2019) Cosponsors: (49) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/30/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
29. H.R.2382 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) USPS Fairness Act Sponsor: Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (Introduced 04/29/2019) Cosponsors: (173) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 04/29/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
30. H.R.2336 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Delgado, Antonio [D-NY-19] (Introduced 04/18/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 05/20/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. (All Actions) Tracker:
31. H.R.2333 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 04/18/2019) Cosponsors: (10) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-70 Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2019 Received in the Senate. (All Actions) Tracker:
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32. H.R.2314 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Nuclear Powers America Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. LaHood, Darin [R-IL-18] (Introduced 04/12/2019) Cosponsors: (24) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
33. H.R.2293 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Protecting Access to Wheelchairs Act Sponsor: Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (Introduced 04/12/2019) Cosponsors: (63) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/12/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
34. H.R.2288 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Reauthorization Act Sponsor: Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (18) Committees: House - Natural Resources Latest Action: House - 04/30/2019 Subcommittee Hearings Held. (All Actions) Tracker:
36. H.R.2218 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Stop for School Buses Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Walorski, Jackie [R-IN-2] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 04/11/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (All Actions) Tracker:
37. H.R.2213 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make the work opportunity credit permanent. Sponsor: Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-5] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
38. H.R.2208 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Cabin Air Safety Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Garamendi, John [D-CA-3] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 04/11/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation. (All Actions) Tracker:
39. H.R.2207 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 04/10/2019) Cosponsors: (239) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/10/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
41. H.R.2151 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 7722 South Main Street in Pine Plains, New York, as the "Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent Post Office". Sponsor: Rep. Delgado, Antonio [D-NY-19] (Introduced 04/09/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 04/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
42. H.R.2147 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) RURAL Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (Introduced 04/09/2019) Cosponsors: (75) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/09/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
43. H.R.2142 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Small Business Act to require the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman to create a centralized website for compliance guides, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Delgado, Antonio [D-NY-19] (Introduced 04/09/2019) Cosponsors: (12) Committees: House - Small Business | Senate - Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-113 Latest Action: Senate - 07/16/2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2019-06-13 [displayText] => Reported by the Committee on Small Business. H. Rept. 116-113. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
44. H.R.2103 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tax Fairness for Workers Act Sponsor: Rep. Lamb, Conor [D-PA-17] (Introduced 04/04/2019) Cosponsors: (16) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 04/04/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
45. H.R.2075 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3] (Introduced 04/03/2019) Cosponsors: (51) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/03/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
46. H.R.2015 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) TRACED Act Sponsor: Rep. Kustoff, David [R-TN-8] (Introduced 04/01/2019) Cosponsors: (50) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/01/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
47. H.R.1982 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) National Women's Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. [D-NY-25] (Introduced 03/28/2019) Cosponsors: (43) Committees: House - Financial Services, Budget Latest Action: House - 03/28/2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. (All Actions) Tracker:
48. H.R.1980 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12] (Introduced 03/28/2019) Cosponsors: (220) Committees: House - House Administration, Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 04/17/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. (All Actions) Tracker:
49. H.R.1968 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Shirley Chisholm Congressional Gold Medal Act Sponsor: Rep. Jeffries, Hakeem S. [D-NY-8] (Introduced 03/28/2019) Cosponsors: (190) Committees: House - Financial Services, House Administration Latest Action: House - 03/28/2019 Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
51. H.R.1947 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend title 38, United States Code, to exempt transfers of funds from Federal agencies to the Department of Veterans Affairs for nonprofit corporations established under subchapter IV of chapter 73 of such title from certain provisions of the Economy Act, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] (Introduced 03/28/2019) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Veterans' Affairs Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-76; H. Rept. 116-76,Part 2 Latest Action: Senate - 05/22/2019 Received in the Senate. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2019-05-21 [displayText] => Supplemental report filed by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, H. Rept. 116-76, Part II. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
52. H.R.1869 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Restoring Investment in Improvements Act Sponsor: Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-20] (Introduced 03/26/2019) Cosponsors: (169) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/26/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
53. H.R.1865 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) National Law Enforcement Museum Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-9] (Introduced 03/25/2019) Cosponsors: (225) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 03/25/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
54. H.R.1859 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Working Parents Flexibility Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] (Introduced 03/25/2019) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/25/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
55. H.R.1837 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) United States-Israel Cooperation Enhancement and Regional Security Act Sponsor: Rep. Deutch, Theodore E. [D-FL-22] (Introduced 03/21/2019) Cosponsors: (273) Committees: House - Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans' Affairs Latest Action: House - 05/03/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
56. H.R.1833 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 35 Tulip Avenue in Floral Park, New York, as the "Lieutenant Michael R. Davidson Post Office Building". Sponsor: Rep. Rice, Kathleen M. [D-NY-4] (Introduced 03/18/2019) Cosponsors: (26) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 06/12/2019 Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent. (All Actions) Tracker:
57. H.R.1830 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Sean Patrick [D-NY-18] (Introduced 03/18/2019) Cosponsors: (304) Committees: House - Financial Services Latest Action: House - 03/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions) Tracker:
58. H.R.1824 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Mary Jo Lawyer Spano Mesothelioma Patient Registry Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24] (Introduced 03/18/2019) Cosponsors: (13) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
59. H.R.1814 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) ABLE Age Adjustment Act Sponsor: Rep. Cardenas, Tony [D-CA-29] (Introduced 03/18/2019) Cosponsors: (32) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
60. H.R.1785 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Future in Logging Careers Act Sponsor: Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2] (Introduced 03/14/2019) Cosponsors: (17) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 03/14/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
61. H.R.1778 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Dairy and Sheep H-2A Visa Enhancement Act Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 03/14/2019) Cosponsors: (2) Committees: House - Judiciary, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 05/03/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
62. H.R.1769 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) DAIRY PRIDE Act Sponsor: Rep. Welch, Peter [D-VT-At Large] (Introduced 03/14/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
63. H.R.1763 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (Introduced 03/14/2019) Cosponsors: (139) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
64. H.R.1754 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Horseracing Integrity Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (Introduced 03/14/2019) Cosponsors: (135) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/14/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
65. H.R.1680 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (Introduced 03/12/2019) Cosponsors: (90) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/12/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
66. H.R.1646 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) HERO Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-7] (Introduced 03/08/2019) Cosponsors: (51) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Science, Space, and Technology Latest Action: House - 03/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Technology. (All Actions) Tracker:
67. H.R.1641 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service Act Sponsor: Rep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46] (Introduced 03/08/2019) Cosponsors: (100) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 04/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (All Actions) Tracker:
68. H.R.1629 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) 911 SAVES Act Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (Introduced 03/07/2019) Cosponsors: (96) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 03/07/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
69. H.R.1595 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) SAFE Banking Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Perlmutter, Ed [D-CO-7] (Introduced 03/07/2019) Cosponsors: (206) Committees: House - Financial Services, Judiciary Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-104 Latest Action: House - 06/05/2019 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 78. (All Actions) Tracker:
Array ( [actionDate] => 2019-06-05 [displayText] => Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 116-104, Part I. [externalActionCode] => 5000 [description] => Introduced )
71. H.R.1555 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Transparency for Cable Consumers Act Sponsor: Rep. Brindisi, Anthony [D-NY-22] (Introduced 03/06/2019) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 03/06/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (All Actions) Tracker:
72. H.R.1554 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) REDI Act Sponsor: Rep. Babin, Brian [R-TX-36] (Introduced 03/06/2019) Cosponsors: (61) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 03/06/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
73. H.R.1545 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the inclusion of certain fringe benefit expenses for which a deduction is disallowed in unrelated business taxable income. Sponsor: Rep. Walker, Mark [R-NC-6] (Introduced 03/05/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/05/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
74. H.R.1530 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 03/05/2019) Cosponsors: (105) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/05/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee... (All Actions) Tracker:
75. H.R.1479 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) BTU Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Welch, Peter [D-VT-At Large] (Introduced 02/28/2019) Cosponsors: (5) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 02/28/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
76. H.R.1466 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) NOPE Act Sponsor: Rep. O'Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1] (Introduced 02/28/2019) Cosponsors: (1) Committees: House - House Administration, Judiciary, Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 04/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. (All Actions) Tracker:
77. H.R.1425 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) State Health Care Premium Reduction Act Sponsor: Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (Introduced 02/28/2019) Cosponsors: (53) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 04/04/2019 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 30 - 22. (All Actions) Tracker:
78. H.R.1423 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) FAIR Act Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [D-GA-4] (Introduced 02/28/2019) Cosponsors: (214) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: House - 04/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. (All Actions) Tracker:
79. H.R.1407 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (Introduced 02/27/2019) Cosponsors: (168) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 02/27/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Social Security. (All Actions) Tracker:
80. H.R.1398 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Health Insurance Tax Relief Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-7] (Introduced 02/27/2019) Cosponsors: (116) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 02/27/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
81. H.R.1396 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (Introduced 02/27/2019) Cosponsors: (271) Committees: House - Financial Services, House Administration Latest Action: 03/11/2019 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (All Actions) Tracker:
82. H.R.1374 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) DRIVE-Safe Act Sponsor: Rep. Hollingsworth, Trey [R-IN-9] (Introduced 02/26/2019) Cosponsors: (96) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 02/27/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (All Actions) Tracker:
83. H.R.1358 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Advancing Medical Resident Training in Community Hospitals Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] (Introduced 02/26/2019) Cosponsors: (21) Committees: House - Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 02/26/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. (All Actions) Tracker:
84. H.R.1328 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) ACCESS BROADBAND Act Sponsor: Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (Introduced 02/25/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce | Senate - Commerce, Science, and Transportation Latest Action: Senate - 05/09/2019 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker:
85. H.R.1327 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12] (Introduced 02/25/2019) Cosponsors: (332) Committees: House - Judiciary Latest Action: Senate - 07/16/2019 Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (All Actions) Tracker:
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Array ( [actionDate] => 2019-07-12 [displayText] => Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 402 - 12 (Roll no. 474).(text: CR H5743-5744) [externalActionCode] => 8000 [description] => Passed House )
87. H.R.1256 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) First Responder Fair RETIRE Act Sponsor: Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11] (Introduced 02/14/2019) Cosponsors: (25) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Foreign Affairs Latest Action: House - 02/14/2019 Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within... (All Actions) Tracker:
88. H.R.1255 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Act Sponsor: Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11] (Introduced 02/14/2019) Cosponsors: (22) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 02/14/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
89. H.R.1241 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (Introduced 02/14/2019) Cosponsors: (35) Committees: House - Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 02/14/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (All Actions) Tracker:
90. H.R.1225 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act Sponsor: Rep. Bishop, Rob [R-UT-1] (Introduced 02/14/2019) Cosponsors: (297) Committees: House - Natural Resources, Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 06/26/2019 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 36 - 2. (All Actions) Tracker:
91. H.R.1220 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) TRUE Fees Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Eshoo, Anna G. [D-CA-18] (Introduced 02/14/2019) Cosponsors: (38) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 02/15/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. (All Actions) Tracker:
92. H.R.1195 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act Sponsor: Rep. King, Peter T. [R-NY-2] (Introduced 02/13/2019) Cosponsors: (37) Committees: House - Oversight and Reform Latest Action: House - 02/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (All Actions) Tracker:
94. H.R.1174 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (Introduced 02/13/2019) Cosponsors: (27) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 02/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
95. H.R.1166 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) USE IT Act Sponsor: Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52] (Introduced 02/13/2019) Cosponsors: (31) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce, Science, Space, and Technology, Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 02/28/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. (All Actions) Tracker:
96. H.R.1154 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act Sponsor: Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5] (Introduced 02/13/2019) Cosponsors: (132) Committees: House - Education and Labor Latest Action: House - 02/13/2019 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (All Actions) Tracker:
97. H.R.1146 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (Introduced 02/11/2019) Cosponsors: (182) Committees: House - Natural Resources Committee Reports: H. Rept. 116-133 Latest Action: House - 06/27/2019 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 97. (All Actions) Tracker:
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98. H.R.1139 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act Sponsor: Rep. Napolitano, Grace F. [D-CA-32] (Introduced 02/11/2019) Cosponsors: (151) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure Latest Action: House - 02/12/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. (All Actions) Tracker:
99. H.R.1108 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (Introduced 02/08/2019) Cosponsors: (238) Committees: House - Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means Latest Action: House - 03/27/2019 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote. (All Actions) Tracker:
100. H.R.1058 — 116th Congress (2019-2020) Autism CARES Act of 2019 Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] (Introduced 02/07/2019) Cosponsors: (155) Committees: House - Energy and Commerce Latest Action: House - 07/11/2019 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote . (All Actions) Tracker:
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116 (2019-2020) [172]
Resolutions (H.Res. or S.Res.) [12]
Amendments (H.Amdt. or S.Amdt.) [5]
Passed One Chamber [15]
Status of Amendment
Amendment agreed to Committee of the Whole [5]
House amendment agreed to [5]
House amendment offered [5]
House amendment offered/reported by [5]
Roll call votes on amendments in House [2]
Armed Forces and National Security [16]
Science, Technology, Communications [10]
Finance and Financial Sector [9]
Labor and Employment [8]
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The Connection Between Russia and 2 Green Groups Fighting Fracking in US
Posted on April 22, 2018 April 22, 2018 by Kal El | No Comments
New Yorkers who are missing out on the natural gas revolution could be victims of Russian spy operations that fund popular environmental groups, current and former U.S. government officials and experts on Russia worry.
Natural gas development of the celebrated Marcellus Shale deposits has spurred jobs and other economic growth in neighboring Pennsylvania. But not in New York, which nearly 10 years ago banned the process of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, to produce natural gas.
Two environmental advocacy groups that successfully lobbied against fracking in New York each received more than $10 million in grants from a foundation in California that got financial support from a Bermuda company congressional investigators linked to the Russians, public documents show.
The environmental groups Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club Foundation received millions of dollars in grants from the San Francisco-based Sea Change Foundation.
“Follow the money trail, and this [New York] ban on fracking could be viewed as an example of successful Russian espionage,” Ken Stiles, a CIA veteran of 29 years who now teaches at Virginia Tech, told The Daily Signal.
To Stiles and other knowledgeable observers, this looks like an actual case of knowing or unknowing collusion with Russia.
Both Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club Foundation also accepted tens of millions from the Energy Foundation, the top recipient of grants from Sea Change, according to foundation and tax records.
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, renewed his state’s ban on fracking three years ago, the Natural Resources Defense Council issued a statement supporting the ban. So did the Sierra Club, the primary recipient of grants from its sister organization, the Sierra Club Foundation.
Environmental activists associated with the groups receiving Sea Change Foundation grants continued to pressure Cuomo and other public officials to maintain and expand New York’s fracking ban.
Most recently, the two environmental groups scored another victory when the Delaware River Basin Commission, an interstate regulatory agency that includes the governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, proposed a ban on fracking within the Delaware River Basin cutting across all four states.
The Sierra Club and the Natural Resource Defense Council have pressed the regional commission to impose the ban, issuing statements (here and here) calling for restrictions that are tighter than what the commission proposed.
PennEast Pipeline Co. is set to begin construction on a 120-mile-long pipeline to transport natural gas from the Marcellus Shale across Eastern Pennsylvania into New Jersey. In a new public relations campaign, PennEast asks New Jersey residents if they would rather obtain their energy from Pennsylvania or Russia.
Related: PennEast Pipeline Backers Tout Lower Energy Prices in Fighting Well-Funded Green Groups
PennEast cites media reports describing how anti-pipeline policies in Massachusetts forced the state into a position where it had to rely on Russian imports of liquified natural gas during peak cold periods this past winter.
The Russian Money Trail
Government officials and environmental leaders have a responsibility to track the money, Stiles, the former CIA officer, told The Daily Signal in an interview.
“The Russians are very adept and skilled at making long-term investments,” Stiles said. “They sit back very patiently to see how their funding can pay off over a period of many years.”
Stiles added:
Whether these environmental groups realize it or not, they could be operating as what we [in the CIA] call ‘agents of influence.’ By working to block natural gas production, environmental activists are advancing policies that work to the advantage of Russia and to the disadvantage of America and America’s allies.
Logo of the Natural Resources Defense Council
Karen Moreau, who is in charge of the New York office of the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for gas and oil companies, argues that the resulting policy hurts state residents and businesses.
“New York remains at a disadvantage because other states are not just more pro-energy, they are more pro-business and therefore pipelines that could have been constructed in New York taking gas from the Marcellus Shale are instead moving south, not north,” Moreau told The Daily Signal.
“The manufacturing renaissance that is taking place in this country thanks to the president’s policies is not happening in states like New York,” she said.
A senior adviser to the State Department told a recent conference that Trump administration policies supporting energy dominance could help the U.S. eclipse the amount of natural gas Russia exports to the European Union.
The Daily Signal unsuccessfully sought comment from the Sierra Club Foundation and its affiliate the Sierra Club, as well as Natural Resources Defense Council and Sea Change Foundation, on the allegations of Russian financial support for environmentalists’ anti-fracking and anti-pipeline campaigns.
The Marcellus Shale is a geological formation of sedimentary rock with large deposits of natural gas that cuts across southwestern New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, western Ohio, most of West Virginia, and small portions of Kentucky and Tennessee.
The U.S. Geological Survey determined that the Marcellus Shale contains “about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids.”
Since the U.S. is now the top producer of natural gas in the world, and well positioned to export liquefied natural gas across the globe, Russia recognizes it gradually could lose influence in parts of the world where Moscow has been the dominant supplier of oil and gas, Stiles said in a phone interview.
“America’s natural gas revolution has huge geopolitical ramifications, so Russia’s motivation to try to block our natural gas development is easy to understand,” the CIA veteran said. “If you are worried about the Russian bear rearing its ugly head in the next several years, the way to stop that and put it back into its cage is to cut it off at the knees financially.”
“That’s what natural gas pipelines are all about and that’s what fracking is all about. We are providing affordable energy to average Americans at home and our allies overseas.”
The Sierra Club Foundation’s logo
US Gains in Market
In the fracking technique applied to shale formations, engineers inject water mixed with sand and chemicals into a well at high pressure, producing a fluid that fractures the rock and releases trapped oil or natural gas.
Environmentalists continue to challenge fracking, arguing among other things that it contaminates well water.
The natural gas import-export equation has changed radically in the past few years, with trends pointing to the U.S. becoming a net exporter.
Richard Westerdale, the senior adviser with the State Department, made this point in November during the Heartland Institute’s America First Energy Conference in Houston, Texas.
“By 2020, the U.S. will be approaching nearly 100 billion cubic meters in [liquefied natural gas] exports,” Westerdale said in a presentation. “It’s simply amazing to me to think that back in 2010, we were building [liquefied natural gas] import terminals.”
As natural gas markets become increasingly competitive, the “world wins,” he added, since “well-functioning markets reinforce global energy security, foster economic growth and commercial interests abroad, and, depending upon how host countries choose to use [natural gas resources], it can in fact enhance environmental stewardship.”
In three of the first five months of 2017, U.S. natural gas exports were greater than imports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The most recent available data shows that U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas increased for the duration of 2017 as new facilities went operational.
Logo of Sea Change Foundation
What Consumers Know
Stiles, who teaches espionage and national security issues in Virginia Tech’s geography department, defines espionage, or spying, as “an operation that is planned and executed as to conceal the identity of, or permit plausible denial by, the sponsor.”
One way for Moscow to conceal its sponsorship of anti-fracking campaigns in New York or elsewhere in the U.S. is to move its funding indirectly and anonymously through various entities, the former CIA analyst told The Daily Signal.
“I think the groups and individuals on both sides of the debate over fracking and pipelines have a tendency to just look in their own back yards, without looking at the larger geopolitical picture,” Stiles said. “If it was more widely known that anti-fracking, anti-pipeline operations may be benefitting from a foreign source of funding, this would certainly impact the debate.”
The agents of influence described by Stiles range from “controlled agents” and “trusted contacts” who know they’re working for a foreign government to “manipulated sources” who have no idea that they’re doing the bidding of a foreign power.
The former CIA analyst said he is inclined to characterize environmental activists who received Russian funding through indirect channels, such as Sea Change or the Energy Foundation, as manipulated sources.
Stiles calls on the leadership of environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council, which accepted large amounts through such channels, to start asking hard questions.
“It’s either a lack of due diligence or incompetence, or they may actually know something about a particular donor, but they don’t want to ask that question,” Stiles said. “I tend to think the issue is more that they are just not looking the gift horse in the mouth, and they are just taking the money.”
Energy Foundation’s logo
Paperless Money Trail
Sea Change Foundation, a family charity, is identified in congressional reports and correspondence as a major incubator of funding from foreign sources, including Russia. That money ends up in the coffers of U.S. environmental groups opposed to natural gas development and drilling techniques such as fracking that make that development possible.
Nathaniel Simons and his wife, Laura Baxter-Simons, established Sea Change Foundation in 2006. Simons is the son of James Simons, founder of the New York-based Renaissance Technologies hedge fund firm.
Sea Change, according to its website, works to “address the serious threats posed by global climate change,” focusing on “climate change mitigation and clean energy policy in the United States and internationally.”
In July 2014, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a report describing how a Bermuda-based company, Klein Ltd., “was set up for the sole purpose of funneling anonymous donations to Sea Change.”
Bermuda law permits Klein Ltd. to conceal foreign sources of funding, the report explains.
“It appears that Klein exists on paper only, as it does not have an internet presence, and was set up for the sole purpose of funneling anonymous donations to Sea Change,” the report says.
Subsequent investigations building on the findings of the Senate committee—including that of the Washington-based Environmental Policy Alliance—established a connection between Wakefield Quin, the law firm that set up Klein, and top Kremlin officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lawyers and others at Wakefield Quin have been associated with Russian energy companies and worked with Leonid Reiman, a former Russian minister of telecommunications and longtime Putin ally, these investigations found.
Environmental Policy Alliance, which opposes the agenda of liberal green groups, is affiliated with Washington lobbyist Rick Berman and his Berman Co. public affairs firm.
Sea Change has not responded directly to The Daily Signal in the past, and did not respond for this report.
In an email to Salon, however, the foundation in July 2017 acknowledged receiving financial support from Klein, saying it accepted the company’s grant money as “general support” with no proviso that it be used for specific programs.
Response From Klein Ltd.
In an email to The Daily Signal, Roderick M. Forrest, a Wakefield Quin lawyer representing Klein Ltd., described allegations against his Bermuda-based client as “completely false and irresponsible.” Klein, he said, “has no Russian connection whatsoever.”
Forrest made similar assertions in an email to The Washington Times in July 2017.
The Daily Signal had sought the law firm’s comment on allegations of Russian funding of U.S. environmental groups and Klein’s alleged role in easing movement of Russian funds to the Sea Change Foundation.
“Our firm has represented Klein since its inception,” Forrest said in the email, “and we can state categorically that at no point did this philanthropic organization receive or expend funds from Russian sources or Russian-connected sources and Klein has no Russian connection whatsoever.”
The lawyer for Klein added:
Attorneys, law firms, financial institutions and all other companies based in Bermuda operate under a regulatory and anti-money laundering regime which applies standards which are amongst the highest in the world. Illicit movement of funds falls well below such standards and any informed party would understand that, not only is there no substance or truth to such allegations in this case, the allegations appear to be intended to damage the reputation of the Bermuda-based individuals and businesses named.
Bermuda and the U.S. have in place an information exchange framework under which the U.S. government, its regulators and law enforcement agencies have access to all information concerning financial transactions in Bermuda and by Bermuda entities. Through this framework, information is available to such proper authorities, enabling them to be satisfied as to the probity of any alleged payments.
Julie Hill, a professor at University of Alabama School of Law with expertise in regulation of financial institutions, told The Daily Signal that it is not “as easy as it was at one time to engage in money laundering” in places such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
That’s because monetary authorities now collect more information from companies than they did previously, Hill said.
“This information is not made public, but it can be given to foreign governments,” Hill said in an interview, adding:
The advantage in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands now would be more in terms of tax neutrality rather than anonymity. But it’s certainly true that various entities have in the past engaged in money laundering schemes in these locations, and the Russians would be part of this history. Today there are more barriers than in the past. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, it just means it’s harder.
‘Ripe for Investigation’
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, sent a letter in June to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin saying allegations of Russian financial support for U.S. environmental groups “are ripe for an investigation” by the Treasury Department.
In the letter, previously reported by The Daily Signal, Smith noted that Klein Ltd. and Wakefield Quin share the same Bermuda address “with more than 20 other companies” apparently run through the law firm.
A review of IRS 990 Forms shows that Klein contributed $23 million to Sea Change in 2010 and 2011, almost half of what the California foundation received in that time. The 990 forms indicate Sea Change then made grants concentrated on environmental advocacy groups.
From 2010 through 2015, the Sierra Club Foundation received more than $18 million from Sea Change and Natural Resources Defense Council received more than $15 million.
Both groups are on record opposing natural gas development in New York, and both are among the top 10 recipients of Sea Change grants, according to an analysis of foundation records.
The Energy Foundation, at $64 million, was the top recipient of Sea Change grants from 2010 through 2015, the most recent year for which 990s are available.
The 2014 Senate report describes the Energy Foundation as a “pass through” public charity that donates to environmental activist groups such as the Sierra Club Foundation and Natural Resources Defense Council.
The idea behind a “pass through” organization, according to the Senate report, is “to create the appearance of a more diversified base of support” and to “shield” donors from accountability.
Between 1998 and 2015, the Energy Foundation paid 30,178 grants to 12,058 recipients totaling more than $1.2 billion, records show. Grantees included environmental groups active in opposing natural gas development of the Marcellus Shale.
The top recipient was Natural Resources Defense Council, with more than $35 million. The Sierra Club Foundation received more than $16 million. (The council has $236.5 million in net assets, while the foundation has $113.2 million in net assets.)
Recalling Cold War History
Paul Kengor, a Grove City College political science professor who has researched the history of Moscow’s manipulation of U.S. political figures, told The Daily Signal that he sees an “old Cold War powder keg that went dry suddenly being reignited.”
“What makes the current situation more nefarious today is the possibility—if this is indeed accurate—of Russian manipulation of domestic groups inside the United States and the willful cooperation of those domestic environmentalists,” Kengor, a biographer of Ronald Reagan, said in an email, adding:
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan had one heck of a time trying to enlist the support of our Western allies in blocking the Siberian gas pipeline in Russia. Even [British Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher balked; in fact, that’s an understatement: Thatcher was vehemently opposed because she wanted Britain to have the cheap Russian gas and wanted some British firms to have some of the construction contracts. The same was true for the West Germans and the French.
Ronald Reagan boldly proceeded almost alone in this effort in the 1980s. But here today … we have the extremely troubling possibility of our own U.S. citizens being targeted by the Russians for manipulation in undercutting our own domestic energy industry, our workers, and our citizens.
What stands out in terms of Cold War history and its relevance to contemporary questions of espionage is the role of Putin, warns Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank that supports free market solutions to policy challenges.
“Putin, let’s not forget, is an old hand at using Western pressure groups to serve the Kremlin’s purposes,” Cohen said in an email.
“When, in the 1980s, the old Soviet Union was manipulating self-styled ‘peace groups’ in Western Europe and the U.S. in an effort to divide NATO and isolate the U.S., Putin was a mid-level KGB agent in East Germany.”
Cohen added:
Though that effort ultimately failed, Putin learned his lesson well. Then it was U.S. missiles to defend Western Europe that had to be demonized; today, it is U.S. oil and natural gas that are portrayed as a threat. In both cases, money changed hands, and scare tactics were the order of the day.
New Yorkers and High Energy Costs
New York residents continue to pay the price for Cuomo’s ban on drilling techniques that make it possible to access natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, laments Moreau, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute’s New York office.
“People who could have had inexpensive natural gas instead have had to pay very high electricity prices due to the cold snap this winter,” Moreau told The Daily Signal, “and many power generators were actually forced to burn oil instead of natural gas due to the constraints on natural gas.”
The 625 members of API, a national trade association, include major energy companies in the oil and gas industry.
Although New York is the fourth-largest consumer of natural gas in the nation, that natural gas primarily is imported from other states, Moreau said.
“If not for the pro-energy development policies of other states, New Yorkers would be bitterly freezing this winter,” she said.
The Daily Signal sought comment from Cuomo’s office to ask if the New York governor had concerns about allegations of Russian support for environmental groups active in his state. His office has not responded.
Cohen, of the National Center for Public Policy Research, said he sees a connection between Putin’s government in Moscow and influential U.S. environmental groups that is difficult to deny.
“The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and other advocacy groups may have their own ‘green’ reasons for opposing America’s realizing the energy potential of its abundant fossil fuels,” Cohen said in an email to The Daily Signal. “At the same time, these groups know full well that they receive funding from the Sea Change Foundation and the Energy Foundation, both of which, according to a congressional report, are funded by Russian interests via a Bermuda-based shell company.”
Some green groups and Russia under Putin “have a common interest in demonizing fracking and related technologies that have tilted global energy markets in America’s favor,” Cohen said.
“Just as the shale revolution has been an economic godsend to millions of Americans, providing them with affordable electricity and transportation fuel, it has been a nightmare for Russia and environmental activists.”
Ken McIntyre contributed to this report.
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Annotation 5 - First Amendment
FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION
''The Free Exercise Clause . . . withdraws from legislative power, state and federal, the exertion of any restraint on the free exercise of religion. Its purpose is to secure religious liberty in the individual by prohibiting any invasions there by civil authority.'' 178 It bars ''governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such,'' 179 prohibiting misuse of secular governmental programs ''to impede the observance of one or all religions or . . . to discriminate invidiously between religions . . . even though the burden may be characterized as being only indirect.'' 180 Freedom of conscience is the basis of the free exercise clause, and government may not penalize or discriminate against an individual or a group of individuals because of their religious views nor may it compel persons to affirm any particular beliefs. 181 Interpretation is complicated, however, by the fact that exercise of religion usually entails ritual or other practices that constitute ''conduct'' rather than pure ''belief.'' When it comes to protecting conduct as free exercise, the Court has been inconsistent. 182 It has long been held that the Free Exercise Clause does not necessarily prevent government from requiring the doing of some act or forbidding the doing of some act merely because religious beliefs underlie the conduct in question. 183 What has changed over the years is the Court's willingness to hold that some religiously motivated conduct is protected from generally applicable prohibitions.
The relationship between the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses varies with the expansiveness of interpretation of the two clauses. In a general sense both clauses proscribe governmental involvement with and interference in religious matters, but there is possible tension between a requirement of governmental neutrality derived from the Establishment Clause and a Free-Exercise-derived requirement that government accommodate some religious practices. 184 So far, the Court has harmonized interpretation by denying that free- exercise-mandated accommodations create establishment violations, and also by upholding some legislative accommodations not mandated by free exercise requirements. ''This Court has long recognized that government may (and sometimes must) accommodate religious practices and that it may do so without violating the Establishment Clause.'' 185 In holding that a state could not deny unemployment benefits to Sabbatarians who refused Saturday work, for example, the Court denied that it was ''fostering an 'establishment' of the Seventh-Day Adventist religion, for the extension of unemployment benefits to Sabbatarians in common with Sunday worshippers reflects nothing more than the governmental obligation of neutrality in the face of religious differences, and does not represent that involvement of religious with secular institutions which it is the object of the Establishment Clause to forestall.'' 186 Legislation granting religious exemptions not held to have been required by the Free Exercise Clause has also been upheld against Establishment Clause challenge, 187 although it is also possible for legislation to go too far in promoting free exercise. 188
The Belief-Conduct Distinction .--While the Court has consistently affirmed that the Free Exercise Clause protects religious beliefs, protection for religiously motivated conduct has waxed and waned over the years. The Free Exercise Clause ''embraces two concepts-- freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute, but in the nature of things, the second cannot be.'' 189 In its first free exercise case, involving the power of government to prohibit polygamy, the Court invoked a hard distinction between the two, saying that although laws ''cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they may with practices.'' 190 The rule thus propounded protected only belief, inasmuch as religiously motivated action was to be subjected to the police power of the state to the same extent as would similar action springing from other motives. The Reynolds no-protection rule was applied in a number of cases, 191 but later cases established that religiously grounded conduct is not always outside the protection of the free exercise clause. 192 Instead, the Court began to balance the secular interest asserted by the government against the claim of religious liberty asserted by the person affected; only if the governmental interest was ''compelling'' and if no alternative forms of regulation would serve that interest was the claimant required to yield. 193 Thus, while freedom to engage in religious practices was not absolute, it was entitled to considerable protection.
Recent cases evidence a narrowing of application of the compelling interest test, and a corresponding constriction on the freedom to engage in religiously motivated conduct. First, the Court purported to apply strict scrutiny, but upheld the governmental action anyhow. Next the Court held that the test is inappropriate in the contexts of military and prison discipline. 194 Then, more importantly, the Court ruled in Employment Division v. Smith that ''if prohibiting the exercise of religion . . . is not the object . . . but merely the incidental effect of a generally applicable and otherwise valid provision, the First Amendment has not been offended.'' 195 Therefore, the Court concluded, the Free Exercise Clause does not prohibit a state from applying generally applicable criminal penalties to use of peyote in a religious ceremony, or from denying unemployment benefits to persons dismissed from their jobs because of religious ceremonial use of peyote. Accommodation of such religious practices must be found in ''the political process,'' the Court noted; statutory religious-practice exceptions are permissible, but not ''constitutionally required.'' 196 The result is tantamount to a return to the Reynolds belief-conduct distinction.
The Mormon Cases .--The Court's first encounter with free exercise claims occurred in a series of cases in which the Federal Government and the territories moved against the Mormons because of their practice of polygamy. Actual prosecutions and convictions for bigamy presented little problem for the Court, inasmuch as it could distinguish between beliefs and acts. 197 But the presence of large numbers of Mormons in some of the territories made convictions for bigamy difficult to obtain, and in 1882 Congress enacted a statute which barred ''bigamists,'' ''polygamists,'' and ''any person cohabiting with more than one woman'' from voting or serving on juries. The Court sustained the law, even as applied to persons entering the state prior to enactment of the original law prohibiting bigamy and to persons as to whom the statute of limitations had run. 198 Subsequently, an act of a territorial legislature which required a prospective voter not only to swear that he was not a bigamist or polygamist but as well that ''I am not a member of any order, organization or association which teaches, advises, counsels or encourages its members, devotees or any other person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy . . . or which practices bigamy, polygamy or plural or celestial marriage as a doctrinal rite of such organization; that I do not and will not, publicly or privately, or in any manner whatever teach, advise, counsel or encourage any person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy . . . ,'' was upheld in an opinion that condemned plural marriage and its advocacy as equal evils. 199 And, finally, the Court sustained the revocation of the charter of the Mormon Church and confiscation of all church property not actually used for religious worship or for burial. 200
The Jehovah's Witnesses Cases .--In contrast to the Mormons, the sect known as Jehovah's Witnesses, in many ways as unsettling to the conventional as the Mormons were, 201 provoked from the Court a lengthy series of decisions 202 expanding the rights of religious proselytizers and other advocates to utilize the streets and parks to broadcast their ideas, though the decisions may be based more squarely on the speech clause than on the free exercise clause. The leading case is Cantwell v. Connecticut. 203 Three Jehovah's Witnesses were convicted under a statute which forbade the unlicensed soliciting of funds for religious or charitable purposes, and also under a general charge of breach of the peace. The solicitation count was voided as an infringement on religion because the issuing officer was authorized to inquire whether the applicant did have a religious cause and to decline a license if in his view the cause was not religious. Such power amounted to a previous restraint upon the exercise of religion and was invalid, the Court held. 204 The breach of the peace count arose when the three accosted two Catholics in a strongly Catholic neighborhood and played them a phonograph record which grossly insulted the Christian religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. The Court voided this count under the clear-and-present danger test, finding that the interest sought to be upheld by the State did not justify the suppression of religious views that simply annoyed listeners. 205
There followed a series of sometimes conflicting decisions. At first, the Court sustained the application of a non-discriminatory li cense fee to vendors of religious books and pamphlets, 206 but eleven months later it vacated its former decision and struck down such fees. 207 A city ordinance making it unlawful for anyone distributing literature to ring a doorbell or otherwise summon the dwellers of a residence to the door to receive such literature was held in violation of the First Amendment when applied to distributors of leaflets advertising a religious meeting. 208 But a state child labor law was held to be validly applied to punish the guardian of a nine-year old child who permitted her to engage in ''preaching work'' and the sale of religious publications after hours. 209 The Court decided a number of cases involving meetings and rallies in public parks and other public places by upholding licensing and permit requirements which were premised on nondiscriminatory ''times, places, and manners'' terms and which did not seek to regulate the content of the religious message to be communicated. 210
Free Exercise Exemption From General Governmental Requirements .--As described above, the Court gradually abandoned its strict belief-conduct distinction, and developed a balancing test to determine when a uniform, nondiscriminatory requirement by government mandating action or nonaction by citizens must allow exceptions for citizens whose religious scruples forbid compliance. Then, in 1990, the Court reversed direction in Employment Division v. Smith, 211 confining application of the ''compelling interest'' test to a narrow category of cases.
In early cases the Court sustained the power of a State to exclude from its schools children who because of their religious beliefs would not participate in the salute to the flag, 212 only within a short time to reverse itself and condemn such exclusions, but on speech grounds rather than religious grounds. 213 Also, the Court seemed to be clearly of the view that government could compel those persons religiously opposed to bearing arms to take an oath to do so or to receive training to do so, 214 only in later cases by its statutory resolution to cast doubt on this resolution, 215 and still more recently to leave the whole matter in some doubt. 216
Braunfeld v. Brown 217 held that the free exercise clause did not mandate an exemption from Sunday Closing Laws for an Orthodox Jewish merchant who observed Saturday as the Sabbath and was thereby required to be closed two days of the week rather than one. This requirement did not prohibit any religious practices, the Court's plurality pointed out, but merely regulated secular activity in a manner making religious exercise more expensive. 218 ''If the State regulates conduct by enacting a general law within its power, the purpose and effect of which is to advance the State's secular goals, the statute is valid despite its indirect burden on religious observance unless the State may accomplish its purpose by means which do not impose such a burden.'' 219
Within two years the Court in Sherbert v. Verner 220 extended the line of analysis to require a religious exemption from a secular, regulatory piece of economic legislation. Sherbert was disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation because, as a Seventh Day Adventist, she would not accept Saturday work; according to state officials, this meant she was not complying with the statutory requirement to stand ready to accept suitable employment. This denial of benefits could be upheld, the Court said, only if ''her disqualification as a beneficiary represents no infringement by the State of her constitutional rights of free exercise, or [if] any incidental burden on the free exercise of appellant's religions may be justified by a 'compelling state interest in the regulation of a subject within the State's constitutional power to regulate . . .''' 221 First, the disqualification was held to impose a burden on the free exercise of Sherbert's religion; it was an indirect burden and it did not impose a criminal sanction on a religious practice, but the disqualification derived solely from her practice of her religion and constituted a compulsion upon her to forgo that practice. 222 Second, there was no compelling interest demonstrated by the State. The only interest asserted was the prevention of the possibility of fraudulent claims, but that was merely a bare assertion. Even if there was a showing of demonstrable danger, ''it would plainly be incumbent upon the appellees to demonstrate that no alternative forms of regulation would combat such abuses without infringing First Amendment rights.'' 223
Sherbert was reaffirmed and applied in subsequent cases involving denial of unemployment benefits. Thomas v. Review Board 224 involved a Jehovah's Witness who quit his job when his employer transferred him from a department making items for industrial use to a department making parts for military equipment. While his belief that his religion proscribed work on war materials was not shared by all other Jehovah's Witnesses, the Court held that it was inappropriate to inquire into the validity of beliefs asserted to be religious so long as the claims were made in good faith (and the beliefs were at least arguably religious). The same result was reached in a 1987 case, the fact that the employee's religious conversion rather than a job reassignment had created the conflict between work and Sabbath observance not being considered mate rial to the determination that free exercise rights had been burdened by the denial of unemployment compensation. 225 Also, a state may not deny unemployment benefits solely because refusal to work on the Sabbath was based on sincere religious beliefs held independently of membership in any established religious church or sect. 226
The Court applied the Sherbert balancing test in several areas outside of unemployment compensation. The first two such cases involved the Amish, whose religion requires them to lead a simple life of labor and worship in a tight-knit and self-reliant community largely insulated from the materialism and other distractions of modern life. Wisconsin v. Yoder 227 held that a state compulsory attendance law, as applied to require Amish children to attend ninth and tenth grades of public schools in contravention of Amish religious beliefs, violated the Free Exercise Clause. The Court first determined that the beliefs of the Amish were indeed religiously based and of great antiquity. 228 Next, the Court rejected the State's arguments that the Free Exercise Clause extends no protection because the case involved ''action'' or ''conduct'' rather than belief, and because the regulation, neutral on its face, did not single out religion. 229 Instead, the Court went on to analyze whether a ''compelling'' governmental interest required such ''grave interference'' with Amish belief and practices. 230 The governmental interest was not the general provision of education, inasmuch as the State and the Amish were in agreement on education through the first eight grades and since the Amish provided their children with additional education of a primarily vocational nature. The State's interest was really that of providing two additional years of public schooling. Nothing in the record, felt the Court, showed that this interest outweighed the great harm which it would do to traditional Amish religious beliefs to impose the compulsory ninth and tenth grade attendance. 231
But in recent years the Court's decisions evidenced increasing discontent with the compelling interest test. In several cases the Court purported to apply strict scrutiny but nonetheless upheld the governmental action in question. In United States v. Lee, 232 for example, the Court denied the Amish exemption from compulsory participation in the Social Security system. The objection was that payment of taxes by Amish employers and employees and the receipt of public financial assistance were forbidden by their religious beliefs. Accepting that this was true, the Court nonetheless held that the governmental interest was compelling and therefore sufficient to justify the burdening of religious beliefs. 233 Compulsory payment of taxes was necessary for the vitality of the system; either voluntary participation or a pattern of exceptions would undermine its soundness and make the program difficult to administer.
''A compelling governmental interest'' was also found to outweigh free exercise interests in Bob Jones University v. United States, 234 in which the Court upheld the I.R.S.'s denial of tax exemptions to church-run colleges whose racially discriminatory admissions policies derived from religious beliefs. The Federal Government's ''fundamental, overriding interest in eradicating racial discrimination in education''--found to be encompassed in common law standards of ''charity'' underlying conferral of the tax exemption on ''charitable'' institutions--''substantially outweighs'' the burden on free exercise. Nor could the schools' free exercise interests be accommodated by less restrictive means. 235
In other cases the Court found reasons not to apply compelling interest analysis. Religiously motivated speech, like other speech, can be subjected to reasonable time, place, or manner regulation serving a ''substantial'' rather than ''compelling'' governmental interest. 236 Sherbert's threshold test, inquiring ''whether government has placed a substantial burden on the observation of a central religious belief or practice,'' 237 eliminates other issues. As long as a particular religion does not proscribe the payment of taxes (as was the case with the Amish in Lee), the Court has denied that there
is any constitutionally significant burden resulting from ''imposition of a generally applicable tax [that] merely decreases the amount of money [adherents] have to spend on [their] religious activities.'' 238 The one caveat the Court left--that a generally applicable tax might be so onerous as to ''effectively choke off an adherent's religious practices'' 239 --may be a moot point in light of the Court's general ruling in Employment Division v. Smith, discussed below.
The Court also drew a distinction between governmental regulation of individual conduct, on the one hand, and restraint of governmental conduct as a result of individuals' religious beliefs, on the other. Sherbert's compelling interest test has been held inapplicable in cases viewed as involving attempts by individuals to alter governmental actions rather than attempts by government to restrict religious practices. Emphasizing the absence of coercion on religious adherents, the Court in Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Ass'n 240 held that the Forest Service, even absent a compelling justification, could construct a road through a portion of a national forest held sacred and used by Indians in religious observances. The Court distinguished between governmental actions having the indirect effect of frustrating religious practices and those actually prohibiting religious belief or conduct: '''the Free Exercise Clause is written in terms of what the government cannot do to the individual, not in terms of what the individual can exact from the government.''' 241 Similarly, even a sincerely held religious belief that assignment of a social security number would rob a child of her soul was held insufficient to bar the government from using the number for purposes of its own recordkeeping. 242 It mattered not how easily the government could accommodate the religious beliefs or practices (an exemption from the social security number requirement might have been granted with only slight impact on the government's recordkeeping capabilities), since the na ture of the governmental actions did not implicate free exercise protections. 243
Compelling interest analysis is also wholly inapplicable in the context of military rules and regulations, where First Amendment review ''is far more deferential than . . . review of similar laws or regulations designed for civilian society.'' 244 Thus the Court did not question the decision of military authorities to apply uniform dress code standards to prohibit the wearing of a yarmulke by an officer compelled by his Orthodox Jewish religious beliefs to wear the yarmulke. 245
A high degree of deference is also due decisions of prison administrators having the effect of restricting religious exercise by inmates. The general rule is that prison regulations impinging on exercise of constitutional rights by inmates are '''valid if . . . reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.''' 246 Thus because general prison rules requiring a particular category of inmates to work outside of buildings where religious services were held, and prohibiting return to the buildings during the work day, could be viewed as reasonably related to legitimate penological concerns of security and order, no exemption was required to permit Muslim inmates to participate in Jumu'ah, the core ceremony of their religion. 247 The fact that the inmates were left with no alternative means of attending Jumu'ah was not dispositive, the Court being ''unwilling to hold that prison officials are required by the Constitution to sacrifice legitimate penological objectives to that end.'' 248
Finally, in Employment Division v. Smith 249 the Court indicated that the compelling interest test may apply only in the field of unemployment compensation, and in any event does not apply to require exemptions from generally applicable criminal laws. Criminal laws are ''generally applicable'' when they apply across the board regardless of the religious motivation of the prohibited conduct, and are ''not specifically directed at . . . religious practices.'' 250 The unemployment compensation statute at issue in Sherbert was peculiarly suited to application of a balancing test because denial of benefits required a finding that an applicant had refused work ''without good cause.'' Sherbert and other unemployment compensation cases thus ''stand for the proposition that where the State has in place a system of individual exemptions, it may not refuse to extend that system to cases of 'religious hardship' without compelling reason.'' 251 Wisconsin v. Yoder and other decisions holding ''that the First Amendment bars application of a neutral, generally applicable law to religiously motivated action'' were distinguished as involving ''not the Free Exercise Clause alone, but the Free Exercise Clause in conjunction with other constitutional protections'' such as free speech or ''parental rights.'' 252 Except in the relatively uncommon circumstance when a statute calls for individualized consideration, then, the Free Exercise Clause affords no basis for exemption from a ''neutral, generally applicable law.'' As the Court concluded in Smith, accommodation for religious practices incompatible with general requirements must ordinarily be found in ''the political process.'' 253
The political processes were soon utilized in anattempt to provide additional protection for religiousexercise. In the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Supp.11 Congress sought to supersede Smith and substitute a statutory rule of decision. The Act provides that laws of general applicability--federal, state, and local--may substantially burden free exercise of religion only if they further a compelling governmental interest and constitute the least restrictive means of doing so. The purpose, Congress declared in the Act itself, was ''to restore the compelling interest test as set forth in Sherbert v. Vernerand Wisconsin v. Yoder and to guarantee its application inall cases where free exercise of religion is substantiallyburdened.'' Supp.12 Enactment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not, however, close the book on Smith. Issues concerning the RFRA's constitutionality ensure continuing litigation over the appropriate constitutional test. Supp.13
The ramifications of Smith are potentially widespread. The Court has apparently returned to a belief-conduct dichotomy under which religiously motivated conduct is not entitled to special protection. Laws may not single out religiously motivated conduct for adverse treatment, Supp.13.1 but formally neutral laws of general applicability may regulate religious conduct (along with other conduct) regardless of the adverse or prohibitory effects on religious exercise. That the Court views the principle as a general one, not limited to criminal laws, seems evident from its restatement in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah: ''our cases establish the general proposition that a law that is neutral and of general application need not be justified by a compelling governmental interest even if the law has the incidental effect of burdening a particular religious practice.'' Supp.14 Similar rules govern taxation. Under the Court's rulings in Smith and Swaggart, religious exemptions from most taxes are a matter of legislative grace rather than constitutional command, since most important taxes (e.g., income, property, sales and use) satisfy the criteria of formal neutrality and general applicability, and are not license fees that can be viewed as prior restraints on expression. 254 The result is equal protection, but not substantive protection, for religious exercise. 255 The Court's approach also accords less protection to religiously-based conduct than is accorded expressive conduct that implicates speech but not religious values. 256 On the practical side, relegation of free exercise claims to the political process may, as concurring Justice O'Connor warned, result in less protection for small, unpopular religious sects. 257
Religious Test Oaths .--However the Court has been divided in dealing with religiously-based conduct and governmental compulsion of action or nonaction, it was unanimous in voiding a state constitutional provision which required a notary public, as a condition of perfecting his appointment, to declare his belief in the existence of God. The First Amendment, considered with the religious oath provision of Article VI, makes it impossible ''for government, state or federal, to restore the historically and constitutionally discredited policy of probing religious beliefs by test oaths or limiting public offices to persons who have, or perhaps more properly, profess to have, a belief in some particular kind of religious concept.'' 258
Religious Disqualification .--Unanimously, but with great differences of approach, the Court declared invalid a Tennessee statute barring ministers and priests from service in a specially called state constitutional convention. 259 The Court's decision necessarily implied that the constitutional provision on which the statute was based, barring ministers and priests from service as state legislators, was also invalid.
[Footnote 178] Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 222 -23 (1963).
[Footnote 179] Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S 398, 402 (1963) (emphasis in original).
[Footnote 180] Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599, 607 (1961).
[Footnote 181] Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 402 (1963); Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961).
[Footnote 182] Academics as well as the Justices grapple with the extent to which religious practices as well as beliefs are protected by the Free Exercise Clause. For contrasting academic views of the origins and purposes of the Free Exercise Clause, compare McConnell, The Origins and Historical Understanding of Free Exercise of Religion, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 1410 (1990) (concluding that constitutionally compelled exemptions from generally applicable laws are consistent with the Clause's origins in religious pluralism) with Marshall, The Case Against the Constitutionally Compelled Free Exercise Exemption, 40 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 357 (1989-90) (arguing that such exemptions establish an invalid preference for religious beliefs over non-religious beliefs).
[Footnote 183] E.g., Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879); Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905); Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944); Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599 (1961); United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252 (1982); Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990).
[Footnote 184] ''The Court has struggled to find a neutral course between the two Religion Clauses, both of which are cast in absolute terms, and either of which, if expanded to a logical extreme, would tend to clash with the other.'' Walz v. Tax Comm'n, 397 U.S. 668 -69 (1970).
[Footnote 185] Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 480 U.S. 136, 144 -45 (1987). A similar accommodative approach was suggested in Walz: ''there is room for play in the joints productive of a benevolent neutrality which will permit religious exercise to exist without [governmental] sponsorship and without interference.'' 397 U.S. at 669 .
[Footnote 186] Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 409 (1963). Accord, Thomas v. Review Bd., 450 U.S. 707, 719 -20 (1981). Dissenting in Thomas, Justice Rehnquist argued that Sherbert and Thomas created unacceptable tensions between the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, and that requiring the States to accommodate persons like Sherbert and Thomas because of their religious beliefs ran the risk of ''establishing'' religion under the Court's existing tests. He argued further, however, that less expansive interpretations of both clauses would eliminate this artificial tension. Thus, Justice Rehnquist would have interpreted the Free Exercise Clause as not requiring government to grant exemptions from general requirements that may burden religious exercise but that do not prohibit religious practices outright, and would have interpreted the Establishment Clause as not preventing government from voluntarily granting religious exemptions. 450 U.S. at 720 -27. By 1990 these views had apparently gained ascendancy, Justice Scalia's opinion for the Court in the ''peyote'' case suggesting that accommodation should be left to the political process, i.e., that states could constitutionally provide exceptions in their drug laws for sacramental peyote use, even though such exceptions are not constitutionally required. Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 890 (1990).
[Footnote 187] See, e.g., Walz v. Tax Comm'n, 397 U.S. 664 (upholding property tax exemption for religious organizations); Corporation of the Presiding Bishop v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327 (1987) (upholding Civil Rights Act exemption allowing religious institutions to restrict hiring to members of religion); Gillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437, 453 -54 (1971) (interpreting conscientious objection exemption from military service).
[Footnote 188] See, e.g., Committee for Pub. Educ. & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 788 -89 (1973) (tuition reimbursement grants to parents of parochial school children violate Establishment Clause in spite of New York State's argument that program was designed to promote free exercise by enabling low-income parents to send children to church schools); Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock, 489 U.S. 1 (1989) (state sales tax exemption for religious publications violates the Establishment Clause) (plurality opinion). Board of Educ. of Kiryas Joel Village v. Grumet, 114 S. Ct. 2481, 2492-93 (1994) (''accommodation is not a principle without limits;'' one limitation is that ''neutrality as among religions must be honored'').
[Footnote 189] Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 304 (1940).
[Footnote 190] Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145, 166 (1878). ''Crime is not the less odious because sanctioned by what any particular sect may designate as 'religion.''' Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333, 345 (1890). In another context, Justice Sutherland in United States v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605, 625 (1931), suggested a plenary governmental power to regulate action in denying that recognition of conscientious objection to military service was of a constitutional magnitude, saying that ''unqualified allegiance to the Nation and submission and obedience to the laws of the land, as well those made for war as those made for peace, are not inconsistent with the will of God.''
[Footnote 191] Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) (compulsory vaccination); Prince v. Massachusetts 321 U.S. 158 (1944) (child labor); Cleveland v. United States, 329 U.S. 14 (1946) (polygamy). In Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 403 (1963), Justice Brennan asserted that the ''conduct or activities so regulated [in the cited cases] have invariably posed some substantial threat to public safety, peace or order.''
[Footnote 192] Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972); cf. Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599, 607 (1961): ''[I]f the State regulates conduct by enacting a general law within its power, the purpose and effect of which is to advance the State's secular goals, the statute is valid despite its indirect burden on religious observance unless the State may accomplish its purpose by means which do not impose such a burden.''
[Footnote 193] Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 403 , 406-09 (1963). In Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), the Court recognized compelling state interests in provision of public education, but found insufficient evidence that those interests (preparing children for citizenship and for self-reliance) would be furthered by requiring Amish children to attend public schools beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the evidence showed that the Amish system of vocational education prepared their children for life in their self-sufficient communities.
[Footnote 194] Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503 (1986); O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342 (1987).
[Footnote 195] 494 U.S. 872, 878 (1990).
[Footnote 197] Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879); cf. Cleveland v. United States, 329 U.S. 14 (1946) (no religious-belief defense to Mann Act prosecution for transporting a woman across state line for the ''immoral purpose'' of polygamy).
[Footnote 198] Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15 (1885).
[Footnote 199] Davis v. Beason, 133 U.S. 333 (1890). ''Bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and Christian countries. . . . To call their advocacy a tenet of religion is to offend the common sense of mankind. If they are crimes, then to teach, advise and counsel their practice is to aid in their commission, and such teaching and counseling are themselves criminal and proper subjects of punishment, as aiding and abetting crime are in all other cases.'' Id. at 341-42.
[Footnote 200] The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1 (1890). ''[T]he property of the said corporation . . . [is to be used to promote] the practice of polygamy--a crime against the laws, and abhorrent to the sentiments and feelings of the civilized world. . . . The organization of a community for the spread and practice of polygamy is, in a measure, a return to barbarism. It is contrary to the spirit of Christianity and of the civilization which Christianity had produced in the Western world.'' Id. at 48-49.
[Footnote 201] For recent cases dealing with other religious groups discomfiting to the mainstream, see Heffron v. ISKCON, 452 U.S. 640 (1981) (Hare Krishnas); Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228 (1982) (Unification Church).
[Footnote 202] Most of the cases are collected and categorized by Justice Frankfurter in Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U.S. 268, 273 (1951) (concurring opinion).
[Footnote 204] Id. at 303-07. ''The freedom to act must have appropriate definition to preserve the enforcement of that protection [of society]. In every case the power to regulate must be so exercised as not, in attaining a permissible end, unduly to infringe the protected freedom. . . . [A] State may by general and non-discriminatory legislation regulate the times, the places, and the manner of soliciting upon its streets, and of holding meetings thereon; and may in other respects safeguard the peace, good order and comfort of the community, without unconstitutionally invading the liberties protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.'' Id. at 304.
[Footnote 205] Id. at 307-11. ''In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probabilities of excesses and abuses, these liberties are in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy.'' Id. at 310.
[Footnote 206] Jones v. Opelika, 316 U.S. 584 (1942).
[Footnote 207] Jones v. Opelika, 319 U.S. 103 (1943); Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943). See also Follett v. McCormick, 321 U.S. 573 (1944) (invalidating a flat licensing fee for booksellers). Murdock and Follett were distinguished in Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. California Bd. of Equalization, 493 U.S. 378, 389 (1990) as applying ''only where a flat license fee operates as a prior restraint''; upheld in Swaggart was application of a general sales and use tax to sales of religious publications.
[Footnote 208] Martin v. City of Struthers, 319 U.S. 141 (1943). But cf. Breard v. City of Alexandria, 341 U.S. 622 (1951) (similar ordinance sustained in commercial solicitation context).
[Footnote 209] Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944).
