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This Song is the Unofficial Anthem of the Women's March
Inspiring a cappella performance of MILCK's "Quiet" inspires a movement.
If you've paying to attention to some of the cooler stories coming out of last week's historic Women's March on Washington, you may have seen this flash mob singing "Quiet," organized by Los Angeles-based singer MILCK, aka Connie Lim. After video of the powerful performance garnered millions of views in a matter of hours, the song was being called the unofficial anthem of the Women's March movement.
MILCK says she originally wrote the song as a way to heal from physical and sexual abuse, as well as depression and anorexia. When Donald Trump was elected president, in spite of his blatant history of sexism and misogyny -- we all heard the "grab them by the pussy" tape, folks -- MILCK thought the song would resonate with listeners, and set out to do something memorable with the song for the Women's March.
She contacted a small group of singers in cities across the country to coordinate the flash mob, rehearsing together via Skype before meeting up in D.C., where they performed a cappella versions of "Quiet" several times on Saturday. The result is this moving video, shot and uploaded to social media by filmmaker Alma Har'el, who just happened to come across the performance during the march.
These women never met till today and practiced this song online. Show them some love. #Icantkeepquiet #WomensMarch #WomensMarchOnWashington pic.twitter.com/rPA4dDTIYz
— Alma Har'el (@Almaharel) January 21, 2017
The song has inspired a full fledged #ICANTKEEPQUIET movement. MILCK says she's received requests from all over the world for sheet music to the arrangement. If you'd like to start your own #ICANTKEEPQUIET choir, you can learn more about the song, and download the arrangement and guide recordings here.
FILE UNDER: #icantkeepquiet, a cappella, connie lim, milck, music, women's march
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Lyft x Entertainment Weekly's PopFest
As the entertainment capital of the world, we are excited to be a sponsor of Entertainment Weekly’s PopFest, happening here in Downtown LA on October 29th and 30th.
An A-List Lineup
With performances, screenings, panels, and more, PopFest is the ultimate festival for pop culture junkies. Where else can you see some of Hollywood’s brightest stars in one spot? Talent like Jennifer Aniston, Eddie Redmayne, James Corden, Ryan Murphy, Nick Jonas, the creators of Gilmore Girls, and many more will be at the event. In addition to rubbing shoulders with your favorite TV heroes, attendees will be able to see exclusive, unseen footage, watch live music performances, and hear behind-the-scenes stories from casts, directors, showrunners and more.
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Sound like something you’d love to attend? Visit PopFest for General Admission and VIP ticket information.
1933 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Follow @Lyft_LA for the latest news on LA happenings.
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Brainstorming Ideas – The Social Worker
~ Social justice, reflective thinking & paradigm shift.
Tag Archives: Social Control
19th and 21st Centuries Underfunded and Underregulated American Mental Health System
Posted by A.Kaye in Human Rights, Social Work
and killed by guards, Dade Correctional Institution, Dorothea Dix, driven to suicide, Fordham University, Madness: In Florida prisons, mentally ill inmates have been tortured, social capital, Social Control, Social Justice, social needs, Social Reformers as Change Agents, The New Yorker, underfunded and underregulated American mental health system
This paper has the objective to explain how the 19th century underfunded and underregulated American mental health system still needs reform in the 21st century. In the 1840s, the abuse and inhumane treatment of mentally ill individuals placed in county jails, almshouses and private homes gave origin to actions directed towards the betterment of the system. Dorothea Dix (1843) in the “Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature”, describes in details how inhumane treatment of the mentally ill occurred. She depicts females and males caged in almshouses, some in more comfortable situations than others; an individual who had been chained for 17 years; individuals incarcerated with criminals in county jails who were left unclothed and chained in the dark, without any heat or sanitation; individuals in private homes confined in closets, stalls and cellars due to the lack of support of their family members; individuals who were beaten with rods and lashed to obedience; and, county jails and almshouse improperly staffed. Overall, the author’s findings were clear, there was no therapeutic method being applied to treat those individuals and they were being abandoned, abused and neglect. Dix (1843) emphasized that while the usage of cages was very common and negligence a frequent occurrence, chaining people and willful abuses were less frequent than sufferings that originated from ignorance. In addition, she argued that it was also unjust to place convicts with insane persons since they were obligated to live with individuals screaming and shouting night and day. The social reformer presented the problems of abuse and inhumane treatment to the members of the Legislature of Massachusetts in a way that was coarse and severe, “The condition of human beings, reduced to the extreme states of degradation and misery cannot be exhibited in a softened language, or adorn a polished page.”