[Footnote 210] E.g., Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U.S. 268 (1951); Kunz v. New York, 340 U.S. 290 (1951); Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U.S. 67 (1953); Poulos v. New Hampshire, 345 U.S. 395 (1953). See also Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228 (1982) (solicitation on state fair ground by Unification Church members).
[Footnote 212] Minersville School Dist. v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940).
[Footnote 213] West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). On the same day, the Court held that a State may not forbid the distribution of literature urging and advising on religious grounds that citizens refrain from saluting the flag. Taylor v. Mississippi, 319 U.S. 583 (1943).
[Footnote 214] See United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929); United States v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605 (1931); and United States v. Bland, 283 U.S. 636 (1931) (all interpreting the naturalization law as denying citizenship to a conscientious objector who would not swear to bear arms in defense of the country), all three of which were overruled by Girouard v. United States, 328 U.S. 61 (1946), on strictly statutory grounds. See also Hamilton v. Board of Regents, 293 U.S. 245 (1934) (upholding expulsion from state university for a religiously based refusal to take a required course in military training); In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561 (1945) (upholding refusal to admit applicant to bar because as conscientious objector he could not take required oath).
[Footnote 215] United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965); see id. at 188 (Justice Douglas concurring); Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333 (1970); and see id. at 344 (Justice Harlan concurring).
[Footnote 216] Gillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437 (1971) (holding that secular considerations overbalanced free exercise infringement of religious beliefs of objectors to particular wars).
[Footnote 217] 366 U.S. 599 (1961). On Sunday Closing Laws and the establishment clause, see supra, pp. 987-988.
[Footnote 218] 366 U.S. at 605 -06.
[Footnote 219] Id. at 607 (plurality opinion). The concurrence balanced the economic disadvantage suffered by the Sabbatarians against the important interest of the State in securing its day of rest regulation. McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. at 512 -22 (1961). Three Justices dissented. Id. at 561 (Justice Douglas); Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. at 610 (Justice Brennan), 616 (Justice Stewart).
[Footnote 221] Id. at 403, quoting NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 438 (1963).
[Footnote 223] Id. at 407. Braunfeld was distinguished because of ''a countervailing factor which finds no equivalent in the instant case--a strong state interest in providing one uniform day of rest for all workers.'' That secular objective could be achieved, the Court found, only by declaring Sunday to be that day of rest. Requiring exemptions for Sabbatarians, while theoretically possible, appeared to present an administrative problem of such magnitude, or to afford the exempted class so great a competitive advantage, that such a requirement would have rendered the entire statutory scheme unworkable. Id. at 408-09. Other Justices thought that Sherbert overruled Braunfeld. Id. at 413, 417 (Justice Stewart concurring), 418 (Justice Harlan and White dissenting).
[Footnote 225] Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n, 480 U.S. 136 (1987).
[Footnote 226] Frazee v. Illinois Dep't of Employment Security, 489 U.S. 829 (1989). Cf. United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965) (interpreting the religious objection exemption from military service as encompassing a broad range of formal and personal religious beliefs).
[Footnote 228] Id. at 215-19. Why the Court felt impelled to make these points is unclear, since it is settled that it is improper for courts to inquire into the interpretation of religious belief. E.g., United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 257 (1982).
[Footnote 233] The Court's formulation was whether the limitation on religious exercise was ''essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest.'' 455 U.S. at 257 -58. Accord, Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680, 699 -700 (1989) (any burden on free exercise imposed by disallowance of a tax deduction was ''justified by the 'broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax system' free of 'myriad exceptions flowing from a wide variety of religious beliefs''').
[Footnote 235] 461 U.S. at 604 .
[Footnote 236] Heffron v. ISKCON, 452 U.S. 640 (1981). Requiring Krishnas to solicit at fixed booth sites on county fair grounds is a valid time, place, and manner regulation, although, as the Court acknowledged, id. at 652, peripatetic solicitation was an element of Krishna religious rites.
[Footnote 237] As restated in Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680, 699 (1989).
[Footnote 238] Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. California Bd. of Equalization, 493 U.S. 378, 391 (1990). See also Tony and Susan Alamo Found. v. Secretary of Labor, 471 U.S. 290 (1985) (the Court failing to perceive how application of minimum wage and overtime requirements would burden free exercise rights of employees of a religious foundation, there being no assertion that the amount of compensation was a matter of religious import); and Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680 (1989) (questioning but not deciding whether any burden was imposed by administrative disallowal of deduction for payments deemed to be for commercial rather than religious or charitable purposes).
[Footnote 239] Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, 493 U.S. at 392 .
[Footnote 241] Id. at 451, quoting Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 412 (1963) (Douglas, J., concurring).
[Footnote 242] Bowen v. Roy, 476 U.S. 693 (1986).
[Footnote 243] ''In neither case . . . would the affected individuals be coerced by the Government's action into violating their religious beliefs; nor would either governmental action penalize religious activity.'' Lyng, 485 U.S. at 449 .
[Footnote 244] Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. 503, 507 (1986).
[Footnote 245] Congress reacted swiftly by enacting a provision allowing military personnel to wear religious apparel while in uniform, subject to exceptions to be made by the Secretary of the relevant military department for circumstances in which the apparel would interfere with performance of military duties or would not be ''neat and conservative.'' Pub. L. 100-180, Sec. 508(a)(2), 101 Stat. 1086 (1987); 10 U.S.C. Sec. 774.
[Footnote 246] O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342, 349 (1987) (quoting Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987)).
[Footnote 247] O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 482 U.S. 342 (1987).
[Footnote 248] Id. at 351-52 (also suggesting that the ability of the inmates to engage in other activities required by their faith, e.g. individual prayer and observance of Ramadan, rendered the restriction reasonable).
[Footnote 249] 494 U.S. 872 (1990) (holding that state may apply criminal penalties to use of peyote in a religious ceremony, and may deny unemployment benefits to persons dismissed from their jobs because of religiously inspired use of peyote).
[Footnote 11 (1996 Supplement)] Pub. L. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (1993); 42U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 2000bb to 2000bb-4.
[Footnote 12 (1996 Supplement)] Pub. L. 103-141, Sec. 2(b)(1) (citations omitted). Congress also avowed a purpose of providing ''a claim or defense to persons whose religious exercise is substantially burdened by government.'' Sec. 2(b)(2).
[Footnote 13 (1996 Supplement)] See, e.g., Flores v. City of Boerne, 877 F. Supp. 355 (W.D. Tex. 1995) (holding the RFRA unconstitutional); and Canedy v. Boardman, 16 F.3d 183, 186 n.2 (7th Cir. 1994) (dictum that the constitutionality of the RFRA--not before the court--''raises a number of questions involving the extent of Congress's powers under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment''). For an overview of these issues, see Scott C. Idleman, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Pushing the Limits of Legislative Power, 73 Tex. L. Rev. 247 (1994). For arguments pro and con, compare Douglas Laycock, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, 1993 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 221 with Christopher L. Eisgruber and Lawrence G. Sager, Why the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is Unconstitutional, 69 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 437 (1994).
[Footnote 13.1 (1996 Supplement)] This much was made clear by Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), striking down a city ordinance that prohibited ritual animal sacrifice but that allowed other forms of animal slaughter.
[Footnote 14 (1996 Supplement)] 508 U.S. 520, 531 (1993).
[Footnote 254] This latter condition derives from the fact that the Court in Swaggart distinguished earlier decisions by characterizing them as applying only to flat license fees. See n., supra. See also Laycock, The Remnants of Free Exercise, 1990 Sup. Ct. Rev. 1, 39-41.
[Footnote 255] Justice O'Connor, concurring in Smith, argued that ''the Free Exercise Clause protects values distinct from those protected by the Equal Protection Clause.'' 494 U.S. at 901 .
[Footnote 256] Although neutral laws affecting expressive conduct are not measured by a ''compelling interest'' test, they are ''subject to a balancing, rather than categorical, approach.'' Smith, 494 U.S. at 902 (O'Connor, J., concurring).
[Footnote 257] Id. at 1613.
[Footnote 258] Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 494 (1961).
[Footnote 259] McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U.S. 618 (1978). The plurality opinion by Chief Justice Burger, joined by Justices Powell, Rehnquist, and Stevens, found the case governed by Sherbert v. Verner's strict scrutiny test. The State had failed to show that its view of the dangers of clergy participation in the political process had any validity; Torcaso v. Watkins was distinguished because the State was acting on the status of being a clergyman rather than on one's beliefs. Justice Brennan, joined by Justice Marshall, found Torcaso controlling because imposing a restriction upon one's status as a religious person did penalize his religious belief, his freedom to profess or practice that belief. Id. at 629. Justice Stewart also found Torcaso dispositive, id. at 642, and Justice White found an equal protection violation because of the restraint upon seeking political office. Id. at 643.
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3 Corsair Football Players Honored By MASCAC Office
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Three members of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team were honored by the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference office for their performances in the Corsairs victory over Bridgewater State University on Friday night.
Sophomore Derek Tarpey (Tewksbury, Mass.) was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Cullen Hanna (Richmondville, N.Y.) was chosen as the Rookie of the Week. Sophomore Abiola Aborishade (Attleboro, Mass.) was named to the weekly honor roll.
Tarpey established a new career-high for tackles in a single-game with 22 to spearhead the UMass Dartmouth defensive attack. The sophomore from Tewksbury, Mass. put an additional stop between his previous high-water mark of 21 at Western New England on Nov. 3, 2012. Tarpey was consistently in the Bears backfield with five tackles for a loss and a sack. He also forced both of the fumbles that were recovered by the Corsairs, including a 63-yard touchdown return by Trevor MacNeil that whittled the hosts deficit to three points late in the third quarter.
A starter in all five games, Tarpey leads the MASCAC in tackles per game (10.6) and forced fumbles (2), while ranking among the leaders in total tackles (2nd, 53) and tackles for a loss (3rd, 11). He also reached double digits in tackles (10) in the UMD victory over Plymouth State on Sept. 28. Tarpey has recorded two sacks on the season.
Hanna engineered four second-half scoring drives to help UMass Dartmouth erase a 22-point halftime deficit against Bridgewater State. The Richmondville, N.Y. product completed 17-of-29 attempts to produce a season-high 179 passing yards and three touchdowns. Hanna sandwiched a pair of TD strikes to Aborishade between a seven-yard reception to Kevin Wadsworth. He led the Corsairs on his first career fourth-quarter game-winning drive, covering 74 yards in just three plays. Hanna's 39-yard touchdown pass to Aborishade capped a 33-point second half comeback.
Hanna, a starter in all five games, has completed 55.4 percent of his passes for 551 yards and seven touchdowns. The first-year signal caller has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of his five career contests. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark three times, including a 118-yard performance at Westfield State. Hanna also registered his first career rushing TD against the Bears.
Aborishade made his second appearance on the MASAC weekly honor roll after earning a spot for the week ending Sept. 28 (Plymouth State). The sophomore wide receiver from Attleboro, Mass. accounted for 163 all-purpose yards in the victory over Bridgewater State. Aborishade hauled in a game-high 10 receptions for 111 receiving yards and a pair of TDs. He helped the Corsairs crack the scoring column in the third quarter with a five-yard touchdown reception, while making the game-winning catch on a 39-yard score down the right sideline. Aborishade provided the hosts with some insurance by pulling in the two-point conversion to push the UMass Dartmouth lead to four points. He also carried the ball four times for 52 yards.
Aborishade has emerged as the Corsairs top-offensive weapon, ranking sixth in the conference circuit in scoring (44 points). In 2013, he has 26 receptions for 261 receiving yards. Aborishade is third in the MASCAC in touchdown receptions with six. He has also gained 195 yards on the ground and one TD. Aborishade has carried the ball 12 times, averaging 16.2 yards per carry. His 93-yard touchdown run against the Panthers is the longest run from scrimmage in the MASCAC this season.
UMass Dartmouth (2-3, 2-2 MASCAC) will return to action at 12 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, when the Corsairs host MASCAC foe Worcester State University (3-2, 1-2).
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‘Modified’: A Film About GMOs and the Corruption of the Food Supply for Profit
in Environmental Protection — by Colin Todhunter — June 24, 2019
Parts of the documentary Modified are spent at the kitchen table. But it’s not really a tale about wonderful recipes or the preparation of food. Ultimately, it’s a story of capitalism, money and power and how our most basic rights are being eroded by unscrupulous commercial interests.
The film centres on its maker, Aube Giroux, who resides in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her interest in food and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) was inspired by her mother, Jali, who also appears throughout. Aube says that when her parents bought their first house her mother immediately got rid of the lawn and planted a huge garden where she grew all kinds of heirloom vegetables, berries, flowers, legumes and garlic.
“She wanted me and my sister to grow up knowing the story behind the food that we ate, so our backyard was basically our grocery store,” says Aube.
During the film, we are treated not only to various outdoor scenes of the Giroux’s food garden (their ‘grocery store’) but also to Aube and her mother’s passion for preparing homemade culinary delights. The ‘backyard’ is the grocery store and much of Giroux family life revolves around the kitchen and the joy of healthy, nutritious food.
When GMOs first began appearing in food, Aube says that what bothered her mother was that some of the world’s largest chemical companies were patenting these new genetically engineered seeds and controlling the seed market.
In the film, Aube explains, “Farmers who grow GMOs have to sign technology license agreements promising never to save or replant the patented seeds. My mom didn’t think it was a good idea to allow corporations to engineer and then patent the seeds that we rely on for food. She believed that seeds belong in the hands of people.”
As the GMO issue became prominent, Aube became more interested in the subject. It took her 10 years to complete the film, which is about her personal journey of discovery into the world of GMOs. The film depicts a world that is familiar to many of us; a place where agritech industry science and money talk, politicians and officials are all too eager to listen and the public interest becomes a secondary concern.
In 2001, Canada’s top scientific body, The Royal Society, released a scathing report that found major problems with the way GMOs were being regulated. The report made 53 recommendations to the government for fixing the regulatory system and bringing it in line with peer reviewed science and the precautionary principle, which says new technologies should not be approved when there is uncertainty about their long-term safety. To date, only three of these recommendations have been implemented.
Throughout the film, we see Aube making numerous phone calls, unsuccessfully trying to arrange an interview to discuss these issues with Health Canada, the department of the government of Canada that is responsible for national public health.
Meanwhile, various people are interviewed as the story unfolds. We are told about the subverting of regulatory agencies in the US when GMOs first appeared on the scene in the early 1990s: the Food and Drug Administration ignored the warnings of its own scientists, while Monsanto flexed its political muscle to compromise the agency by manoeuvring its own people into positions of influence.
One respondent says, “We’ve had a number of people from Monsanto, many from Dupont, who have actually been in top positions at the USDA and the FDA over the last 20 years, making darn sure that when those agencies did come out with any pseudo-regulation, that it was what these industries wanted. The industry will often say these are the most regulated crops in history… I’m not an expert on the law in many other countries. But I am an expert on the laws in the United States and I can tell you… they are virtually unregulated.”
Aube takes time to find out about genetic engineering and talks to molecular biologists. She is shown how the process of genetic modification in the lab works. One scientist says, “In genetics, we have a phrase called pleiotropic effects. It means that there are other effects in the plant that are unintended but are a consequence of what you’ve done. I wouldn’t be surprised if something came up somewhere along the line that we hadn’t anticipated that’s going to be a problem.”
And that’s very revealing: if you are altering the genetic core of the national (and global) food supply in a way that would not have occurred without human intervention, you had better be pretty sure about the consequences. Many illnesses can take decades to show up in a population.
This is one reason why Aube Giroux focuses on the need for the mandatory labelling of GM food in Canada. Some 64 countries have already implemented such a policy and most Canadians want GM food to be labelled too. However, across North America labelling has been fiercely resisted by the industry. As the film highlights, it’s an industry that has key politicians in its back pocket and has spent millions resisting effective labelling.
In the film, we hear from someone from the agri/biotech industry say that labelling would send out the wrong message; it would amount to fearmongering; it would confuse the public; it would raise food prices; and you can eat organic if you don’t want GMOs. To those involved in the GMO debate and the food movement, these industry talking points are all too familiar.
Signalling the presence of GMOs in food through labelling is about the public’s right to know what they are eating. But the film makes clear there are other reasons for labelling too. To ensure that these products are environmentally safe and safe for human health, you need to monitor them in the marketplace. If you have new allergic responses emerging is it a consequence of GMOs? There’s no way of telling if there is no labelling. Moreover, the industry knows many would not purchase GM food if people were given any choice on the matter. That’s why it has spent so much money and invested so much effort to prevent it.
During the film, we also hear from an Iowa farmer, who says GM is all about patented seeds and money. He says there’s incredible wealth and power to be had from gaining ownership of the plants that feed humanity. And it has become a sorry tale for those at the sharp end: farmers are now on a financially lucrative (for industry) chemical-biotech treadmill as problems with the technology and its associated chemicals mount: industry rolls out even stronger chemicals and newer GM traits to overcome the failures of previous roll outs.
But to divert attention from the fact that GM has ‘failed to yield’ and deliver on industry promises, the film notes that the industry churns out rhetoric, appealing to emotion rather than fact, about saving the world and feeding the hungry to help legitimize the need for GM seeds and associated (health- and environment-damaging) chemical inputs.
In an interview posted on the film’s website, Aube says that genetic engineering is an important technology but “should only take place if the benefits truly outweigh the risks, if rigorous adequate regulatory systems are in place and if full transparency, full disclosure and the precautionary principle are the pillars on which our food policies are based.”
Health Canada has always claimed to have had a science-based GMO regulatory system. But the Royal Society’s report showed that GMO approvals are based on industry studies that have little scientific merit since they aren’t peer reviewed.
For all her attempts, Aube failed to get an interview with Health Canada. Near the end of the film, we see her on the phone to the agency once again. She says, “Well I guess I find it extremely concerning and puzzling that Health Canada is not willing to speak with me… you guys are our public taxpayer funded agency in this country that regulates GMOs, and so you’re accountable to Canadians, and you have a responsibility to answer questions.”
Given this lack of response and the agency’s overall track record on GMOs, it is pertinent to ask just whose interests does Health Canada ultimately serve.
When Aube Giroux started this project, it was meant to be a film about food. But she notes that it gradually became a film about democracy: who gets to decide our food policies; is it the people we elect to represent us, or is it corporations and their heavily financed lobbyists?
Aube is a skilful filmmaker and storyteller. She draws the viewer into her life and introduces us to some inspiring characters, especially her mother, Jali, who passed away during the making of the film. Jali has a key part in the documentary, which had started out as a joint venture between Aube and her mother. By interweaving personal lives with broader political issues, Modified becomes a compelling documentary. On one level, it’s deeply personal. On another, it is deeply disturbing given what corporations are doing to food without our consent – and often – without our knowledge.
For those who watch the film, especially those coming to the issue for the first time, it should at the very least raise concerns about what is happening to food, why it is happening and what can be done about it. The film might be set in Canada, but the genetic engineering of our food supply by conglomerates with global reach transcends borders and affects us all.
Whether we reside in North America, Europe, India or elsewhere, the push in on to co-opt governments and subvert regulatory bodies by an industry which regards GM as a multi-billion cash cow – regardless of the consequences.
Modified won the 2019 James Beard Foundation award for best documentary and is currently available on DVD at .modifiedthefilm.com/dvd. It is due to be released on digital streaming platforms this summer.
Colin Todhunter is an independent writer. Join him on Twitter.
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Residents Continue to Support Division of HRM into Two Municipal Units
HALIFAX: A plurality of Halifax Regional Municipality residents continue to support the division of the municipality into two units: a city for urban residents and a county for rural residents, according to the most recent Urban Report Survey from Corporate Research Associates Inc. Specifically, nearly one-half of residents support dividing the municipality, while less than four in ten oppose an urban/rural split. For much of the past eight years, residents have consistently supported a division of the municipality.Residents of the former City of Halifax, the former City of Dartmouth, and other rural areas of HRM are more likely to support the division of the municipality, while residents of Bedford/Sackville are more likely to oppose such a division.
These results are part of the CRA Halifax Urban Report, an independent survey of Halifax Regional Municipality residents. The overall results are based on a sample of 400 adult residents, conducted from February 6 to February 16, 2012, with results accurate to within +4.9 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.
For more information, please contact: Don Mills, President and CEO at (902) 493-3838.
View full media release here.
Amanda Bates
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Culture, Dooryard, My Maine, zeta 10.30.17
Knowing Phyllis Austin
Illustration by Christine Mitchell Adams
The first time I drove out Merepoint Neck, in Brunswick, I noticed the trees growing thicker and thicker, the homes getting farther and farther apart with each mile. A wooden plank nailed to a tree directed me down a winding driveway to Phyllis Austin’s house. Phyllis greeted me at the door, led me into the living room, and lowered herself onto a couch padded with foam cushions and woolen blankets. “I’m an old person,” she said, shifting her limbs with care, resting one hiking-sock–clad foot over the other. This is where she liked to cocoon, with a picture window looking out on the bay and a fireplace glowing across the room. Her dachshund, Lark, circled from my lap to hers.
What Austin most wanted to talk about, I came to understand, was death.
Although I hadn’t met her before, I knew Phyllis by reputation: intrepid journalist, noted feminist, staunch environmentalist. She agreed to have me over in the spring of last year — a little tentatively, I sensed — so that I could profile her for a class at Bowdoin College about women and journalism and the way writers have tackled gender issues in their own lives and in their published works. So I figured I knew what we’d talk about: her trailblazing work in environmental reporting, a field once dominated by men; her long tenure at the Maine Times, the progressive alt-weekly, now defunct, that published the word “vagina” before other Maine outlets would countenance such salacious language; and maybe even academic theories, like ecofeminism, that seemed to jibe with her career.
Quickly, though, I realized I was wrong. Phyllis, at age 74, wasn’t interested in a retrospective and didn’t want to talk much about any of that. Sure, she said, she was a feminist, but she didn’t think of her writing as an act of feminism — and she didn’t seem interested in reconsidering it in that way. Instead, she was looking ahead, and what she most wanted to talk about, I came to understand, was death.
As I closed my notebook at the end of our first meeting, Phyllis stopped me. “You should know about an important date in my life — February 19, 1984,” she said. That day, she was cross-country skiing at Pleasant Mountain, in Bridgton. The snow was slushy, and coming fast around a bend, she crashed into a tree limb that impaled her abdomen.
She showed me accounts she’d written of the accident, including one for the Washington Post: “When the pain exploded, it hurled me into an altered state of reality. I could clearly sense myself relaxing my grip on life. I shifted beyond the pain, moving to the center of a vast nothingness. On the right side of center was the place I had come from, and on the left was a different, unknown space. Existence was that simple for seconds.”
A friend had rushed Phyllis to the hospital, and she survived, but barely. As years passed, the effects of the injury persisted, and Phyllis underwent many operations to address complications, each procedure creating more internal scarring. Just recently, her doctor told her she couldn’t sustain more surgery. She’d spent a long time writing about trails, and she sensed the end of hers.
The next time I drove to Phyllis’s house, I was thinking about the other motive I had for picking Phyllis as my subject, beyond the parameters of the class assignment. She was an accomplished journalist, and I was increasingly sure I wanted a similar career. Plus, I knew that, like me, she was a native Southerner who’d fallen in love with Maine’s woods, waters, and mountains. But she decided a long time ago to stay, and I still felt a nostalgic pull homeward, to Atlanta, a place I had purposefully left. I hoped that talking with Phyllis might help me focus some of my shifting thoughts about home and where to try to live and write after college.
“I was conceived in Maine,” Phyllis joked, when I raised the issue. She was born to live here, she meant, even if she wasn’t born here. She told me about how, as a child, she rose through the ranks of the Girls’ Auxiliary in her rural North Carolina hometown, from maiden to lady-in-waiting to princess. She thought she might grow up to do missionary work, but in college, at a Baptist women’s school in Raleigh, she turned apostate.
She threw herself into journalism instead, first at a small-town weekly, then at the Raleigh paper, where she penned a society column. She got a job with the AP in South Carolina, where every day she had to put on a dress, high heels, and gloves before going out to cover civil rights marches, Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, and police crackdowns.
Phyllis’s South was full of holy rolling, racism, and oppressive notions of a “woman’s place.” One of her ancestors, she told me, fought for the Confederacy. All of which is to say, after the AP posted her to Maine in 1969, she had no interest in going back. A few years later, her bosses asked her to head up the Mississippi bureau, a significant promotion, but she refused. From the moment she arrived here, she said, she “knew Maine was for good.”
The more we talked, the more I saw that the South I grew up in wasn’t much like Phyllis’s — different places in different times. I’m always equal parts charmed, fascinated, and frustrated by the South. Phyllis’s choice to eschew it was obviously right for her, but the clarity of her decision only made me realize how far I was from a decision myself.
She hadn’t achieved work-life balance, I thought, but something like work-life symbiosis.
I finished my profile of Phyllis, even though we’d strayed pretty far from the intended focus, and in the fall, I left for a semester abroad in the UK. By then, I’d spent many hours with Phyllis and many more reading her work. I felt like we’d come to know each other well, and before I left, I told her I’d stay in touch.
Partway through the semester, I emailed Phyllis photos of a hike I took in the Scottish Highlands, near a trail she’d recommended from a trip a few years earlier. I didn’t hear back right away but figured my message had sifted to the bottom of her inbox. Then, I found out that Phyllis had died. She passed away a year ago this month, a day after her 75th birthday. She hadn’t tried to hide feeling unwell whenever I was with her, but she never let on just how quickly her health was deteriorating.
I reached out to Anne Dellenbaugh, Phyllis’s partner. She told me that complications from Phyllis’s skiing accident had finally overwhelmed her body. Toward the end, Phyllis began a voluntary fast, Anne said, and after six days without food or water, “all of Phyllis’s need to fight the world was gone.”
Phyllis had once remarked to me that “giving yourself to something satisfies the soul.” In Maine and its wilds, she found something she could wholly give herself to. “If I wasn’t writing about it,” she said, “I was paddling down it or hiking up it.” She hadn’t achieved work-life balance, I thought, but something like work-life symbiosis.
Months after Phyllis died, back from studying abroad, I sat in her basement, surrounded by kayaks, snowshoes, and boxes filled with yellowed news clips and typewritten notes. Anne was going to put the house on the market but invited me over first, and I sat there trying to recreate a person from papers, folders, and scrapbooks. I came across an obituary Phyllis had written years earlier for a previous dachshund, Scout. It was sweet and funny, and as I read, I couldn’t help finding it autobiographical.
“Only 11 pounds, he never met any living being (animal or human) larger than himself,” she wrote. “He faced off the biggest dogs and repairmen and UPS delivery trucks. In his early years, adventure was his passion. He jogged on beaches, led me up 3,000-foot mountains and survived two major falls with barely a scratch. I believe Scout was ready to leave this earth. Death always marks a passage. Scout transcended his pain, falling softly out of his aged body into the arms of heavenly grace.”
I last saw Phyllis on a walk through the woods in the Brunswick Commons. She’d gotten an injection at the base of her spine the day before, and as she led me through pine groves and over unsteady footbridges, I noticed that she didn’t wince or limp. She started telling stories of past adventures, and I wondered if she was paying attention to where we were going until I realized she’d adeptly led us in a circle — that we were probably never more than a mile from the car. “I’ve had my swan song,” she said, not wistfully or regretfully, but simply as a matter of fact.
Over the course of our conversations, Phyllis took me in unexpected directions, but we always wound up back at writing and Maine and the contentment she’d gotten from those two things. I still don’t know where I’m headed after college, but I know that I want to emulate the way Phyllis achieved contentment, taking control of her life, building it around her passions. Wherever I wind up, for however long, I’ll carry that lesson from Phyllis, from Maine, with me.
See more My Maine.
Carly Berlin
Carly Berlin, from Atlanta, is a senior at Bowdoin College, where she studies English and art history.
Campus Couture
Monhegan Museum Tour & Book Giveaway
The Feel-Good Maine Film Geek of the Year
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Email Mark Download vCard 415-362-6666
A.B., Stanford University, Political Science, 1988
J.D., Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley, 1991
Mark is a founding partner of Durie Tangri LLP. He litigates and counsels clients in all areas of intellectual property, antitrust, and Internet law. He has argued 26 Federal appellate cases and numerous district court cases as well as before the California Supreme Court, and represented clients including Genentech, Google, Grokster, Guidewire, Netflix, and the University of Colorado Foundation in over 100 cases in his more than two decades as a lawyer.
Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. He teaches intellectual property, computer and Internet law, patent law, and antitrust. He is the author of seven books (most in multiple editions) and 167 articles on these and related subjects, including the two-volume treatise IP and Antitrust. His works have been cited over 250 times by courts, including thirteen United States Supreme Court opinions, and over 14,000 times in books and law review articles, making him one of the five most-cited legal scholars in the world. He has published 9 of the 100 most-cited law review articles of the last twenty years, more than any other scholar, and a 2012 empirical study named him the most relevant law professor in the country. He has taught intellectual property law to federal and state judges at numerous Federal Judicial Center and ABA programs, has testified seven times before Congress and numerous times before the California legislature, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Modernization Commission on patent, trade secret, antitrust and constitutional law matters, and has filed numerous amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and the federal circuit courts of appeals.
Mark is the founder and a board member of Lex Machina, Inc., a startup company providing data and analytics around IP disputes to law firms, companies, courts, and policy-makers.
Mark has been named California Lawyer's Attorney of the Year twice (in 2005 and 2015), Best Lawyers’ San Francisco IP Lawyer of the Year, and a Young Global Leader by the Davos World Economic Forum. In 2009 he received the California State Bar’s inaugural IP Vanguard award. In 2002 he was chosen Boalt's Young Alumnus of the Year. He has been recognized as one of the top 50 litigators in the country under 45 by the American Lawyer, one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the nation by the National Law Journal, one of the 10 most admired attorneys in IP by IP360, one of the 25 most influential people in IP by the American Lawyer, one of the top intellectual property lawyers in California and one of the 100 most influential lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, among other honors. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
After graduating from law school, Mark clerked for Judge Dorothy Nelson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and has practiced law in Silicon Valley with Brown & Bain and with Fish & Richardson and in San Francisco with Keker & Van Nest. Until January 2000, he was the Marrs McLean Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and until June 2004 he was the Elizabeth Josslyn Boalt Professor of Law at the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley.
In his spare time, Mark enjoys cooking, travel, yoga, and feeding his addiction to fantasy RPGs.
» Lemley, Mark A., Is the Sky Falling on the Content Industries? (August 10, 2010).
» Lemley, Mark A. and McKenna, Mark P., Owning Mark(et)s (May 12, 2010). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 395.
» Lemley, Mark A., Where to File Your Patent Case. Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1597919, 2010.
» Lemley, Mark A., A New Balance between IP and Antitrust (April 2007). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 340.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Shapiro, Carl, Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking. Texas Law Review, Vol. 85, 2007.
» Lemley, Mark A., Terms of Use. Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 91, 2006.
» Lemley, Mark A., Property, Intellectual Property, and Free Riding. Texas Law Review, Vol. 83, p. 1031, 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Lichtman, Douglas Gary and Sampat, Bhaven N., What to do About Bad Patents. Regulation, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 10-13, Winter 2005-2006.
» Lemley, Mark A., O'Brien, David W., Kent, Ryan M., Ramani, Ashok and Van Nest, Robert, Divided Infringement Claims. American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal, Vol. 33, 255, 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Justifications for Intellectual Property. UC Berkeley Public Law Research Paper No. 144. 2004.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Reese, R. Anthony, Reducing Digital Copyright Infringement Without Restricting Innovation. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 56, p. 1345, 2004.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Moore, Kimberly A., Ending Abuse of Patent Continuations (2003). George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 03-52.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Burk, Dan L., Policy Levers in Patent Law. Virginia Law Review, Vol. 89, p. 1575, 2003.
» Lemley, Mark A., Intellectual Property Rights and Standard-Setting Organizations (April 2002). California Law Review, Vol. 90, p. 1889, 2002.
» Lemley, Mark A., Rational Ignorance at the Patent Office (February 2001). Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 95, No. 4, 2001.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Cohen, Julie E., Patent Scope and Innovation in the Software Industry. California Law Review, Vol. 89, P. 1, 2001.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Lessig, Lawrence, The End of End-to-End: Preserving the Architecture of the Internet in the Broadband Era (October 2000). UC Berkeley Law & Econ Research Paper No. 2000-19.
» Lemley, Mark A. and McGowan, David, Legal Implications of Network Economic Effects. 86 Cal. L. Rev. 479, 1998.
» Lemley, Mark A., Dealing With Overlapping Copyrights on the Internet. University of Dayton Law Review, Vol. 22, P. 547, 1997.
» Lemley, Mark A., Antitrust and the Internet Standardization Problem. Connecticut Law Review, Vol. 28, p. 1041, 1996.
» Allison, John R., Lemley, Mark A., Moore, Kimberly A. and Trunkey, R. Derek, Valuable Patents. Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 92, p. 435, 2004.
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., Empirical Evidence on the Validity of Litigated Patents (July 1998).
» Hovenkamp, Herbert J., Janis, Mark D. and Lemley, Mark A., Anticompetitive Settlement of Intellectual Property Disputes. Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 87, p. 1719, 2003.
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Is Patent Law Technology-Specific?. Berkeley Tech. Law Journal, Vol. 17, p. 1155, 2002.
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., Who's Patenting What? An Empirical Exploration of Patent Prosecution. Vanderbilt Law Review, Vol. 53, p. 2099, 2000.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Burk, Dan L., Biotechnology's Uncertainty Principle. Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 54, p. 691, 2004;
» Lemley, Mark A., The Modern Lanham Act and the Death of Common Sense (January 1999).
» Lemley, Mark A. and Myhrvold, Nathan, How to Make a Patent Market (August 2007). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 347.
» Lemley, Mark A., Rationalizing Internet Safe Harbors (April 10, 2007). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 979836.
» Lemley, Mark A., Beyond Preemption: The Federal Law and Policy of Intellectual Property Licensing (June 1, 1998). California Law Review, Vol. 87, p. 111, 1999.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Shapiro, Carl, Probabilistic Patents. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 19, p. 75, 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Patenting Nanotechnology. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 58, November 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Place and Cyberspace (November 2002). California Law Review, Vol. 91, p. 521, 2003.
» Lemley, Mark A., Are Universities Patent Trolls? (April 11, 2007). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 980776.
» Lemley, Mark A., Standardizing Government Standard-Setting Policy for Electronic Commerce (April 29, 1999).
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Designing Optimal Software Patents. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN FRONTIER INDUSTRIES: SOFTWARE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, Robert Hahn, ed., 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Ten Things to do About Patent Holdup of Standards (and One Not To). Boston College Law, Vol. 48, p. 149, 2007.
» Lemley, Mark A., Romantic Authorship and the Rhetoric of Property. Texas Law Review, Vol. 75, P. 873, 1997.
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Inherency. William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2005
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., The Growing Complexity of the United States Patent System. Boston University Law Review, Vol. 82, p. 77, 2002.
» Lemley, Mark A., The Changing Meaning of Patent Claim Terms. Michigan Law Review, Vol. 104, p. 101, 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Frischmann , Brett M., Spillovers. Columbia Law Review, Vol. 100, No. 2, 2006.
» Lemley, Mark A., The Law and Economics of Internet Norms. Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 73, pp. 1257-1294, 1998.
» Lemley, Mark A. and McGowan, David, Could Java Change Everything? The Competitive Propriety of a Proprietary Standard. Antitrust Bulletin, Vol. 43, p. 715, 1998.
» Lemley, Mark A., Distinguishing Lost Profits from Reasonable Royalties. William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 51, 2009.
» Hovenkamp, Herbert J., Janis, Mark D. and Lemley, Mark A., Unilateral Refusals to License in the U.S. (April 2005). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 303.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Weiser, Phil, Should Property or Liability Rules Govern Information?. Texas Law Review, Vol. 85, p. 783, 2007;
» Lemley, Mark A., An Antitrust Assessment of the Google Book Search Settlement (July 8, 2009).
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., Trademarks and Consumer Search Costs on the Internet. Houston Law Review, Vol. 41, p. 777, 2004.
» Cotropia, Christopher Anthony, Lemley, Mark A. and Sampat, Bhaven N., Do Applicant Patent Citations Matter? Implications for the Presumption of Validity (August 10, 2010).
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., How Federal Circuit Judges Vote in Patent Validity Cases. Florida State Univeristy Law Review, Vol. 29, p. 745, 2000.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Sampat, Bhaven N., Is the Patent Office a Rubber Stamp? (October 21, 2008). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 999098.
» Allison, John R., Lemley, Mark A. and Walker, J. H., Extreme Value or Trolls on Top? The Characteristics of the Most Litigated Patents. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 158, No. 1, December 2009.
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., What the Right of Publicity Can Learn from Trademark Law. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 58, p. 1161, 2006.
» Sampat, Bhaven N. and Lemley, Mark A., Examining Patent Examination (October 7, 2009). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1485011.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Dogan, Stacey L., Grounding Trademark Law Through Trademark Use. Iowa Law Review, Vol. 92, 2007.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Chien, Colleen V., Are the U.S. Patent Priority Rules Really Necessary?. Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 54, p. 1299, 2003.
» Lemley, Mark A., Inducing Patent Infringement. UC Davis Law Review, Vol. 39, p. 225, 2005.
» Lemley, Mark A., Ignoring Patents. Michigan State Law Review, Vol. 2008, No. 19, 2008.
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., The (Unnoticed) Demise of the Doctrine of Equivalents. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 59, 2007.
» Conigliaro, Matthew J., Greenberg, Andrew C. and Lemley, Mark A., Foreseeability in Patent Law. Berkeley Tech. Law Journal, Vol. 16, p. 1045, 2001.
» Lichtman, Douglas Gary and Lemley, Mark A., Rethinking Patent Law's Presumption of Validity. Stanford Law Review, Forthcoming.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Reese, R. Anthony, A Quick and Inexpensive System for Resolving Digital Copyright Disputes. Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2005.
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., The Merchandising Right: Fragile Theory or Fait Accompli?. Emory Law Journal, Vol. 54, p. 461, 2005;
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Quantum Patent Mechanics. Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 9, p. 29, 2005.
» Froomkin, A. Michael and Lemley, Mark A., ICANN and Antitrust. University of Illinois Law Review, Vol. 1, 2003.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Walker, J. H., Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse: Data Overview (November 2, 2007). 2007 Kauffman Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Data.
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Fence Posts or Sign Posts: Rethinking Patent Claim Construction (March 12, 2009). UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2009-10.
» Cotropia, Christopher Anthony and Lemley, Mark A., Copying in Patent Law. Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1270160.
» Lemley, Mark A., The Surprising Virtues of Treating Trade Secrets as IP Rights (June 2008). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 358.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Volokh, Eugene, Freedom of Speech and Injunctions in Intellectual Property Cases (April 1998).
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., A Search-Costs Theory of Limiting Doctrines in Trademark Law. Trademark Reporter, Vol. 97, No. 6, November-December 2007.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Sampat, Bhaven N., Examiner Characteristics and the Patent Grant Rate (January 1, 2009). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 369.
» Lemley, Mark A., The Economics of Improvement in Intellectual Property Law (September 1, 2008). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 365.
» Lemley, Mark A., The Limits of Claim Differentiation (August 22, 2007). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1008885.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Leslie, Christopher R., Categorical Analysis in Antitrust Jurisprudence (November 2007). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 348.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Shapiro, Carl, Reply: Patent Holdup and Royalty Stacking. Texas Law Review, Vol. 85, 2007.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Tangri, R. K., Ending Patent Law's Willfulness Game. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Vol. 18, p. 1085, 2003.
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., The Patent Crisis and How Courts Can Solve It (February 26, 2009). UC Irvine School of Law Research Working Paper No. 2009-8.
» Durie, Daralyn J. and Lemley, Mark A., A Realist Approach to the Obviousness of Inventions. Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1133169.
» Lemley, Mark A., Should Patent Infringement Require Proof of Copying? (January 4, 2007).
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., The Trademark Use Requirement in Dilution Cases. Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1033165.
» Lemley, Mark A. and McKenna, Mark P., Irrelevant Confusion. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 62, January 2010.
» Dogan, Stacey L. and Lemley, Mark A., Antitrust Law and Regulatory Gaming (October 2008). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 367.
» Lemley, Mark A., Should a Licensing Market Require Licensing? (July 13, 2006). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 917161.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Pooley, James H. A., California Restrictive Employment Covenants after Edwards (November 4, 2008). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1295606.
» mley, Mark A., Risch, Michael, Sichelman, Ted M. and Wagner, R. Polk, Brief Amici Curiae of 20 Law and Business Professors in Support of Neither Party in Bilski v. Doll (August 7, 2009). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1485043.
» Lemley, Mark A., A Cautious Defense of Intellectual Oligopoly with Fringe Competition (May 1, 2009). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 374.
» Durie, Daralyn J. and Lemley, Mark A., A Structured Approach to Calculating Reasonable Royalties (October 7, 2009). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 485064.
» Burk, Dan L. and Lemley, Mark A., Courts and the Patent System. Regulation, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 18-23, Summer 2009.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Shafir, Ziv, Who Chooses Open Source Software? (October 28, 2009). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 382.
» Lemley, Mark A., Our Bizarre System for Proving Copyright Infringement (August 18, 2010).
» Lemley, Mark A., Can the Patent Office Be Fixed? (August 29, 2010). Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 396.
» Allison, John R. and Lemley, Mark A., Empirical Evidence on the Validity of Litigated Patents. American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal, Vol. 26, p. 185, 1998.
» Lemley, Mark A. and O'Brien, David W., Encouraging Software Reuse. Stanford Law Review, Vol. 49, P. 255, February 1997..
» Lemley, Mark A. and Moore, Kimberly A., Ending Abuse of Patent Continuations. Boston University Law Review, Vol. 84, p. 63, 2004.
» Lemley, Mark A. and Volokh, Eugene, Freedom of Speech and Injunctions in Intellectual Property Cases. Duke Law Journal, Vol. 48, p. 147, October 1998.
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While helping his old friend Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle) build houses for the poor in Africa, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, in a Golden Globe-nominated role) gets caught in the middle of a military coup. Back in the United States, Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) prepares to be sworn in as president. Filmed on location in South Africa, this stand-alone movie serves as a bridge between the sixth and seventh seasons of the popular show "24" and co-stars Gil Bellows and Jon Voight.
Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Jon Voight, Gil Bellows, Robert Carlyle, Kim Raver, William Devane, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Gregory Itzin, Roger R. Cross, James Morrison, D.B. Woodside, Jean Smart, Peter MacNicol, Jayne Atkinson, Eric Balfour, Carlo Rota, Marisol Nichols, Regina King
TV Shows, TV Action & Adventure, TV Crime Dramas, TV Dramas
Violent, Suspenseful
Spanish (Neutral)
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Mar 12th, 2015 by admin
The East Quabbin Land Trust encourages visitors to all of its preserves. Please be respectful of the land and other visitors. EQLT has several policies that guide use of the land, including a Dog Walking Policy, Hunting and Fishing Policy and Recreational Trail Use Policy. We encourage you to go explore the Hyde Woodland Preserve.
This 100-acre forested parcel along the southern flank of the Dougal Range was acquired by the East Quabbin Land Trust in 2009. Click here for a map of the property. The Town of Ware holds the conservation restriction on the Hyde Woodland Preserve. The property is located in the northerly part of Ware along the easterly edge of the Muddy Brook Valley. The forest is dominated by white pine and a mixture of hardwoods. The property is divided in two by the heavily eroded and abandoned Old Stagecoach Road which is currently overtaken by a host of invasive plants. This old town road once connected Old Gilbertville Road to Hardwick Pond Road.
The Hyde Woodland is part of the Dougal Range, a large nearly unfragmented forested area recognized regionally as a significant wildlife habitat and important regional landscape by three major ecological metrics: BioMap 2, the Living Waters Program, and the Important Bird Area Project. This property plays an important role as part of a larger open space matrix with significant wildlife habitat value.
The property includes frontage on Muddy Brook and supports a farm pond, two certified vernal pools, an intermittent stream, and a freshwater marsh. The Hyde Woodland is located within the Town of Ware’s water supply protection area for drinking water wells located downstream. A beaver dam is located along Muddy Brook proper. The Preserve is an integral part of a significant wildlife corridor extending along Muddy Brook which is delineated as rare species habitat by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. The southwesterly facing forested slopes above Muddy Brook support rich hardwood forests of red oak, sugar maple, and white ash and high concentration of unusual spring wildflowers. Interesting stone walls, cellar holes, and unique landscape features such as steep talus slopes are found throughout. Some of the wildlife occurring in the area include white-tailed deer, beaver, black bear, bobcat, gray and red fox, coyote, moose, turkey, bald eagle, and a large variety of migratory birds including interior nesting songbirds.
The property is currently open for hunting, fishing, and passive recreation. Access is from existing trails along the Dougal Range, such as through the Ware Town Forest parcel or from Hardwick Pond Road to the abandoned section of Old Stagecoach Road.
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12 March 2015 by Mark Westall
Follow the Heart: The Art of Sean Scully, first major exhibition by a western abstract artist to tour in China.
Opening today March 12th The Art of Sean Scully in Beijing coincides with the announcement of a range of exhibitions by Sean Scully throughout 2015, including a body of new work to be shown at the Venice Biennale, a permanent installation at Sta. Cecilia in Barcelona opening in June, and solo shows in Ireland, Germany, Austria, France and Brazil.
Sean Scully Diagonal Inset, 1973 Acrylic on canvas 96 x 96″ (243.8 x 243.8 cm)
© Sean Scully
Following the launch of Follow the Heart at the Shanghai Biennial in November 2014, the show has travelled to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, giving a wide audience the opportunity to experience art that has never been seen in China before.
The exhibition revisits the British/American artist’s career over the past 50 years in over 100 works including some of his most iconic and important pieces, such as Night and Day, examples of his great 1980s paintings which overturned the orthodoxies of minimalism, and several of his famous Wall of Light paintings.
To celebrate the arrival of the exhibition in China, the artist has created a monumental sculpture China Piled Up especially for the occasion.
The exhibition has been arranged in association with Philip Dodd whose agency, Made in China, has worked with major Chinese and UK cultural institutions and was creative consultant on Thomas Heatherwick’s award-winning Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010.
The Central Academy of Fine Arts is China’s most prestigious and celebrated art academy. It was founded in April 1950, bringing together the National Art School and the Department of Fine Arts at the North China University.
Wang Huangsheng, Director CAFA, said:
“Sean Scully is one of the most important and most influential abstract artists today. His work is absolutely contemporary, insists on individual consciousness and independent thinking, and is able to explore and express the essential power of the inner consciousness and of the external world in such a way as to make a valuable contribution to the life and the history of art in a tempestuous time. We believe that this exhibition and the educational events at the academy will bring a refreshing wave of creative and thorough thinking to the arts in the Chinese cultural scene, and to the young artists and students in China.”
Sean Scully has gained international prominence as one of the most admired contemporary abstract painters working today. Born in Dublin in 1945, he moved to England with his family in 1949. He studied at Croydon College of Art (1965–7), and then studied and taught at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1967–71), and in the USA at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (1972–3). In 1975 he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship and established his studio in New York, where he settled, becoming an American citizen in 1983.
His work has been exhibited internationally and is held by numerous public collections worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The National Gallery of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth; Tate, London; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20K21, Düsseldorf; Albertina, Vienna; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; and Instituto Valencia d’Arte Modern, Valencia. He lives and works in New York, Barcelona and Munich.
Follow the Heart: The Art of Sean Scully 1964-2014 12th March – 23rd April 2015
CAFA ART MUSEUM, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
This entry was posted in NEWS and tagged Sean Scully, the Venice Biennale. Bookmark the permalink.
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The 58th Venice Biennale: A Response To Greed and Fear
Georg Baselitz retrospective to be the first exhibition by a living artist at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice
Frieze Sculpture to open in the English Gardens for three months
British artist Ian Davenport creates a “Giardini Colourfall” for Swatch at The Venice Biennale
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HomePosts tagged 'uphold democracy'
uphold democracy
Iowa? IOWA? Oh, no, NOT IOWA!
July 6, 2014 July 5, 2014 fasab Current Events, Politics, War 9/11 terrorists, ability to find the country on the map, add insult to injury so to speak, Afghanistan, American foreign policy, americans, Americans’ attitudes, analyzed, assist, bankrupt, biggest dictatorships, Bin Laden, bureaucrats, correlated, coup d’etat, Cuba, Current Events, curtail Russia, democratically elected president, democratization programs, don't know what they are talking about, education, facts are never examined, fantasy, foreign matters, fully nuclear armed Ukraine, funk, game plan, if the Russians and for it then we're against it, International Republican Institute, internet, intervene, Iowa, iraq, mindless mantra, Moscow, name of the game, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, National Endowment for Democracy, NATO, overthrown, politics, President, putin, Rants, recent history, respondents, rights and wrongs, rub Preparation H on their elbows, Russian leader Putin, Russians, Saudi Arabia, smokescreen, spin, stationing missile defense systems, strange thing, students of history, subservient to Russia, the Sunday Sermon, the Ukraine, Ukraine, uphold democracy, upholding democracy, US, US Foreign Policy, Washington, Washington's allies, world's policeman, Yanukovych
The Sunday Sermon
I read a strange thing on the internet the other day.
Not much unusual there, you could do that every day.
This was a study that found that Americans’ attitudes about whether the US should intervene in Ukraine is correlated with their ability to find the country on the map.
And even more strangely – perhaps – it was the Americans who COULDN’T find the Ukraine on a map who were more in favor of intervention!
Apparently – and I kid you not – some of the respondents thought that the Ukraine was in Iowa.
Europe with Ukraine highlighted USA with Iowa highlighted
Unfortunately the guys that think out American foreign policy are these sorts of people. The kind who just don’t know what they are talking about. The kind of bureaucrats who rub Preparation H on their elbows – if you see what I mean!
Recent history proves this beyond all reasonable doubt.
To add insult to injury so to speak, these know nothings who advise the President on foreign matters try to spin every situation by telling everyone that, even though it has massive debt already and is effectively bankrupt, the US must still be the world’s policeman and uphold democracy.
What business is it of ours?
And if we are so hell bent on ensuring democracy exists throughout the world why aren’t we intervening in one of the biggest dictatorships of them all, Saudi Arabia which was also the home of most of the 9/11 terrorists and of course Bin Laden’s mother country? But no, lets attack Iraq and Afghanistan instead!
For more than half a century American foreign policy has been dictated by a mindless mantra that “if the Russians are for it, then we’re against it”.
The rights and wrongs of any particular situation are not analyzed or discussed. The facts are never examined. The truth is not even looked for.
That is why US foreign policy has been such a shambles throughout the world and will continue to be so until basically the people directing it wise up.
As for the Ukraine?
First of all it is NOT in Iowa.
Second, the US has spent (wasted) $5 billion and more during the past twenty years on “democratization” programs in Ukraine, including efforts from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute and the National Endowment for Democracy.
Third, yes there were elements within the Ukraine who did not like being subservient to Russia, but what happened in the Ukraine was that a democratically elected president, Yanukovych, was overthrown in February in what amounted to a coup d’etat.
Students of history will remember what a funk America was in when the Russians started to “assist” Cuba way back in the early 1960s, yet they can’t understand why Russian leader Putin doesn’t want a fully nuclear armed Ukraine as anything other than an ally on his doorstep.
Why can they not see that the strategy of absorbing Ukraine into NATO and stationing missile defense systems there, is bound to piss the Russians off in exactly the same way as events in Cuba did for the Americans?
The fact is, of course, that they probably do see that. And they don’t care. The name of the game here is not upholding democracy at all. Such a laudable goal is only a smokescreen. The name of the game is to try to curtail Russia by having Ukrainian missiles pointed towards Moscow instead of Washington, or Washington’s allies.
It’s a game plan that Putin sees quite clearly. To think that he will sit back and not respond is just a fantasy. Let’s hope that the idiots in Washington don’t land us with yet another catastrophe.
With their past record I wouldn’t count on it though!
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Tehran session to discuss connections between Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht – Entertainment magazine
Home / Culture / Tehran session to discuss connections between Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht
Tehran session to discuss connections between Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht
javadesmaty 7 days ago Culture Leave a comment 4 Views
TEHRAN – A number of Iranian scholars and artists will come together in a meeting at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Friday to discuss the influences German philosopher Walter Benjamin and German playwright Bertolt Brecht have on each other’s works.
Iranian scholars Morad Farhadpur, Reza Sarvar, Nima Isapur and stage director and playwright Mohammad Rezairad are scheduled to give lectures during the session entitled “Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht and All the Angels of the History”.
In addition, “The Angel of the History”, a play that is currently on stage at the Charsu Hall of the complex, will be reviewed during the session.
Rezairad is the writer and director of the play, which is about the last night of the life of Benjamin, who killed himself while fleeing Europe to the U.S. in 1940.
Milad Rahimi, Reza Behbudi, Baran Kosari, Milad Shajareh and Sina Karami are the main members of the cast for the play, which will remain on stage until July 19.
Benjamin was an acclaimed critic, a literary theorist and an eclectic thinker. Among his best-known works are the essays “The Task of the Translator”, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and “Theses on the Philosophy of History”.
Brecht was one of the twentieth century’s most influential theater artists. He was the main proponent of the genre named epic theater. Among his credits are the plays “Life of Galileo”, “Hangmen Also Die”, “Don Juan” and “The Seven Deadly Sins”.
Benjamin and Brecht met each other when they were both in exile during the Nazi period and World War II. It seems the friendship between the two artists had shaped their thoughts and writings.
Photo: A poster for the meeting “Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht and All the Angels of the History”.
ABU/MMS/YAW
Culture news for the call please
Source; tehrantimes News Agency
Tags “Walter Benjamin Bertolt Brecht and All the Angels of the History” Mohammad Rezairad Tehran’s City Theater Complex
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TEHRAN – The director-general of France’s Cite internationale des arts in Benedicte Alliot is in …
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Stelle di Luce
it en de ja ru zh-hans fr
A Universe of births
Our journey through Birth, Luce della Vite’s monographic book, continues. While last month we focused on the birth of a vineyard, inspired by the words of Luigi Veronelli who said that “Wine is the song of the earth to the sky”, here we are now, looking up at the sky. And at the stars.
So how are the stars born? And how about the planets? Tommaso Belloni, the current Research Director at INAF’s Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, explained this in his article in Birth. He told us how, starting from the Big Bang, a constant process of birth commenced in the Universe, so that stars (and planets) are born from other stars. Just like the vineyard which, after the wineter, is born again with the arrival of spring, starting a new vegetative cycle, so the universe, with its stars and its planet, is made of births and rebirths.
Everything surrounding us is made of “heavy” chemical elements, such as iron, oxygen, silicon, nitrogen, carbon. But how were these born? If we start from the beginning, from the primordial Big Bang from which the Universe was originated some 14 billion years ago, we find out that despite it being a spectacular event, the only elements that were produced once the Universe cooled down were hydrogen and helium, the stars’ main combustible materials. The first stars to be born, therefore, were only made of hydrogen and helium, and were probably much larger and massive than current stars. They were very different from the Sun, even though less than 1% of the mass of the solar system is made of heavier elements. For sure, you cannot make a planet with just two elements. So the elements that make everything that surrounds us must have been produced later.
Of the stars, the very massive ones have a short life and become supernovas: they explode and expel a large part of their gas. This matter is much richer in heavy elements, produced both during the life of the star and during the supernova event itself. This is when our elements are born, though they’re still In the form of gas.
At the core of the explosion, an exotic voracious object like a black hole or a Neutron star can be born. The gas expelled, on the other hand, comes in contact with the surrounding gas, like an interstellar cloud. The gas becomes more dense and from the cloud new stars are born, made of other elements too: a stellar nursery originates from the end of a star. This is when new planetary systems are also born.
The more massive stars in turn will also end as supernovas, and repeat the process. One of the less massive stars is our Sun with its planets. This happens constantly, both in our galaxy and in the others, Even though the time scale is much longer than human time (the last supernova to be recorded in our galaxy was in 1604). The Universe is made of continuous births: one of these produced the solar system and hence the Earth and us too of course.
We were born from stardust.
Beyond the scents of wine
Luce at Kakuonji
Birth and rebirth of a vineyard
Luce della Vite s r.l. Estate
Loc. Castelgiocondo, 53024 - Montalcino - Siena, Italia
Via Aretina 120, 50065 - Sieci - Firenze, Italia Registro Imprese di Siena
N. iscrizione e C.F. 00088060520
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Alaska senator Ted Stevens indicted in corruption scandal
17 July 2019: Retired US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens dies
12 July 2019: Louisiana declares state of emergency as Tropical Storm Barry approaches U.S. coast
1 July 2019: Charlottesville, Virginia killer sentenced to life in prison
28 June 2019: Driver in New Hampshire multi-motorcycle crash pleads not guilty
24 June 2019: New Hampshire crash kills seven, including former US Marines
Location of United States
United States Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has been indicted by federal grand jury on seven criminal counts for making false statements in his Senate financial disclosure forms. The longest-serving Republican in the Senate, Stevens is the highest-profile politician ensnared in the corruption scandal surrounding VECO Corporation and its executives' attempts to influence politics.
United States Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska
VECO, a subsidiary of CH2M Hill as of September 2007, is an oil pipeline and services company. It is alleged to have funded renovations to the Stevens home in Girdwood, Alaska in 2000. The renovations include a new garage and first floor, a two story wrap-around deck, as well as new wiring and plumbing. In 2007, VECO chief executive Bill Allen pleaded guilty to charges of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy.
The 28-page indictment alleges that Stevens "knowingly and willfully engaged in a scheme to conceal" gifts from VECO, which totaled "hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value."
A press release was issued by Stevens' office in response to the allegations: "I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that." And Stevens himself commented, "I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator." Senator Daniel Inouye, a close friend of Stevens, commented: "As far as he's concerned, he's not guilty. And I believe him."
Stevens was reportedly caught unawares on Tuesday when the indictment charge was filed. "Apparently, the media knew about it before he did," Inouye stated, adding that he had just talked to Stevens. Ted Stevens was in a meeting with other Republicans when he found out about the charge.
Stevens is the longest-serving Republican senator in history and is up for reelection this November. Calls to his office in Washington for comment were redirected to a voicemail indicating that his "office is closed."
The United States Department of Justice says it has already obtained seven convictions in the case: Peter Kott, a former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives; Thomas T. Anderson, a former state representative; Victor H. Kohring, another representative; James A. Clark, chief of staff to the former governor of Alaska; William Bobrick, a lobbyist; Bill Allen, VECO chief executive; and Richard L. Smith, VECO vice president of government relations.
Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Alaska political corruption probe
Ted Barret. "Alaska senator on charges: 'I am innocent'" — CNN, July 29, 2008
David Stout and David M. Herszenhorn. "Alaska Senator Is Indicted on Corruption Charges" — New York Times, July 29, 2008
Robert Schmidt. "Alaska Senator Ted Stevens Charged in Corruption Case" — Bloomberg News, July 29, 2008
US District Court for the District of Columbia. "Grand Jury Indictment of Ted Stevens" — The Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2008 PDF (1.39 MB)
Press Release: "U.S. Senator Indicted on False Statement Charges" — United States Department of Justice, July 29, 2008
Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Alaska_senator_Ted_Stevens_indicted_in_corruption_scandal&oldid=3290545"
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Bloc Quebecois says no to reversing gay marriage
31 May 2019: Toronto's Anime North 2019 brings thousands of fans together
29 March 2019: Toronto Comicon 2019 welcomes fans with celebrities, creativity, cosplay
25 March 2019: Fur fans flock to Toronto's Furnal Equinox 2019
2 February 2019: Paris court jails two police in high-profile rape case
1 February 2019: Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur pleads guilty to eight murders
Location of Canada
Contrary to Steven Harper's plan to put Canada's newly created Civil Marriage Bill back on the floor of the House of Commons for a free vote, The Bloc Quebecois plans to oppose any attempts by the Conservatives to revisit the issue when Parliament returns in the fall.
"It is simply believed that the debate has taken place and it is not relevant to start it again," said Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe.
The same-sex marriage debate in Canada was kicked off in 2003 by a ruling of the Ontario Supreme Court which found that the constitution's definition of marriage between one man and one woman was unconstitutional, and forced Ontario to recoginize same-sex marriage. The ruling sparked similar provincial supreme court challenges in the nine other provinces, promping then Former Prime Minister Paul Martin to introduce a bill in the House of Commons that changed the federal constitution's definition to a union between two people. The controversial bill drew fire from Canada's conservative and religious communities who alleged that such a change to the constitution would destroy Canadian society, and lead to churches being forced to perform same-sex marriages. The bill was later changed to exclude any religious institution from being forced to perform marriages that were contrary to church doctrine. After putting the bill to a free vote in the House of Commons in the spring of 2005, the bill received the support of the house and was drafted into law. In the election that followed, Conservative Party leader Steven Harper vowed to revisit the issue of equal marriage with another free vote, this time hoping to reverse the constitutional change.
Same-sex marriage in Canada
Sylvain Larocque (Canadian Press). "Bloc opts for united front against reopening same-sex marriage debate" — Canada.com, August 26, 2006
"United Bloc to oppose reopening same-sex marriage debate" — Halifax Chronicle-Herald, August 25, 2006
This page has been automatically archived by a robot, and is no longer publicly editable.
Please note that the listed sources may no longer be available online.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Bloc_Quebecois_says_no_to_reversing_gay_marriage&oldid=4466906"
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Tommy (album)
(Redirected from Tommy (rock opera))
This article is about the original 1969 concept album by the Who. For the related orchestral and soundtrack albums, as well as unrelated albums of the same name, see Tommy (disambiguation) § Music.
Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who. It was first released as a double album on 17 May 1969 by Decca Records. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker, a "deaf, dumb and blind" boy, including his experiences with life and his relationship with his family.
17 May 1969 (1969-05-17)
19 September 1968 – 7 March 1969
IBC Studios, London, England
Kit Lambert
The Who UK chronology
Direct Hits
(1968) Tommy
(1969) Live at Leeds
The Who US chronology
Magic Bus: The Who On Tour
Singles from Tommy
"Pinball Wizard"/"Dogs (Part Two)"
Released: 7 March 1969
"I'm Free"/"We're Not Gonna Take It"
Released: July 1969
"See Me, Feel Me"/"Overture from Tommy"
Townshend came up with the concept of Tommy after being introduced to the work of Meher Baba, and attempted to translate Baba's teachings into music. Recording on the album began in September 1968, but took six months to complete as material needed to be arranged and re-recorded in the studio. Tommy was acclaimed upon its release by critics, who hailed it as the Who's breakthrough. Its critical standing diminished slightly in later years; nonetheless, several writers view it as an important and influential album in the history of rock music. The Who promoted the album's release with an extensive tour, including a live version of Tommy, which lasted throughout 1969 and 1970. Key gigs from the tour included appearances at Woodstock, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the University of Leeds, the Metropolitan Opera House and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The live performances of Tommy drew critical praise and rejuvenated the band's career.
Subsequently, the rock opera developed into other media, including a Seattle Opera production in 1971, an orchestral version by Lou Reizner in 1972, a film in 1975, and a Broadway musical in 1992. The original album has sold 20 million copies and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has been reissued several times on CD, including a remix by Jon Astley in 1996, a deluxe Super Audio CD in 2003, and a super deluxe box set in 2013, including previously unreleased demos and live material.
SynopsisEdit
Tommy has never had a definitive plot, but the following synopsis was published following the original album's release.[1]
British Army Captain Walker goes missing during an expedition and is believed dead ("Overture"). His wife, Mrs. Walker, gives birth to their son, Tommy ("It's a Boy"). Years later, Captain Walker returns home and discovers that his wife has found a new lover. The Captain murders this man in an altercation. Tommy's mother brainwashes him into believing he didn't see or hear anything, shutting down his senses and making him deaf, dumb and blind to the outside world ("1921"). Tommy now relies on his sense of touch and imagination, developing a fascinating inner psyche ("Amazing Journey/Sparks").[2]
A quack claims his wife can cure Tommy ("The Hawker"), while Tommy's parents are increasingly frustrated that he will never find religion in the midst of his isolation ("Christmas"). They begin to neglect him, leaving him to be tortured by his sadistic "Cousin Kevin" and molested by his uncle Ernie ("Fiddle About"). The Hawker's drug addicted wife, "The Acid Queen", gives Tommy a dose of LSD, causing a hallucinogenic experience that is expressed musically ("Underture").[2]
As Tommy grows older, he discovers that he can feel vibrations sufficiently well to become an expert pinball player ("Pinball Wizard"). His parents take him to a respected doctor ("There's a Doctor"), who determines that the boy's disabilities are psychosomatic rather than physical. Tommy is told by the Doctor to "Go to the Mirror!", and his parents notice he can stare at his reflection. After seeing Tommy spend extended periods staring at a mirror in the house, his mother smashes it out of frustration ("Smash the Mirror"). This removes Tommy's mental block, and he recovers his senses, realising he can become a powerful leader ("Sensation"). He starts a religious movement ("I'm Free"), which generates fervor among its adherents ("Sally Simpson") and expands into a holiday camp ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp"). However, Tommy's followers ultimately reject his teachings and leave the camp ("We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy retreats inward again ("See Me, Feel Me") with his "continuing statement of wonder at that which encompasses him".[2]
Townshend had been looking at ways of progressing beyond the standard three minute pop single format since 1966.[3] Co-manager Kit Lambert shared Townshend's views and encouraged him to develop musical ideas,[4] coming up with the term "rock opera". The first use of the term was applied to a suite called "Quads", set in a future where parents could choose the sex of their children. A couple want four girls but instead receive three girls and a boy, raising him as a girl anyway. The opera was abandoned after writing a single song, the hit single, "I'm a Boy".[5] When the Who's second album, A Quick One ran short of material during recording, Lambert suggested that Townshend should write a "mini-opera" to fill the gap. Townshend initially objected, but eventually agreed to do so, coming up with "A Quick One, While He's Away", which joined short pieces of music together into a continuous narrative.[6] During 1967, Townshend learned how to play the piano and began writing songs on it, taking his work more seriously.[7] That year's The Who Sell Out included a mini-opera in the last track, "Rael", which like "A Quick One..." was a suite of musical segments joined together.[8]
The package I hope is going to be called "Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy." It's a story about a kid that's born deaf, dumb and blind and what happens to him throughout his life ... But what it's really all about is the fact that ... he's seeing things basically as vibrations which we translate as music. That's really what we want to do: create this feeling that when you listen to the music you can actually become aware of the boy, and aware of what he is all about, because we are creating him as we play."
Pete Townshend talking to Jann Wenner, August 1968[9]
By 1968, Townshend was unsure about how the Who should progress musically. The group were no longer teenagers, but he wanted their music to remain relevant.[10] His friend, International Times art director Mike McInnerney, told him about the Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba,[11] and Townshend became fascinated with Baba's values of compassion, love and introspection.[12] The Who's commercial success was on the wane after the single "Dogs" failed to make the top 20, and there was a genuine risk of the band breaking up.[13] The group still performed well live and spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada[14] but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles, and a new stage show, and Townshend hoped to incorporate his love of Baba into this concept.[15] He decided that the Who should record a series of songs that stood well in isolation, but formed a cohesive whole on the album. He also wanted the material performed in concert, to counteract the trend of bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys, whose studio output was not designed for live performance.[16]
In August 1968, in an interview to Rolling Stone, Townshend talked about a new rock opera, which had the working title of Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy, and described the entire plot in great detail, which ran to 11 pages.[17] Who biographer Dave Marsh subsequently said the interview described the narrative better than the finished album.[18] Townshend later regretted publishing so much detail, as he felt it forced him to write the album according to that blueprint.[19] The rest of the Who, however, were enthusiastic about the idea, and let him have artistic control over the project.[20]
RecordingEdit
The Who started recording the album at IBC Studios on 19 September 1968.[21] There was no firm title at this point, which was variously referred to as Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy, Amazing Journey, Journey into Space, The Brain Opera and Omnibus. Townshend eventually settled on Tommy because it was a common British name, and a nickname for soldiers in World War I.[22] Lambert took charge of the production, with Damon Lyon-Shaw as engineer. Sessions were block booked from 2pm – 10pm, but recording often spilled over into the early morning. [21]
The album was recorded onto eight track tape, which allowed various instruments to be overdubbed. Townshend used several guitars in the studio, but made particular use of the Gibson J-200 acoustic and the Gibson SG.[23] As well as their usual instruments, Townshend played piano and organ and bassist John Entwistle doubled on french horn. Keith Moon used a new double bass drum kit owned by roadie Tony Haslam, after Premier had refused to loan him any more equipment due to continual abuse.[21] Though Townshend wrote the majority of the material, the arrangements came from the entire band. Singer Roger Daltrey later said that Townshend often came in with a half-finished demo recording, adding "we probably did as much talking as we did recording, sorting out arrangements and things."[24] Townshend asked Entwistle to write two songs ("Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About") that covered the darker themes of bullying and abuse. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" was Moon's suggestion of what kind of religious movement Tommy could lead. Moon got the songwriting credit for suggesting the idea, though the music was composed and played by Townshend.[25] A significant amount of material had a lighter style than earlier recordings, with greater prominence put on the vocals. Moon later said, "It was, at the time, very un-Wholike. A lot of the songs were soft. We never played like that."[26]
Some of the material had already been written for other projects. "Sensation" was written about a girl Townshend had met on the Who's tour of Australia in early 1968, "Welcome" and "I'm Free" were about peace found through Meher Baba and "Sally Simpson" was based on a gig with the Doors which was marred by violence.[27] Other songs had been previously recorded by the Who and were recycled; "It's A Boy" was derived from "Glow Girl", an out-take from The Who Sell Out, while "Sparks" and "Underture" re-used and expanded one of the instrumental themes in "Rael".[28] "Amazing Journey" was, according to Townshend, "the absolute beginning" of the opera and summarised the entire plot.[28] "The Hawker" was a cover of Mose Allison's "Eyesight to the Blind". A cover of Mercy Dee Walton's "One Room Country Shack" was also recorded but was scrapped from the final track listing as Townshend could not figure out a way to incorporate it in the plot.[29]
Recording at IBC was slow, due to a lack of a full plot and a full selection of songs. The group hoped that the album would be ready by Christmas, but sessions dragged on. Melody Maker's Chris Welch visited IBC studios in November and while he was impressed with the working environment and the material,[30] the project still did not have a title and there was no coherent plotline.[25] The Who's US record company, Decca Records, got so impatient waiting for new product that they released the compilation album Magic Bus: The Who on Tour which received a scathing review from Greil Marcus in Rolling Stone over its poor selection of material and misleading name (as the album contained studio recordings and was not live).[31]
The Who took a break from recording at the end of 1968 to tour, including a well received appearance at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus on 10 December.[32] They resumed sessions at IBC in January 1969, block booking Monday to Thursday, but had to do gigs every weekend to stop going further into debt.[33] A major tour was booked for the end of April, and the group's management insisted that the album would have to be finished by then, as it had been well over a year since The Who Sell Out.[34] Lambert wrote a script, Tommy (1914–1984) which he professionally printed, and gave copies to the band, which helped them focus the storyline, and also decide to make the album a double.[33] The group were still coming up with new material; Lambert insisted that the piece should have a proper overture,[34] while Townshend wrote "Pinball Wizard" so that Nik Cohn, a pinball fan, would give the album a favourable review in the New York Times.[35] Lambert wanted an orchestra to appear on the album, but Townshend was strongly against the idea, and time and budget constraints meant it could not happen anyway.[34]
By March 1969, some songs had been recorded several times, yet Townshend still thought there were missing pieces.[36] Entwistle had become fed up with recording, later saying "we had to keep going back and rejuvenating the numbers ... it just started to drive us mad."[23] The final recording session took place on 7 March, the same day that "Pinball Wizard" was released as a single.[37] The group started tour rehearsals and promotional activities for the single and Lambert went on holiday in Cairo. The mixing was left to Lyon-Shaw and assistant engineer Ted Sharp, who did not think IBC was well suited for the task.[38] The album overshot its April deadline, as stereo mastering continued into the end of the month.[39]
Release and receptionEdit
After delays surrounding the cover artwork, Tommy was released on 17 May 1969 in the US by Decca and 23 May in the UK by Track Records.[40] The original double album was configured with sides 1 and 4 on one disc, and sides 2 and 3 on the other, to accommodate record changers.[41]
The album was commercially successful, reaching No. 2 in the UK album charts, and No. 4 in the US.[42] It sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, and was awarded a gold record for sales of 500,000 on August 18.[43] "Pinball Wizard", "I'm Free" and "See Me, Feel Me" were released as singles and received airplay on the radio. "Pinball Wizard" reached the top 20 in the US and the top five in the UK. "See Me, Feel Me" reached the top 20 in the US and "I'm Free" reached the top 40. An EP of selections from the album was planned to be released in the UK in November 1970, but was withdrawn.[44] As of 2012, Tommy has sold 20 million copies worldwide.[23][45]
When it was released, critics were split between those who thought the album was a masterpiece, the beginnings of a new genre, and those that felt it was exploitative. The album had a hostile reception with the BBC and certain US radio stations, with Tony Blackburn describing "Pinball Wizard" as "distasteful".[39] Nevertheless, BBC Radio 1 received an advance copy of the album at the start of May and gave the material its first airplay on Pete Drummond's show on 3 May.[41] Townshend promoted the album's release with interviews in which he attempted to explain the plotline. Unfortunately, because it fundamentally dealt with the abstract concept of Baba's spiritual precepts, the interviews often gave confusing and contradicting details.[46]
For Melody Maker, Chris Welch went to the album's press launch show at Ronnie Scott's and although the volume left his ears ringing for 20 hours, he concluded "we wanted more." Disc and Music Echo ran a front-page headline saying "Who's Tommy: A Masterpiece".[43] Critics and fans were confused by the storyline, but Lambert pointed out this made Tommy no less confusing than the operas of Richard Wagner or Giacomo Puccini a century earlier.[47] In a 1969 column for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau said that, apart from the Mothers of Invention's We're Only in It for the Money, Tommy is the first successful "extended work" in rock music, but Townshend's parodic side is more "profound and equivocal" than Frank Zappa. He praised Townshend for deliberately constructing the album so that each song can be enjoyed individually and felt that he is determined to "give his audience what it wants without burying his own peculiarity".[48] Albert Goldman, writing in Life magazine, said that the Who play through "all the kinky complications" of the narrative in a hard rock style that is the antithesis of most contemporary "serious" rock. Goldman asserted that, based on innovation, performance, and "sheer power", Tommy surpasses anything else in studio-recorded rock.[49] Christgau named Tommy the best album of 1969 in his year-end list for Jazz & Pop magazine.[50]
ReappraisalEdit
Retrospective professional reviews
MusicHound Rock 4/5[52]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
According to music journalist Richie Unterberger, Tommy was hailed by contemporary critics as the Who's breakthrough, but its critical standing diminished slightly in the subsequent decades, because of its occasionally pretentious concept and flimsy songs that functioned as devices to "advance the rather sketchy plot."[51] Christgau wrote in 1983, "Tommy's operatic pretensions were so transparent that for years it seemed safe to guess that Townshend's musical ideas would never catch up with his lyrics."[57] In his review for AllMusic, Unterberger said that, despite its slight flaws, the album has "many excellent songs" permeated with "a suitably powerful grace", while Townshend's ability to devise a lengthy narrative introduced "new possibilities to rock music."[51] Uncut wrote that the album "doesn't quite realise its ambitions, though it achieves a lot on the way", and felt it was not as well developed as their later album, Quadrophenia.[56] Mark Kemp, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), felt that "in retrospect, Tommy isn't quite the masterpiece it was originally hyped to be", suggesting The Who Sell Out was better, though because of Townshend, it produced several "bona fide classic songs".[58]
In 1998, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant value".[45] In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Tommy number 96 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[59] The album is one of several by the Who to appear in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[60]
According to music critic Martha Bayles, Tommy did not mix rock with classical music, as its "rock opera" title may have suggested, but instead was "dominated by the Who's mature style: ponderous, rhythmically monotonous hard rock".[61] Bayles argued that it was more acceptable to audiences than the art rock "concoctions" of the time because of the cultural climate during the late 1960s: "Tommy was considered more authentic, precisely because it consists of hard rock, rather than doctored-up Mussorgsky ... and avoids the typical pseudoromantic themes of art rock (fairy-tale bliss and apocalyptic angst) in favor of the more up-to-date subject of popular culture itself."[61] High Fidelity magazine also characterized the Who's album as a "reasonably hard-rock version" of the opera.[62]
Marsh thought the problem with the album's narrative is that there isn't enough transitional material provided by the lyrics. There are no stage directions, no cast, and narration is restricted to key phrases (such as "Tommy can you hear me?")[46] Key problems included an unclear explanation of what Tommy didn't hear or see in "1921", how or why he plays pinball, why "Smash the Mirror" leads into "I overwhelm as I approach you" (the opening line in "Sensation"), why Tommy tells his followers in "We're Not Gonna Take It" they cannot drink or smoke but can play pinball, and what the "you" is in "Listening to you, I get the music".[63]
Editions and cover artEdit
Original editionEdit
Tommy was originally released as a two-LP set with artwork designed by McInnerney, which included a booklet including lyrics and images to illustrate parts of the story. The cover is presented as part of a triptych-style fold-out cover, and the booklet contained abstract artwork that outlined the story.[1] Although the album included lyrics to all the songs, indicating individual characters, it did not outline the plot, which led to a concert programme being prepared for shows, that carried a detailed synopsis.[1]
Townshend thought McInnerney, a fellow follower of Baba, would be a suitable choice to do the cover. As recording was near completion, McInnerney received a number of cassettes with completed songs and a brief outline for the story, which he immediately recognised as being based on Baba's teachings.[64] He wanted to try and convey the world of a deaf, dumb and blind boy, and decided to "depict a kind of breaking out of a certain restricted plane into freedom."[65] The finished cover contained a blue and white web of clouds, a fist punching into the black void to the left of it. The inner triptych, meanwhile, showed a hand reaching out to light and a light shining in a dark void.[65] Townshend was too busy finishing the recording to properly approve the artwork, but Lambert strongly approved of it, and said it would work. The final step was for record company approval, who decided the cover was more sensible than The Who Sell Out,[65] though making one concession that pictures of the band should appear on the cover. These were added to the web on the front.[66]
ReissuesEdit
Tommy was first released on CD in 1984 as a two disc set.[67] Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab subsequently released a special single-disc edition of the album in 1990, featuring an alternate take of "Eyesight to the Blind" and a low volume extensive break on the glass in "Smash The Mirror".[68] It was also remastered by Erick Labson for single disc release in 1993.[69]
MCA released a newly remastered version on single disc in 1996, which had been remixed by Jon Astley. Astley was able to access the original 8 track tapes and bring out instruments that had been buried, such as the guitar in "Christmas", the French Horn in "Sparks", the cymbals in "The Acid Queen" and the organ in "We're Not Gonna Take it".[70] This release came with McInnerney's complete artwork and a written introduction by Richard Barnes.[66] For this edition, the cover was revised to remove the Who's faces, which were originally placed at the request of the record label.
In 2003 Tommy was made available as a deluxe two-disc hybrid Super Audio CD with a 5.1 multi-channel mix. The remastering was done under the supervision of Townshend and also includes related material not on the original album, including "Dogs-Part 2" (the B-Side to "Pinball Wizard"), "Cousin Kevin Model Child" and "Young Man Blues", plus demos for the album and other unreleased songs that were dropped from the final running order.[71] Rolling Stone considered the disc sonically "murkier" than the 1996 CD and was critical of the absence of the original libretto.[72]
In 2013, a super deluxe version of Tommy was released as a 3-CD / Blu-ray disc box set. As well as the original album, the package includes additional demos, and a live performance mostly taken from the Who's show at the Capital Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 15 October 1969. The live disc was significant, as it debunked a long-standing myth that the tapes for the tour were burned in preference for the Leeds University show in February 1970 that made up Live at Leeds.[73]
Live performancesEdit
Main articles: The Who Tour 1969 and The Who Tour 1970
The Who had planned to perform Tommy live since starting the project. The group spent April 1969 rehearsing a live version of the show at the Hanwell Community Centre in Ealing including a final run down of the entire stage piece on 23 April.[39] The running order was changed, and four songs ("Cousin Kevin", "Underture", "Sensation" and "Welcome") were dropped entirely.[74] Townshend later said the group "did the whole thing from start to finish and that was when we first realized we had something cohesive and playable."[75] Daltrey's voice had improved substantially since the group's early tours, and they realised their new live act could completely change their career.[39]
After a few warm up gigs towards the end of April,[41] the group gave a preview concert to the press at Ronnie Scotts, London on 1 May. Realising the opera's narrative was difficult to understand, Townshend explained a synopsis of the story, before the Who played Tommy all the way through at full stage volume.[43] The next day, the group flew out to New York to start the US tour, with the first gig on 9 May at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit.[41] At the end of May, the group played four nights at the Kinetic Playground, Chicago, and they noticed the audience would all stand up at the same time, and stay standing. This indicated that live performances of Tommy had a significant positive response.[76]
The group continued to play large halls in the US, organised by tour promoter Frank Barsalona, and generally avoided festivals,[77] but made an important exception with the Woodstock Festival on 16 August. After spending all night arguing with Barsalona, the band agreed to perform at Woodstock for $12,500.[78] The festival ran late and the Who did not take to the stage until the early morning of 17 August. During "Pinball Wizard", Abbie Hoffman took to the stage to protest about the imprisonment of John Sinclair before being kicked offstage by Townshend, while during "See Me, Feel Me", the sun rose, almost as if on cue.[79] Two weeks later, the group played the second Isle of Wight Festival, using one of the largest live PAs available.[80] Though media attention was on Bob Dylan playing his first major live concert since 1966, the Who stole the show. Townshend later said, "We know that the stage act we had, with Tommy in it, would work under any circumstances, because it had worked many times on tour."[81]
By 1970, Tommy had achieved sufficient critical acclaim to be performed live in the Metropolitan Opera House.
Tommy remained in the Who's live set through the rest of the year and into 1970. In October 1969, the Who played six shows at the Fillmore East, where Leonard Bernstein praised them for their new music.[82] The group's show on 14 December at the Coliseum Theatre, London, was filmed for a possible future Tommy feature.[83] Lambert was keen for Tommy to be taken seriously and wanted the Who to perform at opera houses.[84] In June 1970, the group performed two shows at the Metropolitan Opera House, which was the first time Townshend announced the show as being the "last Tommy ever".[85] The group made a second trip to the Isle of Wight, appearing at the 1970 festival on 29 August, before an audience of 600,000.[74] The last live performance for 1970 was at The Roundhouse, London on 20 December. Townshend said "This is the very last time we'll play Tommy on stage", to which Moon promptly cried, "Thank Christ for that!"[86]
Public reaction to the Who's concerts that included Tommy was overwhelmingly positive. The touring helped keep the album in the public eye, and cleared the band's debts.[87] Several live recordings of Tommy from the Who's 1969–70 tours have been released. A complete performance is available on the 2002 Deluxe Edition of the live album Live at Leeds, recorded on 14 February 1970. The second Isle of Wight performance is available on Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, released in 1996.[74] The Coliseum Theatre gig is available on the 2007 video release At Kilburn 1977 + Live at the Coliseum. Portions of the Woodstock performance of Tommy were released on the Woodstock film and later on The Kids Are Alright.[88] The complete show was recorded, but has never been officially released.[89]
The Who continued to play a smaller selection of Tommy live in subsequent tours throughout the 1970s.[90] They revived Tommy as a whole for its twentieth anniversary during their 1989 reunion tour, reinstating the previously overlooked "Cousin Kevin" and "Sensation" but still omitting "Underture" and "Welcome". Recordings from this tour can be found on the Join Together live album and the Tommy and Quadrophenia Live DVD. The Los Angeles version of this show featured Phil Collins as Uncle Ernie, Patti LaBelle as the Acid Queen, Steve Winwood as the Hawker, Elton John as the Pinball Wizard and Billy Idol as Cousin Kevin.[91][92]
Other incarnationsEdit
1970 Les Grands Ballets CanadiensEdit
In 1970 Ferdinand Nault of the Montreal ballet group Les Grands Ballets Canadiens created the first dance-based adaptation of Tommy.[93] The ballet performance toured New York in April 1971, which included a light show and accompanying films by the Quebec Film Bureau.[94][95]
1971 Seattle Opera productionEdit
In 1971, the Seattle Opera under director Richard Pearlman produced the first ever fully staged professional production of Tommy at Seattle's Moore Theatre. The production included Bette Midler playing the role of the Acid Queen and Mrs. Walker, and music by the Syracuse, New York band Comstock, Ltd.[96]
London Symphony Orchestra versionEdit
Main article: Tommy (London Symphony Orchestra album)
On 9 December 1972, entrepreneur Lou Reizner presented a concert version of Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre, London. There were two performances that took place on the same evening. The concerts featured the Who, plus a guest cast, backed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Measham.[97] The concerts were held to promote the release of Reizner's new studio recording of this symphonic version of Tommy.[98]
The album and concerts featured an all-star cast, including Graham Bell (as The Lover), Maggie Bell (as The Mother), Sandy Denny (as The Nurse), Steve Winwood (as The Father), Rod Stewart (as The Local Lad), Richie Havens (as The Hawker), Merry Clayton (as The Acid Queen) and Ringo Starr (as Uncle Ernie). Townshend played some guitar, but otherwise the music was predominantly orchestral.[99] Richard Harris played the role of the specialist on the record, but he was replaced by Peter Sellers for the stage production. The stage show had a second run on 13 and 14 December 1973 with a different cast including David Essex, Elkie Brooks, Marsha Hunt, Vivian Stanshall, Roy Wood, and Jon Pertwee.[100]
The orchestral version was also performed twice in Australia on 31 March 1973 at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl and on 1 April at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse. Moon appeared as Uncle Ernie (in Melbourne only), Graham Bell as the Narrator, with local stars Daryl Braithwaite (as Tommy), Billy Thorpe, Doug Parkinson, Wendy Saddington, Jim Keays, Broderick Smith, Colleen Hewett, Linda George, Ross Wilson, Bobby Bright, Ian Meldrum (as Uncle Ernie in Sydney), and a full orchestra.[101][102] The Melbourne concert was videotaped, then televised by Channel 7 on 13 April 1973.[103]
1975 filmEdit
Main article: Tommy (1975 film)
In 1975 Tommy was adapted as a film, produced by expatriate Australian entrepreneur Robert Stigwood and directed by British auteur Ken Russell. The movie version starred Daltrey as Tommy, and featured the other members of the Who, plus a supporting cast that included Ann-Margret as Tommy's mother, Oliver Reed as "the Lover", with appearances by Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, and Jack Nicholson. Russell insisted on having a known cast, though Townshend wanted people who could sing the material, and was particularly disappointed at not being allowed to cast Stevie Wonder as the Pinball Wizard.[104] In several cinemas, the film supported a multi-track soundtrack billed as quintaphonic sound, which placed speaker banks in the four quadrants of the house and directly behind the centre of the screen.[105]
Townshend also oversaw the production of a soundtrack album, on which the unrecorded orchestral arrangements Lambert had envisaged for the original Tommy LP were realised by the extensive use of synthesizer.[106] He started work on the soundtrack album immediately after the Who's 1973 US tour in December, and worked on it almost continuously for the next four months.[104] As well as the Who, the film's music track and the original soundtrack LP also employed several session musicians including Caleb Quaye, Ronnie Wood, Nicky Hopkins, Chris Stainton, and longtime Who associate John "Rabbit" Bundrick.[107] Due to Moon's commitments with the filming of Stardust, Kenney Jones (who would take over as the Who's drummer after Moon's death in 1978) played drums on much of the soundtrack album.[108]
"Pinball Wizard" was a major hit when released as a single. This sequence in the film depicts Elton being backed by the Who (dressed in pound-note suits); the band portrayed the Pinball Wizard's band for filming,[109] but on the music track and soundtrack album, the music was performed entirely by him and his regular touring band.[107] Most of the extras were students at Portsmouth Polytechnic and were paid with tickets to a Who concert after filming wrapped.[110]
The film and its soundtrack album featured six new songs, all written by Townshend, and an alteration to the running order compared to the original album. The CD reissue of the film soundtrack also included an additional Overture.[111]
Broadway musicalEdit
Main article: The Who's Tommy
In 1991, Townshend broke his wrist in a cycling accident and could not play guitar. Looking for alternative work while recuperating, he responded to a request from the PACE Theatrical Group for the rights to a Broadway musical adaptation of Tommy. The group introduced him to La Jolla Playhouse director Des McAnuff, and the pair began to develop the musical together. It opened at La Jolla in summer 1992, and was an immediate commercial success.[112] Townshend wrote a new song, "I Believe My Own Eyes", to explain the relationship between Tommy's parents, but otherwise tried to be faithful to the music on the original album.[113]
The musical had a mixed response from critics,[114] while Daltrey and Entwistle thought the show was too passive.[113] Anthony DeCurtis, writing in Rolling Stone, said the orchestra drummer had "the thankless task of having to reproduce Keith Moon's parts".[115] Townshend and McAnuff rewrote parts of the musical when it moved from La Jolla to Broadway, to show a darker side for the title character.[116] McAnuff won a Tony Award in 1993 for Best Director, while Wayne Cilento won the award for Best Choreographer.[117] The Broadway run lasted from 1993 to 1995.[118] McAnuff revisited Tommy during the 2013 season of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.[119]
BluegrassEdit
In 2015, bluegrass band the Hillbenders released a cover of the album, arranged by Jim Rea and produced by Louis Jay Meyers. The group have informed Townshend and Daltrey in order to get official blessing.[120] The performance of the bluegrass version has been critically praised, with Rolling Stone marking the Hillbenders appearance at South by Southwest one of the "50 Best Things We Saw At SXSW 2015". Townshend met with the group after the band's May 2015 performance in Nashville.[121]
Track names and timings vary across editions; some editions have two tracks merged into one and vice versa. "See Me, Feel Me", for example, is the second half of "We're not Gonna Take It", but is its own track as a single and on the 2003 deluxe edition.[68] All tracks written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.
1. "Overture" Townshend 3:50
2. "It's a Boy" Townshend 2:07
3. "1921" Townshend, Roger Daltrey on chorus 3:14
4. "Amazing Journey" Daltrey 3:25
5. "Sparks" Instrumental 3:45
6. "The Hawker" (Sonny Boy Williamson II) Daltrey 2:15
1. "Christmas" Daltrey, Townshend in middle eight 5:30
2. "Cousin Kevin" (John Entwistle) Entwistle and Townshend 4:03
3. "The Acid Queen" Townshend 3:31
4. "Underture" Instrumental 10:10
1. "Do You Think It's Alright?" Daltrey and Townshend 0:24
2. "Fiddle About" (Entwistle) Entwistle 1:26
3. "Pinball Wizard" Daltrey, Townshend on bridge 3:01
4. "There's a Doctor" Townshend, with Daltrey and Entwistle 0:25
5. "Go to the Mirror!" Daltrey and Townshend 3:50
6. "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle 1:35
7. "Smash the Mirror" Daltrey 1:20
8. "Sensation" Townshend 2:32
1. "Miracle Cure" Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle 0:10
2. "Sally Simpson" Daltrey 4:10
3. "I'm Free" Daltrey 2:40
4. "Welcome" Daltrey, Townshend ("more at the door") and Entwistle (spoken part) 4:30
5. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon) Moon, with Townshend 0:57
6. "We're Not Gonna Take It" Daltrey, with Townshend and Entwistle 6:45
Deluxe editionsEdit
2003 bonus disc: Demos and outtakes
This is a CD/SACD hybrid disc containing 5.1 mixes of all but the last five of these tracks
"I Was" – 0:17
"Christmas" (Outtake 3) – 4:43
"Cousin Kevin Model Child" – 1:25
"Young Man Blues" (Version one) (Allison) – 2:51
"Tommy Can You Hear Me?" (Alternate version) – 1:59
"Trying to Get Through" – 2:51
"Sally Simpson" (Outtake) – 4:09
"Miss Simpson" – 4:18
"Welcome" (Take two) – 3:44
"Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Band's version) – 1:07
"We're Not Gonna Take It" (Alternate version) – 6:08
"Dogs (Part Two)" (Moon) – 2:26
"It's a Boy" – 0:43
"Amazing Journey" – 3:41
"Christmas" – 1:55
"Do You Think It's Alright" – 0:28
"Pinball Wizard" – 3:46
2013 live disc
All tracks are from the Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 15 October 1969,[122] except for "I'm Free", "Tommy's Holiday Camp", "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "See Me, Feel Me" which are from Swansea City Football Club, 12 June 1976.[123]
"Overture" (including introduction) – 7:00
"1921" – 2:29
"Sparks" – 2:49
"The Hawker (Eyesight to the Blind)" – 1:54
"The Acid Queen" – 3:30
"Do You Think It's Alright?" – 0:21
"Fiddle About" – 1:12
"Tommy, Can You Hear Me?" – 0:55
"There's a Doctor" – 0:24
"Go to the Mirror!" – 3:12
"Smash the Mirror" – 1:10
"Miracle Cure" – 0:12
"Sally Simpson" – 4:01
"I'm Free" – 2:12
"Tommy's Holiday Camp" – 0:48
"We're Not Gonna Take It" – 3:28
"See Me, Feel Me" – 7:51
PersonnelEdit
Roger Daltrey – vocals, harmonica
Pete Townshend – vocals, guitar, keyboards, banjo
John Entwistle – bass, french horn, vocals
Keith Moon – drums, vocals
ChartsEdit
1969 Billboard Pop Albums 4[124]
1969 UK Chart Albums 2[42]
1975 UK Chart Albums 37[125]
1969 "Pinball Wizard" Billboard Pop Singles 19[126]
1969 "Pinball Wizard" UK Singles Charts 4[41]
1969 "Pinball Wizard" Dutch Singles Charts 12[127]
1969 "I'm Free" Billboard Pop Singles 37[126]
1969 "I'm Free" Dutch Singles Charts 20[128]
1970 "See Me, Feel Me" Billboard Pop Singles 12[129]
1970 "See Me, Feel Me" Dutch Singles Charts 2[130]
CertificationsEdit
Certified units/Sales
France (SNEP)[132]
Gold 174,300[131]
Italy (FIMI)[133]
Gold 50,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[134]
Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[135]
Awarded to the soundtrack to the film too
Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[136]
3× Platinum 3,000,000^
*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
^ a b c Atkins 2000, p. 121.
^ a b c Atkins 2000, pp. 121–122.
^ Marsh 1983, p. 214.
^ Marsh 1983, pp. 282, 283.
^ Marsh 1983, pp. 313,314.
^ Marsh 1983, pp. 293–294.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, p. 190.
^ a b c Neill & Kent 2002, p. 210.
^ a b c Drozdowski, Ted (3 May 2012). "Pinball Wizard: Pete Townshend Finds His Signature Guitar Sound". Gibson Guitars. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
^ a b Marsh 1983, p. 323.
^ Atkins 2000, p. 114.
^ Marsh 1983, p. 319,320.
^ a b c Marsh 1983, p. 325.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 227, 228.
^ a b c d Neill & Kent 2002, p. 230.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, p. 232; Atkins 2000, p. 282.
^ a b c d e Neill & Kent 2002, p. 231.
^ a b Neill & Kent 2002, p. 232.
^ a b Perry, Andrew (22 June 2006). "Hope I don't have a heart attack". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
^ Christgau, Robert (12 June 1969). "Whooopee!". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ "A Grand Opera in Rock". Life Magazine: 20. 17 October 1969. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ Christgau, Robert (1969). "Robert Christgau's 1969 Jazz & Pop Ballot". Jazz & Pop. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
^ a b c Unterberger, Richie. "Tommy – The Who". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ Graff & Durchholz 1999, p. 1227.
^ "Review: Tommy". Q. London: 116–7. March 2004.
^ Randall, Mac (22 January 2004). "Tommy Deluxe Edition". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ Kemp 2004, p. 871.
^ a b "Review: Tommy". Uncut. London: 110. March 2004.
^ Christgau, Robert (25 January 1983). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. New York: 118. 11 December 2013.
^ Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (2011). 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die. Hachette UK. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-84403-714-8.
^ a b Bayles, Martha (1994). Hole in Our Soul:The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music. University of Chicago Press. p. 224. ISBN 0-226-03959-5.
^ "Tommy". High Fidelity. 23 (6): 418. June 1973.
^ a b Tommy (Media notes). The Who. Polydor. 531–043–2. CS1 maint: others (link)
^ "Tommy [Mobile Fidelty]". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
^ a b Atkins 2000, p. 282.
^ Tommy (Media notes). The Who. MCA. MCAD-10801. CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Atkins 2000, pp. 120,121.
^ JoneUnterbergers, Richie (15 August 2014). "Tommy [Deluxe Edition]". AllMusic.
^ Randall, Mac. "Tommy (Deluxe Edition)". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
^ "The Who to release Super Deluxe Box Set and Deluxe Edition". The Who (official website). 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 239.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 241–242.
^ Graham, Bill; greenfield, Robert (1922). Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out. Da Capo Press. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-306-81349-8.
^ Atkins 2000, pp. 127–128.
^ "Live:Featuring Rock Opera Tommy". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Join Together – The Who". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
^ "Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
^ Kisselgoff, Anna (9 February 1981). "Fance: Ballets Canadiens". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
^ Bargreen, Melinda (22 July 2005). "Glynn Ross, 90, turned Seattle into opera destination". Seattle Times. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^ Eder, Bruce. "Tommy – As Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
^ Neill & Kent 2002, pp. 325,326.
^ "Tommy Australian concert production 1973". Milesago.com. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
^ "Tommy (Original Soundtrack)". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
^ Wollman 2006, p. 161.
^ a b Wollman 2006, p. 165.
^ Hurwitz, Nathan (2014). A History of the American Musical Theatre: No Business Like It. Routledge. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-317-91205-7.
^ Washburne, Christopher; Derno, Maiken, eds. (2013). Bad Music: The Music We Love to Hate. Routledge. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-135-38547-7.
^ "Tommy". Stratford Festival. Archived from the original on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
^ "Exclusive: Watch The HillBenders Put a Bluegrass Spin on The Who's 'Tommy'". Billboard. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
^ "Rock Legend Pete Townshend Meets The Hillbenders!". Prescription Bluegrass. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
^ "Artist Chart History – The Who". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
^ "The Official Charts Company – Tommy by The Who Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
^ a b "The Who Billboard singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ "Pinball Wizard". Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ "I'm Free". Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard Magazine. 5 December 1970. p. 75. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ "See Me, Feel Me". Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
^ "Les Albums Or :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
^ "French album certifications – The Who – Tommy" (in French). InfoDisc. Select THE WHO and click OK.
^ "Italian album certifications – The Who – Tommy" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 21 December 2016. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Tommy" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
^ "New Zealand album certifications – The Who – Tommy". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^ "British album certifications – Original Soundtrack – Tommy OST". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 August 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Tommy OST in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
^ "American album certifications – The Who – Tommy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 12 August 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
Atkins, John (2000). The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963–1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0609-8.
Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
Marsh, Dave (1983). Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. Plexus. ISBN 978-0-85965-083-0.
Neill, Andy; Kent, Matt (2002). Anywhere Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-1217-3.
Kemp, Mark (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
Wollman, Elizabeth (2006). The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11576-1.
Barnes, Richard and Townshend, Pete (1977). The Story of Tommy. Eel Pie Publishing. 128 pp.
Cawthorne, Nigel (2005). The Who and the making of Tommy. Unanimous Ltd (Vinyl Frontier 5). 224 pp. ISBN 1-903318-76-9
Townshend, Pete (1993). Tommy : The Musical. Pantheon. 173 pp. + a CD w/ the song I Can't Believe My Own Eyes. ISBN 0-679-43066-0. Also titled The Who's Tommy: The Musical.
Townshend, Pete (1996). Tommy : The Interactive Adventure Then and Now. Eel Pie Publishing. Kardana & Interplay Productions. Cdrom for PC (CD-MCR-263-0 / CD-C95-263-0) or for Mac (CD-MCD −263-UK)
Tommy at Discogs (list of releases)
A number of interviews where Pete Townshend has commented on the concept and meaning of Tommy:
a 1968 Rolling Stone Interview (by Jann Wenner),
Pete and Tommy, among others by Rick Sanders & David Dalton – Rolling Stone (no. 37 12 July 1969)
Interview with Pete Townshend at Manchester Arena, England, 12 December 1996, by Stephen Gallagher (British Youth & Popular Culture Editor, Ubu).
Tommy notes – Song-by-song notes
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tommy_(album)&oldid=905427329"
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This article is about the concept of the environmentally friendly design of chemical products and processes. For the journal, see Green Chemistry (journal).
Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the designing of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.[1] While environmental chemistry focuses on the effects of polluting chemicals on nature, green chemistry focuses on the environmental impact of chemistry, including technological approaches to preventing pollution and reducing consumption of nonrenewable resources.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
The overarching goals of green chemistry—namely, more resource-efficient and inherently safer design of molecules, materials, products, and processes—can be pursued in a wide range of contexts.
IUPAC definition
Green chemistry (sustainable chemistry): Design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances hazardous to humans, animals, plants, and the environment.
Note 1: Modified from ref.[8] to be more general.
Note 2: Green chemistry discusses the engineering concept of pollution prevention and zero waste both at laboratory and industrial scales. It encourages the use of economical and
ecocompatible techniques that not only improve the yield but also bring down the cost of disposal of wastes at the end of a chemical process.[9]
3 Trends
4.1 Green solvents
4.2 Synthetic techniques
4.3 Carbon dioxide as blowing agent
4.4 Hydrazine
4.5 1,3-Propanediol
4.6 Lactide
4.7 Carpet tile backings
4.8 Transesterification of fats
4.9 Bio-succinic acid
4.10 Laboratory chemicals
5.1 The EU
7 Scientific journals specialized in green chemistry
8 Contested definition
Green chemistry emerged from a variety of existing ideas and research efforts (such as atom economy and catalysis) in the period leading up to the 1990s, in the context of increasing attention to problems of chemical pollution and resource depletion. The development of green chemistry in Europe and the United States was linked to a shift in environmental problem-solving strategies: a movement from command and control regulation and mandated reduction of industrial emissions at the "end of the pipe," toward the active prevention of pollution through the innovative design of production technologies themselves. The set of concepts now recognized as green chemistry coalesced in the mid- to late-1990s, along with broader adoption of the term (which prevailed over competing terms such as "clean" and "sustainable" chemistry).[10][11]
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency played a significant early role in fostering green chemistry through its pollution prevention programs, funding, and professional coordination. At the same time in the United Kingdom, researchers at the University of York contributed to the establishment of the Green Chemistry Network within the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the launch of the journal Green Chemistry.[11]
Principles[edit]
In 1998, Paul Anastas (who then directed the Green Chemistry Program at the US EPA) and John C. Warner (then of Polaroid Corporation) published a set of principles to guide the practice of green chemistry.[12] The twelve principles address a range of ways to reduce the environmental and health impacts of chemical production, and also indicate research priorities for the development of green chemistry technologies.
The principles cover such concepts as:
the design of processes to maximize the amount of raw material that ends up in the product;
the use of renewable material feedstocks and energy sources;
the use of safe, environmentally benign substances, including solvents, whenever possible;
the design of energy efficient processes;
avoiding the production of waste, which is viewed as the ideal form of waste management.
The twelve principles of green chemistry are:[13]
Prevention. Preventing waste is better than treating or cleaning up waste after it is created.
Atom economy. Synthetic methods should try to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.This means that less waste will be generated as a result.
Less hazardous chemical syntheses. Synthetic methods should avoid using or generating substances toxic to humans and/or the environment.
Designing safer chemicals. Chemical products should be designed to achieve their desired function while being as non-toxic as possible.
Safer solvents and auxiliaries. Auxiliary substances should be avoided wherever possible, and as non-hazardous as possible when they must be used.
Design for energy efficiency. Energy requirements should be minimized, and processes should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure whenever possible.
Use of renewable feedstocks. Whenever it is practical to do so, renewable feedstocks or raw materials are preferable to non-renewable ones.
Reduce derivatives. Unnecessary generation of derivatives—such as the use of protecting groups—should be minimized or avoided if possible; such steps require additional reagents and may generate additional waste.
Catalysis. Catalytic reagents that can be used in small quantities to repeat a reaction are superior to stoichiometric reagents (ones that are consumed in a reaction).
Design for degradation. Chemical products should be designed so that they do not pollute the environment; when their function is complete, they should break down into non-harmful products.
Real-time analysis for pollution prevention. Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to permit real-time, in-process monitoring and control before hazardous substances form.
Inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention. Whenever possible, the substances in a process, and the forms of those substances, should be chosen to minimize risks such as explosions, fires, and accidental releases.
Trends[edit]
Attempts are being made not only to quantify the greenness of a chemical process but also to factor in other variables such as chemical yield, the price of reaction components, safety in handling chemicals, hardware demands, energy profile and ease of product workup and purification. In one quantitative study,[14] the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline receives 64 points out of 100 marking it as an acceptable synthesis overall whereas a synthesis of an amide using HMDS is only described as adequate with a combined 32 points.
Green chemistry is increasingly seen as a powerful tool that researchers must use to evaluate the environmental impact of nanotechnology.[15] As nanomaterials are developed, the environmental and human health impacts of both the products themselves and the processes to make them must be considered to ensure their long-term economic viability.[citation needed]
Examples[edit]
Green solvents[edit]
Solvents are consumed in large quantities in many chemical syntheses as well as for cleaning and degreasing. Traditional solvents are often toxic or are chlorinated. Green solvents, on the other hand, are generally derived from renewable resources and biodegrade to innocuous, often a naturally occurring product.[16][17]
Synthetic techniques[edit]
Novel or enhanced synthetic techniques can often provide improved environmental performance or enable better adherence to the principles of green chemistry. For example, the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded, to Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock, for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis, with explicit reference to its contribution to green chemistry and "smarter production."[18] A 2005 review identified three key developments in green chemistry in the field of organic synthesis: use of supercritical carbon dioxide as green solvent, aqueous hydrogen peroxide for clean oxidations and the use of hydrogen in asymmetric synthesis.[19] Some further examples of applied green chemistry are supercritical water oxidation, on water reactions, and dry media reactions.[citation needed]
Bioengineering is also seen as a promising technique for achieving green chemistry goals. A number of important process chemicals can be synthesized in engineered organisms, such as shikimate, a Tamiflu precursor which is fermented by Roche in bacteria. Click chemistry is often cited[citation needed] as a style of chemical synthesis that is consistent with the goals of green chemistry. The concept of 'green pharmacy' has recently been articulated based on similar principles.[20]
Carbon dioxide as blowing agent[edit]
In 1996, Dow Chemical won the 1996 Greener Reaction Conditions award for their 100% carbon dioxide blowing agent for polystyrene foam production. Polystyrene foam is a common material used in packing and food transportation. Seven hundred million pounds are produced each year in the United States alone. Traditionally, CFC and other ozone-depleting chemicals were used in the production process of the foam sheets, presenting a serious environmental hazard. Flammable, explosive, and, in some cases toxic hydrocarbons have also been used as CFC replacements, but they present their own problems. Dow Chemical discovered that supercritical carbon dioxide works equally as well as a blowing agent, without the need for hazardous substances, allowing the polystyrene to be more easily recycled. The CO2 used in the process is reused from other industries, so the net carbon released from the process is zero.
Hydrazine[edit]
Addressing principle #2 is the Peroxide Process for producing hydrazine without cogenerating salt. Hydrazine is traditionally produced by the Olin Raschig process from sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in many bleaches) and ammonia. The net reaction produces one equivalent of sodium chloride for every equivalent of the targeted product hydrazine:[21]
NaOCl + 2 NH3 → H2N-NH2 + NaCl + H2O
In the greener Peroxide process hydrogen peroxide is employed as the oxidant and the side product is water. The net conversion follows:
2 NH3 + H2O2 → H2N-NH2 + 2 H2O
Addressing principle #4, this process does not require auxiliary extracting solvents. Methyl ethyl ketone is used as a carrier for the hydrazine, the intermediate ketazine phase separates from the reaction mixture, facilitating workup without the need of an extracting solvent.
1,3-Propanediol[edit]
Addressing principle #7 is a green route to 1,3-propanediol, which is traditionally generated from petrochemical precursors. It can be produced from renewable precursors via the bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol using a genetically modified strain of E. coli.[22] This diol is used to make new polyesters for the manufacture of carpets.
Lactide[edit]
Lactide
In 2002, Cargill Dow (now NatureWorks) won the Greener Reaction Conditions Award for their improved method for polymerization of polylactic acid . Unfortunately, lactide-base polymers do not perform well and the project was discontinued by Dow soon after the award. Lactic acid is produced by fermenting corn and converted to lactide, the cyclic dimer ester of lactic acid using an efficient, tin-catalyzed cyclization. The L,L-lactide enantiomer is isolated by distillation and polymerized in the melt to make a crystallizable polymer, which has some applications including textiles and apparel, cutlery, and food packaging. Wal-Mart has announced that it is using/will use PLA for its produce packaging. The NatureWorks PLA process substitutes renewable materials for petroleum feedstocks, doesn't require the use of hazardous organic solvents typical in other PLA processes, and results in a high-quality polymer that is recyclable and compostable.
Carpet tile backings[edit]
In 2003 Shaw Industries selected a combination of polyolefin resins as the base polymer of choice for EcoWorx due to the low toxicity of its feedstocks, superior adhesion properties, dimensional stability, and its ability to be recycled. The EcoWorx compound also had to be designed to be compatible with nylon carpet fiber. Although EcoWorx may be recovered from any fiber type, nylon-6 provides a significant advantage. Polyolefins are compatible with known nylon-6 depolymerization methods. PVC interferes with those processes. Nylon-6 chemistry is well-known and not addressed in first-generation production. From its inception, EcoWorx met all of the design criteria necessary to satisfy the needs of the marketplace from a performance, health, and environmental standpoint. Research indicated that separation of the fiber and backing through elutriation, grinding, and air separation proved to be the best way to recover the face and backing components, but an infrastructure for returning postconsumer EcoWorx to the elutriation process was necessary. Research also indicated that the postconsumer carpet tile had a positive economic value at the end of its useful life. EcoWorx is recognized by MBDC as a certified cradle-to-cradle design.
Trans and cis fatty acids
Transesterification of fats[edit]
In 2005, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Novozymes won the Greener Synthetic Pathways Award for their enzyme interesterification process. In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated labeling of trans-fats on nutritional information by January 1, 2006, Novozymes and ADM worked together to develop a clean, enzymatic process for the interesterification of oils and fats by interchanging saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The result is commercially viable products without trans-fats. In addition to the human health benefits of eliminating trans-fats, the process has reduced the use of toxic chemicals and water, prevents vast amounts of byproducts, and reduces the amount of fats and oils wasted.
Bio-succinic acid[edit]
In 2011, the Outstanding Green Chemistry Accomplishments by a Small Business Award went to BioAmber Inc. for integrated production and downstream applications of bio-based succinic acid. Succinic acid is a platform chemical that is an important starting material in the formulations of everyday products. Traditionally, succinic acid is produced from petroleum-based feedstocks. BioAmber has developed process and technology that produces succinic acid from the fermentation of renewable feedstocks at a lower cost and lower energy expenditure than the petroleum equivalent while sequestering CO2 rather than emitting it.[23]
Laboratory chemicals[edit]
Several laboratory chemicals are controversial from the perspective of Green chemistry. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a "Green" Alternatives Wizard [2] to help identify alternatives. Ethidium bromide, xylene, mercury, and formaldehyde have been identified as "worst offenders" which have alternatives.[24] Solvents in particular make a large contribution to the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing and there is a growing focus on introducing Greener solvents into the earliest stage of development of these processes: laboratory-scale reaction and purification methods.[25] In the Pharmaceutical Industry, both GSK[26] and Pfizer[27] have published Solvent Selection Guides for their Drug Discovery chemists.
Legislation[edit]
The EU[edit]
In 2007, The EU put into place the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program, which requires companies to provide data showing that their products are safe. This regulation (1907/2006) ensures not only the assessment of the chemicals' hazards as well as risks during their uses but also includes measures for banning or restricting/authorising uses of specific substances. ECHA, the EU Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, is implementing the regulation whereas the enforcement lies with the EU member states.
United States[edit]
The U.S. law that governs the majority of industrial chemicals (excluding pesticides, foods, and pharmaceuticals) is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. Examining the role of regulatory programs in shaping the development of green chemistry in the United States, analysts have revealed structural flaws and long-standing weaknesses in TSCA; for example, a 2006 report to the California Legislature concludes that TSCA has produced a domestic chemicals market that discounts the hazardous properties of chemicals relative to their function, price, and performance.[28] Scholars have argued that such market conditions represent a key barrier to the scientific, technical, and commercial success of green chemistry in the U.S., and fundamental policy changes are needed to correct these weaknesses.[29]
Passed in 1990, the Pollution Prevention Act helped foster new approaches for dealing with pollution by preventing environmental problems before they happen.
In 2008, the State of California approved two laws aiming to encourage green chemistry, launching the California Green Chemistry Initiative. One of these statutes required California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to develop new regulations to prioritize "chemicals of concern" and promote the substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives. The resulting regulations took effect in 2013, initiating DTSC's Safer Consumer Products Program.[30]
Many institutions offer courses[31] and degrees on Green Chemistry. Examples from across the globe are Denmark's Technical University,[32] and several in the US, e.g. at the Universities of Massachusetts-Boston,[33] Michigan,[34] and Oregon.[35] A masters level course in Green Technology, has been introduced by the Institute of Chemical Technology, India. In the UK at the University of York[36] University of Leicester, Department of Chemistry and MRes in Green Chemistry at Imperial College London. In Spain different universities like the Universidad de Jaume I[37] or the Universidad de Navarra,[38] offer Green Chemistry master courses. There are also websites focusing on green chemistry, such as the Michigan Green Chemistry Clearinghouse at www.migreenchemistry.org.
Apart from its Green Chemistry Master courses the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW presents an exposition and web page "Making chemistry green" for a broader public, illustrating the 12 principles.[39]
Scientific journals specialized in green chemistry[edit]
Green Chemistry (RSC)
Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews (Open Access) (Taylor & Francis)
ChemSusChem (Wiley)
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (ACS)
Contested definition[edit]
There are ambiguities in the definition of green chemistry, and in how it is understood among broader science, policy, and business communities. Even within chemistry, researchers have used the term "green chemistry" to describe a range of work independently of the framework put forward by Anastas and Warner (i.e., the 12 principles).[11] While not all uses of the term are legitimate (see greenwashing), many are, and the authoritative status of any single definition is uncertain. More broadly, the idea of green chemistry can easily be linked (or confused) with related concepts like green engineering, environmental design, or sustainability in general. The complexity and multifaceted nature of green chemistry makes it difficult to devise clear and simple metrics. As a result, "what is green" is often open to debate.[40]
Several scientific societies have created awards to encourage research in green chemistry.
Australia's Green Chemistry Challenge Awards overseen by The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI).
The Canadian Green Chemistry Medal.[41]
In Italy, Green Chemistry activities center around an inter-university consortium known as INCA.[42]
In Japan, The Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network oversees the GSC awards program.[43]
In the United Kingdom, the Green Chemical Technology Awards are given by Crystal Faraday.[44]
In the US, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards recognize individuals and businesses.[45][46]
Bioremediation – a technique that generally falls outside the scope of green chemistry
Environmental engineering science
Green Chemistry (journal) – published by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Green chemistry metrics
Green computing – a similar initiative in the area of computing
Green engineering
Substitution of dangerous chemicals
^ "Green Chemistry". United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
^ Sheldon, R. A.; Arends, I. W. C. E.; Hanefeld, U. (2007). Green Chemistry and Catalysis. doi:10.1002/9783527611003. ISBN 9783527611003.
^ Clark, J. H.; Luque, R.; Matharu, A. S. (2012). "Green Chemistry, Biofuels, and Biorefinery". Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. 3: 183–207. doi:10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-062011-081014. PMID 22468603.
^ Cernansky, R. (2015). "Chemistry: Green refill". Nature. 519 (7543): 379–380. doi:10.1038/nj7543-379a.
^ Sanderson, K. (2011). "Chemistry: It's not easy being green". Nature. 469 (7328): 18–20. Bibcode:2011Natur.469...18S. doi:10.1038/469018a. PMID 21209638.
^ Poliakoff, M.; Licence, P. (2007). "Sustainable technology: Green chemistry". Nature. 450 (7171): 810–812. Bibcode:2007Natur.450..810P. doi:10.1038/450810a. PMID 18064000.
^ Clark, J. H. (1999). "Green chemistry: Challenges and opportunities". Green Chemistry. 1: 1–8. doi:10.1039/A807961G.
^ A. E. Martel, J. A. Davies, W. W. Olson, M. A. Abraham. (2003). "GREENCHEMISTRY ANDENGINEERING: Drivers, Metrics, and Reduction to Practice". Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 28: 401. doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.28.011503.163459. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Vert, Michel; Doi, Yoshiharu; Hellwich, Karl-Heinz; Hess, Michael; Hodge, Philip; Kubisa, Przemyslaw; Rinaudo, Marguerite; Schué, François (2012). "Terminology for biorelated polymers and applications (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)" (PDF). Pure and Applied Chemistry. 84 (2): 377–410. doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-10-12-04.
^ Woodhouse, E. J.; Breyman, S. (2005). "Green chemistry as social movement?". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 30 (2): 199–222. doi:10.1177/0162243904271726.
^ a b c Linthorst, J. A. (2009). "An overview: Origins and development of green chemistry". Foundations of Chemistry. 12: 55–68. doi:10.1007/s10698-009-9079-4.
^ Anastas, Paul T.; Warner, John C. (1998). Green chemistry: theory and practice. Oxford [England]; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198502340.
^ "12 Principles of Green Chemistry - American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
^ Van Aken, K.; Strekowski, L.; Patiny, L. (2006). "EcoScale, a semi-quantitative tool to select an organic preparation based on economical and ecological parameters". Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. 2 (1): 3. doi:10.1186/1860-5397-2-3. PMC 1409775. PMID 16542013.
^ Green nanotechnology
^ Prat, D.; Pardigon, O.; Flemming, H.-W.; Letestu, S.; Ducandas, V.; Isnard, P.; Guntrum, E.; Senac, T.; Ruisseau, S.; Cruciani, P.; Hosek, P., "Sanofi’s Solvent Selection Guide: A Step Toward More Sustainable Processes", Org. Proc. Res. Devel. 2013, 17, 1517-1525. doi:10.1021/op4002565
^ Sherman, J.; Chin, B.; Huibers, P. D. T.; Garcia-Valls, R.; Hatton, T. A., "Solvent Replacement for Green Processing", Environ. Health Persp. 1998, 106, 253-271. doi:10.2307/3433925
^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2005". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
^ Noyori, R. (2005). "Pursuing practical elegance in chemical synthesis". Chemical Communications (14): 1807–11. doi:10.1039/B502713F. PMID 15795753.
^ Baron, M. (2012). "Towards a Greener Pharmacy by More Eco Design" (PDF). Waste and Biomass Valorization. 3 (4): 395–407. doi:10.1007/s12649-012-9146-2.
^ Jean-Pierre Schirmann, Paul Bourdauducq "Hydrazine" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2002. doi:10.1002/14356007.a13_177.
^ Kurian, Joseph V. "A New Polymer Platform for the Future – Sorona from Corn Derived 1,3-Propanediol" Journal of Polymers and the Environment, Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 2005).
^ "2011 Small Business Award". United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2013-03-12.
^ Coombs A. (2009). Green at the Bench. The Scientist.
^ Bradley, Jean-Claude; Abraham, Michael H.; Acree, William E.; Lang, Andrew (2015). "Predicting Abraham model solvent coefficients". Chemistry Central Journal. 9: 12. doi:10.1186/s13065-015-0085-4. PMC 4369285. PMID 25798192.
^ Henderson, R. K.; Jiménez-González, C. N.; Constable, D. J. C.; Alston, S. R.; Inglis, G. G. A.; Fisher, G.; Sherwood, J.; Binks, S. P.; Curzons, A. D. (2011). "Expanding GSK's solvent selection guide – embedding sustainability into solvent selection starting at medicinal chemistry". Green Chemistry. 13 (4): 854. doi:10.1039/c0gc00918k.
^ Alfonsi, K.; Colberg, J.; Dunn, P. J.; Fevig, T.; Jennings, S.; Johnson, T. A.; Kleine, H. P.; Knight, C.; Nagy, M. A.; Perry, D. A.; Stefaniak, M. (2008). "Green chemistry tools to influence a medicinal chemistry and research chemistry based organisation". Green Chem. 10: 31–36. doi:10.1039/B711717E.
^ Wilson, M. P.; Chia, D. A.; Ehlers, B. C. (2006). "Green chemistry in California: a framework for leadership in chemicals policy and innovation" (PDF). New Solutions. 16 (4): 365–372. doi:10.2190/9584-1330-1647-136p. PMID 17317635.
^ Wilson, M. P.; Schwarzman, M. R. (2009). "Toward a new U.S. Chemicals policy: Rebuilding the foundation to advance new science, green chemistry, and environmental health". Environmental Health Perspectives. 117 (8): 1202–9. doi:10.1289/ehp.0800404. PMC 2721862. PMID 19672398.
^ California Department of Toxic Substances Control. "What is the Safer Consumer Products (SCP) Program?". Retrieved 5 September 2015.
^ Anastas, P.T., Levy, I.J., Parent, K.E., eds. (2009). Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry. ACS Symposium Series. 1011. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. doi:10.1021/bk-2009-1011. ISBN 978-0-8412-7447-1. CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link)
^ "Kurser.dtu.dk".
^ "Chemistry, PhD (Green Track) - University of Massachusetts Boston".
^ Ecology Center Annual Report (2011). [1].
^ Greener Education Materials, a database of green chemistry topics. EurekAlert. (2009). Thinking of turning your chemistry green? Consult GEMs. AAAS.
^ MSc in Green Chemistry & Sustainable Industrial Technology at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence based at the University of York
^ Máster Universitario en Química Sostenible. Universitat Jaume I Archived 2015-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
^ Máster Universitario en Química Sostenible. Universidad Pública de Navarra Archived 2015-02-11 at the Wayback Machine (UPNA).
^ "Green Chemistry".
^ Matus, K. J. M.; Clark, W. C.; Anastas, P. T.; Zimmerman, J. B. (2012). "Barriers to the Implementation of Green Chemistry in the United States" (PDF). Environmental Science & Technology. 46 (20): 10892–10899. Bibcode:2012EnST...4610892M. doi:10.1021/es3021777. PMID 22963612.
^ "Announcing the 2005 Canadian Green Chemistry Medal". RSC Publishing. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
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^ "2005 Crystal Faraday Green Chemical Technology Awards". Green Chemistry Network. Archived from the original on 2002-12-17. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
^ "The Presidential Green Chemistry Awards". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2006-07-31.
^ "Information about the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge". 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
Branches of chemistry
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_chemistry&oldid=905294798"
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScVlXuva8DU
President Tsai attends Women's Economic Empowerment Summit under Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework
President Tsai Ing-wen attended the Women's Economic Empowerment Summit, a workshop staged by Taiwan and the United States under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework on the morning of April 16. She stated that when more women are able to pursue their aspirations, our countries become more prosperous, and our region more stable. The president also said that the government will work tirelessly to create an environment where women can grow, succeed, and pursue their dreams.
A transcript of President Tsai's remarks follows:
Thank you. Good morning.
I want to first thank those who made today's event possible: Director [William] Brent Christensen, Deputy Minister Wang (王美花, Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Mei-Hua Wang), Deputy Foreign Minister [Kelly Wu-Chiao] Hsieh (謝武樵), and those who worked behind the scenes to bring together so many outstanding women leaders from home and abroad.
The energy of this crowd reminds me of my trip to the Marshall Islands last month. I was invited to attend the first-ever Pacific Women Leaders Coalition Conference, where we discussed how to work together to support women and help them unleash their unlimited potential.
In fact, in this ever-changing world, mutual support is exactly the spirit that we need to tackle global issues together. So over the past three years, my administration has been working to increase our engagement with other like-minded countries, including through the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, that is, GCTF.
And we made sure that women's empowerment would be one of the major focuses of GCTF, because we believe that when more women are able to pursue their aspirations, our countries become more prosperous, and our region more stable.
So today, I am pleased to see that we are joined by legislators from both Taiwan and the US; especially Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson who is here with us and Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如).
I am also delighted to see Jane Nishida, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Welcome back to Taiwan. I remember during last year's Yushan Forum, you talked about Taiwan's environmental transformation since the time you lived here as a child. I trust that you have also seen our determination to promote gender equality in the region.
My platform as a female president means I have a duty to push for women's empowerment at home and abroad. And I will not stop until the term "female president" is a thing of the past.
So since I came to office, my government has been working tirelessly to create an environment where women can grow, succeed, and pursue their dreams, dreams that the previous generation could not have imagined.
Last month, Taiwan's Navy swore in its second female captain. We train outstanding female fighter pilots, and many women are excelling in sectors traditionally dominated by men.
In politics, women now account for nearly 40% of legislators and mayors in Taiwan. Our younger generation is also making waves. Last year, four Taiwanese women made the Forbes Magazine "30 Under 30 Asia" list. They are entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, and venture capitalists.
And our efforts have been recognized. In this year's "Women, Business and the Law" report by the World Bank, Taiwan scored 91.25, the best performance in Asia. Taiwan is also one of only six countries in the world that has eliminated all job restrictions for women.
But women are more than just numbers on paper. They are the lifeblood of our economy, the backbone of our society. That is why we want to encourage more women to start businesses, and to create a work environment where they feel seen and supported.
As a regional leader in women's empowerment, we are connecting women to the resources they need to turn their ideas into reality in Taiwan, and around the world.
And we are ready, willing, and able to work with like-minded friends like you all, to achieve true global gender equality. And channels like the GCTF are a great way to come together and compare what works, and what doesn't.
But our work won't end today, because women's empowerment requires constant dialogue and cooperation to create lasting progress.
Next month, AIT will be cohosting an event on women leadership, and I heard that they have a great lineup of speakers and activities planned. So I hope to see you all there as well, and I look forward to finding even more opportunities to collaborate on women's rights and gender equality.
And I want to end with a quote from a woman who never believed in limitations. Helen Keller once said: "Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much."
There's no limit to what we can achieve when we come together like we have today. So let's get to work, and make the world a better place for women everywhere. Thank you.
Attendees included National Security Council Secretary-General David T. Lee (李大維), Deputy Foreign Minister Kelly Wu-Chiao Hsieh, Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Mei-Hua Wang, Legislator Karen Yu, AIT Taipei Office Director William Brent Christensen, US Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Jane Nishida, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of International and Tribal Affairs.
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EPF North
Signature Products
Armenia-Turkey
Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue
Media by EPF
Media by EPF Partners
EPF Supported Media
EPF In Media
SIDA Open Door Grants (2010 - 2012)
The goal of the program was to contribute to the advancement of democracy, promotion of European values and human rights, establishment of freedom of media and speech, as well as to the promotion of confidence-building between Armenia and the neighboring countries through innovative projects.
The Open Door mechanism represented a part of the Strategic Partnership between Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). Within the framework of this partnership SIDA provided general operating and program support to EPF in Armenia.
By February 1, 2011 Eurasia Partnership Foundation had received 43 inquiries. 14 of them had been shortlisted. During the Committee meeting on 23 March, 2011, 11 inquiries had been approved for funding. Below were the approved projects in brief.
1. Center of protection of drivers’ rights “Achilles” NGO: Elaboration of an innovative method of accident expertise
This project aimed at contributing to the reduced corruption in the road traffic accident investigation through introduction of a high-tech independent expertise on traffic accidents, through the purchase and operation of a 3D collision and trajectory simulation tool that enables quick and accurate analysis of a wide variety of motor vehicle collisions and other incidents. The project would create an alternative to the official Traffic Police expertise, which would reduce corruption risks related to investigation and litigation of traffic accidents.
2. Journalists for Human Rights NGO. Civic monitoring in the Army, in regard of investigation of Human rights’ violations
This project would contribute to the protection of human rights in Armenia through increasing public awareness and public control over human rights violations in the Armenian military, through the establishment of a professional network of human rights journalists located in different regions of Armenia The project would result significant grow of the number and quality of investigative reporting on human rights violations in the military, which, in turn, would increase public awareness of the situation in the military, and, eventually, would strengthen the public leverage over the situation.
3. “Armenian Camp” Charity NGO. Social Enterprise on ceramics school
This project would contribute to the social integration of the disabled through the elaboration and promotion of an occupational therapy model in Armenia. The grantee would set up a model social enterprise to produce ceramics and would carry out an active marketing campaign to promote and sold its products through direct sales, fairs, and web-stores. As part of the project the grantee would conduct particular types of sport training and sport events to promote sports among disabled people.
4. Academic Foundation of Political Sciences. International Conference on Democracy and Security
This project would contribute to the transparency and accountability of the Armenian state institutions in the security area through bringing the American and Russian security and defence traditions in Armenia. The organization of a large-scale conference with involvement of local stakeholders (including decision-makers and leading specialists from the field of security and political studies) and international experts from USA, EU, and Russia and the further work on developing a trilingual (Armenian-Russian-English) terminological dictionary on Strategic and Security terms and concepts as reflected in the American and Russian defence and security traditions will result in the extrapolation of the American and Russian security traditions into the Armenian realities, as well as would further promote the democratization and transparency of the Armenian defence and security structures.
5. “Armenian Book Center” Cultural Union. www.amsagir.am Cultural-critical website
This project would contribute to the development of critical thinking and critical writing in Armenia through encouraging constructive public discussion on issues of cultural and social importance at the newly established web-site that would feature significant cultural events and developments in Armenia, and would invite critical comments from the readers. This would create an interactive cultural platform, and would encourage information exchange and critical dialogue among culturally and socially active communities in Armenia.
6. Rights Information Center NGO. Improving human rights practices in Syunik region
This project would contribute to the protection and advocacy of human rights in the Syunik region of Armenia through the mobilization of young people and boosting grassroots human rights activism in the region. The intensive training courses and practical monitoring within the project would result in an increased number and quality of reports on human rights violations in the Syunik region, which would increase public awareness of the situation with human rights in the targeted region.
7. “Khachmeruk” Debate Club. Fighting Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions
This project would contribute to the improvement of higher education in Armenia through researching the phenomenon of plagiarism and devising a strategy to fight it. The qualitative research and its discussions with stakeholders would help the grantee to elaborate a pilot strategy to fight against the phenomenon of plagiarism in Armenian universities that would result in an increased understanding of the phenomenon of plagiarism, and the application of the newly elaborated anti-plagiarism strategy at one or two pilot universities.
8. Hayk Kocharyan, individual researcher
This research would study the manifestation of freedom within the Soviet Armenian society in 1960-70ss including the ways of resistance for the freedom and subcultures typical to that period (“stylyags”. “hippies” etc.) and discussing them in the context of the problems and their solutions typical to modern Armenia.
9. ADX Ltd. Articles on innovation and modernization in Armenia on the website www.prm.am.
This project would increase public awareness of global and local trends in modernization and innovation through production and dissemination of alternative information on culturally, politically, and socially significant developments in Armenia and in the world. It aimed at establishing a unique virtual space for public discussions on social, political, and cultural issues in light of modernization and innovation, which would further encourage freedom of expression in Armenia.
10. Hye Dzmer Pap Charitable Foundation. www.haysanta.am against extreme poverty
This project would contribute to strengthening the culture of social responsibility of the society through increased media exposure of the socially disadvantaged and marginalized households and the introduction of innovative tools for individual and corporate assistance to the poor. With the establishment of a journalists’ and bloggers’ network who would identify and follow-up the marginalized households throughout the country the project would set up an effective and sustainable mechanism of support to the most disadvantaged households in Armenia, as well as would increase the visibility of and a public dialogue on the issue of extreme poverty in the country.
11. Martuni Women’s Community Council NGO. Tourism Development in Martuni
This project would contribute to the development of tourism in the town of Martuni and the neighboring communities through the promotion of culturally significant artifacts, traditions, and crafts from that region as well as a number of identified suitable houses for B&B services to visiting tourists among Armenian tour operators. As a result of the project, three tour packages covering the Martuni region would be elaborated and offered to representatives of incoming tour industry in Armenia.
12. Go Group Media. “Building Interactive Dialogue between People throughout the South Caucasus”
This project would contribute to the peaceful resolution of regional conflicts by increasing awareness of the Armenia-Turkey dialogue process among expert communities, media, and general public throughout the South Caucasus. The Georgian, Abkhaz, and South Ossetian journalistic team’s joint investigation of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue process would familiarize the South Caucasian societies with the complicated process of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, which would help the communities to apply the lessons learnt from the Armenia-Turkey process to their local conflicts.
Projects in brief (32.05 KBytes)
Selection of research papers, policy papers and other documents developed by EPF and partners
SIDA Open Door Grants 2010-2012
The goal of the program was to contribute to the advancement of democracy, promotion of European values and human rights, establishment of freedom of…
EPF MEDIA
To empower people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives.
We are a member of Eurasia Partnership Foundation and Eurasia Foundation networks
Copyright © 2019 EURASIA PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION
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How to Liberate the Oppressed Using the Philosophy of Freire Essay
Freire’s Pedagogy Of The Oppressed And The Philosophy Of Education
Freire (2000) emphasizes the importance of love, charity, reflection (critical thinking), humility and dialogue — which effects the “indivisible solidarity” — important for the oppressed to become the liberators of themselves (p. 90). If I were to apply Freire’s ideas about philosophy of education, including his ideas about “dialogue,” “critical thinking,” and the “indivisible solidarity,” my classroom would look radically different from what the typical classroom of today looks like. In fact — there would be no classroom at all. The world would become my classroom, and just as Socrates taught in the marketplace and made the world his classroom, so too would I return to this ancient practice of one of the greatest partakers of dialogue in human history and take myself and my students into the world where we could engage with reality and take serious critical thinking to the next level and apply ourselves to real-world concepts and real-world people, all while maintaining our efforts to achieve that transcendental aim of Freire’s philosophy of education, which is true enlightenment/liberation.
This may not seem like a practical application of Freire’s philosophy — but it is really the most faithful application of Freire’s philosophy. Freire (2000) asserts that “if I do not love the world — if I do not love life — if I do not love people — I cannot enter into dialogue … and that dialogue cannot exist without humility” (p. 90). To love the world, life, and the people in it, and to enter into dialogue with those people in order to better understand them and ourselves, it is essential to come into contact with them. And one cannot really come into contact with the world by building four walls and sitting inside them, which is what being in a classroom is all about. This raises the question: why have a classroom? Is it in and of itself not a method of control? So who is controlling the classroom and the teacher and the students? Is it not the oppressors? What happens if the classroom is liberated and the teachers and the students suddenly emerge into the streets, into the cold light of day, questioning this and that, as though emerging from Plato’s Cave for the first time and seeing the real sun and beholding it in wonder like a child? Is this not the best way to apply Freire’s philosophy of education? To enter into the world like a child once more and to raise the same childlike questions, which have most likely been forgotten by all of the millions of adults who think that the oppressive system in which they live is the one that must be and should always be? Getting rid of and out of the classroom altogether is the most fundamental and important aspect of Freire’s philosophy of education. Make the field your classroom — learn from experience: be part of the world and engage — but do so honestly and directly, like a child, without pretension, without guile, always alert for the truth of things.
But this is merely describing the physicality of the classroom and Freire intends for more than physicality to be re-examined. Yet, in this manner, the ideas that Freire insists upon can be put into practice: humility, for example. What is more humble than being like a poor Franciscan friar? That is how Socrates was in a way — but he was so social, polite, compelling and focused on truth and wisdom that he had many friends who became real allies and carriers of the flame. In this manner, the content of the “classroom” in which Freire’s philosophy is kept alive would be carried out into the world, so that the students can connect with one another and their surroundings, becoming “reflective” and transcendent in their dialogues with the outside world. This is what Freire (2000) means when he states, “It is absolutely essential…
Why America Invaded Iraq Research Paper
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ETO Sterilizer
Food Sterilizer
Fumigation Chamber
Herbal Steam Sterilizer
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Continuous Steam
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Bio Medical Steam Sterilizer
Q. What is ETO?
A. ETO means Ethylene Oxide.
Q. What does ethylene smell like?
A. Ethylene is a small hydrocarbon gas. It is naturally occurring, but it can also occur as a result of combustion and other processes. You can’t see or smell it. Some fruit will produce ethylene as ripening begins.
Q. What is ETO Sterilizer?
A. ETO Sterilizer is highly effective sterilizing equipment. It is perfect for heat sensitive tools and devices as it uses only ethylene oxide gas for sterilizing the substances and does not entail high temperature processing.
Q. What is Ethylene Oxide used for?
A. Ethylene oxide is produced in large volumes and is primarily used as an intermediate in the production of several industrial chemicals, the most notable of which is ethylene glycol. It is also used as a fumigant in certain agricultural products and as a sterile for medical equipment and supplies.
Q. What is Ethylene Oxide Processing?
A. Ethylene oxide sterilization is a chemical process consisting of four primary variables: gas concentration, humidity, temperature and time. EO is an alkylating agent that disrupts the DNA of microorganisms, which prevents them from reproducing. The EO penetrates the breathable packaging and sterilizes all accessible surfaces of the product to render products sterile by alkylation of proteins essential for cell reproduction.
Q. What are the uses of Ethylene Oxide?
A. Ethylene oxide can penetrate multiple layers of breathable packaging, making it suitable for the sterilization of a wide range of materials not compatible with other methods of sterilization:
Assembled complex devices
Custom procedure packs
Equipment with integrated-electronics
Multi-lumen tubing products
Wound care dressings
Q. What are the Advantages of Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Process?
Low Temperature
High efficiency – destroys micro-organisms including resistant spores
Large sterilizing volume/chamber capacity
Non Corrosive to plastic, metal and rubber materials
Q. What are the Applications of ETO Sterilizer?
A. Foods, Medicine and Surgery
Q. What are the Types of Sterilization?
Heat Based Sterilization
Chemical Based Sterilization
Radiation Sterilization
Q. How is sterilization cycle in ETO Sterilizer?
A. There are 3 phase in ETO Sterilizer
Preconditioning
Aeration (Degassing)
Cycle time is usually more than 14 hours.
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News Release 19-Jun-2019
Lack of diversity in genomic research hinders precision medicine for nonwhite Americans
A new study uncovers 65 genetic variants found in understudied minority populations that could lead to improved precision medicine for those groups
The vast majority of genomic data scientists have collected focuses on people of European descent, overlooking minority populations. As genetic-based precision medicine grows, this data gap means minorities may lack access to medical care that could reduce growing chronic disease disparities among racial and ethnic groups.
Precision medicine is an approach that allows doctors to select treatments that are most likely to be effective in protecting a patient's health or treating their disease, based on an understanding of the patient's individual genes, environment, and lifestyle. This approach allows doctors and researchers to better predict which treatments and prevention strategies will work for which people, but it can't be effectively used without access to accurate information for that individual or group.
A team of researchers from institutions across the country, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, analyzed phenotypes of nearly 50,000 non-European individuals, identifying 65 new associations and replicating 1,400 associations between genes and diseases, highlighting the need for equitable inclusion of diverse populations in genetic research.
Kari North, a professor in the epidemiology department at the UNC Gillings School for Global Public Health, and Misa Graff, assistant professor in the school's epidemiology department, are co-authors on the paper "Genetic Diversity Improves Our Understanding of Complex Trait Architecture," which was published on June 19 in Nature. North was the senior co-leader and oversaw the research and Graff was a co-junior lead.
"This is an extremely important public health issue," said Graff. "We need to work hard to make sure that the populations most burdened by disease are not overlooked by genomic studies, because we cannot afford for disease disparities to get worse. Understanding the genes in these populations is key to targeting prevention and designing drugs that can better target their illnesses and improve quality of life."
Overall, minority populations are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 80% more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes and 30% more likely to die from heart disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, Hispanics (47.0%) and non-Hispanic blacks (46.8%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by non-Hispanic whites (37.9%) and non-Hispanic Asians (12.7%).
The study, known as Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE), was founded by the National Human Genome Institute and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to research the correlation between genetics and disease in ethnically diverse individuals in the United States. The study was led by a large research team including researchers from many academic and medical research institutions across the country, including Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the University of Southern California.
In analyzing the genetic code of these diverse populations and comparing them to those of European descent, researchers identified 65 new genetic associations, or previously undiscovered positions along a chromosome where related genetic variants are located, that have not been found previously in European populations, but have the potential to be transferable to other groups that share components of genetic lineage, such as African ancestry, which can be found in both African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos.
For instance, the association of lower HbA1c levels, which is often used as a marker for glucose control, and the gene for sickle cell anemia had been well reported in African-American populations. The team's work demonstrates the importance of this variant in some Hispanic/Latino populations. When Hispanic/Latino individuals carry this sickle cell variant, as they commonly do in African ancestry populations, the estimated values of HbA1c levels could be erroneously lower, leading an individual to incorrectly think that they are free of type 2 diabetes or that their glucose is well under control.
"It is important that we no longer make assumptions based on what someone looks like or their perceived race - which is an inappropriate biological construct - and project what they might be at risk for or whether their disease is under good control," said North.
Another finding is a risk variant associated with a higher number of cigarettes smoked per day among smokers. This risk variant is virtually absent in most populations but found at a significantly higher rate among populations with Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander ancestry.
This finding will help identify new biological traits that may not have been discovered. Among the Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander population, the variant was found in 17.2 percent of the participants. But if the study hadn't included Native Hawaiians, this association would not have been noticed.
As urban areas are experiencing population growth and genes are mixing more and more, including diverse groups in research becomes more important. It is also important to acknowledge the risk of misdiagnosing diseases if diverse populations remain unstudied.
"An important step in genetic medicine is determining how often a genetic variant occurs in healthy people. If a variant is common in the wider population, it is unlikely to be harmful, but in most of our databases that 'wider population' is comprised mostly of European ancestry," said North. "Unless we increase our efforts to study diverse populations, we are going to continue to make these mistakes."
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation's first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 74 bachelor's, 104 master's, 65 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools including the College of Arts & Sciences. Every day, faculty, staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina's most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina's more than 330,000 alumni live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and 164 countries. More than 178,000 live in North Carolina.
Audrey Smith
mediarelations@unc.edu
@unc
http://www.unc.edu
One in 270 births have 'dual burden' of prematurity and severe maternal complications New York University
Cracks in the skin of eczema patients promote allergic diseases MediaSource
About 44% of high school seniors who misuse prescription drugs have multiple drug sources University of Michigan
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Hon. Ayesha Javed
Hon. Jean Oghassabian
Hon. Jigmi Rinzin
Hon. Lilia Aguilar Gil
Hon. Meriem Boujbel
Hon. Olfa Soukri Cherif
Hon. Pol Ham
Hon. Samuel Hoyos Mejía
Hon. Susan Musyoka
Parlamentarians Forum
Proposed activities
Why a Parliamentarians Forum?
Hon. Dr. Susan Musyoka has been a Private Medical Practitioner, practicing Medicine since 1980 and also being involved in leadership and in various developmental activities in her County of Machakos in Kenya. In March 2013, she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Kenya National Assembly, representing Machakos County on an Affirmative action seat. As a parliamentarian, she serves as a member of the House Business Committee and in the Health committee. On issues of Evaluation, she is the Vice Chair of the African Parliamentarian Network on Development Evaluation (APNODE). In 2015, she initiated the formation of the Parliamentary Caucus on the use of evidence with the aim of mobilizing fellow parliamentarians towards the use of evidence based information in legislation making, oversight and decision-making processes. Currently she is the Chair of the Caucus that draws its membership from both the Kenya National Assembly and the Senate. It is her belief that as a champion for use of evidence in decision-making both in the Kenyan Parliament and in Africa as the APNODE Vice Chair, she will be able to influence parliamentarians to adopt the use of evidence in their decision-making roles for a better Africa and the world as a whole.
Hon. Dr. Musyoka holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MB., ChB.)1980 – Nairobi University; and a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) 1990 – Leeds University (UK).
EvalStory Campaign
Parliamentarians for Evaluation Campaign
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V.D Savarkar - The Politics, Poetics and History of Hindu Nationalism: ISAS Faculty Workshop led by Prof. Janaki Bakhle
Workshop | November 27 | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Stephens Hall, 10 (ISAS Conf. Room)
Speakers: Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor in South Asian Studies and Professor in Anthropology, Stanford University; Vidyut Aklujkar, Research Associate, Centre for India and South Asia Research, University of British Columbia; Christian Novetzke, Professor in the South Asia Program, the Comparative Religion Program, and the International Studies Program at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies; Vasudha Paramasivan, Assistant Professor of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley; Sudipta Sen, Professor of History at the University of California, Davis; Christine Philliou, Associate Professor of History, UC Berkeley
Workshop Organizer: Janaki Bakhle, Associate Professor of History, UC Berkeley
Sponsors: Institute for South Asia Studies, Sarah Kailath Chair of India Studies
The growth and rise of the Hindu right wing in India has been an alarming reality for many in the country. An ideology loosely labeled Hindu fundamentalism or Hindutva (Hindu-ness) appears to have attained legitimacy in the worlds largest secular democracy. Some Hindu fundamentalists have issued calls to expel all Muslims from India and teach only a true Hindu civilizational history in schools. Today, the right-wing Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is in power, and threatens to do away with many of the secular and liberal protections Indias citizenry have come to take for granted. How did a right wing ideology capture the hearts and minds of the same population that a little over fifty years ago threw its support behind the stalwarts of liberal secular nationalism, such as Gandhi and Nehru?
Join us for a workshop, led by Prof. Janaki Bakhle, that will attempt to look for a historical explanation in the historical scholarship on the main ideologue, political figure, and author of Hindu fundamentalism: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966).
10 am: REGISTRATION
10:30 am: OPENING: Janaki Bakhle
10:45 - 12 pm: SAVARKAR: HISTORY/MEMORY/MEMORIALIZATION
----------Sudipta Sen
----------Christine Philliou
----------Discussion
12 - 1 pm: LUNCH
1-2:15 pm: SAVARKAR: POLITICS OF CASTE
----------Christian Novetzke
----------Thomas Blom Hansen
2:15 - 2:30 pm: BREAK
2:30 - 3:45 pm: SAVARKAR: POETRY AS THE ARCHIVE OF THE POPULAR
----------Vidyut Aklujkar
----------Vasudha Paramasivan
3:45 - 4 pm: BREAK
4 - 4:15 pm: WRAP UP: Janaki Bakhle
4:15 - 5 pm: RECEPTION
Presenter Bios
Sudipta Sen is Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. A scholar of India and the British Empire, his work has focused on the early colonial history of British India. He is the author of two books, Empire of Free Trade: The English East India Company and the Making of the Colonial Marketplace (Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998) and Distant Sovereignty: National Imperialism and the Origins of British India (London: Routledge, 2002). He is currently working on two book length manuscripts. The first, Ganga: Many Pasts of an Indian River (New Haven: Yale University Press; forthcoming) is an exploration of the idea of a cosmic, universal river at the interstices of myth, historical geography and ecology, and the other is a longer term project entitled Empire of Law and Order: Crime, Punishment and Justice in Early British India, 1770-1830.
Christine Philliou, is Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley. She specializes in the political and social history of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey and Greece as parts of the post-Ottoman world. Her book, Biography of an Empire: Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution (University of California Press, 2011), examines the changes in Ottoman governance leading up to the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-nineteenth century. It does so using the vantage point of Phanariots, an Orthodox Christian elite that was intimately involved in the day-to-day work of governance even though structurally excluded from the Ottoman state. Her current work turns to the political, personal and intellectual/artistic itinerary of the Turkish writer Refik Halit Karay (1888-1965). Her interests and other publications have had to do with comparative empires across Eurasia, various levels of transitions from an Ottoman to a post-Ottoman world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and political and cultural interfaces in the eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, and Balkans in the early modern and modern eras.
Christian Novetzke is a College of Arts and Sciences Term Professor in the South Asia Program, the Comparative Religion Program, and the International Studies Program at the University of Washingtons Jackson School of International Studies. He teaches and writes about religion, history, and culture in South Asia, as well as theoretical issues in the study of religion in general and its intersection with historiography. He works with Marathi and Hindi materials, including textual, ethnographic, and visual/filmic sources. He specializes in the study of Maharashtra from the second millennium CE to the present, ranging from the medieval period, through the colonial and modern periods, to the postcolonial era. Professor Novetzkes first book, Religion and Public Memory (Columbia University Press 2008) won the American Academy of Religions award The Best First Book in the History of Religions in 2009. The book has been published in India under the title History, Bhakti, and Public Memory by Permanent Black. His second book, co-authored with William Elison and Andy Rotman, is Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood, and the Nation, published by Harvard University Press in 2016. His third book, solo authored, is The Quotidian Revolution, published by Columbia University Press, 2016.
Thomas Blom Hansen is the Reliance-Dhirubhai Ambani Professor in South Asian Studies and Professor in Anthropology in Stanford University. He is the author of The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India (Princeton 1999); Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay (Princeton 2001), and Melancholia of Freedom: Anxiety, Race and Everyday Life in a South African Township (Princeton 2012). In addition to these ethnographic engagements, Professor Hansen has pursued a number of theoretical interests in the anthropology of the state, sovereignty, violence and urban life. This has resulted in a range of co-edited volumes, and special issues of journals such as Critique of Anthropology and African Studies. He is currently working on a collection of theoretical and ethnographic essays provisionally entitled Public Passions and Modern Convictions.
Vidyut Aklujkar is a research associate at the Centre for India and South Asia Research at the University of British Columbia, where she has also taught in the Departments of Philosophy and Asian Studies. She studied in the University of Poona, Tufts University, and the University of British Columbia. Her research interests range from poetry and fiction to critical studies in classical Sanskrit literature, Marathi, and contemporary South Asian literature. She has published in both North America and India as a poet, journalist and fiction writer.
Vasudha Paramasivan is Assistant Professor of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on early modern and modern literary cultures of North India. Her current research is centered on the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas. Her book project brings together exegetical literature, hagiographies, and narrative poetry in order to explore the complex sets of interactions among the various 19th-century literary culturessectarian, courtly, and colonialthat contributed to the emergence of the Ramcaritmanas as the principal text of Ram devotion. She is also interested in the enormous impact that the Ramcaritmanas exerted on the modern Hindi poetical imagination.Her publications include: "Yah Ayodhyā Vah Ayodhyā: Earthly and Cosmic Journeys in the nand Lahari," "Captivity and Curiosity, The Question of Economic Independence for Women," and "The Condition of Hindu Wives."
Janaki Bakhle is Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley. She specializes in Modern South Asian history. Her areas of specialization include Indian political history, Indian feminist history, nationalism, gender and culture. Her first book, Two Men and Music: Nationalism, Colonialism and the Making of an Indian Classical Tradition was published by Oxford University Press, 2005. She has published in CSSH, and is currently engaged in her second book project about Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, known as the chief ideologue of Hindu fundamentalism, and is writing about sedition, colonial surveillance, and the emergence of Hindu fundamentalism in late nineteenth century India.
Event made possible with the support of the Sarah Kailath Chair of India Studies
For DIRECTIONS to the Institute please enter "Institute for South Asia Studies" in your google maps or click this GOOGLE MAPS LINK.
Please note that parking is not always easily available in Berkeley. Take public transportation if possible or arrive early to secure your spot.
The event is FREE and OPEN to the public.
Event contact: isas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3608
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David Boreanaz reflects on Buffy: 'I was in the right spot at the right time'
By C. Molly Smith
March 10, 2017 at 09:00 AM EST
As David Boreanaz says goodbye to Bones — it wraps its 12-season run on March 28 at 9 p.m. on Fox — he looks back to the series that came before, reminiscing about his time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the spin-off in which he starred.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Twenty years ago, you were cast in your breakout role as the vampire Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Did you ever imagine you’d be here now?
DAVID BOREANAZ: It was all timing, really. [Angel] initially had an arc of 6 out of the 12 episodes. He was somebody who could be recurring and a love interest to Buffy [Sarah Michelle Gellar]. It happened so quickly, but in order for things to happen quickly when you recognize them, you have to be ready; when it hits, it’s quick. When Buffy hit, I was in the right spot at the right time, but I had been struggling for years just to get in the door. I couldn’t even do a commercial, like a gum commercial without freaking out. You have to go through the pain to get to the other end, and then once you get to the top, you’re not down — you gotta climb other mountains. It’s not like “Hey, let’s pack it in.”
A version of this story appears in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands now, or available here — and subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
So I walked in, met with [casting director Marcia Shulman], read for the piece, then went back. When I met Marcia, we just connected. She is such a beautiful lady, someone who was in my camp. We talked a lot about the East Coast and New York restaurants and then got into this character, finally. Then, I went in the room and read for [executive producer Gail Berman], [creator Joss Whedon], and [co-executive producer at the time] David Greenwalt. They were kind of pressed against the hour to cast this character because I would have been shooting, I think, the next day. The day after they cast me, I remember being thrown into this world of complete chaos. The breakdown of this character [described him] like, “He’s a prizefighter, like Joe Louis; you can hit him, but he’s always going to come back.” At the time, I didn’t think much of the fact that he was a vampire. But I loved the fact that you can knock him down but you know he’s going to come back up.
What do you remember about your first day on Buffy?
They fitted me in this velvet suit — I’ll never forget it. I waited and waited to shoot, and when I went to meet Sarah, she was in the middle of some sort of fight sequence. I was like, “Okay, that was a quick meeting.” It went slow and fast because she was working and I remember being outside, doing makeup tests, getting fitted, and the next day being on set and having to do this sequence where I meet her for the first time and she literally jumps off of a rail bar and takes me down and asks who I am, which we shot around 4 a.m. It was crazy, and when it was time to do the scene it was like, “Okay, we gotta get the shot.” It wasn’t like we had time to rehearse it really.
The sequence went so fast and I was not thinking. I think that helped calm me down and get into what this character is really all about, so that was kind of the first take on it. I went home thinking, “What just happened?” All of the insecurities came out: Did I mess it up? Did I do something wrong? But the response to the dailies was great. I was just having a blast. It went so fast, so the casting process turned into a quick, first day of shooting that ended up like a madhouse for me. I embraced it and went along with the ride.
Did you always want to be an actor and work in entertainment, or was there a moment on Buffy, or otherwise, when you knew it was it for you?
Yeah. I studied, I was in theater, I was doing commercials, I was in classes. I had to take some techniques. I was so raw. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, so for me it was always on. I was enamored by Broadway shows as a kid growing up. I remember seeing Yul Brynner from The King and I in Philadelphia. I was always into theater, and did that on top of playing sports. It was always something that I really wanted to do. Obviously, I moved out and had to find that work and do theater — be in the right place at the right time. It’s been a fantastic journey and I’m still climbing. There’s no [point] where I say “Yeah, okay, that’s it.” No, I love it. I have a desire to do more and show more, which is the exciting part.
What is your biggest takeaway from Buffy? Was there a piece of advice or something else you picked up while working on the show that you carried with you through the years that’s been useful in the projects that followed?
Technically, eyelines, finding your light. I was good at finding my light and recognizing it. When you have a lot of stunts, you can be pressed against time, so you have to be square on your mark, instinctually and technically hone your skills on that. You have to be able to peripherally see things, work that muscle. For me, it’s finding light and never blocking your way. If you can’t see the lens, the lens doesn’t see you. It’s real simple. I’ve taken that, I’ve used it, and it’s amazing when I direct how I see that now more so. It’s, “Why are you not playing toward your lens?” We’re not in theater space, you don’t have a fourth wall…you have to make it work and find the lens. That’s what your job is to do, so I became very friendly with the lens.
Then there was the spin-off, Angel. How did you make it your own?
It was extremely transitionally interesting for me. It was an opportunity to take this character into an adult-oriented show, which was unlike the Buffy-verse, and more or less toward the lost souls in the city. I never really think about the challenges. I know I respond better when there’s more on my plate and the pressure’s high, so I instinctively take that on.
I remember the casting process: We tried to surround the character with good people who could carry the show and tell the story. Charisma [Carpenter, who played Cordelia] was great and then Glenn Quinn [who played Doyle] was strong and fantastic. He became a very close friend of mine, so at that transition it was an instant bond to somebody who I identified with, who I loved being around, made it easy for me, and heightened the work because of his pure talent and joy of working. That process took a while, because [it] was like, “How do we find this Doyle character?” Quinn came in with the Irish accent and nailed it, bam. Joss was excited, [as was] David Greenwalt.
As that progressed, the story progressed and the friendship became amazingly strong to a point where when we’d work on set, we just knew where each other were going to be, we had fun. The unfortunate circumstances of his plight and his choice took him into a different direction for which I was very oblivious to, but that was something that will always remain with me. I miss the guy, even to this day — just a remarkable human being and it’s sad the way it happened. (Quinn died in 2002 of an accidental drug overdose.)
I remember shooting this presentation for The WB on top of this huge skyscraper downtown. They built a ledge and wired me off. I had this huge monologue and I was walking across the edge of this building that was way high. I was strapped down and the winds were high, and then we got a crane up top. Sixty-five percent of the footage was all out of focus and we hired this DP that was supposed to be amazing and it just was crap, so they cut something together for the presentation. That was really how it started.
When we got into the show itself, [then WB president/co-president of programming] Susanne Daniels was like, “This is not the show you pitched me.” We had to shut down for two weeks in order to find the…writing of it and that was interesting. There were pitfalls and challenges that we overcame, and that first year was tough. There was a lot going on that helped me stretch the character more and more…rather than [simply being] this guy who appeared out of the shadows who had a heavy brow. I laugh at some of the scenes when I see them now, but it really was a Romeo and Juliet moment for [Angel and Buffy]. To split them was sad, but we had some crossovers.
With Buffy and Angel on simultaneously, how did those crossover episodes come together?
It was hard because we were doing two types of shows and there were different schedules. We got through it. I’m [still] amazed at the energy. George Lucas visited our set and spent a day with us; he was a fan of the show. I remember eating lunch with him. He was amazed at how we got a shot using greenscreen and wirework in eight days. It was like we were shooting a movie every week. What you did back then you couldn’t do today. [We shot] huge jumps in the middle of the night, a lot of sequences like that. It was dangerous. That’s what made the show thrive — that energy, that edge.
The first time you ever directed was in 2004, for an episode of Angel. What made you step behind the camera?
I always wanted to direct. I wouldn’t just leave set [when I wrapped my scenes]; I’d stay and learn. It’s so important for actors to realize that they have an opportunity. Why would you leave the circus ring if you want to get into other things? You can’t take things for granted. You have to constantly keep learning and pushing yourself, which I did, and then I got the break to do that. Kelly Manners was the producer at the time, and he said, “Absolutely, David can direct.” It was a phenomenal experience.
I remember having knee surgery and literally directing with 50 percent of my knee gone…so it was a challenge, but I loved it — loved it, loved it, loved it, loved it. What I loved about directing was to be able to switch from one section to the other. To have the ability to direct and act at the same time was so much fun. I was able to compartmentalize and bring it to a whole different level and it was relatable to me because of the acting, being able to talk to the actors and know where they’re coming from and to grow that aspect, to bring those experiences to life. From that standpoint alone, it was really big with me.
For more on Boreanaz, check back to EW.com as the Bones series finale approaches.
The Spanish Princess star Charlotte Hope talks 'bittersweet' final scene and complications of Catherine's lie
Ranking the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel crossover episodes
All the Angel characters who came from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
David Boreanaz reflects on <em>Buffy</em>: 'I was in the right spot at the right time'
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Sen. Zaffirini named to UT campus newspaper’s The Daily Texan Hall of Fame; award ceremony scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, September 16, 2016
by Legislative Media | Jul 13, 2016 | Politics
Featured: Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, at the rostrum (large desk) facing the Texas Senate chamber at the State Capitol Building. The portrait behind her is of Stephen F. Austin, known as the “Father of the Republic of Texas”, done shortly before his death on December 27, 1836.
Photograph By SENATE MEDIA SERVICES
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is one of six 2016 inductees into The Daily Texan Hall of Fame, the non-profit Friends of The Daily Texan announced recently. The organization was established in 2013 to support quality journalism and a strong future for the student newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin. While a UT undergraduate, Zaffirini served as a reporter, feature writer, copy editor, headline writer, assistant editor and special issue editor for The Daily Texan. “This award is especially meaningful to me because working for The Daily Texan was an amazing experience that strengthened my resolve to pursue a career in communication and public service,” Zaffirini said. “What’s more, I am grateful to the Friends of The Daily Texan not only for this honor, but also for their work to promote quality journalism and to ensure the success of The Daily Texan in the digital world. I share their belief in the power of student journalism, and, equally important, their commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.”
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News Government launches £1.5m fund for ‘return to work’ projects
Home / news / News Government launches £1.5m fund for ‘return to work’ projects
Posted 7th March 2018
News Government launches £1.5m fund for ‘return to work’ projects2018-03-072018-03-07https://eevt.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/neweevtlogo.fw_.pngEEVThttps://eevt.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/neweevtlogo.fw_.png200px200px
The government has announced a £1.5m fund to help private sector companies assist individuals who want to return to work following a career break of at least a year – but has warned organisations that they must also invest in long-term sustainable programmes to tackle the gender pay gap.
The Returners Fund, spearheaded by the minister for women and equalities, will be available in grant form to approximately 15-18 projects seeking to help returning workers update their skills. The government defines a worker in this case as someone who left paid employment for at least a year to take on a caring responsibility.
The fund, aimed at assisting returns to paid work at a level aligned with individuals’ skills and experience, is accompanied by a best practice guide for employers seeking to deliver return to work programmes. This outlines the business case for returnships, and offers case studies from both ‘returner’ and employers’ experience.
However, the government’s guidance for employers, as well as the toolkit and fund, all come from the same £5m Theresa May promised in the 2017 spring budget to help people back into work after a career break.
Priority will be given to projects that focus on SMEs and employers outside London, as well as employment sectors that have a poor track record with returners. These include retail, law and telecoms, STEM industries and the creative sectors.
The Government Equalities Office said it was also particularly interested in applications from projects that focus on supporting people with protected characteristics, including those with BAME backgrounds, and disabled and older workers.
The move forms part of the government’s wider strategy to find solutions for the gender pay gap. It said that analysis from an Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Labour Force Survey showed that 89 per cent of those who take time out of paid work to care for family were women.
ONS figures published in November 2017 also revealed that an estimated 1.9 million women were economically inactive for caring reasons – a large number of whom had professional or managerial experience.
Announcing the fund, Amber Rudd, home secretary and minister for women and equalities, described the figures as “striking”.
“Too often, people struggle to get back into paid work after taking time out to care for others. That is a huge loss not only to those individuals, but to our economy and to businesses all over the country,” she said in a statement.
“That’s why I’m delighted to announce that this government will be launching a £1.5m fund to support people, particularly women, back into work after time out looking after children and other relatives.
“By offering meaningful work that pays, the fund will give people who want to return to employment the opportunity to use their valuable skills, talents and experience.”
The government has stipulated that returnship projects must be able to demonstrate self-sustainability beyond the initial funding of the grant, with long-term plans for recruiting and supporting returners in place – which Sam Smethers, the Fawcett Society’s CEO, described as “key”.
“We welcome this fund – it will be particularly important for women. But the key is to support women back into work at the level they were at before, and to sustain them in work longer-term,” she told People Management.
“Too many women returners feel they have no choice but to trade down and work below their potential or end up in insecure employment.”
A study published by accountancy firm PwC yesterday (5 March) revealed that the UK has already fallen from 14th to 15th place in a ranking of 33 OECD countries in 2017, based on five key indicators of female economic empowerment.
The Women in Work Index said a key cause of the gender pay gap was pressure on women to combine work with ongoing caring commitments, with professional opportunities constrained by the lack of flexible or part-time roles available for senior and higher-skilled jobs.
Commenting on the findings, Laura Hinton, PwC’s executive board member and head of people, said policy incentives, such as the Returnships Fund, or advocating for shared parental leave, were vital to the success of business-led action for change.
“Despite the push for organisations to publish their gender pay gaps in the UK, progress will be slow until businesses start addressing the complex underlying reasons. Merely reporting numbers without concrete action won’t change anything,” she said.
“Action needs to focus on bringing more women through to higher-paying and higher-skilled roles, such as those in the technology sector – providing greater flexibility so that part-time working isn’t the default option – and encouraging more men to take up shared parental leave, so that it’s not always women who take extended breaks from the workplace.”
Expressions of interest for the first round of bidding for the fund must be submitted by 30 March, with the second round of bidding closing on 16 August.
Catrina Smith, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, said the guidance “may also become, by default, a benchmark for employers and, if they fail to follow such a policy without good reason, they could find themselves in difficulty in the future”.
Members – School Teachers’ Review Body
London with travel throughout England
£300 a day plus reasonable travel and subsistence costs
In the region of £60k
King’s College School, Wimbledon
Cardiff (Caerdydd)
£29,172 – £37,240 (pay award pending)
National Museum Wales
Independent safeguarding body for aid sector to be created news, updates
News HR budgets to decline in 2018 as challenges increase, research suggestsnews, updates
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You are at:Home»Procurement»Has the President put the brakes on contractor disclosure?
Has the President put the brakes on contractor disclosure?
By on April 10, 2012 Procurement
Some say yes, at least for this year, the time has passed for President Obama to issue an executive order that would require federal contractors to disclose their political contributions. But some transparency advocates say a window of opportunity still exists for transparency into corporate political contributions.
The door is still open if the administration does not tie the award of contracts to political disclosure, the main objection of critics, Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, said Monday. The administration instead should require anyone who receives federal money, including grant recipients, to disclose their political contribution information after award, Amey said.
“Certainly, the disclosure of this information shouldn’t be so tightly constrained [to government contractors],” Amey said in a recent blog post. “With nearly $550 billion spent each year on grants, I would love to see the [executive order]include disclosure by all entities receiving federal funds.”
Critics calls the order, a draft of which was leaked around this time last year, an attempt to override the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That decision protected corporate donations to political, third-party organizations and drove millions of dollars into the 2010 elections.
Republicans moved quickly to stop any potential executive order with language in this year’s defense authorization bill and an omnibus appropriations bill. Civilian agencies are now prohibited from asking contractors to disclose contributions before an award. Defense agencies cannot ask for that information before or after an award.
The legislation still leaves room for the President to order contractors at civilian agencies to disclose their political contributions after the award of a contract. Groups like Public Citizen and lawmakers supportive of disclosure asked the President to issue a revised order around the time of his State of the Union speech this year, which unofficially marked the beginning of Obama’s campaign season, said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen.
“The door was wide open,” Holman said in an interview Monday. “The fact that the President didn’t go ahead with it at the State of the Union means that it’s just too little too late at this point.”
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., disagreed: “Any time is the right time for the President to sign an executive order to bring disclosure and transparency to those who do business with the federal government,” Eshoo said through a spokesman.
In the meantime, Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would require all corporations to disclose their political contributions greater than $10,0000. The Democrat-controlled Senate is working on a floor vote in the next few weeks, Holman said. Even without any Republican support, Holman said the vote on the bill will send the message that transparency is a priority for the administration, Holman said.
“It will force everyone to say yes or no when it comes to transparency of money and politics,” he said.
NASA sets due date for $20B IT contract
U.S. military's Afghan HQ opens just in time for possible demolition
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You are at:Home»Office of Personnel Management»STOCK Act study panel named
STOCK Act study panel named
By on December 19, 2012 Office of Personnel Management, OPM
The National Academy of Public Administration has announced the panel of five experts who will carry out a congressional required study on the possible effects of putting some federal employees’ personal financial disclosure statements on the Internet.
The study is due at the end of March. The panel’s members are:
David Chu, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Defense Analyses; former Office of Personnel Management director Janice Lachance, who is now chief executive officer of the Special Libraries Association; Martha Kumar, a political science professor at Towson State University; Ronald Sanders, former chief human capital officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, now at consultant Booz, Allen, Hamilton; and retired Vice Admiral Lewis Crenshaw, who works for Grant Thornton, another consulting firm.
Chu will chair the panel, according to a NAPA announcement. Backing up the group will be a seven-member project study team.
The online posting requirement, included in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act signed last April, would apply to some 28,000 Senior Executive Service members, political appointees and others, according to the Office of Government Ethics. The annual disclosure statements are already public, but are typically available only on paper following a written request. The requirement was originally supposed to take effect at the end of August, but Congress has repeatedly postponed the deadline in response to concerns raised about the potential impact on employee privacy and national security. The latest delay runs until April 15.
Report shows where CFC pledges go
Washington, D.C. federal offices open under two-hour delay Friday
Washington, D.C-area feds getting a snow day
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Minister for Foreign Trade and Development to Stockholm
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Anne-Mari Virolainen will meet Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate and Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin and Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ann Linde in Stockholm on Thursday 17 May.
Foreign Minister Soini visits The English School to mark the Ministry's 100th anniversary
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In honour of the centenary celebrations, Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will end his tour of Finnish schools by attending an event organised at The English School in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, on Monday 21 May.
Foreign Minister Soini: Events at the Gaza border of great concern. Violence must stop.
Finland is greatly concerned about the extensive use of force and the loss of lives at the Gaza border demonstrations.
Crisis Management Now gathers Finnish actors and future experts
100-year-old Ministry for Foreign Affairs with its partners will organise a Crisis Management Now event on 17 May from 10.00 to 17.30 in Kellohalli at the Abattoir complex in Kalasatama.
Capital of Metal campaign sets out to find the world capital of heavy metal music in Finland
The Capital of Metal campaign sets out to determine which Finnish city deserves to be known internationally as the Capital of Metal. It also spotlights Finland’s position at the centre of the global heavy metal community: Finland has more metal bands per capita than any other country.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Soini to Canada and New York
Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini will visit Canada and the UN Headquarters in New York from 8 to 11 May.
Foreign Minister Soini's school visits in Southwest Finland
Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini's tour of schools will take him next to Turku and Salo.
Nina Suomalainen to be Executive Director of Justice Rapid Response
Nina Suomalainen will start as Executive Director of Justice Rapid Response on 7 May 2018.
President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discuss Finland’s participation in crisis management and the situation in the Korean Peninsula
On Friday 4 May, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed issues relating to international crisis management.
A hundred years of foreign policy – Foreign Ministry's public event in Turku
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs marks its centenary year by presenting its activities in events organised in different parts of Finland. On Wednesday 9 May, a public event will be held in Turku City Library.
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I’ve been spoiled. Up until now, all the Japanese light novels I’ve read were ones that withstood a long and gruelling overseas licensing process. By the time a LN got licensed in the US, you could be pretty sure it met some (often low) minimum standards for story-telling and writing quality. I’m talking about things like Spice and Wolf, Kokoro Connect, and most of the Haruhi series. But beneath that surface layer you will find a lot of stuff that’s not much better than fan fiction.
It’s like UK television. All we see over here are the top end BBC works of art. When I lived in the UK, we got to see the really bad run of the mill ITN stuff. I can tell you that UK game shows are terrible, and that’s from someone whose wife watches an hour and a half of US game shows nightly. I am beginning to think it’s the same way with light novels.
You see, with the increasing popularity of LNs in the US, and an expansion of delivery modes, came a lowering of quality standards. Back when the publisher had to cough up the money to produce a physical product, they were more careful about what they would publish. Today, with digital delivery, the initial cost isn’t so high, and so publishers can take bigger chances. The best example of this is the new light novel distributor, J-Novel Club. For a monthly fee, JNC posts chapters of on-going LNs, roughly one per novel per week. When the novel is completed, it’s pulled from the website, except for an introductory first chapter and a purchase link. Currently, JNC is licensing twelve LNs, some of which are the second volume of a series. I am a member of JNC, and I have read at least parts of all twelve. Not all of them are of equal quality.
Using these twelve as a convenience sample of what’s out there, we find that five of them are in the hero pulled into a fantasy world genre. This is not to be confused with hero trapped in a video game, because there is no indication that it really is a game world, as opposed to a world with some sort of game mechanics. Obviously, what the Japanese call isekai stories are hot this year.
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: The most literary of the lot, and the only one of this genre to have an anime. A group of people wake up in a RPG style fantasy world, with no memories of their past, and find they have to fight for their lives. There’s a reason the first syllable is grim.
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: A Maoyū Maō Yūsha ripoff, where he’s both scholar and hero, called into a fantasy world, where his high school level skills in ecology and urban planning help defend the kingdom he was handed. “You look like a nice boy, I’ll abdicate in your favor. Here’s my daughter.”
In Another World With My Smartphone: Like it says. He’s in an RPG style fantasy world, but his smart phone works, including the maps and ‘search nearby’ functions. In addition, he finds he has other advantages. “Oh, look. I just found this new magical skill that will cure the Duke’s wife of her mysterious illness.”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest: He’s the low man in his high school class, but the smartest girl in the class really likes him. Suddenly, the whole class is pulled into an RPG style fantasy world. “I’ve loved you ever since I saw you getting the snot beat out of you back in middle school.”
Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: Going downhill fast here, Our Hero gets called into a fantasy world, with the one skill of being able to create a Japanese style public bath-house wherever he likes. Finds some surprisingly useful applications. After all, it’s a limitless source of clean water. Also wet naked girls.
Two more LNs brush up against the edge of this genre.
The Faraway Paladin: HikkoNEET dies and is resurrected in a fantasy world. Doesn’t really count, because all he remembers is that he was a disappointment to his parents and he wants to do better this time around. His zombie priestess mother and ghostly sorcerer father agree. Reasonably well written.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Our Hero starred in too many harem adventures in too many worlds without ever choosing a Best Girl. Now the multiverse will collapse unless he solves new problems in every world, which he does, by combining solutions across worlds and letting the problems cancel each other out. Neat concept, terrible writing.
The remaining five take place in fantasy/SF versions of our world.
Occultic;Nine: Is the best of this lot (and already has its own anime). Everybody in it is dead, and nobody knows it. Faceless MegaCorp is trying to control their souls.
My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World: High school high jinks. Our Hero can see labels over people’s heads, proclaiming what they are — Class President, Her Boyfriend, Mass Murderer, etc.
Brave Chronicle: The Ruinmaker: High school boy, something, something, is supposed to save the world, something, but only wants to protect his little sister. There’s a childhood friend.
Paying to Win in a VRMMO: Not trapped in one. Paying, not Playing. Our Hero wins all the time by finding the right in-game purchase. About as exciting as it sounds.
My Little Sister Can Read Kanji: A couple hundred years from now, his little sister is one of the few people who can still read kanji characters. She is in great demand, because everyone wants to grope her. Our Hero is fine with this. I’m not.
So that’s a chunk of what’s current on the LN front. Twelve novels, of which three are good (for a somewhat relaxed definition of the term good), and the rest are fanfic quality. I keep reading them because I hope they will improve, but they never do.
Tags:Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Brave Chronicle: The Ruinmaker, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, In Another World With My Smartphone, J-Novel Club, light novel, Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension, My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, My Little Sister Can Read Kanji, Occultic;Nine, Paying to Win in a VRMMO, review, The Faraway Paladin
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TL:DR — Anime I never finished: Seiren
A lot of anime are adaptations of Visual Novel originals. The problem with adapting a VN into a twelve-episode anime is that they almost all are multi-track — work you way through while romancing girl A, then go back and do the same with girl B. The question for an anime studio is, how do we handle this during an adaptation?
One way is to pick one girl and follow her to the end, with all the other girls having walk-on parts. Clannad is a good example. The upside is, the story can devote twelve whole episodes to the budding romance. The downside is is, everyone who likes girl B, or C, or …. will be disappointed.
A second approach, call it the Kanon model, is to keep one girl on the main track, even if it disappears into the background for a bit, and give the other girls their own arcs, without ever promising them romance. This requires a certain skill in balancing the screen time and keeping the main heroine as the obvious favorite.
Finally, we have the omnibus approach, famous in Amagami and Photo Kano, and (this season) Seiren. Each girl gets a turn at romance, and after three or four episodes rides off into the sunset with the protagonist. Then we reset, and go through the whole thing with some new girl. It’s like a collection of short stories instead of a novel. The problem with the omnibus approach is twofold, or maybe three.
First, they are short stories. There’s no depth, no chance to develop characters. The four episodes tend to run to a pattern: boy meets girl; boy and girl hit it off; boy and girl encounter insurmountable relational problems; boy and girl decide to get married.
Second, they use the same cast in different roles across different arcs. It’s kind of an ensemble production — like some of the old Murder, She Wrote programs, where the bad guy one week is an old family friend the next. It’s not just that the main heroine changes, that’s to be expected, it’s that our protagonist’s male friend one arc is a complete stranger the next one. Or maybe they play video games one arc, and the next one he’s off on the soccer team. It makes for a certain mental whiplash.
After a while, they all look alike
Finally, and this is a particular problem with Seiren, the protagonist might or might not be the same personality from one arc to the next. In Amagami and Photo Kano, the protagonist was the same person, with the same goals and hangups: in Amagami, he was recovering from having been stood up for a Christmas Date; in Photo Kano he was a camera nut. In each arc we get to see alternative ways he can work through his life problems. In Seiren, he’s a different guy each time.
This season, Seiren is sandwiched in between Tanya the Evil and Demi-chan, and it doesn’t really fill an anime-watching need.
Tags:Amagami, Clannad, Kanon, Photo Kano, review, Seiren, TLDR, Winter 2017
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Just in time for Valentine’s Day
Over in Japan, they take Valentine’s Day seriously, with all the high school girls traditionally making chocolates for their boyfriends.
It…It’s not that I like you, it’s just that I had lots left over.
Over in Japan, they take their curry seriously, with the Japanese Navy / JMSDF traditionally serving curry every Friday, so the ship’s crews can keep track of where they are in the week.
They even have fleet-wide competitions
Over in Japan, they see nothing wrong with melding multiple traditions to make something new and different and uniquely Japanese.
This is a thing, and you can order it.
Back home in the NENW, I figure if the Japanese can do it with rice, there’s no reason I can’t do it with oatmeal.
Experiment 1: I started with a cup of clove-heavy chicken broth, added a slab of Golden Curry roux and cooked it down a little. It was still somewhat thin, so I thickened it with flour. Once I had the curry sauce to my liking, I stirred in a quarter cup of Swiss Miss powdered milk chocolate mix. Everything turned nice and dark. It looked a lot like the pictures, and it was very good over rice.
About half a cup of the sauce was left, so I did my overnight-oats thing, using a cup of boiling broth and two fat dinner teaspoons of the chocolate curry sauce.
Setup: 1/2 cup of stone ground rolled oats in a heat-proof container, one cup of broth, two dinner teaspoons of chocolate curry sauce, salt. Boil the broth and pour over the oatmeal, then add the sauce and stir. Let sit, covered, on the counter overnight. In the morning, pour into a bowl and reheat in the microwave (two, two-minute shots, stirring betweentimes).
Results: Not bad, but surprisingly bland. It was a little wet, probably because of the extra liquid in the sauce (enough so that it boiled over a bit on the second microwave shot). The curry flavour wasn’t noticeable, probably because far less of it ended up in two spoons of sauce than normally was in my curry broth. Same for the chocolate. It tasted a lot like vending machine chocolate and not like my usual stand-a-spoon-up-in-it chocolate. Next time, I’ll try making the curry broth the usual way, and putting the cocoa powder in directly. I’ll save today’s leftover sauce for the Valentine’s Day ice cream party.
Rating: *****
Experiment 2: I decided what it needed was a stronger chocolate, and more of it. Once again, I started with a cup of clove-heavy chicken broth, added a slab of Golden Curry roux. Rather than making a sauce and using only part of that, I stirred a quarter cup of Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa mix directly into the breakfast broth.
Setup: 1/3 cup of stone ground rolled oats, one cup of broth with curry, quarter cup of cocoa mix, salt. Cook for ten minutes. Since the cocoa mix thickens the dish, I added it at the very end.
Results: Surprisingly good. Not as wet — more like a gravy, which is what I wanted. The curry flavour just right. Same for the chocolate. This one’s a keeper. Now, if I can only find a romantic partner who doesn’t gag at the thought of curry for breakfast…
Tags:breakfast, chocolate, chocolate curry, chocolate curry oatmeal, curry, curry and oatmeal, KanColle curry episode, oatmeal, recipe, Valentine's Day
Posted in Cooking | Leave a Comment »
A few seasons ago, there was a short format (7min) anime titled Tonari No Seki-kun (My Neighbor Seki-kun). It was about a girl (Yokoi) who sits next to Seki-kun in class and watches all the madcap antics he gets up to in the back row. In the first episode, he builds a complex falling-dominoes layout on his desk, complete with stairs and crossovers. In the second episode, he draws a chessboard on his desk and plays shogi — Japanese chess — Game of Thrones style, complete with beheadings and regicides. The pattern of each episode is the same: Yokoi tries to pay attention to the teacher, but gets drawn in by the outrageous things Seki-kun is doing, ending up as a participant, or even an accomplice. When she tries to stop him, it’s her frantic actions that get disciplined by the teacher. There’s a political lesson to be learned from all this, given that the US has just elected a Seki-kun as our President.
I have to state at the start, for those who may be unclear on the concept, that our President is not an anime character. For one thing, Seki-kun carries out his little projects without disrupting the classroom, whereas Trump-kun is trying to disrupt things, to stir the pot, to keep his opponents — everyone who isn’t him — off balance. What is the best response to this? Spoiler: don’t be Yokoi.
Here’s a selection of some of the outrages Trump has committed in his first weeks in office. Threatening to destroy the career of a Texas state representative who opposes asset forfeiture. Attacking the “so-called judge” who opposed his immigration ban. Nominating as Ambassador to Austria some businessman whose prime qualification seems to be that he’s a “Sound of Music” fan. And in general, acting in such a way that even members of his staff are alarmed.
Any of these things would be fatal to the administration of a real politician, and I’m sure you can think of another half-dozen or so. But Trump don’t care. As someone said about one of my former bosses, “he does for fun the kinds of things other people get ulcers from doing.” The key to dealing with Trump is to not sweat the small stuff.
Yes, he needs to be called out for unacceptable behavior, but then leave the shouting and the tweet-storming and the pearls-clutching to the talk show hosts and other trained professionals. Don’t end up in an adrenalin coma. For one thing, it won’t accomplish anything. For another, it will only be more red meat for his base “lookit them liberals running around like headless chickens!”
Instead, put your effort in those things that will return the most gain. Opposing the immigration ban. Opposing Repeal and Replace for the ACA. Opposing Sessions as Attorney General.
That last is a good example. The Attorney General is in a position to destroy respect for law and order in this country. Who holds that office is arguably much more important than who the Secretary of Education is. Forcing a tie on Sessions, and forcing Pence to own the tie-breaking vote, is much more important down the road than a similar vote on DeVos.
Tags:Senator Jeff Sessions, Tonari no Seki-kun, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence
TL:DR — Anime I never finished: Yozakura Quartet
A one cours anime from 2010. Not so much bad as very much not my demographic. Two-thirds of a century ago, maybe, but now, if I had the ability to try-before-buy (say, via Crunchyroll or Funimation), I would not have bought it.
On second thought, no — it’s bad. It’s about a group of humans and half-demons who bond socially to fight other half-demons (the anti-social ones) to drive them to the other side and to protect the six sacred sakura stumps that (sortof) guard the town from demons.
I guess you’d call this a shonen fighter, appealing mostly to middle-school boys, because every episode features a battle of some sort. The trouble is, all the fights are the same: each protagonist takes turns fighting the demon, instead of ganging up on them; everyone spends most of the time talking, and the demons spend their talk time gloating; and about a third of the combat dialogue by the protagonists involves shouting the name of one of the others (the one who is currently getting the individual snot beat out of them).
The spikey hair is a dead giveaway
The art is crude, and the animation is minimalist. The funniest scene was when the womanising land god who looks after the town (but doesn’t actually do anything to protect it) visits the festival to see if there are any pretty girls to romance, and runs into a couple of 70 year olds who fondly remember dallying with him some decades earlier. Always embarrassing.
It was not available for preview on Crunchyroll or Funimation, but there had been some good reviews on-line, back in the day (and one of the characters was voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki), so when it came on sale on Amazon a couple of weeks ago, I bought it. I made it halfway through Episode 7 and gave up. Life is too short, and Amazon Prime is streaming Highschool Of The Dead.
Tags:review, TLDR, Yozakura Quartet
Garden Dates
My First Trip To Japan
My Second Trip To Japan
My Third trip to Japan
My Trip to England
Our Trip To Alaska
Our Trip To Panama
The Ballad of Apollo XIII
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Global Week of Action: New citizens movement for a World Parliament takes first step
With the Global Week of Action for a World Parliament that was held for the first time this year from 17-24 October, a new citizens movement has started to emerge that supports the creation of a directly elected global assembly. The week's announcement that was hammered out by an ad-hoc international group of activists noted that despite critical global problems, the world's citizens are left out of global decision-making. "For global matters that affect each and every person on the planet, there exists no elected world parliament," the statement noted. The week of action's slogan was "Let the People Decide - World Parliament Now!"
Collection of pictures taken during the week of action around the world
During the week of action, panel discussions and workshops on the issue of a world parliament were organized in Barcelona, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Forlì in Italy and in London.
Group pictures with banners and signs in support of the week of action were sent from Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sydney (Australia), Brussels (Belgium), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Vancouver and Winnipeg (Canada), Strasbourg (France), Berlin and Münster (Germany), Rajkot (India), Utrecht (Netherlands), El Ma'asara (Palestine), San Lorenzo (Paraguay), Gothenburg (Sweden), Bangkok (Thailand), Kampala (Uganda) as well as from Washington D.C. and New York (USA).
Italy stood out as the country with by far the most activities. Here people came together in Bologna, Chioggia, Florence, Genova, La Spezia, Novara, Pescara, Rome, Salsomaggiore, and Verona to hold banners calling for a "World Parliament Now!"
In Palestine, demonstrators marched through the town of El Ma'asara until they were stopped by police forces. Further activities included information stands in Aachen (Germany) or Gothenburg (Sweden). Individual pictures from around the world were posted on Facebook.
Public action in Genova, Italy
The 5th International Meeting on a UN Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels that was attended by around seventy participants from some 30 countries served as a kick-off event (see our report). It was covered by IPS and EurActiv. In Italy, Spain and Sweden, there was also local press coverage.
Joan Marc Simon, who is a member of the group in Barcelona from where the idea of the week of action originated, said in an interview with us that "the action went very well." He stressed that "it was the first time that something like this has ever been organized on a global scale."
Petter Ölmunger who organized the event in Gothenburg, Sweden, stated that "it felt great to be part of this first ever week of action and to see that around the world, in places like Kampala, São Paulo and Dehli, there are people who, just like me, want to have a world parliament now."
According to Vivian Davidson, organizer of the event in Vancouver, Canada, "we came together to raise awareness for the dire need to find solutions to problems which are now global in scope yet haven't been addressed by today's present nation-state system."
At a conference call on Sunday, it was unanimously agreed to carry out a second Global Week of Action for a World Parliament next year from 17-26 October 2014. "We are once again on planning mode to organize a similar event next year. The time to create a world parliament is long overdue," Vivian Davidson stated.
The week of action is promoted by the international Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly. The campaign's Secretary-General Andreas Bummel said that "the week of action is an excellent way to instigate public discussion on the proposal of a world parliament and to make it clear that there is popular support for this. This will help to create the necessary political will to actually democratize global governance through a citizen-elected assembly. It's only beginning and no doubt it will gain more and more momentum."
19 October 2013: Worldwide activities launched to call for a Global Parliament that addresses global problems
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Watch Video: Husband, Wife And Four Children Carry Out A Suicide Bomb Attack On 3 Churches In Indonesia
By Shirley Aaron | May 14, 2018
Husband, wife and four children aged nine to 18 believed to be responsible for worst attack in more than a decade
At least 13 people have been killed and dozens injured in multiple suicide bombings at three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, in a coordinated attack. Police said, it was carried out by one family including their children.
The Indonesian police chief, Tito Karniavan, told reporters that investigators believed one family – a husband and wife, and their four children aged between nine and 18 – were the perpetrators of the worst attack the country has seen in more than a decade.
The first explosion was at the Santa Maria Catholic church, which killed four people, was followed by attacks at the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal church and GKI Diponegoro church minutes later on Sunday, May 13.
Police identified the mother as Puji Kuswanti and said that she and her two daughters, Fadila Sari, 12, and Pamela Rizkita, nine, bombed the GKI Diponegoro church.
At the same time, the family’s two teenage sons, Yusuf, 18 and Alif, 16, rode motorcycles close to the entrance of the Santa Maria Catholic church, where they detonated their bombs. Their father, Dita, drove a car bomb into the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal church.
The blasts occurred within minutes of each other, just after 7.30am (0030 GMT) on Sunday morning as parishioners were heading into the churches for services.
Karniavan said he suspected the family involved had recently returned to Indonesia from Syria, where hundreds of Indonesians have travelled to join Islamic State, including entire families.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attacks through its media agency, Amaq, but did not produce any evidence for the claim.
President Joko Widodo joined Karniavan on a visit to the scene in Surabaya on Sunday. They jointly condemned the attacks as barbaric.
Church in flames after bomb attacks in Indonesia – video
East Java’s police spokesman, Frans Barung Mangera, said 41 injured people were sent to hospital on Sunday, among them two officers who were guarding the churches.
The coordinated attacks in the predominantly Muslim country came days before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Indonesian intelligence agency officials said they suspected the Isis-inspired group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) was behind the assaults. The militant group is headed by Indonesia’s leading Isis proponent, Aman Abdurrahman, who is said to have ordered the 2016 Sarinah attack in Jakarta, which killed eight people.
Sunday’s attacks follow a deadly prison riot at a maximum-security detention facility in West Java last week, when Islamist inmates killed five officers after taking them hostage, and controlled three prison blocks for 40 hours.
The church attacks were probably linked to the prison hostage standoff, said Wawan Purwanto, the communication director at Indonesia’s intelligence agency.
“The main target is still security authorities, but we can say that there are alternative [targets] if the main targets are blocked,” he said.
News of the riot at the Mako Brimob detention centre, for which ISIS also claimed responsibility, has reverberated through jihadist networks, said Todd Elliot, a Jakarta-based security analyst from Concord Consulting.
“Whatever happened in Mako Brimob has certainly reinvigorated domestic militants. Online jihadi social media has been abuzz in the last couple of days with celebratory messages and calls for more attacks,” said Elliot.
However, the degree of coordination – multiple bombings at three locations just minutes apart – suggests the Surabaya attack was well planned.
“As far as the capabilities of Indonesia jihadists, this was definitely a well-organised and well-coordinated attack,” said Elliot.
Sidney Jones, a terrorism analyst, reinforced that view. “This is the deadliest attack that Isis supporters have been able to mount so far,” she said in a text message. “Most of their earlier bombing attempts failed.”
Another terrorism analyst, Noor Huda Ismail, who has been monitoring the chatter of extremist networks on social media, said Indonesian women have been expressing increasing desire to get more involved in violent extremism.
On Sunday, those same networks discussed the woman allegedly involved in the Surabaya attacks. If confirmed, it would be the first time a woman has detonated a suicide bomb in Indonesia.
“It will change the whole landscape of radicalisation in Indonesia because first when you are a woman involved it sends a message … ‘I open up jihad for you’.”
A member of the bomb squad outside a church in Surabaya. Photograph: Antara Foto/Reuters
Hours before Sunday’s attacks, Indonesia’s counter-terrorism squad shot dead four suspected terrorists from the JAD network in Cianjur, West Java. Police seized two handguns and three bags containing explosives.
Police ordered the temporary closure of all churches in Surabaya on Sunday, and a large food festival in the city was cancelled.
Indonesia is home to significant numbers of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists but there are concerns over rising intolerance. Extremists have mounted a series of attacks against Christians and other minorities in recent years.
Indonesian police shot and wounded a man who attacked a church congregation in Sleman town with a sword during Sunday mass in February. The radical Islamist, who had wanted to fight with Isis in Syria, injured four people.
Sunday’s attacks were the deadliest since 2005, when a series of car bombs killed 23 people on the resort island of Bali. The worst terror attack in Indonesia was the Bali bombing of 2002, when 202 people were killed.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
Indonesia, Suicide bomb attacks
St. Teresa Of Avila Tells Us How To Deal With Distractions During Prayers
Alfie Evans Funeral: Grief Stricken Father Calls His Son A “Warrior” And “Our Hero”
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Fremont In Pictures
Library hosts monthlong display of Fremont history–Reception May 9
By Linda ⋅ May 7, 2015 ⋅ Post a comment
Filed Under Fremont Historical Society, Fremont Library, Historical display, Panorama of Fremont c.1905-1901
The Fremont Historical Society reports that they “and the Fremont Public Library have a display at the library during the month of May. It includes then/now photographs and information on several historic buildings in Fremont and an enlarged copy of the Fremont section of the 1905 Baist map.” They say:
New this year is a 7′ panorama made from 8 photographs taken from the top of Queen Anne hill sometime between 1905 and 1910. The photographer was looking north and the photographs show Ballard on the west, through Fremont and south Wallingford, to Capitol Hill on the east. The library staff did a great job enlarging and assembling the photographs into a panorama. The views of Fremont, Ross, Ballard, Salmon Bay, the lumber mills, etc. are amazing! We have identified a few landmarks to help people get their bearing.
We will be having an informal reception at the library this coming Saturday, May 9, from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Light refreshments will be served. Also during the reception, we will have Jay Sullivan, and his wife Betty, with us. Jay was a very young private when he served during World War II with the 50th General Hospital, a Seattle-based unit. Jay had access to an 8 mm camera (or something like it) with color film and took footage of the 50th General Hospital during the war. Given that May 8, 2015 is the 70th anniversary of V-E Day, we thought it would be great to show the film. Because there is no audio, we are planning to show the film on the main floor of the library with interested folks sitting around a table. For those who want to drop by sometime during May, the Fremont Public Library hours are:
Fremont Library in Fremont, Seattle
Monday and Tuesday: 1 pm to 8 pm
Wednesday, Thursday: 11 am to 6 pm
Saturday: 11 am to 6 pm
Sunday: 1 pm to 5 pm
Here’s more from the Fremont Library:
Fremont Branch
Children, Teens, Adults, ESL, LEAP
Join the Fremont Historical Society for a reception celebrating the rich history of the Fremont neighborhood.
Learn about the history of Fremont, one of Seattle’s most colorful neighborhoods. Historical photos and maps of the “Center of the Universe” will be on display, and light refreshments will be served.
Each May the Fremont Historical Society creates a display at the Fremont Branch featuring past and current photos of historic buildings in Fremont, celebrating preservation and adaptive reuse of the buildings as part of the nationwide event put on by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Volunteers from the Fremont Historical Society research the history of the buildings and interview the property owners for additional background.
Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required.
Fremont Branch 206-684-4084 or Ask a Librarian
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Futurism is powered by Vocal creators. You support Danny Fleming by reading, sharing and tipping stories... more
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
by Danny Fleming 2 years ago in astronomy / space
Near Earth Objects
The term potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) means near-Earth objects (NEOs) like meteoroids, asteroids, and comets whose orbits will come very close to the orbit of the Earth. Meteoroids are composed of minerals and rock and have a diameter of less than one meter. Comets are composed of dust and ice. Meteoroids with a diameter of greater than one meter are called asteroids.
Most asteroids' orbits are between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas are the three largest asteroids known to exist. Ceres is the largest with a diameter of about 946,000 meters, Vesta is second with a diameter of about 525,400 meters, and Pallas is third with a diameter of about 512,000 meters. The largest known PHO is (53319) 1999 JM8, but it is not predicted to come closer than the 0.05 AU that is the accepted minimum PHO distance this century. It did come within 0.033 AU in 1990.
The abbreviation AU means astronomical unit, which is the distance from the Earth to the Sun (93 million miles). Another abbreviation for a distance commonly used for PHOs is LD, the distance from the Earth to the Moon (238,856 miles).
Asteroid 1566 Icarus was discovered in 1949 by Walter Baade. It has become a famous PHO. It came fairly close to the Earth on June 16, 2015. It is about 1,400 meters wide.
The asteroid 2012 TC4 has been calculated to come very close to the Earth on Columbus Day October 12, 2017, sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. The part of the atmosphere called the exosphere of the Earth reaches at least 6,200 miles above the surface of the Earth. Objects are still gravitationally held to the Earth at this distance. The asteroid 2012 TC4 has a minimum predicted distance of coming as close as .0000880453517512432... AU. In miles, this is about (93,000,000 miles x .0000880453517512432 = 8188.2177128656185 miles, it will be only two thousand miles out of the exosphere. But even the maximum distance is well below the maximum PHO distance of .05 AU (0.00164202117532665 AU. The velocity also needs to be taken into account. The relative velocity of 2012 TC4 to the Earth is about 7 km/sec. Since the escape velocity for the Earth is about 11 km/sec, this might be a problem, but the distance asteroid 2012 TC4 is from the Earth at closest approach will increase the minimum escape velocity.
There are more asteroids that will come close to the Earth this year and several years in the future.
On October 22, 2017, the asteroid 171576 (1999 VP11) will come closest to the Earth at about 11:02 a.m. It is a very large asteroid, estimated to be between 510 meters and 1.1 kilometers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory gives it the same nominal, minimum, and maximum distance from the Earth.
It is 0.014832066411 AU, or (93,000,000 miles x 0.014832066411)= about 1,379,382 miles. Although it is farther away than the moon, it is still about one-fifth the PHO minimum.
On Halloween (October 31, 2017), 171576 (1999 VP11), another very large asteroid, will have a maximum distance from the Earth of 0.03847 AU. This is about (93,000,000 x 0.03847 = about 3,577,710 miles. It is almost 15 times the distance to the Moon, but it is still less than the PHO of about 19 LD.
One of the asteroids that will be largest and comes closest to the Earth will be 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4). It was named after the Egyptian god of evil and destruction. Its size is estimated to be between 310 meters and 680 meters. Its closest approach to the Earth will be 0.00025 AU, or 0.10 LD.
One-tenth of the distance from the Earth to the Moon is (1/10) x 238,856 miles)=about 23,885.6 miles. Its velocity relative to the Earth will be 7.42 km/sec.
There are two impact hazard scales that are used to calculate the probability of an impact with the Earth. They are the Torino scale and the Palermo scale. For the Palermo scale, a score of less than minus two means that no impact is expected. A score of between minus two and zero merits careful monitoring.
Scores greater than zero are expected to be of a more serious nature, and the position of the asteroid in the sky must be closely watched. The Torino scale is similar to the Palermo scale, but it is not as useful to professionals in the field. The Torino scale is used to communicate with the public. It uses 0 for no risk to 10 for an expected impact of a large asteroid.
astronomyspace
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Danny Fleming
I received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1996. I have written several sonnets. I also wrote How to Prove The Collatz Conjecture and Many Articles on Many Subjects.
All posts by Danny →
Life and Production: S3 E1: Contributions
SKYLERIZED
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The Annotated Luther, Volume 2: Word and Faith
Kirsi I. Stjerna (Editor)
The Annotated Luther series
Volume 2 of The Annotated Luther series contains a number of the writings categorized under the theme Word and Faith. Luther was particularly focused on what the word “does” in order to create and sustain faith. Writings in the volume range from the large core documents Bondage of the Will, Against the Heavenly Prophets, The Smalcald Articles, and Large Catechism to Luther’s own Confession of Faith and treatments of Moses, the Gospels, and Two Kinds of Righteousness.
In the treatises in this volume, we hear Luther’s understanding of Scripture and theology as he continues his growth as teaching theologian, pastor, biblical exegete, and apologist for the faith.
Series Introduction
Introduction to Volume 2
1. Sermon on Two Kinds of Righteousness—Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen
2. What to Look For in the Gospels—Wanda Deifelt
3. Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments—Hans J. Hillerbrand
4. How Christians Should Regard Moses—Brooks Schramm
5. Bondage of the Will—Volker Leppin
6. Confession of Faith (from Confession of the Articles of Faith against the Enemy of the Gospel and All Kinds of Heresies)—Gordon Jensen
7. The Large Catechism—Kirsi I. Stjerna
8. The Smalcald Articles—Kurt. K. Hendel
Discussion Guides
At once learned and highly accessible. . .
“As no other comparable series, The Annotated Luther provides the reader, whether lay or ordained, with a collection of the Wittenberg reformer’s most important writings that is at once learned and highly accessible. Here Luther’s works are presented in up-to-date translation with helpful introductions, explanatory notes, and engaging images. A must for the student and scholar of Luther alike!”
—Ronald K. Rittgers │ Valparaiso University
Provides a very welcome resource for meeting Luther again in the contemporary world. . .
“The Annotated Luther series provides a very welcome resource for meeting Luther again in the contemporary world. With language refreshed for our time, we can see more clearly Luther as a man who is actively grappling with a society undergoing dramatic challenges economically, religiously, and socially. By providing skilled commentary from scholars around the world and from diverse theological perspectives, this work will be of great help for modern Christians seeking to adapt and extend the insights from the Reformation to modern challenges.”
—Maria E. Erling │ Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
In sum, a signal achievement. . .
“The Annotated Luther series represents a finely crafted synthesis between readable primary texts and some of the best secondary scholarship. A superb editorial team, under the leadership of Hillerbrand, Stjerna, and Wengert, has made seventy-five selections, ranging from major treatises to sermons and letters, and beautifully laid these out in six volumes, together with state-of-the-art analyses and explanatory notes. Luther the theologian, the biblical interpreter, the pastor, the social/political thinker—all are given their due, and the resulting multidimensional portrait combines balance with a newly sharpened focus. In sum, a signal achievement.”
—Denis R. Janz │ Loyola University New Orleans
“This Annotated Luther series will facilitate easy access to Luther. . .”
“This Annotated Luther series will facilitate easy access to Luther, especially for those who could not do so in the German or Latin. This will be a great resource likely to be translated into many vernacular languages.”
—Kenneth Mtata │The Lutheran World Federation
Appealing layout, rich images, and erudite editorials. . .
Praise for Volume 1: The Roots of Reform
“The advent of The Annotated Luther series should be cause for celebration among scholars, pastors, students, and others eager to have easy access to so many of Martin Luther’s key writings. If the appealing layout, rich images, and erudite editorials featured in Volume 1 are an indication of what’s to come, then The Annotated Luther will quickly become the go-to resource for learning about Luther’s work and context.”
—Hans Wiersma │ Augsburg College
An excellent start to what promises to be a fine series. . .
“This fine volume provides fresh translations of a dozen core Luther texts from the period 1517–1520. Public statements, sermons, major treatises, and letters that were previously scattered widely across five different volumes of the American Edition of Luther’s Works (plus the welcome addition of the lesser-known Sermon on Indulgences and Grace, which does not appear in LW) are brought together in a focused way so that the reader sees Luther’s theology develop in a more holistic manner, reflecting his work as a university professor, preacher, and church reformer. The introductions to the volume and to the individual writings combine historical context and theological themes in a thorough yet accessible manner; the annotations are both helpful and (unlike many academic notes) inviting to the eye. Wengert and his colleagues have produced a valuable text for classroom use and personal study. This is an excellent start to what promises to be a fine series.”
—Kathryn A. Kleinhans │ Wartburg College
I encourage you to include this series in your congregation’s library and use it for group or personal study. . .
“As congregations and members of congregations face an increasingly more diverse and chaotic world, their struggle for what it means to be Christian in their context increases, not unlike Christians in Luther’s day. I am thrilled that Fortress Press is publishing The Annotated Luther, Volume I: The Roots of Reform. The individual works included in this volume are central to the particular witness Lutherans can share for a life of faith in the world and how it can be a witness of hope in the midst of pluralism and change. The essays and study tools, included alongside the original texts, bring these works to life for us today. I encourage you to include this series in your congregation’s library and use it for group or personal study.”
—The Rev. Gordon J. Straw │ Program Director for Lay Schools for Ministry, Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit, ELCA
The ideal volume for launching what promises to be a most helpful new series for twenty-first-century readers. . .
“The Roots of Reform is the ideal volume for launching what promises to be a most helpful new series for twenty-first-century readers looking to appropriate the thoughts of someone who wrote for an era five hundred years ago. This first volume deals with the writings that launched the Reformation and whose themes would shape Christian thought for decades—even centuries—to come.
In the introduction, the editor Timothy Wengert again shows why he is one of the premier Reformation scholars of our generation when it comes to communicating the historical significance and pastoral value of Luther’s writings. Both he and the other editors of Luther’s writings do an outstanding job of providing helpful introductions (beyond a paragraph or two that barely scratches the surface), explanatory annotations, and maps. The layout of the volume deserves special mention for the way that it draws the reader into the text. In brief, this volume will be indispensable to anyone who wishes to understand better the early writings of the reformer, Martin Luther!”
—Charles P. Arand │ Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
A splendid, and eminently useful, achievement. . .
Praise for Volume 2: Word and Faith
"Professor Stjerna and her team of world-leading Reformation scholars have done us all a great service in fixing their eyes for detail and context onto these important writings of Luther. Those new to the Reformation saga and even those familiar with its events and debates will learn very much from these pages. By keeping readers honest to context when approaching Luther's theology, they invite church and academy to remain honest about their own missions, failings, and need for reform. A splendid, and eminently useful, achievement."
—Derek R. Nelson | Wabash College
A consummate edition of the intellectual production of a supreme theological mind. . .
"This outstanding presentation of the core of Luther’s theology offers eight of his seminal works written over two decades, including those regarded by author as worthy of preserving for posterity. Magisterial introductions by internationally renowned theologians, editorial comments, artworks, prints, and proficient annotations bring forth the distinctiveness of the theology of the Wittenberg Reformer. Careful commentary of the translations adds to the uniqueness of the volume while all-embracing language highlights propriety. With this work, Luther studies have been aided with a consummate edition of the intellectual production of a supreme theological mind."
—Vítor Westhelle | Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Useful for instruction in church and classroom settings. . .
"Luther's writings as contained in this fine collection are as helpful to read today as when he first wrote them to such a profound historical effect. They continue to be fertile for further theological reflection and biblical insight. Introductions and many marginal notes also explain items for better understanding—including those which criticize Luther, making this volume useful for instruction in church and classroom settings."
—Peter Krey | Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, El Cerrito, California
Volume 2 introduction
Sample chapter: Sermon on Two Kinds of Righteousness
This altarpiece painting in Wittenberg church by Cranach illustrates Luther preaching and illustrates how Christ is to be at the center of a sermon, wherein Christ comes to us and we are brought to Christ.
Title-page woodcut for Luther’s sermon on indulgences and grace, showing a man approaching a church building with rosary in his left hand and perhaps a slip of paper in his right.
Portraits of Luther's father Hans and mother Margaretha painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1527.
Indulgence for priests and other clergy issued at the insistence of J. Tetzel, to support the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and to repay the loan with which Albert of Brandenburg obtained the pallium.
The title page of Exsurge Domine, the papal bull excommunicating Luther, promulgated in Rome in 1520.
The single-sheet printing of the Ninety-Five Theses by Michael Lotter in Liepzig. Now in the National Library in Berlin.
Portrait of Martin Luther (1483-1546) from the German translation of The Babylonian Captivity of the Church by the artist Hans Baldung Grien (d. 1545) depicting the reformer as an Augustinian monk expounding on the Bible.
This engraving of the crucifixion is by the artist Hans Schäufelein (ca. 1480 - ca. 1539), as found in Martin Luther’s Operationes in Psalmos of 1519.
Image of infant baptism from a 1545 printing of Luther’s Small Catechism
This historiated title-page border of Luther’s Treatise on Good Works features the crest of the printer, Melchoir Lotter, the Younger, at the foot. It has been attributed to Lucas Cranach, the Elder, or to his workshop.
Luther is shown as an Augustinian monk debating the pope, a cardinal, a bishop, and another monk at the Diet of Worms in 1521.
Jacobus Latomus (c.1475-1544) was a distinguished member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Leuven and an adviser to the Inquisition.
Portrait of Duke John Frederick by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531.
A title page of Hieronymous Emser's translation of the New Testament into German, published 1527 in Dresden, Saxony.
The title page of Luther's On the Bondage of the Will.
Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam with Renaissance Pilaster Hans Holbein the Younger (1498-1543).
Wenceslaus Linck, the publisher of the Confession of Faith, had been an Augustinian monk and professor at Wittenberg along with Luther, and was a pastor in Nuremberg.
Portrait of Luther's wife Katharina von Bora painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1530.
A portrait of Philipp Melanchthon by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553).
In this painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Johannes Bugenhagen, Luther's friend and confessor in Wittenburg, is pictured holding the keys of the kingdom.
Reviewed in AAR Reading Religion (2017)
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Member of the European Parliament
Low-vision Normal vision
Tamás Deutsch
József Szájer
Lívia Járóka
Andrea Bocskor
Andor Deli
Kinga Gal
Enikő Győri
András Gyürk
Balázs Hidvéghi
György Hölvényi
Ádám Dr. Kósa
Edina Tóth
László Trócsányi
Lóránt Vincze
Gyula Winkler
The Reason Behind Hungary’s Migrant Resettlement Referendum
The referendum will ask, “Do you agree that the European Union should have the power to impose the compulsory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the consent of the National Assembly of Hungary?”The Socialist president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, wasted little time in denouncing the decision, calling it “populist and nationalist” in an interview he gave to Euronews. He argued that the figure in place for Hungary, according to the current plan, is around 1,300 people. Others asserted that the Hungarian referendum cannot have any binding effect as an existing policy, one that has already been approved by the Council, cannot be withdrawn based on the public referendum.
That’s true to a degree. But that’s why Hungary is challenging that decision, along with Slovakia, in the European Court of Justice. More importantly, that’s not what the referendum is about.
The critics missed an essential detail: Hungary’s referendum will not be on the quota scheme that was already accepted, but on future plans in general, that aim to impose mandatory quotas. Here’s what Prime Minister Orbán said in the State of the Nation speech, February 27:
The Minority Intergroup has successfully completed its five-year mandate
On Thursday, the European Parliament’s Minority Intergroup concluded its mandate with a final declaration highlighting the importance of protecting indigenous […]
Kinga Gál responded to a new political attack on Hungary at the LIBE Committee meeting
“Concerns about the Hungarian situation are unjustified, and it is unacceptable that the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice […]
“After all, the European Union is based on the foundations of democracy. This means that we must not make decisions which will dramatically change people’s lives without consulting people and against their will. This is why we are holding a referendum in Hungary. This is not about the quota that has already been decided on, and which is being challenged in court by Hungary; that is the past. The referendum is about the future: we call the citizens of Hungary to battle, in opposition to the new European immigration system’s compulsory resettlement quotas, which will be on the agenda for March.”
We have plenty of reasons to oppose the EU’s mandatory resettlement scheme (and, by the way, Hungary is not only one against). We believe the way it was forcefully accepted contradicts European law. We believe that it serves as an invitation for masses of migrants to come to Europe in hope of immigrating permanently. We believe that is the wrong thing to do, because instead of allowing millions to come to the European content, risking their lives and enduring the abuse of human traffickers, we believe we should help those masses at the source, by addressing the problems at their origin. A carte blanche for immigrants does nothing to solve the problem, but it brings those problems to Europe.
Despite all of the above, many European leaders are still in favor of enforcing migrant resettlement quotas. Not just those quotas that are in place as part of the plan previously approved by the Council, but additional ones, according to which more migrants may be taken in from Turkey.
Striking an agreement with Turkey for the advancement of border protection cannot be an aim pursued at all cost. Hungary and others blocked the agreement with Turkey for this very reason. The EU’s aim – in negotiating with Turkey or among its own members – should be to limit the influx of migrants, not increase it.
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FIDESZ-KDNP DELEGATION IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
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April 16, 2019 / 9:09 AM / 3 months ago
Russian court jails Norwegian for 14 years for espionage
Tom Balmforth
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court convicted a Norwegian man on Tuesday of gathering espionage about nuclear submarines and jailed him for 14 years, a verdict that could strain relations between Moscow and its NATO-member neighbour.
Frode Berg, a 63-year-old retired former guard on the Norwegian-Russian border, was detained in Moscow in December 2017 and tried behind closed doors this month. He pleaded not guilty to charges of espionage on behalf of Norway.
Berg will not appeal the verdict and plans to request a presidential pardon from Vladimir Putin that would see him freed, according to his lawyer, Ilya Novikov.
Norway’s Foreign Ministry said it had “noted” the verdict but did not comment on its substance. It said it was working in multiple ways to bring Berg back to Norway.
“Norwegian authorities... wish to see the safe return of Frode Berg to Norway,” a ministry spokeswoman said.
Berg, who was wearing a suit and was handcuffed as he watched proceedings from a glass cage, acknowledged having been caught handling sensitive material for Norwegian authorities but denied having any idea he was involved in espionage. Details of the case have not been revealed as they are classified.
Asked by the judge in Russian if he understood the court’s verdict, Berg bowed his head slightly and said “yes” in English.
“He had no illusions. He expects his government will take all necessary steps to secure his release through diplomatic measures,” defence lawyer Novikov said.
Last week, Putin appeared to leave the door open to the possibility that Berg could be pardoned or possibly exchanged as part of a prisoner swap.
Asked during talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg about the possibility of a pardoning, Putin said: “We must wait for the court proceedings...We will take a look at what we can do with this depending on the court’s decision.”
Novikov said he was not aware of any talks under way between Oslo and Moscow to secure Berg’s release and that it would take a “significant” diplomatic push for it to happen.
“A presidential pardon is not something that is granted in the natural course of events, but with diplomatic measures it is quite possible,” Novikov said.
Reporting by Tom Balmforth with additional reporting by Victoria Klesty in Oslo; Editing by Mark Heinrich
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<Three vie for two seats on Woodstock Town Board
Gardiner extends moratorium on tourism-related projects, considers short-term rental regulations>
Letter: Kingston art policy not oppression but protection
by staff/ June 22, 2019 /7 comments
I think the time has come to have a peaceful and open conversation about the meaning of a public art policy for Kingston. There are many in this city who understand the need for a policy and here’s why. It’s not about the past, it’s about the future. How do we want our city to be going forward? Many think we need a clear and fair policy that protects the rights of artists, will determine who takes care of our public art and will give everyone from building owner to artist to the neighborhood guidelines that are clear and well understood. It’s called an open and inclusive conversation. It is not about oppressing public art but protecting it, encouraging and supporting it, and making a level playing field for all.
Kingston is full of wonderful creative people. Many of these creatives are involved with making art both privately and publicly. We also have a city that actively supports our creative community and looks for ways to integrate that art into the City of Kingston. There is rarely a creative project the city is not interested in and actively supporting. I’ve seen this through first hand experience as a community volunteer and as an owner of a business that helps artists express themselves every day.
I started as an artist, have a degree in fine art, and have pieces in several national museum collections. I understand the artist’s point of view. I support freedom of expression, the importance of art to our well-being, and how art helps us build bridges and ultimately communicates our humanness to ourselves and others. We are a city where we want that public expression to continue to grow and thrive. But how do we do this fairly and clearly going forward? We are striving as a city to be just, a place where all voices can be heard and woven into the conversation.
As Kingston looks at its future and what we want that to be, I think it is fair for the City of Kingston to be part of the conversation of what happens with and to art in a public way. How will public art be taken care of, who will honor the rights of artists that create public art, and how will the city create an open dialogue with the neighborhood where public art is to be placed?
There are artists calling City Hall every month trying to figure out how to create work in a public way in Kingston and there are no written guidelines. Nothing exists. Isn’t it fair and reasonable that the City of Kingston, with its burgeoning arts scene, now wants to create a policy for the future that is clear and fair to all who want to create public art in Kingston? I think the city deserves to be included in the dialogue about what takes place here. This is about public, private, and NFPs working together. I think we are the city that can do that.
The time has come to create clarity with specific guidelines which may include constructive conversations with the artist and the city about materials and placement, and then opening it up to the community where art will be placed. The rights of artists need to be spelled out clearly and the designation of who is responsible for the upkeep of the city’s public artworks needs clarification. We want our public art protected and preserved.
Is this such a strange request from a city of 24,000 people? Nearly every city in America has a public art policy, including some of the most progressive and open cities in America. We can make a policy that speaks to all of us and encourages us to work together to keep public art thriving in Kingston.
A narrative of fear and disgust is being spread in Kingston regarding the idea of the city’s involvement in any kind of public art policy. It is a destructive narrative and has been carefully crafted to bring out anger and even hate to make the City of Kingston the enemy. This city is not the enemy. Just look at all the things Kingston has supported including the use of City Hall for art shows and art happenings. The recent sound expo at City Hall honoring the work of world-renowned and avant-garde musician Pauline Oliveros and the hosting of rap poet and ceramic artist Roberto Lugo all within recent months are perfect examples of our city’s support of artistic freedom. Does this seem like a city that wants to repress free expression and does not support the arts? These accusations put out from members of Kingston are not representative of the majority, especially given how most of us live and behave in this city. It does not reflect the cooperation and enthusiasm those of us who work with the city feel. We are a city of collaborators. In my opinion we have a city that deeply embraces the arts, and only wants clear guidelines for public art going forward. This is so all will be treated fairly with equal guidelines and the rights of artists will be honored and protected going forward. This is not about the past, it is about the future.
We are here now. What was before, has passed. In this case it is going to be necessary to do some deep listening to the other voices in Kingston who are gathering together not to oppress or curtail artistic expression but to give some simple structure to how public art is going to be done going forward. Actually, it is quite a simple and practical thing to do which will allow our public art and Kingston, as the City of the Arts, to continue to thrive.
Anne Bailey
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Letter: Thank you, Rep. Delgado, for pro-Dreamers vote
Letters: For and against Kingston public art policy
Letters: Two perspectives on proposed Rt. 28 concrete plant
Tuli Kupferberg June 22, 2019 at 7:36 am
“Armenia, Armenia,
God shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good,
With brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.”
While the city has every right to have guidelines on art on, or in public property, they must not be allowed to impede the rights of private property owners. We already have committees to vet changes to property facades in the historic district, so no one can just go and paint the front of their building. But if someone wants a mural on the side or back of their building, that happens to be visible to the public, that is their prerogative and not the business of the city.
Common Sense Future Tense June 23, 2019 at 4:25 pm
What exactly are the rights of private property owners? You give a good example of precedent for an extreme limitation of private property rights- you can’t do anything to a historic building without approval, even if you “own” it. I don’t know the Kingston zoning code well but pretty much any city or village usually has some stipulation about the appearance of any building matching the “overall character and appearance of the neighborhood,” which can be used to rule out pretty much any unusual design element. To do something funky you have to be out in the country. The idea that a city only has the right to have guidelines for the visual appearance of public property isn’t reflected in any zoning law I’ve ever encountered.
Box June 24, 2019 at 1:17 pm
So, you’re okay with a corporation paying a property owner to use that wall that just so happens to be visible to paint an advertisement? Private property can influence everyone, just ask the folks living next to the Irish Cultural Center…
Kingston Guy June 23, 2019 at 10:36 am
Agree with the author of this opinion letter, in part this can help add legitimacy to what has been a wonderful
organic process – by ‘legitimacy’ I mean it can actually help, and should help, establish workshops and grants that this same oversite group could teach artists to help establish a vibrant art program on public space.
Julie asks isn’t it a building owner’s prerogative to paint the side of their own building, even if its visible from a distance. Not really, for a variety of reasons, towns have “sign” and “billboard” guidlines and often large-scale murals currently fall into those guidlines…which is actually bad for the artist. Additionally, and artist might want to paint their building and it could lean into being offensive to the community…classic example…Ancient Asian art depicts the swastika as a symbol of peace, which was then coopted by Adolf Hiltler and the Nazi’s as a symbol of hate…which most people don’t know. So, a well-intentioned artist could wind up painting a four-story swastika rising above a Kingston neighborhood with the best intentions of presenting Asian art in a historic or contemporary context. But in truth, nobody is going to want to star at a giant swastika. (Or boobs, or penises)…you get it.
So, the creation of a space for dialog about public art is actually valuable, and as I stated, it could lead to
programs to actually assist artists in funding works of public art.
Kingston has a tendancy to over-react on issues, from public art to development, and I think we need to slow it down and just have rational conversations vs. freak outs all the time.
95% of the time what was hyped as being controversial, actually gets done and in hindsight we ask what was the big deal?!?!
Bob Hueber June 23, 2019 at 1:11 pm
Unfortunately giving censorship ability to a committee that is open and is not planning to oppress anyone, gives no guarantee that the next inhabitants of the committee won’t use their ability differently later. In fact it gives a framework for that exact thing to happen.
As I have said before, this is a solution looking for a problem.
Saugerties hamlets and cultural geography
Nature at your doorstep: Woodchuck Lodge
Great hikes: Bonticou Crag
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Topkapi Palace Museum
Thread starter iamTravelr
Historical Information on The Topkapi Palace Museum
Istanbul's history dates back to 633 B.C. when Doric settlers from Megara founded a small, commercial colony here that became known as Byzantion. Two major constraints dictated the siting of ancient cities: topography and strategic considerations. The site of this new town was located at the tip of a peninsula that commanded three waterways. With the formal establishment of the polis, a city wall measuring five kilometers in length and having twenty-seven towers was built as protection. Within the walls, a hill within the walls was selected as its acropolis. This was the first of the city's eventual seven hills - apparently a topographical "must" for legendary ancient cities.
Continuous expansion and growth resulted in several transformations of the city's appearance. The first major one took place in 196, during the reign of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus. This involved the rebuilding of the land wall. Another Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, transformed the city into a great metropolis that he renamed Constantinopolis. This city was to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 412 with the aim of creating a new metropolis to serve as the capital of his empire, Emperor Theodosius undertook the fourth major expansion of the city and rebuilt the landwalls.
In the course of the centuries, palaces were built, abandoned, demolished, and rebuilt. Most of these overlooked the Sea of Marmara. Thus the Emperor Justinian (565-578) was making a radical and - for the city - fateful change when he decided to locate his new palace (Blachernae) at a place where the seawalls of the Golden Horn met the landwalls cutting across the peninsula. By the time of Alexius Comnenus (1061-1118), Blachernae was officially designated the imperial residence and all the other Byzantine palaces were abandoned.
Two thousand one hundred forty years after the foundation of the city, a young Ottoman sultan conquered the city at the age of twenty-three. Mehmed the II, given the name Fatih "Conqueror" in honor of his victory, made his conquest the capital of his vigorous, expanding empire. With his ambitions for world domination, he chose as the site of his administrative center and residence the very same place on which the original city was founded: a coincidence, perhaps, but more likely a reaffirmation of the rules of locational determinism; for even the length of the surrounding walls and the area they contained were close to those of ancient Byzantion.
At the time of his conquest, Sultan Mehmed encountered an impoverished city with a population of a mere forty thousand souls who lived scattered about in isolated residential sections set amidst cultivated fields. The site he chose for his palace was typical: a hill covered with an olive grove, presumably several abandoned monastic structures, chapels, and bathhouses, and a small residential district by the sea.
This was the beginning of an unprecedented scheme of grandiose proportions which became synonymous with Ottoman cultural and administrative history. More than a residential complex for the royal household, the new palace was to become the pivotal institution for the planning and decision-making institutions of a far-flung empire and it remained so from the late 15th century to the middle of the l9th.
With its "irregular, asymmetric, non-axial, and un-monumental proportions" as some European travelers described it, Topkapi Palace was certainly quite different from the European palaces with which they were familiar whether in terms of appearance or of layout. But it was also fundamentally different from oriental or Islamic palaces even though they might have had similar patterns of spatial organization. In fact, Topkapi was a sui generis microcosm, a paradise on earth or "to borrow a term from Ottoman palace terminology" The Palace of Felicity.
Topkapi may be considered a trans-cultural focal point in which a holistic civilization was created from the nomadic culture of Turkish tribesmen whose forefathers had set out from Central Asia and reached Asia Minor with stopovers in Persia and Mesopotamia. Within the historically short period of two centuries, the Ottomans rose from a small, feudal principality to become a major -the major- world power, yet at the same time they possessed a court tradition and culture of their own that was over a thousand years old. Undoubtedly Topkapi involved a synthesis of Byzantine elements but what grew up on the peninsula by the Golden Horn cannot possibly be divorced from its predecessors in Ottoman history.
With their conquest of Bursa in 1326, the Ottomans developed a new (for them) concept of a palace situated within a citadel in their new capital. Although no definite historical information is available about this palace's formal and functional organization, it may be assumed that it was here that the social organization and components of future palaces were shaped.
During the period of the empire's early formation and expansion (particularly during the conquest of the European territories called Rumeli) the concept of an established administrative capital had - for geopolitical reasons - to be flexible. Following his capture of Dimetoka in 1362, Murad I ordered the construction of a palace there and until 1368, that city served as the empire's temporary capital. The early sultans perforce developed the concept of keeping the center of administrative power moving as dictated by the mobility of military power.
Although Edirne was also conquered in 1362, and became the center of the administration of the empire's Rumelian territories, it did not become the formal capital until 1368, following the completion of a new palace built there. At the same time, Bursa remained a capital in its own right. Thus we see that the earlier empire was one in which there was a plurality of administrative focal points.
The first palace to be built in Edirne (which later became known as Eski Saray "Old Palace") was located in a place called Kavak Meydanl, the spot where Selimiye mosque was to be built in the 16th century. During the brief reign of Celebi Musa (1411), the palace grounds, in the form of a square, were protected by a wall fifteen meters high which turned it into an urban citadel. We have almost no detailed information about this palace's formal or functional organization or its architectural features.
Since it was originally the custom in the Ottoman empire for princes of the line to serve as provincial governors in cities like Kutahya, Amasya, and Manisa, palaces -whether new ones or reconstructions of existing ones- were built in such places for them to reside in.
Back in Edirne, work on the construction of a new palace began in 1447 on the banks of the Tunca river. It was not completed until 1457, by which time Mehmed II had already occupied the throne for six years and Istanbul for four.
After the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, a new palace for the Ottoman house was built within the walls of the city at a place called Forum Tauri. It replaced an abandoned monastery there. Also referred to in old Ottoman sources as Eski Saray, this palace covered a rather large area. Sultan Mehmed did not, however, live there much, preferring to take up residence in Edirne between campaigns.
When Istanbul was declared the empire's formal capital however, Eski Saray acquired the status of the sovereign's residence. Mehmed lived there until about the middle of the 1470's, by which time he had realized that he needed to construct a new palace whose grandeur and magnificence were more in accord with his imperial ambitions as evinced in the title "Ruler of the Two Seas and the Two Continents" that he assumed.
Within the remarkably short span of only ten years, four palaces were built in succession. It was probably this more than anything else that firmly established the roots of the extraordinary spatio-social evolutionary process that was to become the Ottoman palace tradition. The developmental stages of these palaces clearly define the royal house's developing conceptualization of what a palace should be: seat of government and imperial residence. The elements of this duality mutually influenced and transformed each other affecting the spatial and functional components of the Ottoman palaces until the early 18th century. The stages in this development may be summarized as:
Edirne Yeni Sarayi whose modifications and successive extensions undertaken in different stages and periods led to the evolution of residential and administrative units often with the same private and ceremonial functions and even with the same names. Thus this palace exhibits important parallels with the new palace in Istanbul.
Istanbul Eski Sarayi which, though originally intended as the Ottoman residence, was to play a vital role, as the "Women's Palace" in the development and spatial transformation of what was to become the new palace's Harem. While this palace served initially as the residence of the sultan's immediate family (mother, wives, and children), it later became the residence of all the womenfolk of deceased sovereigns. It thus serves as a parallel and external model for the official Harem of the new palace.
In his capacity as chief planner of his capital, Mehmed II set out the structure of the state with its own organizational philosophy, inter- related institutions, and ceremonial orders (including the ethics, manners, and rituals that ultimately became traditions) as well as the physical environment of the capital in which all its integrated institutions were located in designated zones and districts.
Mehmed II's Kanunname (literally "Book of Laws") lays down what are essentially the schematics for his prospective global empire- the "Third Rome". But although all its institutions are described in detail and were to be located somewhere within the urban context, the sultan's intentions with regard to matters of location and organization are not clearly known; only some vague assumptions can be made on the basis of the known duality of function.
Although he originally selected as the site of his palace a location that was thoroughly urban, he later chose to relocate it to another that was (at the time) relatively remote and isolated. His motives in this cannot be precisely discerned. Did he anticipate the separate (or integrated) primary function of the new palace as a private domain or residence or as a ceremonial domain that would be fitted out with the administrative functions of the state?
Another related, and unresolved, problem was why Yedikule, which was designed and built in accordance with the most sophisticated concepts of military architecture of the day, was to function solely as an imperial treasury. What purpose did he originally envision this structure serving? Compared with this, his intentions and aims in the construction of his kulliye (multi-functional complex) in the modern-day district of Fatih are clear and well formulated: it was here that the class of civil servants who would serve the state and make scholarly and technological contributions to its progress were to be educated.
All the palaces built (or completed) during the reign of Mehmed II exhibit the same spatial order based on the principle of interconnected courtyards, each located in clearly defined public, semi-public, and private zones. These courtyards were arranged according to hierarchical considerations with their shapes being determined by topography rather than precise geometric or orthogonal principles. The number of these courtyards was flexible: there had to be at least two but could be as many as nine, as in the case of the Edirne place. Only five of them, however, were given the designation meydan (square) or taslik (courtyard) according to the particular palace's terminology.
Palaces evolving around courtyards in the course of their historical development existed in both oriental and occidental cultures long before the Ottoman experiment. Spatial organization principles considering courtyards as "unit spaces" constituted a common design vocabulary that quite often was implemented as both an integrating and segregating spatial constraint.
The use of walls and courtyards and of clear and strong transitions between and among them is one way of expressing domains. The spatial system of a palace (or of any other structure for that matter) is an expression of a human behavioral system. In this context, unwanted behavior and interaction that can be prevented (or controlled) through rules (manners, hierarchies, avoidance) can be reinforced through architecture that creates areas (zones) that are arranged hierarchically and occupied by various groups creating a balance of power among them, which in turn makes it possible to create the "system" through which group identities are formed, maintained, and integrated.
It is for this reason that all the legendary palaces that are formed around a system of courtyards -Beijing or Forbidden City, Delhi, Akra, Fatehpur Sirki, and Alhambra- exhibit striking spatial/organizational similarities. Since an absolute ruler's philosophical vision of what should be the administrative and residential constituents evolved around a common behavioral system and tradition, they naturally reflect similar sources and guiding principles.
Today Topkapi Palace functions as a museum and only a very small part of its original domain and environment can be appreciated. The ravages of time have resulted in the destruction (by fire) and the demolition (through new building) of many of its original structures. Despite this, the original 15th century spatial organization based on a triple courtyard order that integrates, segregates, and defines the palace's residential, ceremonial, and functional requirements has remained remarkably intact.
These individual requirements led to the formation of homogeneous, self-contained clusters that evolved around smaller courtyards since this was dictated by the formative systems of the social and functional groups, corps, classes, and institutions that occupied them. These clusters are not isolated, however, but are linked to and aligned with the main courtyards creating a self- contained microcosm that perfectly mirrors the state it housed.
The text is extracted from the book "Topkapi: the palace of felicity" by Ahmet Ertug and Ibrahim Koluk,
© Ertug & Koluk
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Analysis //
Facebook, fake news and authoritarianism
Erin Jordan explores how Facebook helped spread ‘fake news’ in Southeast Asia
by Erin Jordan
“You’re looking at me like, ‘I thought Facebook was already free,’ but it’s actually not. It’s costing you data,” Dr Aim Sinpeng, lecturer in comparative politics at USyd, tells me. But there is a free version of Facebook, which we don’t have access to in Australia. Facebook Zero.
Sinpeng’s research focuses on how social media influences political regimes in Southeast Asia. In light of the ongoing debate about Facebook’s role in influencing the 2016 US election, it is apparent that Facebook has a large role to play in many political conflicts.
In 2015, Facebook decided to target some regional black spots that had managed to remain beyond Zuckerberg’s reach, by launching a program called Facebook Zero. Facebook Zero is a basic version of Facebook that you can access without internet data charges. Facebook persuaded telecommunications companies in Africa and Southeast Asia to waive the data charges normally linked with the site, arguing that this would boost internet infrastructure and attract potential customers.
That is why today, in some of the most poverty-stricken parts of Southeast Asia, where citizens often have limited access to running water, healthcare and road networks, you can still access Facebook.
Since Facebook Zero was launched, the digital divide between developed and developing countries has been reduced – on the surface. Sinpeng believes Facebook Zero’s design is flawed because it makes it incredibly easy to spread misinformation.
“This Facebook Zero version is limited,” Aim says. “It comes with pre-installed news which has been pre-selected by Facebook.”
Sinpeng argues that these limitations, which are meant to entice new users to commit to Facebook and local telecommunications companies, benefit these businesses at the expense of communities. Users have very little say in what they get to see. This model discourages users from reading news from multiple sources, and balancing biases against one another. Users are offered one steady stream of ‘the truth’.
“Because they [users] only have free access to Facebook and not free access to Google, they can’t check if what they have read is true against another news site, so it limits [their] ability to check factual information, ” Singpeng explains.
To further complicate the issue, Facebook targets people from low income backgrounds, who often don’t have regular access to computers and haven’t grown up with the internet.
“While it may be a habit for many of us to think critically about the news we read on Facebook, it is not like that for many people who are new to the internet,” says Singpeng. “They may not even be in the habit of even thinking of checking if the story is even true.”
When designing the app, Facebook primarily focused on closing the digital divide in access, but neglected attempting to close the gap in digital literacy skills. Some governments and developing agencies are now experimenting with vocational workshops, which focus on equipping rural men and women with practical skills to navigate the online world once they have access.
Beyond Facebook Zero’s inbuilt limitations, Facebook’s push to introduce a mobile-based model has shaped the pattern of internet usage throughout Southeast Asia.
A 2016 report by the United Nations said that the current situation in Southeast Asia is “worrisome” because while programs like Facebook Zero have made “access to the internet affordable and flexible”, they have also led to a proliferation of mobile data subscriptions rather than fixed connections to broadband. This is problematic because mobile subscriptions lend themselves to being used for social and entertainment purposes, rather than for educational purposes.
This occurs for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there is an economic incentive to use free social media apps rather than to pay to read news. Secondly, social media apps are highly addictive; they are psychologically satisfying. And, when users do use mobile subscriptions to access information, they are likely to read news curated by Facebook Zero or infotainment companies. The report concluded that the development of a mobile-based model limited the internet’s capacity to foster “productivity and growth”.
Sinpeng is currently researching how Facebook has inadvertently helped spread ‘fake news’ in the Philippines, which, in turn, helped authoritarian strongman Rodrigo Duterte win the 2016 presidential election. In the Philippines, ‘fake news’ has become intermingled with the old system of gossip. Each time ‘fake news’ is passed around families and shared with friends, it becomes harder to distinguish from reality. It is exactly this that the current authoritarian regimes thrive on. An Oxford study published earlier this year alleges that Duterte paid trolls money to spread misinformation that would benefit him and his campaign. One famous ‘fake news’ story claimed that Duterte was “the best president in the solar system”.
With Facebook admitting guilt in light of the Cambridge Analytica data breach, perhaps it will also admit that it was wrong to encourage the proliferation of misinformation in political systems that already do not uphold rights to free speech and freedom of the press.
facebook zero
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Chargers-Patriots Divisional Round Matchup
Filed Under:bill belichick, los angeles chargers, New England Patriots, Norm Elrod, Philip Rivers, SportsLine, tom brady
By Norm Elrod
(CBSLA/CBS Local) — The Los Angeles Chargers were the best wild-card team coming into the playoffs. Having played the Kansas City Chiefs to a regular season draw in the AFC West, but losing the tiebreaker, they traveled to Baltimore Sunday to meet the Ravens. The Chargers were a stellar 7-1 on the road this season (12-4 overall), dispatching with both the Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks in two of the NFL’s more unfriendly stadiums. And after weathering a late Lamar Jackson comeback attempt to overcome the Ravens in the wild-card round, they’re now 8-1.
Their reward is a trip to Foxboro on Sunday, where the New England Patriots await.
What more can be said about the playoff accomplishments of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick? Since the turn of the century, the Patriots have won five of the eight Super Bowls they’ve appeared in. The team dominates the AFC East basically every year and, as a result, is usually a legitimate playoff contender come January. This season, even with a 41-year-old Brady and some early hiccups, they still finished 11-5 and earned their ninth consecutive first-round bye.
Philip Rivers (Photo Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Philip Rivers has never beat Tom Brady head to head. In matchups between the two surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famers, Rivers is 0-7. The Chargers’ one win over the Patriots during Rivers’ tenure happened in 2008, with Matt Cassel starting for the injured Brady. As Boomer Esiason recently noted, “as long as his offensive line holds up, and Melvin Gordon is able to control the line of scrimmage a little bit with the running game, this could be Philip’s best opportunity to finally break through against Tom Brady.”
>>MORE: Boomer Esiason: Rivers’ Best Chance To Beat Brady
As Esiason alluded to, the Chargers probably have their most talented team of the Rivers era. While the offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders against a nasty Ravens defense, it has enough horsepower to beat most defenses most days, including the Patriots’. Rivers is coming off a one of his best seasons, having passed for 269.2 yards per game, with 32 touchdowns against only 12 interceptions. Melvin Gordon is a dual threat out of the backfield, collecting 885 yards rushing and another 490 yards on 50 receptions in 12 regular-season games. The Chargers also have four receivers who can burn a defense on any play, including Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
But the key to the Chargers success this Sunday likely plays on the other side of the ball. The Bolts’ defense collected seven sacks against the Ravens and its speedy QB, including five from down linemen. With Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram coming off the ends, they can apply pressure without blitzing. And that gives them plenty of flexibility in coverage. In Baltimore, for example, the Chargers lined up seven defensive backs on most plays. With Casey Hayward and Derwin James, a former second-team and current first-team All-Pro respectively, they have the talent to shut down receivers even in normal formations.
Tom Brady (Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Patriots offense was about as prolific this season yardage-wise as it has been in the past, collecting 266.1 passing yards and 127.3 rushing yards per game, good enough for top 10 in both categories. That includes 273 yards on the ground against the Buffalo Bills a few weeks ago. But this unit doesn’t possess the same caliber of weapons. The run-first offense flows through rookie Sony Michel, with plenty of short passes to Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan mixed in. Josh Gordon, who provided a credible downfield threat for part of the season, is suspended indefinitely. Rob Gronkowski, with only 47 catches and three touchdowns on the season, hasn’t been the same Gronk we’ve grown accustomed to.
All that said, any offense led by Brady and Belichick has to be respected in the playoffs.
The New England defense seems to operate with a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy. They give up some yards on the ground (112.7) and a lot through the air (246.4). But they also allow comparatively few points (20.3). All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore can blanket any receiver in the League. With few standouts, this Patriots defense must play as a unit to be effective. And it has recently, mostly shutting down the Bills and Miami Dolphins in the season’s final two games.
Keenan Allen (Photo Credit: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
So what does this all add up to?
The Chargers are probably the better team on paper, but the Patriots have Brady and Belichick. The four-point spread favors New England, but most of that is just the bonus teams get for home-field advantage. I’m not sure Foxboro itself will be much of a factor. The Patriots are undefeated at home this season, but the Chargers have won the same number of games on the road. Game-time temperatures are predicted to be in the high-20s, without wind or snow. But while the Patriots should be fresh after the bye, the Chargers have to travel cross-country for the second time in as many weeks. That travel could lead to fatigue as the game wears on.
The Patriots will look to run straight ahead. So don’t expect the Chargers to play seven defensive backs, like they did against the Ravens, since sideline-to-sideline speed won’t be as much of a factor. One issue, however, could be the size of the Chargers’ front four, coming off a strong showing and now facing a well-rested Patriots line. They’ll need to duplicate that effort, to limit the yards between the tackles and put pressure on Brady. This Chargers defense is up to the task.
The Patriots defense has struggled against the run. And though Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has lingering knee issues, backup Austin Ekeler has also been capable runner and pass-catcher for most of the season. Rivers likes to spread the ball around, and he has a lot of options to choose from. The Pats secondary won’t be able to contain all the speed coming at them and will give up some big plays. It’s just a matter of when, and to whom.
The X-factor, as is so often the case, will be Bill Belichick and what new wrinkle he can use to get an advantage. He’ll do something to minimize the Chargers’ advantage, and it will be clever. But it won’t be enough.
Look for the Chargers to light up the scoreboard early and hold off the Patriots to advance to the AFC Championship.
SportsLine analyst R.J. White sees things much the same way…
The Patriots are tough at home, especially in the playoffs and especially in the divisional round, where they’re 11-1 straight up and 7-4-1 ATS. But even though this year’s team went 8-0 at home, they just don’t look nearly as crisp as they have in the past, with Rob Gronkowski seemingly on his last legs, Tom Brady making more small mistakes here and there and the defense struggling against teams that can run the ball. The Pats are just 1-4 when giving up 150 rushing yards, and the Chargers should enjoy getting this defense after playing the Ravens twice and the Broncos in their last three games.
Go to SportsLine for picks on every NFL game.
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Sunrise/Sunset at the Rodeo
Despite the peripheral crazies on my job, my immediate co-workers are amazing. Back on one cold December morning, one of them took a picture of the sunrise from our office building rooftop. It was a reminder that we were close to shooting and at the “dawn” of our new project. Seven months later, during an overnight shoot on a warm summer morning, he went up on our rooftop again to take a picture of the sunrise over Brooklyn. He called it our “light at the end of the tunnel.” Another co-worker remarked that for it to truly come full-circle, we should really take a picture of the setting sun, a full daylight cycle, marking the end of a very wild ride.
Sunset over Brooklyn
It’s the little things like this that mean the most. We never let a day go by without laughing so hard we were crying, office QOTD’s are written down so we’ll never forget. These are my war buddies and this is what I love about my job, each show is so unique, the dynamics, the energy, the talents, the highs and the lows. Working on a movie is also called a “rodeo.” And, the name is very apropos. Each movie is like an untamed stallion, you start out with a beast, but by sunset, you can anticipate nearly every buck and kick of your trained equine. You’ve mastered it, and now it’s time to let the horse go out into the world, while you saddle up in time for the next sunrise.
Tagged brooklyn, co-workers, everything I know about life I learned from the movies, family, friends, greenpoint, jobs, life, movies, sunrise, sunset, the rodeo, work
The Measures of Success
I always wanted to be successful in my chosen career. Of course, everyone has those ambitions. No one strives to be mediocre. But success can be a lonely place if you let it all go to your head. Tonight we celebrated our soon-to-be-wrapped movie. At first it was awkward. No one knew if it was ok to let loose, dance, drink, and be merry. Finally, our director threw up her hands and started dancing and never stopped. She danced with everyone, no matter if she knew them or not. Once she started, everyone took it as their cue and FINALLY, FINALLY shed their stoic exteriors, threw back some drinks and hit the dance floor. We all had a ball. The playing field had been leveled. It lead me to thinking, “if only the tone during production could have been like this. If only she had jumped in, arms raised, and started dancing.” We all would have followed, with wild abandon, and gladly joined her in the conga line. Watching her for a moment, I almost had respect for her. I saw the person she could be (and maybe was, at some point in her life).
As I was leaving, we ended up riding down alone together in the elevator. We had never had a conversation. She started one. I introduced myself. She glanced up at me. “Of course,” she said. “You’re Ashley. I might need you to do some things for me this week.” I watched her, wearing her black-framed glasses, dressed impeccably (of course) in head-to-toe black, her hair still perfectly coiffed, eyes glued to her Blackberry screen. I also saw a very lonely woman. One that can only let go a little bit for one night. One who sees only what others have to offer her. One who will keep making the same movie, over and over again, telling the single story she owns, because it’s the only thing she can do for herself. We exited the elevator. She didn’t say good night. Just stood there, waiting for her car to pick her up. I hailed a cab and headed back downtown, happy I know how to do things for myself, how to wear glasses that aren’t always rose-colored. In that moment I realized I am successful. I know who I am, I see what other people have to offer the world, and I know that sometimes, to get everyone on-board, you just have to throw up your hands and dance.
Tagged co-workers, dancing, everything I know about life I learned from the movies, life lessons, parties, success, work
A Night of Queens
June 11th brought with it a windfall of invitations to some very New York events. Apparently, it was a night fit for a queen or, more accurately, queens. I had to choose between an event at the NYPL with Queen Noor of Jordan, an evening of theater seeing MARY STUART at the Broadhurst Theater or a gala benefit foramFAR hosted by a different sort of queen, “Lady Bunny.”
Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer
Despite the unique appeal of each event, I had to choose just one. I went with MARY STUART, because I can’t pass up a good Elizabethan drama. I arrived in Times Square directly from work and was still emailing from my Blackberry. Since I had enough time to spare, I took advantage of the new lawn chairs in the middle of Broadway and finished up the last of my emails sitting on a lawn chair right in the middle of the square.
By the time MARY STUART started, my exhaustion hit and despite the intriguing story line, it was a struggle for me to stay awake at first. But then I hit a point (and a second wind) where I was swept away in the language, the rhythm, lyrical dialogue and powerhouse acting of Janet McTeer (as Mary Stuart) and Harriet Walter (as Queen Elizabeth). They truly deserve the title of theater royalty.
Earlier this theater season I saw another member of theater royalty when actor Frank Langella starred in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. Though I am a fan of Langella’s work, SEASONS didn’t stir my emotions the way MARY STUART did. SEASONS gave us a portrait of a complicated and multi-layered man, something we’re used to seeing so much in theater that now it’s a bit old and overplayed. MARY on the other hand, was fluid, intriguing and dynamic. Perhaps this is because we don’t see many women on stage represented as complicated and multi-layered, especially during the time period of MARY.
The big second act rain/rebirth scene left me feeling like I’d witnessed one of those moments in live theater that people talk about for decades; it felt like a privilege. It also perfectly illustrates what I love about live theater: it’s a moment shared intimately by the actors and the audience. It only happens once, and, though it’s played out again and again, night after night, it’s always different. The audience gasps when the mists of rain suddenly come down and I wonder if that same reaction happens nightly. I wonder if rhythms in the character’s big monologues change, if the energy is different, how the theater smells (always a combination of upholstery and women’s perfume), if someone dropped a line, changed the order, missed their mark or is so caught up in the scene, they almost forget to breathe. Such elements can rearrange the molecules of a production leaving a mark like DNA, one that can never be duplicated — it’s there and it’s gone in an instant.
But no matter which night you go and which performance you see, the words are intact, the meaning translated; the audience moved. Just like the moment the rain appears on stage (whether you are surprised or not at its appearance), I gasp when I think of the singularity of what I’ve witnessed and how it can never be completely captured in that way and on that stage again. I suppose that also holds true for any of the other events I could have attended that evening, but MARY STUART captured my spirit. And in witnessing that performance, my very molecules were rearranged.
Janet McTeer as Mary Stuart
Tagged amfar, broadhurst theater, broadway, harriet walter, janet mcteer, mary stuart, new york, nypl, queens, schiller, theater, times square, why didn't janet mcteer win the tony?
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8 Water Street, the Harris-Sutton House (1677)
Thomas Franklin Waters wrote in “Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony” (1905) that Abner Harris bought the lot and probably built the house in 1743. The administrator of his estate conveyed it to Dr. John Manning in 1787, and Manning sold the house to Captain Ebenezer Sutton in 1816. This residence has been called the Sutton House ever since, but the house is older than Waters thought.
One of several ship images that were carved into the sheathing on the house at 8 Water St.
A carving of a ship on the wall sheathing at 8 Water St.
A ship carved on a wall at the Harris-Sutton house
When timber framer Jim Whidden began disassembling the frame, architect Matt Cummings and architectural historian Sue Nelson discovered evidence dating the eastern part of the house to 1677. The location had been a shipyard owned by Moses Pengry. Etchings of schooners on the house sheathing confirmed a “record of what kinds of ships were being built at the time.” The house is now called the Pengry-Harris-Sutton house.
Jim and Patsy Faria embarked on a 2 1/2 year project that required stripping the house to the post and beam framework in order to rebuild. The original layout was maintained and original features maintained or reused, including floors, halls, doors, staircases, fireplaces, and even the original nails.
The Harris-Sutton house in the late 20th Century
A new addition to the house replaces a previously added southerly ell that was determined to not be of historic value. The house was sold to new owners in the summer of 2014.
Siding being stripped so that the Harris Sutton house frame could be disassembled
The frame of the Harris-Sutton house being re-erected after restoration of the members.
The Harris-Sutton house today
The Sutton House from “Homes of our Fathers by Edwin Whitefield
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Posted on June 11, 2015 June 17, 2015 by jaypipher
About a month ago they unearthed what might be the oldest ship in Toronto, possibly dating back to the 1830s. Now I don’t know about you, but despite my, shall we say, strong aversion to the ocean deep, the concept of steamship (and pre-steamship) seafaring life has an undeniable romantic appeal to me. It must come from some Hollywood conditioning or something, because I’m pretty sure seafaring life in most eras was pretty dismal. Super dangerous, terrible living conditions, Bermuda triangles, angry whales and suchness. Not to mention the sea was also a uniquely lawless wilderness of piracy, smuggling, and slave trading. All that being said, I can’t shake the image of holding onto a mast with the wind ripping past you while the shore fades behind you, soon only hearing the soft lap of waves against the ship and smelling the freshest of salty sea air. While Toronto today isn’t really of much international shipping significance, it has long been a hugely important place in the Great Lakes, and there have been lots of legendary ships that have graced its shores. Such was the Chicora.
Planting and watering the seed
(Because Chicora means “Pretty Flower or Land of Flowers“. Niiiiice one, me)
Built in the early 1860s in Liverpool, the Chicora was commissioned to be used by the Confederate forces during the American Civil War to try and bypass the Union blockade of the Carolinas. It* was originally called the Let Her Be to go along with another two ships called the Let Her Rip and Let Her Go (Yes, the 1800s are sometimes a cartoon). It left Liverpool in 1864 and made it to Bermuda in 8 days, which is speedy fast for ships those days. This sucker was built for speed (and, spoiler alert, longevity). It was apparently then renamed the Chicora before put into civil war action.
Civil Wars and Red Rivers
It had a pretty solid career for the Confederacy. It was mostly tasked with going back and forth from Bermuda to one of two ports in the Carolinas. I’m pretty sure its job was to deliver supplies into this place without getting caught by Union ships, even though there were plenty of Union ships trying to blockade the ports. It made a bunch of those runs in 1864 and early 1865, the only incident coming in mid 1864, when it got shot at pretty heavily, which unfortunately resulted in the death of 5 crew members, plus some damage to the Chicora. Alas, the America Civil war ended in 1865, and the Chicora found itself with no purpose in life.**
The Chicora in Lake Ontario in 1872.***
After being sold and almost entirely re-purposed as a passenger steamer, in 1869 it began a route along from Collingwood to Fort William, which is near where Thunder Bay is today. 1869 also happened to be the time when a dangerously powerful rebellion was gaining steam out at the Red River Colony. So the Chicora was enlisted again to transport troops and supplies from Collingwood as far as Fort William, and those troops would continue westward to try and quell Louis Riel’s uprisings. It got sold again in 1873 and was used in 1874 to ferry around the newly minted Governor General, Lord Dufferin (considering this was less than a decade after Canadian Confederation, this Governor General had some serious clout).
See, don’t you want to sit up top and stare at the forest and the sky and stuff?
A Starbord is Born
The Chicora then took a well-deserved break at Collingwood for a while. It was eventually resold and brought to Toronto for a complete aesthetic overhaul. It had been purchased by the Niagara Navigation Company Ltd, who were formed to tap into the burgeoning Niagara peninsula vacation scene. It was massively popular as a summer tourist attraction, and steamer was the only way to make the trip. According to an article in the Toronto Marine Historical Society, after all the work was done to outfit the Chicora, “She came out of the transformation as one of the most handsome and graceful vessels ever seen on the lake before or since.”
It was launched in May 24, 1878 (which was a real-life Victoria Day), and soon kicked off its normal route, from Toronto down to Niagara. Within just a few years it became the top dog in lake Ontario and by far the most popular Niagara ship excursion. After about 15 years as the queen of aristocratic vacations, by 1893 The Niagara Navigation Company had built two other impressive ships to join the fleet and soon the Chicora was being outmatched. It was given another makeover in 1904, but it could no longer keep up with the younger, bigger ships.
In 1895, still steaming away!
Don’t deny it. This is EXACTLY who you pictured as the tourists who took part in the “burgeoning Niagara peninsula vacation scene”.
Things really started to go downhill in 1913 when The Niagara Navigation Company merged with another company and in 1914 was but on a run from Toronto to some place called Olcott Beach, New York, which is currently only really home to this place. Clearly these were the twilight years, and on September 7th of 1914 the Chicora made its last passenger voyage. But consider that – For over 35 years this ship ferried fancy Torontonians to Niagara, in the prime of this ferry route (I would really love to try it out, actually – I bet if a ferry from Toronto to Niagara started back up, wine-tourists would flock down to harbourfront!).
I think my favourite part of the Chicora’s whole saga is that it feels kind of like a personal story. Consider that when it left home to go overseas, it was a bit hotheaded and overconfident, and it got caught up in a some fighting and got hurt pretty bad. Then it moved on and tried to reinvent itself, but still fell back into some old habits. Then finally it got its act together and found where it really belonged, and had a long, respectable career doing some important, even if slightly frivolous work. Then it got kind of old and couldn’t keep up, so it retired in the Toronto harbour, eventually leaving the shores for good.
1907. I think it still looks pretty fly!
In the last couple years of its Niagara life in 1910
After sitting dormant for a few more years, the Chicora was buffeted in a storm in 1919, and silently sank to the bottom of the harbour. It took them a while to resurface it (fun fact: they built the largest ever tarp manufactured in Toronto to lift it up, which was over 550 feet). Officially, the Chicora ceased to exist in 1920, although its hull was sold, renamed, and used as a cargo ship until 1938.
*I suppose I should note that I’m aware ships are often referred to using the pronoun “she” rather than “it” but I just wanted to clarify that that has fairly recently become out-of-style. Literally. The Chicago Manual of style (and others) say you should use “it”. Plus, despite my fanciful musings, I’m anything but a legit nautical enthusiast or purist.
**Perhaps I’m starting to understand how and why people personified ships.
***All the pictures in this post can be found at http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca
Tags: 1800s, 1900s, Chicora, Ferry, harbour, Lake Ontario, Let Her Be, Liverpool, Lord Dufferin, maritime, Niagara, Red River, ship, Steamship, toronto, Victoria Day Civil War
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Food delivery startup Plum lays off all staff
Food delivery startup Plum has laid off its entire staff, casting doubt on its continued operations in Singapore and its home market of Hong Kong.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, Plum co-founder Desmond Clinton Cheung, who is also the company’s GM, said full-time contracts for all 110 workers, including his own, had been terminated. The company is creating a new structure which would give staff who wish to remain with the company an equity ownership.
“In the past, they were salaried staff and they would become shareholders,” he said.
Plum was founded in Hong Kong a year ago and Cheung said it may have grown “a bit fast”.
Efforts to reduce losses, including laying off 40 staff several months ago, had not worked and Cheung said he believed the new company structure offered an opportunity for the company to continue trading on a more sustainable basis.
Shoppers catch Zalora online fever Gifts Less Ordinary expands to Japan Love With Food opening in 25 countries Giordano International recovers from early fall
eCommerce, Food, Hong Kong, News, Singapore
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Rev. Sandy Moore
Rev. Sandy Moore co-founded the Center for Universal Truth, now known as InSpirit Center for Spiritual Living Orange County, in May of 1999 with her husband, Rev. Kirk, who is the Center’s music director.
That foundation helped her to survive and triumph over the most excruciating pain a woman can experience — the loss of a child. Her journey to the ministry began in 1992 after the tragic, sudden death of her teenage daughter, Tara, in a car crash.
Following Tara’s death, Sandy and her husband Kirk uncovered a fascination that Tara had for angels. Grief-stricken and searching for answers, the couple opened an angel store called Tara’s Angels, in San Juan Capistrano, as a way of honoring their beloved child. The specialty shop and the Moore’s story was widely covered by both local and national media, including a cover story in People Magazine and an in-depth piece on the TV news magazine, Dateline.
Tara’s Angels soon attracted people from all over the world. Many people came to share their own grief and talk about the loss of a loved one. There were so many people that Sandy started facilitating a regular support group at the store. At the time, Sandy had enjoyed 20 years as an elementary school teacher. With encouragement from her husband and members of the support group, Sandy completed her ministerial training and the Moores founded The Center for Universal Truth in Mission Viejo on Mother’s Day in May 1999.
In January 2002, the Center relocated to a larger home in San Juan Capistrano to accommodate its rapidly growing membership. The Moores also made the decision to close Tara’s Angels so they could focus more on their growing Center ministry. In 2007, the name was changed to Center for Spiritual Living Orange County. In May 2009, with a new name, InSpirit Center, relocated to Mission Viejo to accommodate our continuously growing congregation.
Rev. Sandy is the co-author with her daughter Deanna Moore of The Green Intention: Living in Sustainable Joy.
Rev. Kirk Moore
Rev. Kirk Moore is the co-minister and Music Director at InSpirit Center for Spiritual Living Orange County established in May 1999.
Kirk is a native Californian, born and raised in Redondo Beach, California. Kirk and his wife Sandy, the founding minister, raised their two daughters in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Tragically, their older daughter, Tara, was killed in an automobile accident in 1992 at the age of fifteen.
Kirk has studied piano and music since the age of four and was quite involved with musical theatre during high school and college. In 1972, he created his own band, Moore & More that performed in clubs throughout the Los Angeles area.
Kirk’s relationship with God has been a deep and motivating factor in his life from a very young age. He has been involved with Religious Science since 1980 when he and Sandy discovered the Redondo Beach Church of Religious Science, which was in direct alignment with his belief system. After moving to Orange County in 1988, Kirk and Sandy started attending the Capistrano Valley Church of Religious Science and became extremely involved with the church and diligently pursued their studies.
When Kirk lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, his life took on a new dimension and his life course was altered forever. Kirk and Sandy opened a store in San Juan Capistrano in 1993 called Tara’s Angels, which experienced worldwide attention through numerous television appearances and the cover of People magazine. The store became a haven for healing and understanding by those who came to visit. Eventually, spiritual classes were offered in the store during the evening.
Kirk has authored two books, which are non-fictional accounts of his spiritual odyssey and evolutionary life: One Family’s Extraordinary Journey of Courage and Healing and Tara’s Angels.
From all the people who visited the store and wanted to learn more about the spiritual universe, it was a natural progression to create a spiritual center. In May of 1999, The Center for Universal Truth was born.
Kirk, with his in-depth and experienced musical background, became the musical director and an integral part of the Center and its continued growth. The Center has a band, on-staff singer, various musical guests and a dynamic choir. Kirk continues to grow the music program as the Center grows and flourishes. Kirk teaches classes and is very involved in special programs at the Center.
Kirk is an integral part of the leadership at InSpirit teaching, developing inspirational music all in an effort to continue creating a place of love, healing and inspiration.
Rev. Roger Juline, D.D.
Rev. Roger Juline, D.D., although technically retired, is currently active in the Centers for Spiritual Living as well as his local center, InSpirit Center for Spiritual Living. He is the Education Minister in charge of the accredited education program at InSpirit.
For six years, he served as President of Holmes Institute, the accredited Masters of Consciousness degree program, which is the official ministerial training program for Centers for Spiritual Living. He also served for over 10 years as Assistant Minister of the Sanctuary for Spiritual Living in Covina, CA. Rev. Roger teaches classes, leads workshops and serves on several Boards and committees, supporting the teaching of Science of Mind. He has written for Science of Mind Magazine book reviews, Daily Guides and articles, as well as conducted interviews.
Rev. Roger teaches classes both for the School of Spiritual Leadership and several local churches in subjects such as Church Financial Management, Historical Foundations of New Thought, Metaphysical Bible and various certificated courses of Centers for Spiritual Living.
Prior to ministry, Rev. Roger enjoyed a 33-year career in the banking profession holding executive positions with several banks in the Southern California area. He holds degrees in philosophy and theology and spent two years studying in Rome, Italy earlier in his life.
Rev. Roger lives in San Clemente with his wife, Kathy Juline, who is a licensed practitioner at InSpirit.
Rev. John Odden
Rev. John Odden is an Assistant Minister at InSpirit Center for Spiritual Living Orange County. He joined this CSL community over a decade ago, serving for a second decade as a licensed Religious Science Practitioner. With two decades of service, CSL headquarters honored him with the status of Practitioner Emeritus.
John discovered this faith when he walked in to Dr. Peggy Bassett’s Huntington Beach Church of Religious Science years ago, as an adult interested in community, spirituality, faith traditions and service. The philosophy and teachings he found then were as compelling that day as what he found on his first visit to InSpirit, and as he feels when speaking, teaching and praying every day.
John grew up in Michigan and journeyed to the West coast to attend college. Upon arriving in California, he checked to see that his college actually had a library and then went to the beach to check for palm trees, sand, and, of course, an ocean. It was all as real and poignant then, as it is today. He remembers saying that he might work anywhere if he can be home in California on weekends. That’s come true, with his work in high tech businesses, health care and life sciences taking him across the country and around the world. His most unique trip was a trade mission to Russia that included a visit to a remote hamlet, where his hosts took him to a monastery. They shared 675 years of written history and their prayers to be reunited with all humankind as peaceful people making a better world for everyone’s children and grandchildren.
Walking outdoors, along the coast, is a favorite activity that John enjoys sharing with Joan Carolyn, his spouse. John and Joan cherish the local lifestyle and being close to family, who live nearby. John’s oldest grandson is his namesake. He likes to share the story of how he was the first family member to arrive the day that infant John was born.
Launched by an interest and a strong education in basic sciences, this recovering math major relished his time at Holmes Institute, preparing for ministerial service at InSpirit, his spiritual home. There he enjoyed not one, but multiple philosophy professors, as well as other academic scholars with specialties ranging from the Jesus Seminar to Jung. John loves to share insights on faith, science and the sacred to be found in daily life, and the opportunity to come together and share in the works and celebration of Inspiring Love, Creating Community and Embracing All.
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Bronze Membership
About Barney
Mysterious Thing
Barney replied to Barney's topic in Firearms & Ordnance
Thanks for having a go! I've discussed this with many people and the points you raised are perfectly valid. The absence of a WD arrow is particularly intriguing until you consider that it was commonplace for Officers to have their own versions of issued equipment made or adapted. So the question remains what is it? Actually this Officer was seriously wounded outside Flers in the last weeks of the war. So seriously in fact that he was left to die at the CCS. His personal effects were taken and listed but the mysterious thing remained just that, being listed as 'box with dial'. Not much help but happily the Officer eventually made a full recovery. I have contacted the MGC Old Comrades Association through the Internet and they had a go with similar results though they erred on the side of caution by not giving a definate answer but they did suggest, as did you, that it could be involved with the laying down of a barrage. They in turn have forwarded the images to the IWM for their opinion. I'll keep you posted............. Barney
Barney started following Dead Man's Penny, Mysterious Thing, The Alamo and and 4 others January 24, 2005
Barney posted a topic in Firearms & Ordnance
Can anyone identify this piece of kit (see attached photos). It belonged to a MGC Officer with the 19th Battalion MGC (Inf). It has a box, velvet lined and leather bound but made of wood. There are no makers markings on either the box or the item itself. The item itself is approx 4" x 2" and consists of a brass plate with a white dial fixed centrally marked off in 10's up to 360 degrees. The single hand is operated by the swing bar at the foot of the piece under the face. Strangely it goes round twice. At the top of the piece is a small steel gate or sight, that is opened and closed by means of the swingbar which is itself, sprung loaded. The rear view shows the bar bending round a central return spring. You can just make out the tiny chain, very intricate for an otherwise robust looking bit of kit. The bar is hinged at the top at the point that the sight, if that is what it is, opens and closes. The whole thing is designed to lay horizontal on its three legs. Anyone got any ideas? Barney
DCM Citations
Barney posted a topic in Great Britain: Research, Documentation & History
I guess this is really directed at PIKEMEDALS Sgt 18358 Francis Daniel Bartley served with the 13th (Service) Battalion (West Ham) Essex Regiment and at some point during August 1916 was gazetted for the DCM. I know this only because the fact was reported in the Stratford Express on 29 August 1916. I would guess the award was for his actions at Delville Wood in July, though it may have been for some action by him during the abortive assault on Guillemont on 8/9 August 1916. Unusually there is no mention in the War Diary of this award though the Adjt was himself killed in the former action. Bartley was subsequently Commissioned into the 1st Kings (Liverpool) Regiment (with whom the 13th were brigaded) on 28/08/1917. The DCM award is shown on his Medal Roll fiche as is the MC he was later gazetted to on 16/09/1918 however there is no fiche entry for his DCM citation in the PRO! Does Sgt Bartley appear on your Essex DCM list and do you have a copy of the Citation? Thanks in anticipation Barney
7TH BN & 10TH BN ESSEX REGIMENT
Barney replied to a topic in Great Britain: Research, Documentation & History
John In reply to your question there were a total of 18 Battalions of the Essex Regiment during the Great War plus two Garrison Battalions, one in Palestine and one in India. There were four 'Service' Battalions : 9th, 10th,11th and of course the 13th. A Service Battalion enlisted voluntarily for 3 years or for the 'duration'. They were all fighting Battalions in the K1, K2, K3 and K4 Armies respectively. And for PIKEMEDALS[attachmentid=59] Ray Westlake produced an excellent book BRITISH REGIMENTS AT GALLIPOLI and it contains direct lifts from the relevant War Diaries. The 7th Essex has an entry so I have attached it here (I hope because I aint too good with technical). He also produced BRITISH BATTALIONS ON THE SOMME with a 10th Battalion entry if you are interested............... Barney 7th_Essex_Gallipoli_2.doc
Hello Pikemedals Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but I have been away (again). Now, the 7th and 10th Battalions of the Essex Regiment............. I have to say I do not know that much about the 7th Battalion other that they were part of the Territorial Force with their Headquarters at Walthamstow Lodge, Church Hill, Walthamstow. The County of Essex was unusually blessed (I can say that having spent 16 yrs as a Terrier) with no less than 4 TF Battalions ; 4th at Warley; 5th at Chelmsford; 6th at West Ham; 7th as above and the peculiarity of the time the 8th who were a Cyclist Battalion based at Colchester. All were part of the 161st (Essex) Brigade of the East Anglian Division. Along with many other 1st Line TF Units this Brigade (minus the 8th Essex) were sent to the Middle East and subsequently served in Gallipoli (Sulva Bay) and thereafter in Palestine. My Grandfather served with the 4th and 'British Regiments 1914-18 by Brigadier E.A.James' states that the war service of all three Essex TF Battalions were similar. My Grandfather served all over the Middle east so I suspect did the 7th. They never served in France and finished their war in Beirut. My Grandfather by the way said that place was the most beautiful city on earth - unsurprisingly from a grocer from Southend I suppose! Calais was considered exotic........ There was a 2nd Line 7th Battalion who never left these shores and acted as a reinforcement Battalion. The 10th Battalion were a totally different kettle of fish. They were a 'Service' Battalion raised at Warley, the Regimental HQ of the Essex Regiment and as such had the pick of Officers and NCOs who were recalled to the Colours or retained in England rather than rejoining their Regiments in India and it showed. A part of Kitcheners K2 Army they were sent to France on 26th July 1915 as part of the 18th Division with who they remained throughout the War gaining a fearsome reputation as a fighting unit within a famous fighting Division. Christmas 1915 was spent in the Line at La Boiselle on the Somme - a 'quiet' sector where they could learn their trade. Learn it they did. On a visit to the Front Line Maj Gen F.J.Maxse spoke to some of the men here and gave his theories of warfare "If every man in the BEF shot four Huns we could all go home". One Pte Halsey piped up "I've shot seven - can I go home now?" Maxse's reply was not noted but Halsey was appointed L/Cpl. A bit of cheek from the Battalions best sniper! The 10th were still on the Somme on 1st July 1916. They subsequently fought in most major engagements in France, off the top of my head I cannot say whether they served on the Salient at Ypres. I can check if you like. I know they were alongside the 13th Battalion at Cambrai in 1917. They avoid the chop (disbandment) in early 1918 where they Army lost some 115, mostly Service Battalions in an entirly fatuous, politically driven, reorganisation of the Army that did not put a single extra soldier in the Line to meet the Michael Offensive of Spring 1918. Bit of a sore point West Ham wise! I know they recieved a draft of 120 men and 4 Officers from my 13th (West Ham) Battalion (they were placed in the much depleted 'B' Company - also men from Stratford by Bow) in February including the gallant Sgt Legg of 'D' Company's last stand fame who was killed in action in March 1918 as the 10th were in the forefront of the rearguard action, back on the Somme, trying to stem the tide of the German onslaught. At the wars end they were at Le Cateau. I think I am right in thinking that the first Sunday in July is Essex Sunday at the Essex Regimental Chapel at Warley where the 10th Essex in particular is remembered by a small WW1 re-enactment group who call themselves the 10th Essex (they have a website I think). Anyway the Essex Regiment Association is very helpful if you call first (01277 213051) they have an interesting if small library and they may let you in to the Chapel to see the Colours. Ian Hook, a good friend of mine, is curator of the Essex Regiment Museum (01245 615100) and is a very keen WW1 historian and a mine of information. He has an original,1922, copy of Burrows' History of the Essex Regiment 1914-1918 in which each Battalion and their war service is outlined, mostly from War Diary info. I have tried everywhere to get a copy - ?200 plus Lastly but certainly not least there is Captain R A Chell's diary account called "Trench Memories with the 10th Essex in France" Full of intimate personal stories and pictures taken by him. Long since out of print but the Essex Countryside magazine printed excerpts in July 1966 when the author attended the Essex Sunday meeting. There is an excellent photograph of the surviving veterans. I only mention this because my Dad has for some reason kept back copies of 1964-1969 and I have photocopies of those excerpts......... I hope this helps, its just off the top of my head. Anymore info required I can dig through my library Barney
Barney replied to Nick's topic in United States of America
Yes I,ve been there too. I found the old barrack block quite eerie, in fact the whole place has an aura about it (if you stand with your back to Woolco's and blot out the traffic noise). I picked up a leaflet with all the defenders names and Nationalties on it, in fact I've still got it. Now THAT would be one hell of a research project.................... By the way did you go to the 'other Alamo' about 15 miles away. This was the one built for the John Wayne movie. When I went about 12 years ago they they had re-enactors fighting the battle about twice a day during the main tourist season. I bought a book on Mexican Army uniforms of the period (well you've got to have'nt you). The only drawback is that it is in Spanish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
QUEENS COMMENDATION FOR BRAVE CONDUCT
Barney posted a topic in Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals
A question to all you medal buffs, and you do seem a knowledgable bunch The QCBC consists of a spray of I think Laurel leaves. It is very similar to the MID but in silver. When worn on the Tunic (remember them - when Policemen looked like Policemen and not scruffy postmen?) without other medals it was pinned directly on to the tunic. When worn with other medals RAY HOLDITCH MEDALS (just off T Square, gone now I think) stated some time ago that it should be (Court) mounted as if it were a medal, on a ribbon of dark blue - aka Khedives Star. It looks ridiculous and seems like there is a medal missing. Is he right? Apologies to all ex and budding Postmen!
The Battle of Barking Creek
Barney posted a topic in World War II 1939 to 1945
Hi folks - I'm back. Whilst mooching round a graveyard during the summer (yes I know, weird isnt it?) I came upon a CWGC headstone to the splendidly named Montagu Hulton - Harrop. I couldnt help myself I had to find out who he was. Please excuse the flowery start - its gone to a couple of magazines for publication and they say it has to 'catch the imagination'! Well the headstone itself would do that........................... The Battle of Barking Creek There was a thin early morning haze laying low over the quiet west Essex fields along the length of the Roding Valley. The silence was broken by the cough of the huge Rolls Royce Merlin engines as they spluttered and roared into life. It was 06.27hrs on 6th September 1939, the third day of War and the pilots of 56 Squadron Royal Air Force stationed at North Weald Aerodrome had just been scrambled to meet reported enemy aircraft incoming from the North Sea. The pilots pulled on leather flying jackets and life vests over their crumpled blue tunics as they raced towards the line of Hawker Hurricane Fighters already fuelled and armed by the ground crews who continually fussed around the machines. Standing at the end of the line were the two ?Reserve? machines that would follow the Squadron and act as support should they meet the enemy. Pilot Officers Frank Rose and Montague Hulton-Harrop were assigned this task. At the same time as 56 Squadron were being scrambled so too were three Squadrons of Spitfires, amongst them 74 Squadron flying out of RAF Hornchurch to the south of the county. All aircraft involved were vectored to the north-eastern part of Essex between the Blackwater and the Stour estuarys. In the early months of the War positive identification and tracking of aircraft was at a primitive level and still largely relied on the eyes of the Pilots themselves. Today this would end in tragedy. As the Hurricanes of 56 Squadron arrived in the skies north east of Colchester so did the Spitfires of 74 Squadron. One can imagine the tension of those young men, keyed up and eager to meet the vaunted Luftwaffe in combat. If there was ever a German aircraft in those skies on that day it had long since fled but two of the Spitfire Pilots spotted the Hurricane Squadron. They also spotted the two dark coloured fighters trailing them???. Without waiting for proper identification Flying Officer Byrne and Pilot Officer Freeborn were ordered to attack the ?enemy? aircraft. In a tragically superb display of shooting the Spitfires fell upon the two unfortunate Hurricanes. Byrne fired a burst that shattered the instrument panel of Frank Roses? aircraft rendering it uncontrollable. Though unwounded, Rose was forced to make an extremely rough forced landing just outside Ipswich. Montagu Hulton-Harrop was not so lucky. John Freeborn?s initial burst of cannon fire riddled the fuselage of the Hurricane and hit Hulton-Harrop in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The aircraft slowly spiralled out of control crashing to the ground just outside Ipswich. The exact story of what happened that day, and why, may never be known. Commonly known as the Battle of Barking Creek, even the origin of that name is obscure, for none of the action took place anywhere near that place. There are, not surprisingly, differences in detail of what happened that day. Reports from a searchlight battery at Mersea Island as well as the RAF stations at North Weald and Hornchurch contained vastly differing versions of events. Communications at the time were also quite primitive and each was not fully aware what was happening in other areas, and there were a number of areas involved. Afterwards different parties would give their version of events. It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that sometimes these would be tailored to save reputations. Today the spectre of ?friendly fire? is a common visitor to our TV screens, it is unfortunate but it is nothing new. Nevertheless Byrne and Freeborn were placed before a Court Martial. Both were acquitted and went on to have careers of varying success. Both survived the War. Frank Rose was returned to RAF North Weald, to be amongst his shocked fellow pilots. He remained with 56 Squadron, being promoted to Flying Officer. He was shot down and killed over France on 18th May 1940. The body of Montagu Hulton-Harrop was recovered and he too was returned to RAF North Weald. His was the dubious distinction of being the first RAF Fighter Pilot to be killed in World War 11. 26 years old from a wealthy farming family in Shropshire, Hulton-Harrop was perhaps a typical ?Brylcream Boy? and it is not difficult to imagine him carousing with other young pilots in the Kings Head Pub in North Weald village. He had been a close friend and flat mate of the actor Kenneth More ( he was to play the part of Douglas Bader in the film Reach for the Sky), who at that time had been stationed at nearby RAF Coltishall as a RNVR Officer. Hulton-Harrop was buried with full military honours in the little graveyard of St Andrews Church in North Weald Bassett adjoining the aerodrome. There is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot at the side of the Church and he is buried in Grave 1 Row 1, the first of the eventual 50 RAF personnel to be interred there.
The Search for the Lost Fighter Plane
Barney replied to John's topic in Great Britain: Research, Documentation & History
Yes indeed such heroism deserves the highest recognition. I have always found it incredible that given their actions there are not more than the single RAF Fighter squadrons VC awarded. I reckon enough people witnessed Ray Holmes' actions that day. Good story, reminds us of just what we owe these guys. Barney
Regimental Names
Barney replied to Craig's topic in Great Britain: Research, Documentation & History
An interesting question came up in a pub yesterday whilst a group of us like minded folk were discussing the latest disgraceful round of swingeing Defence cuts by this 'government'. Four excellent front line Battalions and now they are proposing messing with the Brigade of Guards? Glad I have a place in France to run to.....................vive la Legion! Back to the question. In a past round of amalgamations some years ago when our Cavalry Regiments were chopped up piecemeal it was common for two units to be joined under one title, numerically i.e 17th/21st Lancers. As you probably know the numbers reflected the Regiments position in the Army list, the older the Regiment the more senior it was and therefore the smaller the number the more senior the Regiment. Very important in mess circles that. Why then was the 16th/5th Lancers so called? The 5th was consderably older than the 16th. PS This is a genuine question. I do not know. Answers on a postcard please.........
Tank Busting
Barney replied to John's topic in World War II 1939 to 1945
PANZERKNACKER? Tell me thats a made up Rank, please! How could they have lost with such an imagination?
US armour
Barney replied to John's topic in The Great War 1914 to 1918
There was an American Division under British Command that fought alongside Anglo-French Forces during the German Offensive of 1918. There are photographs in existence of MKV tanks providing cover for the American Infantry on the Somme. Curiously one of those tanks has a "picture" painted on the nascelle - a very 'American' thing as we generally had names such as 'Creme de Menthe'(yuk). Though on loan to Haig's Army as a goodwill gesture (Pershing had originally promised the US Govt that the 'Doughboys' in Europe would never be under the Command of any General but an American, probably quite wisely given the slaughter we had inflicted on each other) the Americans tended to be self sufficient in most things and were as keen as mustard (a WW1 phrase) to get to grips with 'modern warfare' so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they crewed their own tanks. They certainly had crews training at the Tank school in France, but to my knowledge they had not yet developed one of their own. Similarly, photos of the fighting in the Argonne show Americans troops advancing alongside the new Whippet tanks. It is not clear who manned these machines. But I will find out! The only German tank was the "SturmpanzerWagon" A7V, an ungainly, under powered, undergunned useless great lump of metal that had a crew of 18 and that no-one would have as a gift! All those that reached the Front (20) were destroyed. Got their own back with the Tiger though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah. Thats an easy one............... In the summer of 1914 the French and German armies were mobilising upwards of three million Regular and Reservist troops each. The British Army sent the BEF - 100,000 strong. They did not even feature in the French Order of Battle. When Ludendorf was told of the presence of a British Army in the field he dismissed it as a "Contemtible Little Army" He soon learnt otherwise. Strangely enough, in the manner of the British Soldier through the centuries, the BEF rejoiced in the name and publicly revelled in the adversity and the name stuck. Though there are a few British WW1 survivors still living, alas it is believed no Old Contemtibles................
Dead Man's Penny
Not really a medal question but I have a Bronze Memorial Plaque commonly known as a Dead Man's Penny, that I wish to identify and attribute. I have a first name and a surname which I have checked against Soldiers Died and the CWGC files and have come up with 11 possibles. I can reduce this by half if this question could be answered! Does the soldier's full name i.e second and third names ever appear on the Plaque or is it just first names and surnames? Barney
Dum Dum Bullets
We probably all know what we understand the modern term 'Dum-Dum' to mean i.e. a bullet with a cross cut in the head. But does anyone actually know what it actually is, how it came about and how it got its name? Barney
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AtheismBibleChristianityEthicsEvolutionHomosexualityIslamMorality
Atheist Jerry Coyne Says Islam No Different from Christianity
Gary DeMar September 18, 2014 0 Views
Jerry Coyne is a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago. He is virulently anti-religion. He despises any hint of religion. When the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, Calif., displayed a plaque that included the phrase “to celebrate all of God’s creatures,” he sprung into action.
Dr. Coyne was indignant:
“I recognize that Museums are strapped for funding, and do think that Nature Lab is a good thing. But I don’t think it’s worth kowtowing to religious sentiments, and polluting the nature of science, simply to get money.
“The very existence of the sign, in fact, undercuts the mission of Nature Lab: to teach people how science is done. I needn’t remind you that science is done by ignoring God, and has never given the slightest bit of evidence for the intercession of God in the origin, evolution, and diversification of life.”
As a result, officials at the Museum of Natural History removed the plaque in honor of someone who had given a monetary gift to the museum.
Dr. Coyne’s latest attack is to maintain that there is no appreciable difference between Islamic and Catholic beliefs:
“ISIS has an extreme and fundamentalist interpretation of Muslim doctrine. But in exactly the same way, dogma about the immorality of abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex, and divorce have become part of Catholicism. They are theological interpretations of scripture that appeal to some people’s sense of morality.”
Anybody with any knowledge of evolution knows that we all caught here by the most severe cruelties. “Nature, red in tooth and claw” is the only way to explain evolutionary theory. Eat or be eaten. There is no way that an evolutionist can maintain any fixed morality.
In addition, science was birth in the womb of the Christian religion. A quick reading of James Hannam’s The Genesis of Science, that carries the subtitle How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution, makes the case quite well.
If Dr. Coyne were consistent with his evolutionary beliefs, he would be thankful for the spread of Ebola since its infectious character is eliminating the weakest among us. To fight it would be a disservice to natural selection.
In the defense of his views, Dr. Coyne makes reference to the Inquisition, but he doesn’t mention anything about the great atheist regimes of the 20th century that left 100 million dead.
On the atheist foundation of Marxist Communism, see Religion in Soviet Russia: 1917–1942 (1942) by N. S. Timasheff, the doctoral dissertation The Role of Atheism in the Marxist Tradition (1979) by David B. T. Aikman, Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless (1998) by Daniel Peris (a summary of the movement can be found here), and the three-volume A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies by Dimitry V. Pospielovsky (1987). For the most comprehensive study of the philosophical roots of Communism, take a look at Francis Nigel Lee’s Communist Eschatology (1974). There are 120 pages of chapter notes with 30 to 50 notes per page in the 1100-page volume.
Dr. Coyne, who claims that Muslims and Christians “cherry pick” their holy books, he does the same with history.
He mentions the Inquisition. The problem with raising the Inquisition in defense of the atheist scientific method is that he does not have a fixed moral place to stand given the philosophical foundations of his position.
There is another factor. The Inquisition has been badly misrepresented by historians. Consider Rodney Stark’s chapter “The Shocking Truth About the Spanish Inquisition” in His The Triumph of Christianity.
“Astonishing as it may seem,” Stark writes, “the new historians of the Inquisition have revealed that, in contrast with the secular courts all across Europe, the Spanish Inquisition was a consistent force for justice, restraint, due process, and enlightenment.” (337) The entire chapter is helpful in putting history of the period in perspective.
But let’s take all the exaggerations and misrepresentations of the Inquisition as fact. How does the distorted view of the Inquisition compare to atheistic Communion and the 100 million dead, the gulags, war mongering, the iron curtain, the Berlin Wall, and other atrocities?
Communism viewed the atheistic State in religious terms — God walking on earth — and had no problem eliminating tens of millions of non-compliant citizens to advance its worldview in the name of its materialistic evolutionary religion:
“A large percentage of the generation that knew Joseph Stalin died as a result of his directives. These were purely political killings, ‘exterminations,’ ‘liquidations’ of ‘the enemy class’ and ‘undesirable elements.’ How many were involved? Solzhenitsyn’s estimates reach as high as sixty million. Robert Conquest, author of The Great Terror, fixed the number at well into the millions. It is doubtful if we well ever know the true total — God alone knows.”1
In The Black Book of Communism, the total number killed by Communist regimes around the world approaches 100 million.2 Former Communists have described Communism as “the god that failed.”3 Even though millions were offered on the altar of atheism, Communism still had its apologists.4
Like so much of secular histories about religion and science, there has been a great deal of myth making. One of the biggest is the claim that religion and science were mortal enemies. The grand Flat Earth Myth is one of the biggest historical lies. Medieval scholar Jeffrey Burton Russell, author of Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians, writes:
“This vast web of falsehood was invented and propagated by the influential historian John Draper (1811-1882) and many prestigious followers, such as Andrew Dickson White (1832-1918), the president of Cornell University, who made sure that the false account was perpetrated in texts, encyclopedias, and even allegedly serious scholarship, down to the present day. A lively current version of the lie can be found in Daniel Boorstin’s The Discoverers, found in any bookshop or library.”
Dr. Coyne needs to figure out a way to account for morality given that matter is not moral.
Lloyd Billingsly, The Generation that Knew Not Josef: A Critique of Marxism and the Religious Left (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1985), 37. [↩]
Stéphane Courtois, et al., The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 4. [↩]
Richard H. Crossman, ed., The God That Failed (Chicago, IL: Regnery Gateway, [1949] 1983). [↩]
S.J. Taylor, Stalin’s Apologist: Walter Duranty—The New York Times’s Man in Moscow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990). [↩]
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Coureurs de Bois
By Bruce MacDonald
Coureurs de Bois begins with a dream. The dreamer is Cobb, a bad-ass native Canadian (half Mohawk, half Ojibwa) residing in Warkworth Prison after conspiring to defraud the government by selling cigarettes tax-free. The fact that his dream begins with him escaping from prison only to be captured and hanged, then freed by Crow as part of a binding “contract” is significant. When Cobb leaves Warkworth he will no longer be an “idle spirit wanderer” but someone with a job. A job that automatically takes the form of the same criminal career that got him thrown in prison in the first place.
Clearly there is something circular in all of this. One gets the feeling that there is no escape, from the dream or the prison or the grind of having to make a living on the outside. As Cobb understands things, the “whole modern world was a system of enslavement.” That “system” is economic, and, along with student economist Will Tobe (who is also compelled by a dream vision), Cobb is soon involved in all aspects of it. Cobb and Will hook up in Toronto’s Parkdale, itself a desperate product of the system:
The neighbourhood was not nearly as dilapidated as some sections of US cities, but by Toronto standards it was bottom-shelf. The western perimeter of the city centre – ten to fifteen blocks west of the skyscrapers, the bank buildings, the investment houses, Bay Street – consisted mainly of three- and four-storey brick buildings, storefronts, coffee shops, taverns, TV repair shops. The apartments above these were cockroach-infested, under-maintained dwellings owned by the sub-literate thugs who circumvented the Landlord and Tenant Act and took a good portion of their tenants’ welfare cheques from them. The locals were a combination of delusionals, bail recognizance breachers and other voluntary and involuntary seekers of anonymity.
Notice how Parkdale is located by its relationship not just to the downtown core but specifically to the financial district, and that life in Parkdale is based on a system of economic exploitation. MacDonald never strays far from his theme.
Because the essence of that theme is that there is nowhere to stray to. There’s no getting outside the system. There’s always some kind of deal going down, often involving blackmail, the black market, barter, or the banking business. A mental patient attempts to sell his prescription drugs. Kinky sex is pay-to-play. Dreams involve contracts enforceable in the waking world. Original sin and karma are just some of the “evidence of an economy run by God” (and God himself is an economist). “Economics,” Will explains at one point, “is our fundamental communication,” a theory of exchange inherent in language itself. We are reminded that even those icons of the open road, the coureurs de bois, were commercial travelers, “entrepreneurs in the fur trade, ignoring the king’s declared right to the monopoly.”
The business partnership between Cobb and Will is the modern form this historical collaboration takes, and in the character of Will Tobe MacDonald has created one of the odder heroes of our time to represent the European half of it. In keeping with the spirit of a book that begins with matching dream visions, Will seems to spend most of the novel in an almost comatose, sleepwalking state. This is reflected in the flat, understated prose.
Will was a precocious young man. He had skipped two grades and entered university at sixteen and would have a degree before the end of his twenty-first year. When he was first told about the ulcer, he thought for sure that he had placed an inordinate amount of stress on himself.. He had pushed himself too hard. His body was just doing its job. Then the doctor told him that such notions were now seen as medical myths, and that a peptic ulcer was caused by a bacterial infection. This caused Will long hours of research on bacteria. There were good and bad bacteria in the body all the time. Bacteria was needed, and he thought this was fascinating.
This lack of affect is not irony. Nor is it cool. It is a reflection of the shallowness at the core of the not-yet-fully-mature Administrative Man (Will’s father is an economic-lobbyist with a right-wing think tank, his sister a financial analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, his mother does his laundry). Of course he already has an ulcer, though that is in no way related to the fact that he’s the kind of precocious drudge who puts in “long hours of research” into his medical conditions. The kind of person who sets his vision down as a numbered list of significant items. One whose exercises in “deep introspection” are mere etchings on emptiness. The only time Will really comes to life is when in pursuit of some extrapolation of economic theory. When he raises the subject of his vision with a potential romantic attachment the conversation inevitably slops back into the sheer grayness of his identity:
Will didn’t seem delusional to her. He briefly mentioned his vision; he spoke almost entirely about economics and public policy. She had met this kind of boy before. He was a typical Ottawa boy. He wasn’t insane. He was just a little off. She imagined him in the small attic room he had told her about, surrounded by stacks of books he had been meaning to read. She envied the freedom of his life.
That last sentence is a good example of MacDonald’s sighing sense of humour, but it also makes a point about Will. By the way most of us measure these things, he is free. That is, at least by the end of the book, he has finally made it (both literally and metaphorically). But is he redeemed? What has his vision quest achieved? Does the larval bureaucrat become a butterfly?
Readers will have to answer that question for themselves. My own sense is that he is not transformed. In a book that frequently mixes the visionary and the mundane, the magical and the mean, Will fails to escape the world of moral ledgers and emotional autarky.
For a first novel, however, Coureurs de Bois makes an impression. MacDonald’s irregular society of Parkdale drifters includes some memorable characters and his writing is both practical and intelligent. Or economical, as the gods of its world would no doubt account it. All adding up to a debut well worth checking out.
Review first published online July 24, 2007. I read this book at the same time as I was reading Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, which I criticized for its description of Edward’s semen drying to a “cracked glaze” instantly upon touching Florence’s skin. In this book, Cobb’s parole officer Paddy Pape falls asleep after eating dinner and masturbating, waking up at midnight to find his issue still wet on his stomach. Which by my reckoning must be at least several hours later. I find neither account credible.
Author Alex GoodPosted on May 6, 2014 Categories Reviews -- Fiction
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Tag Archives: cars (pixar)
(Reviews) DisneyFest: Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh, Brave
By 2011, the fortunes of Disney and Pixar were reversing; while the former had finally scored a critical and commercial success with Tangled, the latter was navigating the second phase of its career after moving past its original stories with the final installment of the Toy Story trilogy. Disney released one movie that year — the small-scale, gentle Winnie the Pooh in July — while Pixar served up Cars 2 in June. The next year, they released the troubled production Brave that same month. While none of these films are golden, especially considering the work the studios had done in the recent past, they’re not bad.
Cars 2 is better than its predecessor because it feels like Pixar made the choice to be really creative with its universe. Most of the film is baffling — every scene feels like it answers a question about the setting while simultaneously opening up a ton more questions. What qualifies as a sexual characteristic for a car beyond eyelashes and full lips? How do cars get modified, or have their tires changed? Does it hurt? Do they have nerves, or internal organs, or is the body their skin? How does any of this work??
These questions are so much more maddening because the movie is so much more engaging than the first. Pixar uses the opportunity to take its characters to a wide range of different locations, which allows them to play with so many different lighting effects, environments and road conditions. In the original it was a little easier to accept the world because it seemed so small; in the sequel, with Lightning McQueen and crew traveling all around the world, there are so many more opportunities for questions to pop up.
The crew also meets international racing cars with vastly different bodies, stretching the design choices for the characters in interesting ways. There’s even a scene where cars go to an underground mod shop — obviously where rejected early designs are shown off to see exactly why the cars don’t have their eyes on their headlights. Admittedly, it’s pretty creepy-looking; windshield eyes aren’t the obvious choice when you’re thinking about anthropomorphic cars, but fair point, Pixar — it’s the right one.
It’s clear that this renewed emphasis on world-building rides on the back of the story, which isn’t that great. Mater, the best friend of renowned racer Lightning McQueen, basically signs up the race car for the World Grand Prix, a brand-new event meant to introduce the world to the alternative fuel Allinol. However, there’s some kind of sabotage plot going down to discredit the fuel and return the world to fossil fuels, and Mater gets caught up in the espionage investigation to figure out who’s blowing up cars and why. Imagine a John Le Carre novel, only with talking cars and Larry the Cable Guy as your main character.
Hey, it’s a buddy CAR movie! Har har har
Mater might be the protagonist, but Lightning McQueen is the person (car?) that gets the narrative arc. At first he’s embarrassed by Mater’s uncultured behavior among his high-class international friends, but over time he learns to appreciate the inherent goodness within his unsophisticated friend. While this is definitely a good lesson to learn, it would have been nice to see Mater develop as well; he is, after all, a tow truck that has never been outside of Radiator Springs. Instead of telling us — for the umpteenth time — that country values are just as great as anything else, it would have been nice to see that cultural shift run both ways. There are worthwhile aspects of the urbane mindset, like an appreciation of the new and different, or a sensitivity for different cultures.
Still, it was hard for me to be too upset with the movie. For all of his cringe-worthy goofiness, Mater is basically a good egg with an earnest desire to help at every turn. He’s enthusiastic and friendly, and incredibly accepting. That good-natured soul covers a multitude of sins for me, even though I realize it might not be the same for most people. If Mater grated on you in the first Cars, there’s almost no way you could enjoy Cars 2 — it doubles down on the tow truck, elevating him from sidekick to star.
And if you’re willing to overlook that, Cars 2 might be entertaining in its own right. Obviously kids will love the film, but adults might be driven enjoyably crazy trying to figure out the inner workings of the world or be impressed with the way the studio has improved its animation from the last outing. It’s certainly one of the minor Pixar outings, but that’s still better than most.
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Not sure where Eeyore got his stripes, but I don’t want to ask.
Like most rabbits in my age group, I grew up on the truly excellent Saturday-morning Winnie-the-Pooh series and that’s my biggest relationship with the franchise. The adaptation or “package film” from 1977, The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, was pretty enjoyable, but in a lot of ways it felt like a prototype for the kinds of stories they told through the series. If you’re like me, then the thought of a brand-new hand-drawn Winnie-the-Pooh movie is exciting, a nostalgia bomb waiting to happen. Maybe it’s the attempts to update the format for Pooh, or the largely different voice cast, or the fact that I’VE changed, but this doesn’t feel like the Pooh I grew up with — and that’s neither bad nor good, but it’s there.
One of the strongest features of this attempt to update Pooh for a new audience is the animation. The hand-drawn character work is warm and charming, fluid and polished without seeming too sterile. There are little touches that give all the characters a sense of weight and texture, that deepens our involvement in the world. That solid foundation allows the animators to play around with a few new ideas that mostly work — most of the action takes place within the frame of illustrations for a children’s book, and Pooh and the gang regularly break the fourth wall by interacting with the text of the book itself. It’s an elegant and clever turn that heightens the humor and creativity really well.
The plot is woven by three separate stories adapted from Milne — Pooh running out of honey and heading off in search of it; a wood-wide panic brought about by Chrisopher Robin’s note and the fear of a mysterious creature called the “Backson”; and the gang (especially Tigger) helping Eeyore with his lost tail. The three subplots fade into one another fairly smoothly, but they also require the characters to behave in ways we’re not quite used to seeing them. They’re dimmer, for example, to the point that it feels like they’re forced to be obtuse for the sake of the (admittedly funny) complications that come from misunderstandings. Owl gets significantly more screen-time, relegating folks like Rabbit and Piglet to tag-alongs, while Eeyore and Tigger actually make for an engaging pair.
All in all, though, it’s just strange to see different characters embodying the toys we know so well. It feels like the writers missed some essential je ne sais quoi that makes Pooh so endearing; in updating the characters for a new generation, something gets left out that I can’t quite put my finger on. It was a notable distraction through most of the film’s 70-minute run time, and by the time I’ve settled in to what this movie actually is — it’s over. I suspect that this one is geared towards an even younger audience than I was when I caught the Saturday morning show (eight years old, by the way), so perhaps there’s just less there for me.
If you’re less attached to Winnie-the-Pooh-based nostalgia, this is worth it just for the hand-drawn animation alone. The story is clever and funny, the look is bright and sunny, and overall it’s an enjoyable way to spend an hour. Still, I’m not entirely sure this is a movie for anyone but completionists or true fans, which is a shame. Pooh is great, and it’d be awesome to go back to the Hundred-Acre Wood again.
Brave (2012)
This was announced with the title The Bear and the Bow with great fanfare for Brenda Chapman, the first woman to direct a Pixar film. It took years for the final product to arrive in theatres, with Chapman removed from the project so Mark Andrews could finish the project. Despite being pulled for “creative differences”, Chapman says that the film executed on her vision and she’s proud of the way it turned out. I’m not sure if that’s putting on a good face or what, but I think about this whenever I think about Brave. Even though a lot of Disney and Pixar projects have had troubled productions, this is the first one where it feels like the seams in the story show.
Not that Brave isn’t a good movie; it’s fine. The animation in particular is wonderful to behold — the landscapes of an ancient, mythical Scotland lend the entire film the gorgeous fairy-tale aesthetic it was going for. The characters themselves are more exaggerated but in a way that doesn’t conflict with the more realistic background; it feels like they inhabit this world instead of performing in it. Again, light and water are really impressive here, and one stand-out sequence of Merida fishing with her mother really underscores how far Pixar had come with fur and environmental textures.
Wait, fur? Yeah, Merida’s mother is turned into a bear by accident. And since bears are nature’s perfect creatures, you’d think I’d be all in on this story. There are a lot of good scenes where Chapman and Andrews get comedic mileage out of juxtaposing the prim and proper habits of Queen Elinor with the shaggy, clumsy bulk of being a bear. Mor’du, the legendary demon-bear, is an extraordinarily impressive sight, every bit the terrifying supernatural villain he should be. But there’s something about the film that doesn’t quite add up, that doesn’t really connect Merida to the audience.
Merida is forced to choose between the oldest sons of three allied clans for marriage, but she really doesn’t want to. That’s the catalyst for the story; Merida asking an old witch in a hut for a potion that would change her mother into someone who could understand her. The parallel for this is the myth of Mor’du, the jealous eldest son of an ancient king who decided to split his kingdom among all four of his sons. Mor’du decided that he would fight for the kingdom, and asked a witch for the strength of ten men. Naturally, she turned him into a bear. Mindless but terrible, Mor’du stalks the woods with but a shadow of his human intellect.
Merida’s lesson doesn’t quite scan with the tale of Mor’du, though the structure of the story wants us to think it does. Wanting more than your fair share of a kingdom doesn’t equate to not wanting to be forced into marriage, yet Merida has to learn the lesson that giving up her life to prevent war amongst the clans is the way to go. Her mother, Queen Elinor, encourages her to establish her own timetable for marriage instead.
The arc of her lesson undercuts what makes Merida such a worthy addition to Disney’s Princess canon. She is headstrong but kind, passionate and resourceful. Forcing her to temper that willful spirit in order to satisfy societal demands that we’d never agree with anyway feels off; it’s like the movie is gently chastising us for wanting to march to the beat of our own drum. Elinor eventually learns to appreciate and respect her daughter’s wishes, but the movie treats this as a secondary revelation.
Shifting protagonists can be a tricky thing, especially if remnants of the previous narrative arc are kept in the film. I can’t say for sure that’s what happened here, but with the change in directors it feels like there are artifacts of a previous draft inhabiting the skeleton of the story that made it to the screen. Because of that, the journey of Merida and Elinor is muddied and confused more than it should be — and that means we’re never quite sure where we’re supposed to stand with either of them.
That’s a shame, because if it weren’t for that fundamental flaw Brave would be a fun, beautiful movie. As it stands, it’s one that always feels like it’s not quite comfortable with itself — and that means we aren’t able to get comfortable with it either.
Posted by Jakebe on June 7, 2017 in DisneyFest, Movies, Reviews
Tags: Brave, cars (pixar), Cars 2, disney animated films, Disney Revival Era, pixar animation, The Bear and the Bow, Winnie the Pooh (2011)
(Reviews) DisneyFest: Cars, Meet The Robinsons, Ratatouille
It’s strange to think that we’re now in the recent history of Disney and Pixar. Cars was the last production on Pixar’s original contract; negotiations were tense, but ultimately resulted in Disney buying the studio and merging it with its own. In 2007, Disney was beginning to come out of its nadir with Meet The Robinsons, an overlooked film that feels like it was dismissed by association. Pixar released Ratatouille just three months later, dashing any hopes for recognition Disney’s cartoon might have made. The three films are a little strange, reflecting two animation studios struggling to reconcile their relationship with each other and pushing the borders of subject matter for kids’ movies in general.
This is one weird movie. Cars is set in a universe of anthropomorphic vehicles where busses, trains, ships and planes are living beings. This raises all kinds of questions that the movie nimbly dodges; it just asks you not to think about the rules too hard and have a good time. On the other hand, there are a lot of jokes and set pieces that practically beg further explanation, like how vehicles can fill the role of people AND animals at the same time. Trying to think through the ramifications of the tractor-tipping scene is really difficult.
Seriously, is this some kind of post-apocalyptic world, or…?
So, superstar-racer Lightning McQueen is a young up-and-comer on the international racing circuit. His flashy driving (running?) and catch-phrase has captured the imagination of the race-car world and earned him a shot at the season’s championship with two other cars, the veteran Strip Weathers and eternal second-place finisher Chick Hicks. In order to get there in time, Lightning orders his friend (and big-rig pack mule) Mac to drive all night; this ends in disaster, separating the two and stranding McQueen in the dying Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. Lightning has to learn how to slow down long enough to make things right while also winning the big race. Can he do it?
Despite the fact that this movie is straight-up baffling, it has a charm that wears better than I remember it before. The plot is pretty thin but well-told, and Cars is populated with a garage-full of characters that you don’t mind spending 90 minutes with. The production team went out of their way to stock the movie with a wide variety of car models, from super-fast coupes to puttery, sagging Volkswagens. What’s really interesting is how the animators actually imbue each vehicle with a distinct personality that feels organic to their form; you can tell what kind of “people” these are on sight, and the way they move (drive?) reveals a lot about how they see the world and interact with it.
Cars somehow managed to get all kinds of people for their voice cast; Owen Wilson serves as the primadonna Lightning McQueen, with Larry the Cable Guy as his sidekick (and breakout star) Mater. Paul Newman (in his last dramatic role), Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, George Carlin, Michael Keaton and Jeremy Piven all lend their talents to the movie as well. Race car drivers and car aficionados even make cameos! It’s strange, in hindsight, that so much talent threw in with this movie. By then, the Pixar brand was golden, so I guess everyone wanted to be part of it.
It was Pixar’s lowest-reviewed film at that point, but critics still liked it; it opened well, made a ton of money at the box office and absolutely slayed with merchandise. To this day, the reputation of Cars is something of a debate with Disney fans. Some people dismiss it as juvenile fluff, while others see it as an underappreciated, or at least misunderstood, film.
I’m somewhere in between the two. It’s not as shallow or empty as its detractors make it out to be, but next to other Pixar films it’s dwarfed by its simple story and straight-forward performances. The animation feats are largely hidden, but can we just talk about how hard it is to build an entire world around anthropomorphic cars? And also, how hard it is to take CARS — inanimate objects that are gigantic and heavy — and make them move, speak and have their own body language in a way we could recognize? It’s kind of mind-blowing to think about that alone; the character design is an even bigger feat than the undersea denizens of Finding Nemo.
All of that is in service to a movie that I’m not sure merits that much work. However, considering the scads of money Pixar has made off the movie and its related merchandise, I’m sure the animation studio would disagree.
Meet The Robinsons (2007)
For Disney, getting it right with computer animation was a bit of a process. With Dinosaur, the lush environments were blown up at the end of Act 1 and replaced with drab, beige backgrounds for the characters to trudge through. In Chicken Little, all of their creative energy went to designing the title character and everything else (including plot, dialogue and supporting character design) was an afterthought. With 2007’s Meet The Robinsons, though, they get it mostly right — the animation is sunny and appealing, the plot carries a great message with sure-footed ambition, and most of the characters are people you like spending the time with.
Lewis is a precocious and smart 90s child right out of central casting in a situation you almost never see in children’s movies. He has the messy blond hair, the oversized geek glasses, and the bright smile — but he also lives in an orphanage with a pale, strange kid who loves to play baseball even though he’s terrible at it. Lewis and “Goob” are old hands; between Lewis’ inventions and Goob’s general oddity, they’re having a hard time getting placed in a home. This causes something of a personal crisis for him, and so his latest invention is a memory scanner that he hopes will unlock the only clue to her identity — his infant memories. At the school science fair, a kid claiming to be a cop from the future and a long, lanky man in a bowler hat both try to steal Lewis’ invention and the chase takes them all the way through traveling in time.
It’s exceedingly rare to see a children’s movie tackle the idea of adoption as an important aspect of its plot — at least in the relatively grounded way it comes across here. As an adopted child myself, I really appreciated that aspect of it; the ultimate lesson taken from the film offers a reason for hope in difficult circumstances, and it’s a hell of a lot fun getting there.
Bowler Hat Guy for President!
That’s because the plot is a bit twistier than most you’ll find in Disney movies of the era. Adding the time travel element will complicate any story, but it’s well-served in Meet The Robinsons; even if you guess a couple of the surprises along the way, chances are good that there are more you won’t see coming. Even though Lewis does a lot of unwise things that complicate the plot, it’s easy to give him a pass — he’s a 12-year-old boy who’s just learned time travel is a reality, and that’s not something one just plays safe. The villain, Bowler Hat Guy, is the real star of the movie; he is a straight-up vaudeville villain, all waxed moustache and overwrought theatricality. He is so deeply weird and revels in it so much that you almost root for him. Every scene with him somehow made me like him that much more, which is a feat in and of itself.
The titular Robinson family doesn’t come off quite as well. They’re a huge and eccentric clan, full of inventors and free spirits, but the whimsy of their lives comes off a little strained. We don’t spend as much time with them as we do with Lewis, his “future-cop” friend Wilbur, or Bowler Hat Guy, so they’re painted with broad strokes that still feel too flat to be engaging.
Once all the cards are on the table, though, the movie wraps up with a surprisingly effective resolution that’s incredibly sweet. Lewis learns how to look for validation within himself, and that self-confidence promises to propel him into a great life. He also learns how to benefit from his mistakes, improving on each attempt until he eventually succeeds in what he’s trying to do. In many ways, it’s a metaphor for Disney’s CG animation; they learned from Dinosaur and Chicken Little to get to a place that mostly works. The mistakes they made here are simply data points for them to build on with their next feature.
Ratatouille was the third film written and directed by the amazing Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles) and Pixar’s 8th studio film — its first after being bought by Walt Disney. Set in the romanticized and insular world of Parisian high-cuisine, it pulls together so many disparate elements to create something truly unique. Like every Pixar film that came before it, the animators set out to crack an enormous task just to make the film work; this time, it was figuring out how to animate food in a believable and appetizing way. The creation of Ratatouille, like many of the incredible dishes featured within it, required a small army of specialists at the top of their game to produce an experience that would be truly memorable despite being part of one of the most common activities we partake in, watching movies.
Remy is a rat who is a true artist when it comes to food. He has an incredible nose that allows him to detect subtle spices, whether food has rotted, or if something has been treated with rat poison. Unlike the other rodents in his clan, he chooses to walk on two feet instead of four so he can “taste the food, not everywhere he’s been”. And his mind creates connections that produce a symphony of flavors that most wouldn’t even think possible. His inspiration is celebrated Paris chef Auguste Gusteau, who believed that anyone can cook, no matter what. When the food critic Anton Ego eviscerated Gusteau’s restaurant in a review, it lost a star — and the death of its head chef knocked off another star after that. Since then, the establishment has been trying to stay afloat on the Gusteau name.
Coming in to this situation is a kid named Alfredo Linguini, hoping to get a job in Gusteau’s kitchen — he’s signed on as a trash boy. Remy and Linguini become unlikely friends and partners after the rat salvages a pot of soup and Linguini gets the credit for it. They discover an even more unlikely way to keep the charade going; Remy hides under Linguini’s chef’s hat and controls him like a giant marionette by pulling his hair. As the restaurant’s stock rises and Linguini is subjected to increasing pressure to perform, both rat and man must find a way to achieve success in a way that’s true to themselves.
Oh my God, you guys, I forgot about that tiny rat omelette ❤
Brad’s specialty is creating characters who somehow remain underdogs while still being uncommonly excellent. Remy is no exception; he can be pretentious and demanding, but his passion and love of cooking is evident in everything he does. Linguini is a kid in over his head, but with a good heart and a strong moral compass. The kitchen of Gusteau’s restaurant is stocked with a wonderful set of supporting characters, from Colette Tatou (the rotisseur and love interest) to Horst, the German sous chef. The space itself feels like another character, full of life and danger, depending on whether you’re seeing it from Remy’s or Linguini’s point of view. Even mean old Anton Ego, the dour critic who relishes the destruction of restaurants, is charismatic in his own terrifying way.
There are so many things in this movie that impress me regarding its animation. The textures of the rats, the people, the clothes and the food are incredibly well-rendered, giving the world a reality and weight that really immerses you in it. The camera navigates the same scenes from the POV of both protagonists, drastically changing the feel of each; the contrast helps us to understand the wide gulf that exists between the lives of Remy and Linguini in a way that feels remarkably organic. The writing is incredibly smart and earnest, but also allows room for physical comedy; Linguini under the control of Remy is a wonderful thing to behold.
Of course, the thing that makes Pixar’s best movies so special is the story. Remy’s dream forces him to break down a barrier that no one on either side wants to be pulled down; he not only has to fight personal and physical limitations, but deeply-entrenched social ones as well. It’s this willingness to forsake everything he’s ever known to pursue his passion that makes us care about him. He’s not blind to the sacrifice and work it will take to do what he loves, and he’s not afraid of it. He plunges ahead.
The film ends with a wonderful epilogue that feels miraculous yet ordinary. On one small block within the middle of Paris, there is a restaurant that stands as a testament to what is possible with enough dedication and willpower. It is modest, perhaps, but everything it is has been earned through hard work and perseverance. Those who appreciate it know it’s much more than just a place to eat — it’s a small example of the way the world could be, the way it should be. It’s a wondrous note to end on, because it tells us that while following our passions may make our own lives better, it undoubtedly makes the entire world better as well.
Posted by Jakebe on January 30, 2017 in Movies
Tags: cars (pixar), disney animated films, meet the robinsons, pixar animation, ratatouille (pixar)
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Accommodations of 8 Kashmiri students vandalised in Dehradun, belongings missing
By WebDesk On Mar 15, 2019
Srinagar: Belongings of at least 8 Kashmiri students studying at the BFIT College, Dehradun-who returned to the valley recently in the aftermath of the Pulwama suicide attack last month-are missing after “rightwing extremists” allegedly vandalized their rented room in the vicinity of the institution, the students said.
Mohammad Asif, who is pursuing Master’s in Geography at the college, told Kashmir Reader over phone that the day they left for the valley, eight of them had kept their belongings inside a rented room at a flat in the vicinity of the college.
“When we returned to the room a couple of days back, the lock had been broken. Almost all our stuff including a laptop and other documents has been taken,” he said.
While some of the students returned to the college from the valley on Tuesday, others reached there on Wednesday.
One of the students said that some of their items “have been dumped inside the washroom” of the flat. “None of the items is in place,” he added.
The students alleged that the landlord of the flat, who they said lives at a distance from the place, “has given a free hand to the rightwing goons to vandalise the room” after they returned to the valley.
Despite lodging a complaint, the local police, the students alleged, “is showing leniency as the landlord himself is a cop”.
They said that the landlord had admitted taking their belongings. “He told the police officials over phone that he will return our stuff tomorrow (Saturday),” a student said.
The students who are pursuing different master’s programmes at the BFIT, Dehradun, said they were yet to approach the college administration.
KR WEB DESK
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Report on Myanmar Released After a UN Fact Finding Mission
One year ago today, the marginalized and essentially stateless Rohingya people in Myanmar (denied full citizenship but also denied the right the leave the country legally), were subject to a brutal campaign unleashed by Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority state security forces.
In response to alleged attacks by Rohingya militants against government forces, security members and allied civilian mobs launched an all-out attack on defenseless Rohingya villagers, cutting off their efforts to escape to safety on foot and firing on them from helicopters and from the ground. The unofficial death toll quickly climbed into the hundreds, taking several decades of brutal and systematic oppression to the next murderous level. By mid-August of 2017, over 76,000 people had attempted a dangerous escape across the border to Bangladesh, through rain swollen areas that left more bodies washed up on riverbanks.
Many of those who eventually reached refugee camps described villages surrounded and families shot systematically and stabbed to death, including children.
A year later, six generals have been named as priority subjects for investigation and prosecution by a United Nations Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar. In a newly released report describing the campaign and its atrocities, their actions have been called “undoubtedly…the gravest crimes under international law.” Here’s the report.
The government of Myanmar has rejected the allegations, claiming that the attacks were warranted. But the three-member panel responsible for the report has attached the most serious allegation, genocide, to the list of charges against the military leaders. The panel finds enough evidence to support accusations of genocidal intent, and members have cited an organized plan for destruction and evidence of an extreme scale of brutality and violence. The panel cites over 10,000 deaths, harrowing witness accounts and over 700,000 refugees by the end of the 2017 actions in Rakhine.
Despite Myanmar’s refusal to allow access or cooperate with the investigation, the report contains hundreds of pages of witness accounts, interviews, satellite data and other information that will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next month.
The United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, has previously condemned the army’s actions, but this newly released report will likely increase pressure for immediate international action. After reviewing the report, the UN Security Council may refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or set up an international tribunal. The Council may also impose an arms embargo on Myanmar and penalize those most responsible with travel bans or asset freezes.
But the path toward justice, if one exists, will not be clear. Since Myanmar’s civilian authorities have proven unable and unwilling to investigate or deliver justice on their own, any form of accountability will need to come from the international community. And since international criminal law is a nascent entity at this point, the outcome of any form of condemnation remains uncertain.
A year after the fact, the generals responsible for high crimes and human rights violations and the civilian authorities who enabled them remain both unpunished and unrepentant. Read more here and please join us as we follow the developments surrounding the newly released report.
Tagged: Rohingya, Myanmar, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights, Human Rights Geneva, International Criminal Court
Newer PostSoil Science, Hunger, and Climate Change
Older Post2018: One of the Four Hottest Years on Record
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College Student Says He Mistook Mom for Intruder After Beating Her to Death
A 21-year-old college student who had returned home for spring break was arrested after allegedly beating his 53-year-old mother to death using a baseball bat because he believed she was an intruder and he was defending himself.
Kane County Prosecutors on Monday charged Thomas Summerwill, 21, with two counts of second degree murder for the beating death of his mother, Mary Summerwill. A judge set a $300,000 bond for the University of Wisconsin-Madison student.
Prosecutors say on the morning of March 24, Summerwill was woken by someone in his room who he believed was an intruder. The college student grabbed a souvenir baseball bat hanging over his bed, and struck the 'intruder' multiple times in the head, apparently not realizing it was his mother. Thomas and his father called 911 that morning shortly after the attack. His mother Mary was transported to a local hospital where she later died from her injuries. The coroner's office determined that she had most likely died from injuries sustained from a baseball bat attack.
Prosecutors say that because they believe Summerwill was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, his belief there was an intruder in his room was "not reasonable."
Liam Dixon, Summerwill's defense attorney, told the Chicago Tribune that his client has the full support of his family members and classified the incident as a "horrible accident."
"It was a freak accident and a tragic, horrible story all the way around," Dixon said.
Summerwill, who has no criminal history, just completed his junior year of college after graduating from St. Charles North High School. The 21-year-old is due back in court on May 23.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Photo: Kane County Jail
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A new year and a new mindset
What you are reading now are the words of a more determined, more disciplined me. As 2012 came to a close, I was in Brighton with my honey, and I welcomed in 2013 with my folks. It was a calm, quiet holiday, and it was lovely.
The first kung fu class I went to this year made me feel amazing. I think it was a combination of things. Firstly, because this happens every year, after a couple of weeks of hardly any classes, and around a week of none at all, that first class draws me out of the languidness of the winter holidays, pumping adrenaline and dopamine around my body like an express train, no matter how tired it makes me feel. Secondly, the trip to London that evening was a nightmare, people everywhere apparently not knowing where they were going, dragging those irritating fucking suitcases behind them on long handles so I was struggling to avoid tripping over the bloody things. I was in a bad mood when I arrived at the university where we train on Fridays, but in just a short while, I had perked up immensely. Also, that day, I had written a few hundred words before I left, having forced myself to start on a new chapter, part of my resolve for this year, to write daily. I’ve had a couple of lapses, but we’re still only ten days in, so I don’t feel too awful about it, just determined to do better from now on.
Last night’s class, also, gave me a boost. I realise I’m saying this as though I’m a beginner, unused to it, when the truth is that I’ve been training for almost five years and am learning 5th pattern, which officially makes me a senior student (the idea of which exasperates my instructor, I’m sure, but he has the patience of a saint!). This feeling shouldn’t be new to me, and indeed it’s not. But it’s a feeling I never, ever get tired of. If I’m down, it lifts me up, if I’m pissed off, it alters my mood significantly, and if my muscles feel tight, it loosens me up physically. If I’m loosened physically, my mind feels freer and I begin to feel more like me again. Only a better me, a more confident me, a stronger me.
Which helped me when I had a moment the other night. In the light of that poor Indian girl who was gang raped on a bus and later died of her horrific injuries, Laz found an article online about another rape, this time in America. A group of college boys took advantage of a girl’s stupefied state having drunk too much (or did they engineer it? Who can tell?), picked her up by her arms and legs, and raped her, one after the other, while she was unconscious. What made it worse was that these guys were completely without remorse. There was a video at the end of the article, with one of the witnesses to the ‘event’ explaining how fucking hilarious it was that his friends had raped this poor girl. I couldn’t watch. Laz sent me into the bedroom while he watched it, but even he couldn’t stomach it all. And I broke down. The only reason these girls, in America and India, were raped was because they were women. That’s it. No other reason. Nothing they could have done. They were women.
Now, it hasn’t escaped my notice that I’m also a woman. So where does that leave me? I’m glad I do kung fu, but the fact is I shouldn’t feel I have to, at least not for that reason. The very concept of feminism would never have come into being were it not for the fact that women have been marginalised almost from the word go and we feel we have to fight back. I’m very glad, every day, that I’m with the most wonderful man, with whom I feel truly loved and at ease and safe. He gets wound up about feminist issues, too, but he understands that he can’t possibly be as angry as I am about such things, because he’s a man. That’s not to belittle him in any way, but unless you’ve had experience of what that feels like, it’s impossible to imagine. However, I believe he understands more than a lot of men, even most men, because of his racial background, and he will have felt marginalised because of that. That night, we discussed some of those things in depth, as we often do, but the one thing I wanted more than anything else was a close hug, to feel enveloped, and Laz was happy to provide it. Hugs are one of the things he does best.
I don’t always get so het up about feminist issues, but the more I see, the harder it gets to keep my temper in check. Certain websites (I shan’t give them credence by linking to them here) tell men in great detail how to conquer women, how to ‘get more pussy’, or inform them that women are oddball creatures that need to be tamed and controlled, even giving examples of how women have treated them unfairly. (And how did they treat those women? Ah, with respect and kindness, clearly…) So I hate the fact that I’ve found myself looking at men differently. As a woman, I’ve always been on my guard. Always cautious. Thankfully, I have had generally positive experiences of men, with one or two exceptions that every woman has (just ask – there’ll be something, I guarantee it). I shan’t bother talking about my last relationship, because I’d rather, frankly, forget. I have some lovely kung fu brothers, with whom I can laugh and joke, and when I partner with them in class, yes, I feel safe. It’s a great environment, because there’s an enormous amount of trust between us. But as I was leaving, last night, on my way to the Tube, yes, it crossed my mind. Be careful. Remember what you’ve been taught. Remember not all men are so nice… Remember you’re a woman.
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The Weeknd Earns Two Guinness World Records
As in, more than one—at the same time.
The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness album elevated his career tenfold, and now it’s earned him not one, but two Guinness World Records.
Beauty Behind The Madness was so popular that it broke the record for being the most streamed album on Spotify in one year, accumulating 60 million listens between December 1, 2014 and December 1, 2015.
To top it off, Beauty Behind The Madness spent 45 consecutive weeks on Billboard charts with hit singles “Earned It,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” and “The Hills” ranking number one on the Hot 100, and earning him the record for consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 by a solo male artist.
Congratulations, Abel.
The Weeknd Earns Two Guinness World Records was originally published on globalgrind.com
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“RAINTREE COUNTY” (1957) Review
Posted on April 16, 2019 by ladylavinia1932
As much as some people would hate to admit it, “GONE WITH THE WIND”, the 1939 adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, had really cast a long shadow upon the Hollywood industry. Before its release, movies about the Antebellum and Civil War period were rarely released. And by the mid-1930s, Civil War movies especially were considered box office poison. Following the success of “GONE WITH THE WIND”, many Hollywood studios seemed determined to copy the success of the 1939 movie.
Although “GONE WITH THE WIND” was definitely a Selznick International product, it had been released in theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios, thanks to a deal that allowed the latter to help producer David Selznick finance the movie. Although MGM had released a few movies set during the mid-19th century – including “LITTLE WOMEN” and “SOUTHERN YANKEE” – it did not really try to copy Selznick’s success with “GONE WITH THE WIND”, until the release of its own Antebellum/Civil War opus, “RAINTREE COUNTY”.
Based upon Ross Lockridge Junior’s 1948 novel, “RAINTREE COUNTY” told the story of a small-town Midwestern teacher and poet named John Shawnessy, who lived in 19th century Indiana. Although most of Lockridge’s novel is set in the decade before the Civil War and the next two-to-three decades after the war, the movie adaptation took a different direction. The movie began with John’s graduation from his hometown’s local academy. Many people in Freehaven, Indiana – including John’s father, his teacher/mentor Professor Jerusalem Webster Stiles, and his sweetheart Nell Gaither – expect great things from him, due to his academic excellence. But when John meet a visiting Southern belle named Susanna Drake and has a brief tryst with her during a Fourth of July picnic, his life unexpectedly changes. Susanna returns to Freehaven a month or two later with the news that she is pregnant with his child. Being an honorable young man, John disappoints both Nell and his father by marrying Susanna. Their honeymoon in Louisiana starts off well, but John becomes aware of Susanna’s mental instability and her suspicions that she might be the daughter of a free black woman who had been Susanna’s nanny for the Drake family. However, the Civil War breaks out. Susanna’s emotional state becomes worse and she eventually leaves Indiana for Georgia, the home of her mother’s family. John joins the Union Army in an effort to find her.
After viewing “RAINTREE COUNTY”, a part of me wondered why it was regarded as a Civil War movie. The majority of the film’s action occurred between 1859-1861, the two years before the war’s outbreak. A great deal of the film’s Civil War “action” focused on the birth of John and Susanna’s son – the day the war started, one night in which Susanna informed John about her family’s history, and his rescue of young Johnny at a cabin outside of Atlanta. Otherwise, not much happened in this film during the war. Hell, John eventually found Susanna at a Georgian asylum . . . right after the war. Why this movie is solely regarded as a Civil War movie, I have no idea.
I realize that “RAINTREE COUNTY” is supposed to be about the life of John Shawnessey, but he came off as a rather dull protagonist. Some critics have blamed leading actor Montgomery Clift’s performance, but I cannot. I simply find John to be a rather dull and ridiculously bland character. Aside from losing control of his libido when he first met and later married Susanna, and being slightly naive when the movie first started; John Shawnessey never really made a mistake or possessed a personal flaw. How can one enjoy a movie, when the protagonist is so incredibly dull? Even if the movie had followed Lockbridge’s novel by exploring John’s post-war involvement in politics and the late 19th century Labor movement, I would still find him rather dull and slightly pretentious. Characters like the volatile Susanna, the mercenary and bullying Garwood P. Jones, the witty Professor Stiles, the gregarious local Orville ‘Flash’ Perkins and even Nell Gaither, who proved to harbor flashes of wit, malice and jealousy behind that All-American girl personality were more interesting than John. How can I get emotionally invested in a movie that centered around such a dull man?
I find his goal in this movie – the search for the “raintree” – to be equally dull. Thanks to Lockridge’s novel and Millard Kaufman’s screenplay, the “raintree” symbolizes the Tree of Knowledge, whose golden boughs shed fertilizing blossoms on the land. In other words, John’s goal is to search for self-knowledge, maturity, wisdom . . . whatever. Two main problems prevented this theme from materializing in the story. One, Kaufman barely scratched the surface on this theme, aside from one scene in which Professor Stiles discussed the “raintree” to his students and how its location in Indiana is also a metaphor for American myth, another scene in which John foolish searches for this tree in the local swamp, a third scene in which John and Susanna discusses this myth and in one last scene featuring John, Susanna, their son James, and Nell in the swamp at the end of the movie. Am I to believe that the movie’s main theme was only featured in four scenes of an 182 minutes flick? And the idea of John spending most of the film finding self-knowledge, wisdom, etc. strikes me as superfluous, considering that he comes off as too much of a near ideal character in the first place.
To make matters worse, the movie had failed to adapt Lockridge’s entire novel. Instead, it focused on at least half or two-thirds of the novel – during John Shawnessey’s years during the antebellum period and the Civil War. Let me re-phase that. “RAINTREE COUNTY” has a running time of 160 minutes. At least spent 90 minutes of the film was set during the antebellum period. The next 40 minutes was set during the war and the right after it. at least half or two-thirds of the film during the antebellum period. The rest focused on the Civil War, which struck me as something of a rush job on director Edward Dmytryk’s part, even if I did enjoyed it. In fact, I wish that the film’s Civil War chapter had lasted longer.
Since the John Shawnessey character and his story arc proved to be so boring (well, at least to me), I did not find it surprising that Dmytryk and screenwriter Millard Kaufman ended up focusing most of the film’s attention on the Susanna Drake Shawnessey character. After all, she emerged as the story’s most interesting character. Her childhood neuroses not only made her complex, but also reflected the country’s emotional hangups (then and now) with race. And there seemed to be a touch of Southern Gothic about her personal backstory. But in the end, both Kaufman and Dmytryk fell short in portraying her story arc with any real depth. It is obvious that the conflict between Susanna’s love for her nanny Henrietta and her racism, along with the survivor’s guilt she felt in the aftermath of family’s deaths had led to so much emotional trauma for her. But Kaufman’s screenplay failed to explore Susanna’s racism, let alone resolve it one way or the other.
In fact, the topic of race is never discussed or explored in “RAINTREE COUNTY”. I found this odd, considering how Susanna’s emotional trauma played such a big role in the film’s narrative. The movie featured two African-American actresses – Isabel Cooley and Ruth Attaway – who portrayed the maids that Susanna brought with her from Louisiana. Their presence in the Shawnessey household created a major quarrel between the pair in which John had demanded that Susanna free them or he would leave. And yet . . . Kaufman’s screenplay never gave the two maids a voice. John Shawnessey never really explained or discussed his reasons for being an abolitionist. Although the movie did point out both Southern and Northern racism, no one really discussed slavery with any real depth. Racism only played a role in Susanna’s emotional hangups about her family and nothing else.
In one of the movie’s final scenes; John’s father, Professor Stiles, and Nell were among those who tried to encourage John, a former abolitionist, to run for Congress. To protect the South from the post-war Republicans like Garwood Jones . . . who was definitely a Copperhead Democrat during the war. Watching this scene, I found myself scratching my brow. To protect . . . which South? All of the South? Or the white South? One would think that a former abolitionist and pro-Lincoln supporter like John would be a Republican. I can understand him not being interested in “punishing the South”, or white Southerners. But what about the former slaves of the South? Kaufman’s screenplay did not seem the least interested in pointing out how the freedmen would need protection. And John Shawnessey seemed like the type of character – judging from his pre-war and wartime views on abolition – who would be interested in the fate of those former slaves. Unfortunately . . . the topic never came up.
I have two last complaints about “RAINTREE COUNTY” – its score and title song. I was surprised to learn that Johnny Green had earned an Academy Award nomination for the score he had written for the movie. How in the hell did that happen? I found it so boring. And bland. It was a miracle that the music did not put me to sleep while watching the film. Producer David Lewis had hired Nat King Cole to perform the movie’s theme song, also written by Green. Look, I am a big fan of Cole’s work. But not even he could inject any real fire into this song. Like the score, it was dull as hell. And the song’s style struck me as a bit too modern (for the mid 1950s) for a period movie like “RAINTREE COUNTY”.
Was there anything about “RAINTREE COUNTY” that I enjoyed? Well . . . I enjoyed the art direction and set decorations featured in it. Both teams received deserved Academy Award nominations for their work. Academy Award winner Walter Plunkett (who had won for “GONE WITH THE WIND”) had received an Oscar nomination for his work in this film:
However, I have noticed that like his costumes for female characters in “GONE WITH THE WIND”, Plunkett’s costumes for “RAINTREE COUNTY” have touches of modern fashion in them . . . especially some of the hats worn by Elizabeth Taylor and Eva Marie Saint.
The movie also featured scenes and sequences that I enjoyed. I thought the Fourth-of-July foot race between John Shawnessey and “Flash” Perkins rather permeated with the atmosphere of a mid-19th century Midwestern town. I also enjoyed the humor featured in this sequence. I was also impressed by the New Orleans ball that John and Susanna had visited during their honeymoon, along with John’s visit to a New Orleans “quadroon ball” (I think it was) in order to privately speak with Susanna’s cousin Bobby Drake. Thanks to Dmytryk’s skillful direction and the production designs, I was impressed with the sequence that began with the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s election as president on Freehaven’s streets and ended with the party as the Shawnessey home held in honor of Susanna’s emancipation of her two slaves. Another sequence that impressed me featured Susanna’s revelations about the true circumstances of her parents’ deaths to John. I found it very dramatic in the right way and it featured a fine performance from Elizabeth Taylor.
But the one sequence I actually managed to truly enjoyed featured John Shawnessey’s experiences as a Union soldier with the Army of the Cumberland. The sequence began with John’s humorous and enjoyable reunion with both “Flash” Perkins and Professor Stiles (who had become a war correspondent). The film continued with a fascinating montage featuring John and Flash engaged in battles at Chickamauga, Resaca and Atlanta, punctuated by Professor Stiles’ grim and sardonic commentaries on the warfare. The action and suspense, along with my interest, went up several notch when John and Flash had become two of Sherman’s “Bummers” (foragers) during the general’s march through Georgia. The entire sequence featured the pair’s arrival at Susanna’s Georgia home, the discovery of young Jim Shawnessey and their encounter with a Georgia militia unit led by a wily Confederate officer. This sequence featuring John’s Army experiences proved to be the movie’s high point . . . at least for me.
“RAINTREE COUNTY” featured some decent performances from the supporting cast. Walter Abel and Agnes Moorehead portrayed John’s parents, T.D. and Ellen Shawnessey. I found Moorehead’s performance satisfactory, but I thought Abel’s portrayal of the idealistic Shawnessey Senior rather annoying and a bit over-the-top. I have to say the same about John Eldredge and Jarma Lewis, who portrayed two members of Susanna’s Louisiana family. DeForest Kelley (who was eight or nine years away from “STAR TREK”) seemed both sardonic and witty as the Confederate officer captured by John and Flash. Rosalind Hayes gave a poignant performance as the housekeeper formerly owned by Susanna’s Georgia family, who rather “delicately” explained Susanna’s emotional turmoil to John.
The supporting performances in “RAINTREE COUNTY” that really impressed me came from Lee Marvin, who was a delight as the extroverted and good-natured Orville “Flash” Perkins. A part of me wishes that his role had been bigger, because Marvin’s performance struck me as one of the film’s highlights to me. I heard that Rod Taylor had went out of his way to be cast as the local scoundrel (read: bully) Garwood Jones. Taylor gave a first-rate performance, but his role struck me as a bit wasted throughout most of the film. I was impressed by Tom Drake’s restrained, yet sardonic portrayal of Susanna’s Cousin Bobby, especially in the scene in which he revealed that Susanna had been somewhat older at the time of her parents’ deaths. Nigel Patrick gave a very memorable performance as John’s mentor, Jerusalem Webster Stiles. Mind you, there were times when I found Patrick’s performance a bit theatrical or overbearing. But I also found his performance very entertaining and humorous – especially his monologue for the Army of the Cumberland montage in the film’s second half.
Eva Marie Saint had the thankless task of portraying the one character that most moviegoers seemed inclined to dismiss or ignore – local belle and John Shawnessey’s first love, Nell Gaither – the type most people would dismiss as some bland All-American girl. And yet, the actress managed to add a good deal of fire, passion and intensity in her performance, transforming Nell into a surprisingly complex character with some semblance of tartness. Elizabeth Taylor was luckier in that she was cast as the movie’s most interesting character – Susanna Drake Shawnessey. Taylor, herself, had once pointed out that she seemed to be chewing the scenery in this film. Granted, I would agree in a few scenes in which I found her Susanna a bit too histronic for my tastes. And Taylor’s Southern accent in this film struck me as somewhat exaggerated. I found this surprising, considering that I found her Upper South accent in 1956’s “GIANT” more impressive. But in the end, I could see how Taylor had earned her Oscar nomination for portraying Susanna. She took on a very difficult and complex character, who was suffering from a mental decline. And I was especially impressed by her performance in that one scene in which Susanna finally revealed the details behind her parents and Henrietta’s deaths. No wonder Taylor ended up receiving an Oscar nod.
Poor Montgomery Clift. He has received a great deal of flack for his portrayal of the film’s main protagonist, John Shawnessey. Personally, I agree that his performance seemed to be lacking his usual intensity or fire. There were moments when he seemed to be phoning it in. Many critics and moviegoers blamed his alcoholism and the car accident he had endured during the movie’s production. Who knows? Perhaps they are right. But . . . even if Clift had not been an alcoholic or had been in that accident, he would have been fighting a losing battle. John Shawnessey never struck me as an interesting character in the first place. Perhaps Clift realized it and regretted his decision to accept the role. However, the actor actually managed to shine a few times. He was rather funny in one humorous scene featuring Saint’s Nell Gaither and Taylor’s Garwood Jones. He was also funny in the moments leading up to John’s foot race against Flash Perkins. Clift certainly seemed to be on his game in the scene featuring John’s angry confrontation with Susanna over her slaves. Also, he managed to create some good chemistry with Marvin and Patrick during the Civil War sequence.
Yes, “RAINTREE COUNTY” had some good moments. This was especially apparent in the film’s Civil War sequences. I found the movie’s production values up to par and I was especially impressed by Walter Plunkett’s costume designs. Most of the cast managed to deliver excellent performances. But in the end, I feel that the movie was undermined by lead actor Montgomery Clift’s listless performance and uneven direction by Edward Dmytryk. However, the real culprit for “RAINTREE COUNTY” proved to be the turgid and unstable screenplay written by Millard Kaufman. Producer David Lewis should have taken one look at that script and realize that artistically, it would be the death of the film.
Filed under: Book Review, History, Movies | Tagged: agnes moorehead, antebellum, civil war, deforest kelley, edward dmytryk, elizabeth taylor, eva marie saint, gilded age, holidays, jarma lewis, john eldredge, lee marvin, literary, montgomery clift, movies, music, nigel patrick, old hollywood, politics, rod taylor, rosalind hayes, tom drake, travel, walter abel | Leave a comment »
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Beyond the Biopic
By John W. W. Zeiser
IN THE AFTERWORD to Kate Evans’s excellent new graphic history Red Rosa, editor Paul Buhle (more about him later) tells us that Rosa Luxemburg’s legacy remained for decades in limbo following her 1919 murder. While encouraged by the 1917 Russian Revolution, she had also been critical of it, particularly the Bolshevik decision to disband the democratically elected Constituent Assembly and Lenin’s unwavering support of nationalist self-determination — stances that made fitting Luxemburg into a left pantheon increasingly controlled by Soviet interests awkward. But her prominence and martyrdom also made it necessary. Buhle notes, however, that even as room was being made for her, “her life and writings […] were no longer seen as central, except as appeals to sentiment and no less to a constructed historical narrative.” Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky, to name just a few, all manipulated her writing to mesh with their political and personal interests. In the US, on the other hand, Luxemburg was eventually slotted in next to the anarchist Emma Goldman, an odd pairing considering their vastly divergent political views. Determining which system of left thought Luxemburg best fits into is, however, perhaps less important than assessing her overall contributions to the critique of capitalism. Only recently have activists and historians begun such assessment, with a corresponding upswing in her reputation.
But who was Luxemburg as a person, and what were her political ideas and ambitions? Evans attempts to answer this question for us in the form of a graphic biography, a medium that offers advantages that neither the traditional print biography nor the cinematic biopic make available. Graphic biography has the ability to condense large chunks of a person’s writings into a workable narrative in a way that biopics cannot, while remaining more approachable than an academic or even a trade biography. Throughout her book, Evans provides extensive endnotes and italicized direct quotes. At the same time, her occasional caveats and interjections about necessary chronological or character deviations preempt the most predictable criticism laid at the feet of the biopic, that the genre distorts historical facts. We are told early and often that Red Rosa is not the only or even the best resource for understanding the profound contributions Luxemburg has made to political economy and revolutionary politics. But it does have a chance to become an essential jumping off point for initiates interested in exploring Luxemburg’s ideas and legacy in greater detail.
In March 1871, two weeks before the barricades of the Paris Commune went up, Luxemburg was born in the small Polish city of Zamość, then part of the Russian empire. Europe was exploding. Wars, rapid industrialization, and colonialism were the social forces of Luxemburg’s milieu. The large and poor Jewish family of which she was the youngest member moved to Warsaw, then the industrial heart of the empire, when Rosa was three. Most likely she suffered from congenital hip dysplasia: she wore a lower body cast until she was five and walked with a limp for the rest of her life. She was also a slip of a girl, which Evans weighs as evidence of childhood malnutrition.
Luxemburg was, however, incredibly smart and extremely driven, and her physical afflictions seem to have proven only minor obstacles. She earned a scholarship to the Second Gymnasium. (The best schools were reserved for Russians only.) By age 10, she spoke Polish, Hebrew, Russian, and German. Her parents began to fret as her intelligence allowed her to see plainly the pronounced wealth gap created by industrialization and imperialism. Before finishing gymnasium, she had already begun her initiation into socialist activism in earnest. She read the socialist canon voraciously and became a member of the Proletariat Party, cutting her teeth by organizing a general strike whose four leaders subsequently were hanged from the Warsaw Citadel.
This early foray must have had a profound effect on the young Rosa. The essayist Vivian Gornick equates the genesis moment of “professional radicalism” with the feeling an artist derives from her creative efforts, writing in her short biography of Emma Goldman, “That experience is incomparable: to feel not simply alive but expressive. It induces a conviction of inner clarity that quickly becomes the very thing one can no longer do without.” Here Evans, unfortunately to my mind, indulges in an act of biographical condensation, locating Luxemburg’s early foray into radical activism after she is done with her schooling. Perhaps if high schoolers, who should definitely be reading works like this, thought of politics as something that should not be left exclusively to adults or professionals, our own democracy might be more robust. In any case, Evans correctly notes that Luxemburg both made a name for herself and made herself unwelcome in the eyes of the Russian authorities.
When Luxemburg finished gymnasium there was not yet any school in the Russian Empire that would enroll women. She thus had to strike out on her own, matriculating at the University of Zurich in order to continue her study of political economy (after a brief dalliance with the natural sciences). Evans tells us that we must admire Luxemburg for her courage, but that is almost an understatement. She left her home and her family, and because of her political activity had little hope of returning on the up-and-up. She traded everything she knew for a world dominated by men speaking the heady language of international Marxism. Yet, at no point was Luxemburg caught in awe. Quite the opposite: she reveled in her position, prepared to fulfill her promise. A letter from her sister Anna reminded Rosa that “you must never forget mother’s words — that you alone will make our family’s name famous.” After her time at the university she set out to do so, a tiny woman with a doctorate and a limp, publishing radical newspapers and, much to the chagrin of her parents, hacking off her hair.
It was in Zurich that she also met her lifelong love and collaborator Leo Jogiches, a Lithuanian radical. Like Poland, Lithuania was also under Russian domination at that time, and the two bonded over questions of Marxism and national independence, together founding Sprawa Robotnicza (The Workers’ Cause) to address these concerns. While Jogiches is not a household name like Luxemburg is, the pair’s radicalism must be viewed in tandem. Leo was unable to write a single word, which Evans speculates may point to his being dyslexic, but his ideas and organizational skills complemented Rosa’s mastery of Marxist theory. She was also influenced by his level of commitment to the working-class and revolutionary struggle. By the time of their meeting at the university, he had been arrested on several occasions, and although he was born wealthy, he worked a variety of working-class jobs because, as Evans cites him saying, “to truly understand the proletariat one must live as one of them.”
This is a sentiment Rosa herself apparently held in theory but had difficulty following in practice. Evans does not hide the fact, for example, that Rosa kept servants when she moved to Berlin, and was none too patient with them. And when Rosa was thrown in jail (one of three times between 1904 and 1906, for insulting the kaiser), her experience with fellow inmates did not sharpen her admiration for the proletariat to whom she had dedicated her life. However, this did not lessen her willingness to work on the proletariat’s behalf. One might criticize this element of Luxemburg’s biography, but that would perhaps miss the point about her politics. Just as a lawyer doesn’t necessarily have to like her client to provide a vigorous defense, so too does an activist not need to like or identify with those for whom she fights.
At the end of the 19th century, Berlin was the new heart of European industrialization, which meant it was also the center of working-class struggle. Luxemburg disliked the city instantly, a sentiment Evans conveys in a two-page sequence that visualizes the feelings evoked by Rosa’s complaint that the city “makes a most unfavourable impression on me: tasteless, massive, a proper barracks.” Yet it was here, amidst the “cold power” emanating from the city’s neoclassical edifices, that Rosa made her home for the remainder of her life. She became an integral member of the newly legalized Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), making a name for herself quickly and contributing to the group’s identity via her important critique of the revisionist Eduard Bernstein. Rosa’s riposte was the toast of the Berlin socialist world, and she was quickly brought into the fold by the SPD leader Karl Kautsky (sometimes referred to as the Pope of Marxism), though she never convinced Kautsky to expel the reformist elements completely from the SPD ranks.
Luxemburg’s rejoinder to Bernstein provides a good example of how Evans deals with theory in graphic form. She doesn’t shy away from giving theory the spotlight, and she is quite adept at unfolding, panel by panel, some extremely important, sometimes dense Marxian principles. As Evans narrates, Bernstein attempted to mount a defense of capitalism by claiming that credit, and other complex market mechanisms, could compensate for and alleviate the depredations of capitalism. His reformist argument for evolution, not revolution, did not sit well with the much more radical Rosa. In detailing Rosa’s rejoinder, Evans deploys wonderfully literal images to illustrate Luxemburg’s rejection of Bernstein’s naive belief in credit and what we today call “ethical capitalism.” Evans’s drawings give abstractions a living quality that makes them intelligible: an unattended tea kettle represents capitalism’s tendency for booms and busts, a lit candle the dialectical opposite of darkness. But Evans also remains true to Luxemburg’s intellectual weight, quoting essential passages in full in the endnotes and suggesting further reading.
Evans’s book, with its great explanatory power, fits well into Paul Buhle’s graphic history project. Buhle has overseen many graphic biographies and histories of the left, often in collaboration with underground and contemporary comic luminaries. Red Rosa stands out among these works, which include The Beats: A Graphic History, Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World, FDR and the New Deal for Beginners, and Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History. Evans imbues her subject with a vividness and drama that engrosses the reader even as she explains and elucidates a political worldview that has become relatively foreign to the American left.
In a recent interview with Salar Mohandesi for Viewpoint Magazine, Buhle discussed the aims of the famed journal Radical America, which he and his wife Mari Jo founded in 1967. He remarked that one of the central reasons for the journal’s founding was to “recuperate what was called by radical historians in those years, a ‘useable past’ […] the problem we faced was an intellectual paucity in the young generation of radicals brought to consciousness by civil rights and antiwar and anti-imperialist impulses.” This paucity remains a problem for the American left, thanks in large part to what Fredric Jameson has referred to as “the American’s shame at the country’s institutional dirty little secret: American anti-intellectualism.” Confusing populist American resentment of ideas or thoughts with a critique of class, would-be intellectuals have too often denied the importance of the intellectual work necessary for radical political transformation.
Buhle’s graphic histories and biographies, then, can be seen as primers for those unaccustomed to or afraid of theory. They are translations of intellectual history into one of the most American of forms: the comic book. The works in Buhle’s series straddle the line between entertainment and explanation and often make a point of showing how their subjects fit into a larger historical framework. This is no “great man” project, another advantage the form has over biopics, which, with their bombastic, larger-than-life characters, so often hide the centrality of the many people who make up movements and moments.
Evans is keenly aware of the tension between Luxemburg’s exemplary role and the collective project in which she participated, and she several times reminds the reader that Luxemburg’s personal life, into which the book provides plenty of insight, is in no way the crux of the story. There is much more to Luxemburg than, for example, the drama of her rocky relationship with Jogiches, with whom Luxemburg continued to work even as he threatened her with violence. (Rosa acquired a revolver and soldiered on in the struggle.)
Consider, for instance, the weight that Evans gives World War I, and the events leading up to it, in her account of Luxemburg’s life. Evans provides rich detail of how tense and frenetic and how inevitable conflict was in this period at whose center Luxemburg found herself. As just one example, in January 1905, Rosa was shocked into action by the events of Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg, even as these events were met with only a lukewarm response from her fellow socialists in the West. She returned to Poland to bear witness to railway strikes in Warsaw, after which she and Leo were imprisoned. Her brothers saved her from the fate of the four socialist leaders she saw hanging from the Warsaw Citadel when she was still a teenager. Leo, while he too escaped a death sentence, remained in prison.
Rosa continued to strongly denounce the kaiser and agitate for suffrage. This was not women’s suffrage, a movement whose bourgeois underpinnings she was skeptical of, but true universal suffrage for the proletariat as a whole. Since its inception the Reichstag had been purely ornamental, a rubber stamp for the kaiser’s capitalist budget. The most the SPD members could do was symbolically vote down the budget, which they dutifully did every year. Luxemburg’s frustration with this sham system and her agitation for full representation led to a very public falling out with Kautsky over his refusal to publish Rosa’s call for a German Republic.
Rosa read the writing on the wall. There would be war. This inevitability, however, underwrote her crowning theoretical achievement: identifying Europe’s imperialism as a method not only of expanding capitalist modes of production but also, importantly, of dividing the nationalist and the internationalist factions of the proletariat. Evans’s account of the unfolding of this insight entertainingly focuses on Luxemburg’s cat Mimi, who watched her develop the entirety of The Accumulation of Capital, her most lasting contribution to the field.
This book grew out of Luxemburg’s central problem with Das Kapital, her dislike of Marx’s description of capital accumulation. Marx died before he could elaborate this concept, so what we are left with is the tautology that markets grow bigger because they grow bigger. (Mimi chases her tail around and around, but can never catch it.) If, as Marx theorized, the realization of profit comes through ever-increasing sales of commodities, a problem arises. To whom are those commodities being sold? They cannot be sold only to capitalists because then the market would remain small and there would be no profits. A closed system of capitalism is a contradiction, and because capitalism clearly exists, there must be something outside of it which capital can then exploit. Luxemburg’s solution to this problem was to insert imperialism into Marx’s equation, an idea that Lenin would more famously make central to his own theories of capitalism. Today, this concept is referred to as “primary accumulation,” and here it is worth quoting Luxemburg’s account of it at length:
Capitalism needs non-capitalist social strata as a market for its surplus value, as a source of supply for its means of production and as a resevoir [sic] of labour power for its wage system. […] Capitalism must therefore always and everywhere fight a battle of annihilation against every [other] economy that it encounters, whether this is slave economy, feudalism, primitive communism, or patriarchal peasant economy. The principal methods in this struggle are political force (revolution, war), oppressive taxation by the state, and cheap goods; they are partly applied simultaneously, and partly they succeed and complement one another.
If that’s a bit too heavy, imagine Mimi, claws and fangs ripping apart the globe that sits on Rosa’s desk.
For those ready to note “but capitalism won,” Evans is quick to point out two things. First, she reminds us that just because some of Marx’s predictions have not yet come to pass does not invalidate them, for we are still not yet at the “end of history.” Second, and more importantly, capital is still finding many non-capitalist entities to exploit: think of the privatization of healthcare or education, the liberalization of markets under the auspices of the IMF, ubiquitous military interventionism, or profound environmental degradation (the last of which is fast becoming a central site of contemporary Marxist critique). “Force,” Luxemburg wrote, “is the only solution available to capitalism.” It’s not hard to see why anarchists, socialists, and communists alike have seen Luxemburg as speaking for them.
After Ferdinand’s assassination, World War I did indeed become an inevitability. Rosa was visibly agitated at the Socialist International in Brussels on July 30, 1914, and when she was invited to the stage, for once she had no words, no witty rejoinder to her fellow socialists with whom she often argued. Instead, she simply stood there, dumbfounded, then returned to her seat, head in hands. Her only word was “no.” Back in Germany a week later came one of the greatest sell-outs of all time and the final nail in the coffin of peace. On August 4, 1914, the Reichstag convened to approve the kaiser’s war budget. Although the SPD had never before approved a capitalist budget, all 110 socialist deputies assented, in a cowardly manner, “for the Fatherland.” In an incredible about-face, Kautsky himself wrote, “The International is not an effective weapon in wartime. It is essentially an instrument of peace.” Similar jingoism blanketed Europe as workers and capitalists filled the streets with glee, a spectacle that Wilfred Owen would describe in 1917 as “children ardent for some desperate glory.”
As war came so too did the Spartacist League, formed in 1915 by Rosa, Leo, and close friends including Karl Liebknecht, Rosa’s lawyer Paul Levi, and Clara Zetkin. The cracks in socialist unity in Germany were spreading, and the Spartacists were scathing in their denunciation of pro-war SPD members and the war in general. Naturally, Rosa was tossed in jail, to remain imprisoned for most of the war. Her friends, and especially Mathilde Jacob, smuggled out her writings and printed them. As the war progressed, however, Europe awakened to what its governments had authorized: the wholesale murder of a generation. It was probably of little consolation to Rosa that she was so quickly proven right.
By 1917, mass strikes ground St. Petersburg to a halt and Tsar Nicholas abdicated. In May on the Western front, 54 French divisions engaged in open rebellion, engineering workers struck in England, and in Germany the SPD split between pro- and anti-war factions. Kautsky and Luxemburg’s old nemesis Bernstein, seeing the error of their ways, helped the Spartacists to form the UPSD. In October, Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and disbanded the Russian government. The Spartacists were heartened by this, having agitated for a similar government of workers councils in Germany. The chance for revolutionary change was within their reach.
At the war’s end, Rosa was released and Germany seemed on the brink of following Russia down the path of socialist revolution. The Spartacist League, which had become the KPD and would serve as a major political party until it was made illegal by Hitler in 1933, was at the center of this shift. In January 1919 the kaiser abdicated and there was a real chance that the Spartacists would get their wish for Soviet-style workers councils. There were pitched battles, the streets were packed with striking workers, and Liebknecht stood on the kaiser’s balcony declaring Germany a Free Socialist Republic. Sadly, however, the German authority, headed by the pro-war SPD member Friedrich Ebert, was stronger (and more willing to spill the blood of its citizens), and the Spartacist Uprising was crushed by Ebert, the German military, and the Freikorps, a paramilitary organization of demobilized soldiers.
Rosa, now a marked woman, was arrested by the Freikorps on January 15, 1919. The end of the Uprising foreshadowed the violence and insanity that would befall Germany in the following decade, and it should come as no surprise that many early Nazi officials, including Himmler, Höss, and Röhm, were all Freikorps members. Rosa was shot and unceremoniously dumped into the Landwehr Canal, while her friend Liebknecht was shot in the Tiergarten. Her final piece of writing extols the masses to adopt this defeat as “one of the historical defeats which are the pride and strength of international socialism.” She assures them that “the future victory will bloom from this defeat” and ends, in typical fashion, “I was, I am, I shall be!” Evans masterfully relates Rosa’s death in long, deeply detailed panels.
In an age where every other movie seems to be based on a “true” story or on the life of some revered leader, Red Rosa stands out as a way to do biography right. The graphic biography can do everything a biopic can do, only better. A weighty yet accessible way into the life of a person who contributed to public life and historical events, it may condense for the sake of narrative or story, but it does so in a manner that empowers the reader to make her way into deeper intellectual waters. If it were a movie, you might call Red Rosa a tour de force, but that would be short-changing it. Red Rosa is a gripping, wonderfully illustrated account of Rosa Luxemburg the person, but more importantly a straightforward and intellectually honest introduction to her politics and her theoretical contributions. It embodies everything implied by the phrase “Marxismus theorie und praxis.”
John W. W. Zeiser is a poet, journalist, and critic. He lives in Los Angeles.
A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg
By Kate Evans
Amazon.com IndieBound
Stitching Out a Life in Graphic Memoir
By Alex Mangles
Contemporary Nonfiction Comics from Elsewhere
By Anne Elizabeth Moore
Outborough Destiny: Jonathan Lethem’s “Dissident Gardens”
By Lee Konstantinou
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Western?
By Krithika Varagur
WHAT IS A feminist Western? It’s not a Western that merely “contains a woman,” which is how Lindy West memorably panned the 2015 film Jane Got a Gun. After all, what seems like the “most salient fact about the Western,” writes the literary critic Jane Tompkins, is that “it is a narrative of male violence.” It’s hard to watch their ostensible heroes when intractable manhood has so disrupted our social fabric. But what if those intractable heroes were women?
Several films in the last decade have run with this conceit: riffing on the masculinist genre, they don’t merely contain women, their plots are generated by women and their stakes are for women. These recent films include Meek’s Cutoff (2010), True Grit (2010), and The Keeping Room (2014), which pick up the thread of idiosyncratic forerunners like Johnny Guitar (1954) and Forty Guns (1957). But two films that really crack open the feminist Western come from unlikely places: Indonesia and Pakistan. Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017, dir. Mouly Surya) is a “satay Western” set on the desert island of Sumba, and My Pure Land (2017, dir. Sarmad Masud) is based on a real property conflict in Sindh, Pakistan. Both explore the possibilities of women-centric Westerns and attest to the quintessentially American genre’s enduring vitality abroad.
Marlina is the story of a young widow who avenges her attempted gang rape by poisoning and beheading her perpetrators. Its eponymous heroine carries her rapist’s severed head on horseback across a sunbaked island in an attempt to report her assault and seek justice. The film uses the Western’s genre conventions like a Trojan horse to relate a story from an indigenous society that is exotic even to most Indonesians.
Sumba is a dry island between Bali and Timor-Leste, many of whose inhabitants still practice an animist religion called Marapu. Marlina is one of them. By the time you’ve registered the click of her horse’s hooves, the panoramic shots of a dry landscape, and the monosyllabic dialogue, you are already deep within a story of a woman’s brutal assault. Her society is isolated, mystical, and patriarchal. Her intended rapists make her cook them chicken stew before they assault her, a demand whose logic is taken at face value. The characters wear red and blue Sumbanese hand-looms. The corpse of her recently deceased husband sits in Marlina’s modest house, wrapped in a woven shroud, which reflects the real Sumba tradition of keeping the dead around until you can afford their elaborate funeral.
Marlina (Marsha Timothy), the protagonist of the Indonesian Western, “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.”
In swift opening scenes, Marlina cooks dinner for and then murders five of her seven potential rapists, taking the head of their leader with her as totem and evidence. Marlina is a textbook genre protagonist: terse and impassive, she treads softly on a barren landscape, intent on vengeance. The lushly shot film revels in the notion of revenge as a feminist project.
My Pure Land, the feature debut of the British-Pakistani director Masud, is ripped from a real story of a mother and her daughters who defended their home from hundreds of armed bandits in rural eastern Pakistan. Filmed in Pakistan, it was the United Kingdom’s first Urdu-language entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. My Pure Land is based on the country’s ubiquitous and dangerous property disputes, of which there are over one million pending cases today, according to a title card in the film. Its major set piece is an armed standoff in which the teenage sisters Nazo and Saeda, their mother, and a young male friend fight off the sisters’ uncle and his hired squad of 200 armed bandits. The backstory is filled in, somewhat unevenly, through flashbacks: the girls’ uncle promises to take the house; their father teaches the girls to shoot; the uncle gets the father thrown in jail. In a typical Western move, the father tries to resolve the property through legal channels but is rebuffed. “Until one or two people die,” says the local police chief, there’s nothing they can do. They must take justice into their own hands.
My Pure Land’s breakout star is Suhaee Abro, a classically trained dancer, who plays Nazo, the elder daughter. Holding off the siege in elegant salvars, a long braid, and ramrod posture, Nazo reveals girlish reluctance in flashbacks, but, by the time of the main action, has become a terse, hardened sharpshooter. “In this world, nothing is more important than your honor,” says the girls’ father, who raises them like sons before he’s imprisoned. “Not even your life.” The dialogue would not be out of place in an American frontier town, but it shows why the Western stands to benefit from a change of location: it’s no longer a throwback. A Western set in a contemporary honor-code-bound society in Sindh or Sumba doesn’t have to be a period piece.
Nazo (Suhaee Abro) in “My Pure Land,” the first Urdu-language entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
The film’s plot echoes that of The Keeping Room, an American nouveau Western from 2014 in which two sisters and their slave try to defend their farmstead near the end of the Civil War. (The Keeping Room co-stars Hailee Steinfeld, who has become something of a subgenre heroine, also starring in True Grit.) While the American property dispute had to be situated more than a century ago, My Pure Land is contemporary and requires no such transposition. Watching these films, it seems obvious that the genre that most celebrates and dramatizes vengeance would prove ripe for feminist storytelling. These “feminist Westerns” focus on women seeking justice, while retaining many of the visual and narrative tropes of the genre. Righteous fury is their topos; redress is their aim.
Marlina’s last scene is of a childbirth. If it is a little on the nose to follow so many gruesome deaths with a birth, it nevertheless goes far beyond what one expects to see on the screen of a “Western.” It is a reminder that there is much more of women’s lives to be shown within the genre than bar maids and victims. In My Pure Land, the dacoit recruited by the girls’ uncle implies that if he lets his men into the house, they will probably rape his family members. It’s a chilling threat that, again, feels surprising for its inclusion: rape is not usually considered a problem in the Western. But as the girls’ uncle memorably says in a moment of frustration in My Pure Land: “It’s different, these women have guns!”
The so-called death of the Western is a periodic refrain of critics, who have been prematurely eulogizing the genre for decades: “The [Western] hero represents a way of life that is becoming antiquated,” wrote Pauline Kael of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo in 1961. “The solitary defender of justice is the last of the line; the era of lawlessness is over, courts are coming in […] The Westerner, the loner, must take the law into his hands for one last time.” But the individual fighting for justice in a lawless world will never be out of date when there is a constantly replenished supply of lawless worlds.
And precisely because of the Western’s unusual saturation of visual and narrative tropes, the genre is capacious and adaptable. Marlina, for instance, is set in a barren land (but on an island, and in Indonesia); it features a gang of bandits (who ride motorbikes); and has horses (indigenous Sandalwood Ponies). My Pure Land also has a gang of bandits and wide-open dusty landscapes, as well as a property dispute and a prolonged shoot-out. The distinctive and repeated elements of the Western can foster creativity, much like the metrical constraints of a sonnet.
Indeed, the genre has always acquired new life abroad. Sergio Leone made A Fistful of Dollars (1964), the first Spaghetti Western, because he thought American Westerns were losing their edge. A foreign critical eye was also instrumental to constructing the genre itself. Film scholar Tom Conley has argued that French theoretical texts like André Bazin’s “The Evolution of the Western” were foundational to the Western’s genre identity. In this vein, Marlina’s director Mouly Surya, a 38-year-old Indonesian woman, said pithily at a press screening in Jakarta that she thought of “[her] Western as a lens into the Eastern.”
The ingenuity of these two films does not come at the expense of the American Western, which has been quietly pushing its own boundaries. Little Woods, a 2018 film by the American director Nia DaCosta, tells the story of two sisters trawling the boomtowns and desolate landscapes of North Dakota to get enough money for one of their abortions. Tessa Thompson, who starred in the film, described DaCosta’s vision for a “modern Western” that specifically addressed “the gendered experience of poverty.” Set in the present-day United States, it requires no major change of place or time, just of perspective. And though it is not focused on women, it’s irresistible to briefly also mention the Chinese film director Chloé Zhao’s virtuosic 2017 Western The Rider, which was set, filmed, and cast on-site at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota — another community that would never have provided protagonists for the midcentury Western canon.
If there is anything that feels dated about the new feminist Westerns within the greater cultural moment, it is their focus on the lone crusader pursuing individual justice, as opposed to a broad coalition demanding structural change. The latter possibility has been the revelation and promise of #MeToo, as Moira Donegan wrote in the Guardian last year. “One approach is individualist, hard-headed, grounded in ideals of pragmatism, realism and self-sufficiency,” she writes. (These are the structuring values of the Western.) “The other is expansive, communal, idealistic and premised on the ideals of mutual interest and solidarity.” So while the pursuit of justice is certainly a resonant feminist narrative, we have been learning, of late and en masse, that it doesn’t have to be sought alone.
Does this doom the project of the feminist Western? I think not. The sea change in the pursuit of women’s justice comes only on the tails of thousands of single stories, the building blocks of the movement. Individual stories of injustice can do collective political work. Here’s to more feminist Westerns: may we make them, watch them, and create a world in which they really are all period pieces.
Krithika Varagur is an American journalist who often writes from and about Southeast Asia.
Reverse Cowboy
By Greg Jackson
Gender Matters at the Toronto International Film Festival
By Patricia White
Art in the Age of Masculinist Hollywood: Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land”
By Morgan Leigh Davies
Malheur, Part II: “Ours but Not Ours”
By Anthony McCann
Malheur, Part I: Sovereign Feelings
Liberalism in Flight: Cowboys, Fugitives, and Political Philosophy
By William Flesch
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Naomi Hirahara’s Los Angeles
By Mike Sonksen
Editor’s note: Naomi Hirahara has been a pillar of the mystery community since she published her first Mas Arai novel in 2004. To commemorate her final Mas novel, I asked Mike Sonksen, a.k.a. Mike the Poet, bard and historian of contemporary Los Angeles, to go on a walk with Naomi and write a profile that would do her justice. It was a huge task, but I believe he succeeded.
NAOMI HIRAHARA IS one of the most prolific Los Angeles writers of the last few decades. Best known for her Edgar Award–winning seven-book Mas Arai crime novel series, she has also authored several nonfiction titles on Southern California Japanese-American history. Her newest Mas Arai mystery title and the final one of the series, Hiroshima Boy, was just published by Prospect Park Books in March 2018, and in April her latest nonfiction title, Life After Manzanar, was published by Heyday.
On a cold March day just after the rain, Hirahara took me on a walking and driving tour of Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights spotlighting seven sites featured in her Mas Arai books. What’s more is that she read specific passages from her work pertaining directly to every site we visited. This essay looks back at the entire Mas Arai series and highlights how her many nonfiction projects inform her fiction.
Hirahara is in many ways a one-woman Japanese-American history project. Her nonfiction books have tackled seminal Japanese-American history topics like Terminal Island, the flower industry, Japanese-American gardeners, the Japanese-American concentration camps, and survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “I need to do both fiction and nonfiction,” Hirahara says. “They feed each other.”
In many ways, Hirahara’s process is like that of Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and several other novels. In his book of essays, Stranger Than Fiction, he describes the nonfiction he writes between novels. “In my own cycle,” he writes, “it goes: Fact. Fiction. Fact. Fiction.” Hirahara’s bibliography shows a similar trajectory, alternating publications of fiction and nonfiction. Her historical projects have given her hundreds of pages of material for her fiction. She pulls the nonfiction narrative out and reconstructs it into fiction because “it is not my story to tell with real names.” Furthermore, she says, “in fiction you have more freedom to tell secrets.” Her combined fiction and nonfiction illuminate the Japanese-American experience not only in Southern California but in the United States at large.
The Pasadena-born Japanese-American poet Amy Uyematsu has known Hirahara for over two decades. Uyematsu says:
Naomi Hirahara is one of our most gifted and passionate Japanese American writers — whether she’s telling the stories of Issei and Nisei on Terminal Island or documenting the histories of the Japanese-American gardeners, farmers, and nurserymen of Southern California. In her Mas Arai mystery series, I love how skillfully she weaves Japanese-American culture and community into her plots; by the end of the novel, the reader finds out “who-done-it” along with an insider’s view of everything from baseball to strawberry farmers, spam musubi, a snakeskin shamisen, and more.
Uyematsu also notes that Hiroshima Boy “will be especially poignant because Naomi’s own father was a Hiroshima survivor.” This makes sense because her protagonist Mas Arai is partially based on her father. Masao Arai, better known as Mas for short, is a lovable curmudgeon, a Japanese-American gardener who was born in the United States on the eve of the Depression, grew up in Japan, survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and then moved back to America in 1947. Mas is not a carbon copy of her father, but there are several similarities. “The personal history is the same,” she says, “although my father was much more in tune with his emotions. He was emotionally very intelligent; I learned a lot from him.”
Little Tokyo’s Laureate
This essay will focus primarily on Hirahara’s Mas Arai mystery series, but excerpts from all her titles, both fiction and nonfiction, go a long way toward breaking down history, geography, and culture for Japanese Americans, Angelenos, Californians, and beyond. The Pasadena-born Japanese-American scribe began as a reporter in the 1980s at the Little Tokyo newspaper the Rafu Shimpo and was later promoted to head editor of the paper for six years in the 1990s.
Her training as a journalist exposed her to many incredible stories that began to fuel her interest in writing fiction. Hirahara not only weaves Japanese-American history into her novels, but she also interjects ample Los Angeles neighborhood history and culture.
Like earlier storied Angeleno fiction writers such as Raymond Chandler and Chester Himes and, more recently, Walter Mosley, Gary Phillips, and Nina Revoyr, Hirahara maps the social relationships of each neighborhood the protagonist passes through. Essentially every time Mas Arai travels to a different neighborhood, a few historical facts and elements about the area will be woven within the text. For example, in Sayonara Slam, Hirahara writes: “Montebello used to be a flower town; it even had a generic flower featured on banners drooping from light poles on its main streets.”
The wide-ranging insight dropped by Hirahara demonstrates what an expert she is on Southern California’s geography, history, and culture. Another example, from Sayonara Slam exclaims:
Mas was in a sense a Valley man, but his valley was the San Gabriel one, the valley held in by purple-tipped mountains. Old money — grand estates and libraries — had first attracted Japanese gardeners, domestics, and laundries to this valley, but now the area was a magnet for new Asian immigrants, not from Japan but from China, Taiwan, and Korea.
While most of the books are about somewhere around Los Angeles, like Pasadena, the South Bay, San Gabriel Valley, West Los Angeles, or the Crenshaw District, there are sections of a few of the books in Hiroshima, New York City, San Diego, and Watsonville.
Hirahara is so prolific that she does not even know how many books she’s written. According to the list, near the front of her latest book, the number is somewhere around 15, 10 fiction and five nonfiction. A graduate of South Pasadena High School and then Stanford, she’s been freelancing since 1997. Many of the nonfiction titles she has completed are history projects for organizations like the Japanese American National Museum, the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation, and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC), among others. She is so steeped in the culture, that her process feeds itself and sustains her creativity. Like many writers, she is a perfectionist. Her first novel and the first book of the Mas Arai series, Summer of the Big Bachi, was published in 2004. “It took me 15 years to write the first one,” she says.
A week after our all-day city excursion, I went to Hirahara’s book launch for Hiroshima Boy at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. The performance area of the bookstore was packed, standing-room only, with well over 100 people in attendance. She read excerpts from the new book and reflected on the seven-book series. The audience included a core group of fans that were devoted followers of Hirahara and Mas Arai. Some of the questions during the Q-and-A session demonstrated her readers’ intimate knowledge of the series and their fervor for her work.
Walking around Little Tokyo with Hirahara means stopping every half block or so to talk with other pedestrians because she is constantly running into old friends and local associates. We started the walk at the JACCC along San Pedro between 2nd and 3rd.
James Irvine Garden
Immediately after meeting up we walked down a set of stairs to the James Irvine Garden on the eastern edge of the JACCC site. The hidden Japanese garden with a koi pond and exquisite landscaping is a location most Angelenos are unaware of; even many who visit Little Tokyo frequently are not aware that a world-class Japanese garden exists within the dense blocks of concrete.
Featured as a wedding location in Blood Hina, the fourth book in the series, Hirahara read the following passage while we were there:
The wedding rehearsal was a disaster from the very start. Spoon showed up forty-five minutes late, saying her youngest daughter had taken her car without telling her, so she had to wait for another daughter to pick her up. All the grandchildren, meanwhile, had arrived, pulling at mondo grasses, terrorizing the koi, running through the bamboo, and hopping on the worn bridge.
Looking around at the bamboo and the calm koi pond after Hirahara read that scene, it was easy to laugh because the garden’s tranquil setting epitomizes a Zen spirit in complete opposition to the chaos she described in the passage. Hirahara also told me the garden’s three-part watercourse represents three generations of Japanese-American gardeners and the three generations of Japanese Americans that have called Southern California home.
The next few sentences following the above quote led to the next location Hirahara walked us over to. “Mas could just imagine,” Hirahara writes,
the reaction of his fellow gardeners who tended the Japanese garden in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo for close to nothing. The Gardeners’ Federation was big on “volunteer” — but Mas didn’t believe in it, because you usually ended up losing more than you put in. And for what? A pat on the back and maybe a photo in the federation’s newsletter. Mas preferred that his charity be less visible, if visible at all.
Southern California Gardeners’ Federation
Mas’s stoic and laconic nature is more about action than words. Before talking about the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation, it’s important to address Mas’s disposition. Gasa-Gasa Girl, the second book of the Mas Arai series, explains that he is a “Kibei — ‘ki’ meaning ‘return,’ ‘bei’ referring to America.” Kibei, she writes, is “a word made up by Japanese Americans to explain their limbo. So, while America was actually home for the Kibei, many of them weren’t quite comfortable with English; on the other hand, they weren’t that comfortable speaking Japanese, either.” The stoic essence of Mas Arai provides a perfect lens to view Japanese-American Los Angeles and the social changes occurring in the city during the early 21st century.
The second stop on our walking tour with Hirahara was the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation because they have been an important institution in the Japanese-American community, and because the federation has been mentioned in a few books of the Mas Arai series. The federation is a small building located a block and a half south of JACCC on San Pedro on the southwest edge of Little Tokyo. It is housed in the liminal area between the Toy District and Little Tokyo, and some have called this block “Skid Rowkyo.” On our approach to their tucked away office we sidestepped several tents and an encampment of homeless on the sidewalk along the west side of San Pedro Street.
Originally founded in 1955, the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation has been a critical organization for the Japanese-American community. Once inside their building, Hirahara showed me a book she edited for their 45th anniversary in 2000 titled Green Makers: Japanese American Gardeners in Southern California. After seeing the exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum a decade ago about the historic role of Japanese-American gardeners in the development of Southern California’s landscape, this book caught my eye. I ended up purchasing it on the spot. The fascinating book includes text printed in both English and Japanese side by side.
The book’s introduction, authored by the Publication Committee, asks:
Why did so many Japanese Americans — reportedly up to 8,000 in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s — enter the field of gardening? Why did some college graduates choose this grueling work, especially during the 100-plus degree summers, before and after World War II? Who are these men and women? And how were they able to make a desert green for the next generation?
The same introduction also states:
But there is more to the story: these same individuals were also the economic backbone of a whole ethnic community. They created community-based credit unions, cultural centers, and Japanese-language schools. Through their efforts, their children were able to gain college degrees and pursue professional careers.
The essays, photographs, timelines, glossary, and excerpts of poetry in Green Makers spotlights the three generations of Japanese-American gardeners along with profiling the early gardening districts: Hollywood, Sawtelle (West Los Angeles), and Uptown (where Koreatown is now).
Uptown is where Mas’s second wife Genesse lives when he meets her in the second half of the series. Hirahara references St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, a well-known house of worship just north of Olympic Boulevard on Mariposa. St. Mary’s has been an iconic church for the Japanese-American community that lived in the Uptown area for over three generations. A passage in Green Makers quotes an oral history interview with the deceased Father John Yamazaki explaining the intricate stained-glass window at St. Mary’s that paid tribute to local Japanese Americans.
The excerpt states:
[T]he flowers in the lower left-hand panel commemorates those who worked in the flower market. The fish marks the achievement of fishermen, specifically those of Tottori Prefecture in Japan. The horn of plenty represents the produce market, where many Japanese American labored. Finally, in the lower right-hand panel we have a push mower, symbolizing the work of Japanese immigrant gardeners. The stained-glass window is believed to be the only one on the United States to feature a lawnmower.
I went by St. Mary’s recently and though the congregation is no longer Japanese-American, the stained-glass window with the lawnmower, flower, and fish remains intact and the Los Angeles Zen Center is a block north. A few of the old craftsmen bungalows in the surrounding streets still have Banzai trees and emanate a Japanese influence.
Looking at her work as a whole, it’s obvious how Hirahara’s years of historical research feed her fiction. She uses historical data to create compelling narratives and educate her readers. Mas Arai’s occupation as a gardener is a big part of his genius, and it makes him an iconic protagonist. In Summer of the Big Bachi, Hirahara writes:
The thing about gardening was that you had plenty of time to think. Mas figured that’s why so many gardeners turned out to be gamblers, philosophers, or just plain crazy. The younger ones who dropped out said that the work was just too darn hard on their bodies, but Mas knew better. They didn’t know how to fill their heads.
Mas is an occasional gambler and humble philosopher. He does not brag or show off with his words, but he is always quietly surveying the situation and mindfully assessing what’s really going on. He is a street philosopher who knows his own strengths and weaknesses. His garage is his sanctuary. “It was musty with the smells of grease, oil, and rusty metal,” Hirahara writes in Summer of the Big Bachi. “While surgeons had their operating tables, Mas had his own version, crowded with glass jars of nails, screws, and even fishhooks.” After so many years as a gardener, father, and husband, Mas has his perspective and belief system firmly in place.
In the next paragraph, Hirahara reveals that the garage is where he
prayed for the first and last time, when Chizuko had had another relapse of stomach cancer, There, in between his broken-down lawn mower and his oily pliers, he had prayed: “God, Kamisama, I know that I’m a good-for nutin’. But save my wife. Not for me. She needsu to enjoy. Enjoy life. Neva gotsu the chance.” But God didn’t answer his prayers. And from that point on, Mas swore that he would never make a fool of himself again. His heart would be closed to both religion and doctors.
And though this quote addresses his lack of faith, there is an inherent Zen spirituality in Mas’s straightforward honesty and dependability. This simplicity and reliability is another reason Mas is such a lovable character.
The Koyasan Buddhist Temple
After visiting the Japanese Gardeners’ Federation, Hirahara walked us north up San Pedro two blocks to First Street. Walking east a half block on First, Hirahara walked us past the Miyako Hotel where the character Yuki Kimura stayed in Sayonara Slam. Kimura is a Japanese reporter from the Nippon Series and he works closely with Arai in two of the books. Just a few feet beyond the hotel, Hirahara walked us down a small alley to a small Buddhist Temple that is easy to miss if you don’t know where to go. The Koyasan Buddhist Temple is a small temple tucked between First and Second Street and only accessible from the alley on the side south of First Street. Koyasan is one of the best-known Buddhist temples in Southern California, a place with a long, storied history.
Originally established in Los Angeles in 1912, the current location is their third site and was built in 1940, just before the start of World War II. In 1989, then–Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley brought over the Hiroshima Peace Flame from Japan to Koyasan. Hirahara told me that it is an eternal flame and Koyasan was chosen as the keeper of the Hiroshima Peace Flame for their long and deep connection to the Japanese community in Los Angeles. Within the narrative of Sayonara Slam, Mas and Yuki Kimura enter the temple after leaving Kimura’s adjacent hotel room and along the way, Mas tells Kimura that the Hiroshima Peace Flame is inside.
Yuki put his hands together and bowed toward the light. This moment of reverence both touched and surprised Mas. The boy then stepped back and waited, as if he expected Mas to do the same. But Mas had experienced the flames of the Bomb firsthand. He felt no need to bow to it now.
The Daimaru Hotel
Next, we crossed over to the north side of First Street to go up into the Daimaru Hotel. This small hotel is another location that could be easily missed if you are not looking closely. Lodged between the 10-plus eateries along North First Street between San Pedro and Central, you enter the hotel from a small staircase off the street. After climbing up to the second floor, you find an office and small rooms stretching down the halls and up the next three floors. It is similar to one of the old residential hotels, like a Single Room Occupancy from the era of John Fante and Charles Bukowski. There are two other similar small hotels on the same block above other eateries.
The Daimaru Hotel holds 50 small rooms in the three floors. Along First Street, there is a timeline in front of each address from Central to San Pedro that tells what each site was over the years. This timeline is better known as “Omoide Sho-Tokyo,” which translates into “Memories of Little Tokyo.” Created as a public art project by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville and Sonya Ishii in 1996, the entire block is a national historic landmark. This timeline according to Yosuke Kitazawa at KCET, “traces the history and memories of the neighborhood with a timeline of landmark events and businesses embedded on the sidewalk. Juxtaposed with the historic yet still-thriving surroundings, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the past, while planted firmly in the present.” Commemorating events like the Japanese internments camps and Little Tokyo’s temporary status as an African-American neighborhood called “Bronzeville,” the Omoide Timeline is a fitting tribute to one of the most historic blocks in all Southern California.
In front of the Daimaru, the timeline reads “Union Hotel, 1914.” In Summer of the Big Bachi, Hirahara called this space the Empress Hotel and one of the characters, an elderly Japanese woman, stayed in a room there. “There was nothing imperial about the Empress Hotel,” Hirahara writes. “In fact, they should have called it Hole Hotel or Dirty Inn. Even Mas himself felt apprehensive about entering a place that rented rooms by the week.” The hotel has recently been lightly renovated to have a fancier front door and a few subtle touches, but it is essentially still the same as it’s always been. On the way down from the hotel back onto First Street, Hirahara pointed out where the Far East Café Restaurant was for many years.
The Far East Café
Though the sign still reads Far East Café, this space is now the popular Far Bar. Far East Café closed after the Northridge earthquake in 1994. She explained further that the site was “repaired and reopened in 2006 as Chop Suey Cafe and Lounge. Closed in 2008 and then became Far Bar.”
In any event, Hirahara had eaten at the Far East Café hundreds of times with her family for over four decades. In the same passage where she describes the hotel, she notes that Mas “parked the Honda at the meter in front of the boarded-up chop suey restaurant. How many times had he, Chizuko, and Mari eaten off their thick ceramic plates? The entrance to the Empress Hotel was on the side, up a narrow flight of stairs.”
Earlier in the same book, Hirahara describes Mas Arai and his family’s connection to the now-gone eatery:
When Mari was growing up, they went to only one restaurant: Entoro in Little Tokyo. Entoro was also known as Far East Café, a chop suey house, the old kind before the new Chinese came to town. There, you got greasy homyu, looking like day-old Cream of Wheat in a tiny bowl; almond duck, slippery, fat, and buttery, with a crunch of fried skin and nuts; and real sweet and sour pork, bright, stinking orange like the best high-grade motor oil.
The passage continues that everyone in the Japanese-American community always went here no matter the occasion. “Someone married, go to Far East,” she writes. “Someone dead, go to Far East. It was simple and predictable.”
This section is also an ideal example of the many moments through the series where Mas Arai’s internal dialogue is revealed. In the same above quoted excerpt from Summer of the Big Bachi, Mas pontificates further about contemporary new hip eateries:
Mas hated to eat out, especially now. He didn’t like to talk to strangers. He didn’t like to look at a long list of food items with foreign, fancy names. He didn’t like multiple pieces of silverware, two forks, two spoons. All you needed were a pair of chopsticks and a pair of hands to wrap around a hamburger or a carne asada taco.
Mas Arai’s diction is a patois of colloquial English and select specific Japanese words. The occasional italicized Japanese words sprinkled throughout the text add layers of meaning and character to the narrative. In addition to Mas’s great dialogue throughout the series, his cynical interior monologue and way of thinking make him an endearing character despite his moodiness and reticence. Here’s a great excerpt from Hiroshima Boy demonstrating his thoughts: “Waiting in the line was a hakujin, a white man with unruly hair, a smelly backpack at his side. This could have been his own son-in-law, Lloyd, maybe twenty-five years ago.”
After walking through the hotel and discussing the Far East Café, we then walked east down First Street to head toward the Rafu Shimpo, the Little Tokyo–based newspaper where Hirahara served as an editor. The paper is located at Third and Alameda. While walking south along Central, Hirahara pointed out another example of public art in the neighborhood.
Poets in Little Tokyo
On the southeast corner of Second and Central, there is a gray marble rectangular sculpture surrounded by foliage that could be easily missed. This sculpture is about five feet tall and seven feet wide and it has a poem inscribed on it in both Japanese and English from Bun’ichi Kagawa, a pioneering Japanese poet, essayist, and critic that lived from 1904 to 1981. The poem, “The Sea Shines,” laments Kagawa’s journey to the United States.
Writer Rio Imamura reports in an essay published at DiscoverNikkei.org that Kagawa studied at Stanford in the 1920s and started concentration camp magazines in the Japanese language during World War II. After seeing this sculpture, I discovered that Kagawa was even published widely in venues like Harriet Monroe’s Chicago-based magazine Poetry in the 1930s.
One more fascinating detail revealed on the sculpture is that Kagawa’s poem was translated into English by someone named Masayuki Arai. The translator’s name could be abbreviated as Mas Arai. This specific, unexpected coincidence further cemented the synchronicity of the day. This was the first I had ever heard of Kagawa and the first time I had seen the sculpture, though I have been at that intersection hundreds of times. Hirahara hadn’t noticed this other Mas Arai before.
After seeing the Kagawa sculpture, we also talked about the pioneering Japanese poet Yone Noguchi, father of the famous artist, sculptor, and designer Isamu Noguchi. The younger Noguchi is more internationally known, but his father was the first Japanese poet to be ever published in English in the late 19th century. Isamu Noguchi is famous for furniture design, and he also created the stone sculpture in the courtyard of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center where we started the tour.
The Rafu Shimpo
Founded in 1903, the Rafu Shimpo is an English-Japanese-language newspaper. This publication is mentioned in almost all the Mas Arai books, but the office is specifically cited in Snakeskin Shamisen. Hirahara began her writing career here in the 1980s after graduating from Stanford. After a few years as a reporter, she became the editor of this Los Angeles institution from 1990 to 1996. The day we visited their office, Hirahara introduced me to their longtime photographer Mario Reyes. Reyes has worked at the paper for over 25 years, and he has also been in two of the books.
In Snakeskin Shamisen, Reyes appears a few times, most prominently taking a group photo in a location soon to be the scene of the book’s first murder. Reyes is described as wearing “a safari vest and red-framed glasses.” In the following paragraph, Hirahara states, “Mas narrowed his eyes. Didn’t look Japanese, but then who said he had to be? Mas remembered that the photographer’s byline in The Rafu Shimpo had a Latino name. They were all touched by Latinos in California and the rest of the Southwest.” Reyes is an award-winning photographer and has taken thousands of published photos over the last three decades, including many in critical Los Angeles moments like the 1992 Rodney King Uprisings and other equally iconic times.
Our final two sites on the tour required we get in the car and drive to Boyle Heights. Hirahara drove us east on First Street. First is a thoroughfare connecting several important Los Angeles microcosms in just a few miles from Historic Filipinotown, Bunker Hill, the Disney Concert Hall, City Hall, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, the Los Angeles River, and Boyle Heights. Before we crossed the river, she pointed out the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple on the northside of First in the area some call the Arts District. This temple is one of the best-known Buddhist houses of worship in Southern California.
In Gasa-Gasa Girl, a sculpture at Nishi Hongwanji is mentioned. Construction on First, east of Alameda, prevented us from visiting the temple, but as we drove past the temple, Hirahara explained how Little Tokyo originally stretched east all the way to the Los Angeles River and west past San Pedro Street and even to the edge of Los Angeles Street. When the Parker Center LAPD headquarters was built in the 1960s, close to 1,000 Little Tokyo Residents were evicted from a few buildings that were demolished for the then-new police building. The rise of the northern section of the Arts District in the last three decades has also been the erasure of the eastern edge of Little Tokyo.
After we crossed the Los Angeles River and the First Street Bridge, we continued east on First, passing Mariachi Plaza and headed toward the Evergreen Cemetery. For many years, dating back to the mid-19th century, Evergreen was one of the only places people of color could be buried in Los Angeles County. Located between First Street and Avenida Cesar Chavez and Evergreen Street and Lorena Avenue, there are over 300,000 bodies buried in Evergreen, including thousands of Japanese Americans. Evergreen is also just a few streets west of the boundary of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, which is along Indiana Avenue.
Boyle Heights is a district in the City of Los Angeles, and the area called East Los Angeles is actually a section of Unincorporated Los Angeles County, just east of Boyle Heights. As much as everyone conflates Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, they are not the same thing. There is a similar misunderstanding like this around Watts and Inglewood in South Los Angeles. Only dyed-in-the-wool, old-school Angelenos like Hirahara know these specific designations. Most recently, Evergreen has become known for a paved path around its perimeter where thousands of Eastside Angelenos jog and walk around it.
When we got to Evergreen, we parked and then walked over to the northwest corner of the cemetery where a large monument pays tribute to the Japanese-American soldiers from the 442nd Infantry Regiment in the United States Military who fought in World War II. Hirahara describes this location in Summer of Big Bachi: “A tall monument stood in the back next to a patch of grass. It was skinny and pointed; at the top was a concrete man, helmet on his head, hands at his sides, and a rifle hanging from his shoulder.” There is a plaque with a verse from Dwight Eisenhower.
In the following few paragraphs, Mas Arai is looking for his wife’s tombstone, and he searches for almost 10 minutes to find her grave. Eventually he sees “[a] headstone, short and squat, shaped much like his late wife herself. The letters were filled with dirt, and Mas felt a pang of shame. He should have come earlier, he thought, trying to scrape the letters clean with the edge of a matchbook.”
Hirahara’s description of Evergreen captures the cemetery perfectly. “Beyond the soldiers,” she writes,
were more graves of mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, all Japanese. Beyond that were black families, even a good number dating back more than a hundred years. Some tombstones had oval photos of older black women wearing corsages, and black men in felt hats. There were cement angels looking over the graves of babies, born and dead within the same year. The markers weren’t lined up straight and perfect, like at some of the high-tone cemeteries in the hills. Instead, the ground had shifted, causing some to rise like crooked teeth.
The dry grass is no longer evergreen, either.
By the time we left Evergreen, the sun was setting through the clouds. The mood was solemn, and the verisimilitude of her description was uncanny. Most of the grass was dry and brown, and many of the old tombstones were chipped and did indeed look like crooked teeth. When we got back in her car and drove toward the exit, the front gate was closed. We laughed for a moment before one of the employees came and let us go.
On the drive back to Little Tokyo, Hirahara spoke more about how so much of her research, life experience, and nonfiction work fueled the Mas Arai series and her other fiction. Whether it be mentioning restaurants that she’s eaten at hundreds of times like the Far East Café or her final Mas Arai book taking place in Hiroshima, where her father was on that fateful day in 1945, Hirahara’s fiction is rooted in believability and that stems from her deep knowledge of her subject matter.
After reading all seven of the Mas Arai books, I still cannot pinpoint one being better than the rest. They are all equally compelling with plot twists, unexpected surprises and reversals, and lucid dialogue. At the same time, you can read any one out of the series on its own and it still stands up. She has a way of filling in the details without being repetitive or excessive. One interesting detail she did tell me is that although the entire series is murder mystery or crime fiction, she made each of the seven a different subgenre as a way of keeping it interesting for her as the writer.
The first book of the series, Summer of the Big Bachi, was a crossover of mystery with a literary bent. The second title, Gasa-Gasa Girl, is a smaller world, and the third, Snakeskin Shamisen, is political. Blood Hina is about drug espionage, and Sayonara Slam is international and about baseball. The fifth book, Strawberry Yellow, is a bio-thriller, and the final book of the series, Hiroshima Boy, is an island mystery.
I ended up reading all seven because the series is a true tour de force and Mas Arai is an incredible protagonist. Award-winning L.A. author Nina Revoyr says, “Mas Arai is a wholly original sleuth — reluctant, curmudgeonly, and irresistible.” Like Revoyr and Hirahara’s legion of fans, I found myself not only getting attached to Mas as a character, but even feeling a sadness about the series ending. Some consolation can be provided in that Hirahara will be writing some Mas Arai short stories. She’s not sure chronologically where they will be set in the 15 years of his life she has already composed, but she does plan to write some one-off stories with Mas.
Life after Manzanar
Before finishing this retrospective on Hirahara, a quick word needs to be said about her other new book, Life after Manzanar. Co-authored with Heather C. Lindquist, this nonfiction work examines the “resettlement” of the Japanese Americans who had been detained in the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II. The book mixes both archived oral history and new testimonies to create an illuminating narrative about their lives after the internment camps that is both tragic and triumphant. Multiple generations of voices are included in the text.
One of those voices is poet and activist traci kato-kiriyama. Hirahara published a poem by traci in the book titled “No Redress.” Both of kato-kiriyama’s parents were in the concentration camps in their youth. Her mom, Iku Kato-Kiriyama, became the senior class president at North Torrance High in 1957 and later went on to become an educator in LAUSD for almost 40 years. traci’s father was also in the internment camps as a child and he went on to become a longtime local educator and a member of the district’s school board. Together, her parents co-founded the Japanese American Historical Society of Southern California.
traci grew up making annual pilgrimages to Manzanar with her parents. She tells Hirahara in the book that:
It was on the way to Manzanar, that I vividly remember my parents instructing me to pay attention to the places they were taking me as a form of education. As the years passed and I stepped onto the grounds of Manzanar each year during pilgrimage, I also came to understand the connections we had to other communities — from the indigenous/Native American peoples […] to […] immigrants and migrant workers from Mexico and Central and South America, to the institutional racism and oppression of black folks for the duration of this country.
traci’s poem in the book further explicates her connection to Manzanar, her family’s history with it, and how it connects to the contemporary United States.
kato-kiriyama first met Hirahara in the early 1990s while she was in college. Hirahara published kato-kiriyama’s first poems and essays in the Rafu Shimpo when she served as the editor. After kato-kiriyama graduated from school, she started Tuesday Night Café in 1998, a poetry open mic in Little Tokyo. Two decades later, the event is still going and kato-kiriyama has become a seminal figure in both Little Tokyo and literary Los Angeles.
traci credits Hirahara for being an early mentor:
I wonder if Naomi realizes the kind of impact she has had on community as well as countless writers. She was the editor of the Rafu Shimpo when I was first starting to write, and she gave so many of us a platform to process our ideas and create intergenerational conversation through the publication. She’s like a big sister for whom I carry a lot of gratitude.
Most recently, in late April, the pair appeared together at the Torrance Library for a reading celebrating the book.
Life after Manzanar also covers the journey of many former Manzanar internees, including Jeanne Wakatsuki, who went on to write the 1973 book Farewell to Manzanar, and dozens of others who were there, like Shigetoshi Tateishi, Shinjo Nagatomi, Sangoro Mayeda, Jack Takayanagi, Paul Bannai, and his grandson Sean Miura. There is even coverage of the ongoing court cases that eventually led to surviving internees receiving redress and reparations in 1989. The stories of their lives after Manzanar are equally inspiring and tragic. Moreover, these stories are especially relevant in this moment where immigrant children are being detained in cages at the United States southern border.
It is easy to see how nonfiction projects like Life after Manzanar feed Hirahara’s fiction. In recent years, she has also been selected to curate several Japanese-American historical exhibits in museum sites for the National Park Service, the Manzanar History Association, and, most recently, for the Maritime Museum about the Japanese-American fishing community that was in Terminal Island near San Pedro. These exhibits must be visually engaging, so they feature rare photos and artifacts rather than being too text heavy.
Hirahara is truly prolific. She’s even started another mystery series in 2014 with a female protagonist, Ellie Rush. Two titles have already been published in this series, Grave on Grand Avenue and Murder on Bamboo Lane. Ellie Rush is a young LAPD bicycle cop and aspiring homicide detective. Though Rush is an entirely different character from Mas Arai, she also navigates Los Angeles with the same veracity. The history and geography of Los Angeles are an endless reservoir for Hirahara in both her fiction and nonfiction. Her extensive bibliography covering Southern California puts her in the upper echelon with the best of the best in the pantheon of L.A. letters.
Mike Sonksen, is a third-generation L.A. native whose prose and poetry have been included in programs with the Mayor’s Office, the Los Angeles Public Library’s “Made in LA” series, and Grand Park.
Los Angeles Pictured
By Nora Stone
Noir Turned on Its Side
By Robert Allen Papinchak
Our Ghosts: On Japanese Internment in Fresno
By Nathan K. Hensley
By Michelle Chihara
Detective Glock in Echo Park: L.A. Crime Fiction and Michael Connelly’s “The Wrong Side of Goodbye”
By Larry Harnisch
Mas Arai-Mania: An Interview with Naomi Hirahara
By Steph Cha
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Liberty Looking to Get Back on Track at Atlanta
LIBERTY GAME NOTES
NEW YORK LIBERTY (7-6) @ ATLANTA DREAM (5-7)
Sunday, July 2 • Atlanta, Ga. (McCamish Pavilion) • 6:00 PM (ET)
TV: MSG
The New York Liberty will look to end a 2-game losing streak when it faces the Atlanta Dream on Sunday night at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. The Liberty is coming off a loss at Washington on Thursday, while the Dream suffered a setback at home to the defending champion Sparks on Friday night. For New York, this will be the 2nd of 4-straight road games, its longest road trip since the 2013 season.
• The New York Liberty continues its longest road trip since the 2013 season when it faces the Atlanta Dream on Sunday night at McCamish Pavilion. This will be the 2nd of 3 meetings this season between the two teams, with the Liberty winning the 1st matchup 76-61 at Madison Square Garden back on June 7.
• The Liberty lost its 2nd game in a row, suffering a 67-54 setback at Washington on Thursday evening. Shavonte Zellous led the way offensively for New York, scoring a game-high 17 points, while Epiphanny Prince, making her 1st start since returning to the team from the EuroBasket Women Tournament, scored 12 points. New York limited Washington to just 30.9 percent shooting from the field, but the Liberty turned the ball over a season-high 21 times in the loss.
• The early fan vote returns for WNBA All-Star 2017 in Seattle are in, and a couple of Liberty players are near the top of the list. Tina Charles currently ranks 2nd in the East frontcourt with 12,055 votes, while Sugar Rodgers is 4th in the East backcourt with 3,480 votes.
• With 8 rebounds at Washington on Thursday night, Tina Charles moved past Lauren Jackson into 10th place in league history in rebounding. She currently has 2,453 career rebounds, and is just 1 behind Candice DuPree for 9th place.
KEY MATCHUP
Atlanta Dream guard Tiffany Hayes currently leads the WNBA Eastern Conference guard in All-Star voting, and figures to be in a battle with Shavonte Zellous, who has been putting up her own All-Star caliber numbers this season. Zellous has scored in double-figure in 8-straight games, the 2nd longest streak of her career, and averaged 19.0 ppg during the month of June, while also taking on many of the Liberty’s toughest defensive assignments. Hayes ranks 9th in the WNBA in scoring, averaging 17.4 ppg and is also 10th with 1.3 steals per contest.
New York rode a fast start in the 1st half to a 76-61 win over the Atlanta Dream on June 7 at Madison Square Garden. New York jumped out to a 29-17 lead after the 1st quarter and never trailed, leading by as many as 19 points overall. Tina Charles had 18 points and 15 rebounds while Kiah Stokes scored 7 points with a career-high 17 rebounds. New York limited Atlanta to just .276 shooting from the field, as Charles and Stokes became just the 4th pair of teammates in WNBA history to each grab at least 15 rebounds in the same game.
CHARLES 2ND, RODGERS 4TH IN EAST FOR EARLY ALL-START 2017 FAN VOTE RETURNS
Liberty center Tina Charles (12,055) and guard Sugar Rodgers (3,480) rank 2nd and 4th at their respective positions in the Eastern Conference after two weeks of fan voting in the WNBA All-Star Voting 2017 presented by Verizon. The first 15 days of fan voting generated more than double the amount of votes cast (376,820) compared to the same period, in 2015 (180,762). All-Star voting concludes on Thursday, July 6 at 9 p.m. ET. Starters will be announced live on ESPN on Tuesday, July 11. The All-Star reserves, who will be selected by the Eastern and Western Conference head coaches, respectively, will be announced on Tuesday, July 18.
ENTIRE LIBERTY TEAM WINS WNBA COMMUNITY ASSIST AWARD
The New York Liberty was awarded the May WNBA Community Assist Award presented by State Farm for its efforts to make an impact in the communities across New York City and New Jersey during its 2017 Season Launch presented by Tackle Kids Cancer at Hackensack University Medical Center, a partner organization of the Garden of Dreams Foundation. The Liberty set up seven community events for the players and coaches based off their personal interests, points of passion and where they wanted to make an impact individually. The entire team and coaching staff attended all seven events, which included activations such as chess lessons, basketball clinics, an empowerment panel and serving meals to the homeless. In recognition of the New York Liberty’s efforts, the WNBA and State Farm will make a $5,000 donation to be split between the Garden of Dreams Foundation and Tackle Kids Cancer.
TINA CHARLES MAKE AN IMPACT IN ATLANTA COMMUNITY
On Friday, June 30, Tina Charles and her Hopey’s Heart Foundation along with partner SafeKids Worldwide joined forces with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta to host a Sports Safety Clinic for Atlanta youth. The kids who participated learned valuable lessons concerning concussion safety, emergency response, proper hydration, and how to avoid overuse injuries. Charles will also donate an AED (Automated External Defibrilator) to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Founded in 2013 after her late Aunt Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, the Hopey’s Heart Foundation has donated nearly 300 AED’s across the world, while also offering sports safety education to youth and providing CPR certification grants. Over the past 3 seasons, Charles has donated her entire WNBA salary to Hopey’s Heart Foundation.
CHARLES MOVES INTO TOP-10 IN REBOUNDING
Tina Charles eclipsed 4,000-career points last season, becoming the 6th fastest player in WNBA history to do so. She is steadily climbing the all-time charts for points and rebounds, as she is currently ranked 23rd all-time in scoring, with 4,355 points, and 10th in rebounding, pulling down 2,453 boards. Her career rebounding average of 10.1 per game is the best per game rate in the history of the league.
LIBERTY NOT BIG ON 2ND CHANCES
In the 102-93 overtime win against Dallas on June 16, the Liberty outscored the Wings 15-10 in 2nd chance opportunities, improving to 6-0 this season when it wins the 2nd chance scoring battle. Conversely, New York is now just 1-5 when an opponent scores more 2nd chance points. So far this season, the Liberty is averaging 12.6 2nd chance points per game, which ranks 3rd in the WNBA, but over the past two games New York has totaled just 7 2nd chance points combined, with just 3 coming in the loss at Washington on Thursday.
SUGAR RODGERS MISSES GAME AT WASHINGTON
Guard Sugar Rodgers did not dress in the Liberty’s game at Washington on June 29, missing the contest with a lower back injury suffered during the 3rd quarter of New York’s game against Connecticut onJune 23. Her current status is day-to-day, and she continues to be evaluated.
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