Social Reformers as Change Agents
Dorothea Dix was a social reformer who vehemently advocated for the mentally ill. In the “Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature” (1843), Dix appealed to the members of the legislature,
I come as the advocate of helpless, forgotten, insane, and idiotic men and women; of beings sunk to a condition from which the most unconcerned would start with real horror; of beings, wretched in our prisons, and more wretched in our almshouses.
Interestingly, according to Barusch (2014), it was due to a Sunday school class at a jail outside Boston, that the social reformer became aware that the insane were housed with criminals and were victims of all sorts of abuse (p.227). Her indignation at such situation stimulated her career in social advocacy. From 1841 to 1842, she investigated the jails, almshouses and even the streets and private homes across the State of Massachusetts. Her methodology consisted of visiting jails and almshouses, observing the treatment and living conditions of the insane housed in them, and preparing a petition containing her findings to the members of the Legislature of Massachusetts. After Massachusetts, the mental health reformer continued her work in other states and encouraged state legislatures to expand and establish mental health institutions. Throughout Dix’s career, she was essential for the foundation and/or expansion of 31 asylums for people with mental illness. Barusch (2014) further explains how Dix responded to inhumane treatment. Like many other advocates, she used exaggeration or hyperbole during her presentations. The author compares Dix and her fellow reformer Samuel Gridley Howe, as both used dramatic presentations to convey the urgency of the matter they were advocating for. On the other hand, while Howe attributed the roots of insanity to failed social institutions, that is, insanity was caused by society, therefore, it should be responsible for the care of its victims; Dix postulated that the causes of insanity were irrelevant and argued for the moral necessity of protecting the insane from the “predatory forces of society” (p.228). In other words, Dix was not concerned about the roots of insanity, but on how to solve the problem of inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. Parry (2006), in the article “Dorothea Dix”, clarifies how the social reformer supported the model of care of “Moral Treatment” founded by William Tuke in England and Phillipe Pinel in France. Based on that finding, it is inferable that Dix´s conceptualization and critical analysis of inhumane and harsh conditions in the prisons and almshouses was strongly influenced by the “Moral Treatment” approach.
Past and current social workers’ responses to the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. Although social advocates throughout the history have fought for the betterment of the American mental health system, different versions of abuse and inhumane treatment continue to happen in the modern American prisons. If in the 1800s therapeutic treatments were basically nonexistent, nowadays, although they exist, many individuals don’t have access to them. For instance, according to Mental Health America, in its 2017 report, 56% of American adults with a mental illness did not receive treatment; and Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama have over 57,000 people with mental health conditions in jail and prison (http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america ). Early in our history, social reformers responded to this issue through investigation, observation, and advocacy. They exposed the atrocities practiced in the jails and almshouses and petitioned their state legislatures for reforms. Nowadays, as much as social workers, counselors and other mental health professionals want to report abuse, they are often coerced to remain in silence by correction officers and other jail staff. A disheartening example is the Dade Correctional Institution, in Florida, in which the Staff Counselor Harriet Krzykowski witnessed mental ill inmates being abused and neglected. Inhumane treatment has happened in the form of starvation, sexual assault, seclusion, torture, badgering, and even murder. According to Krzykowski, her attempts to advocate were silenced by the fear of corrections officers and her superiors. Using human rights as a framework for this analysis, one can realize how the Florida Department of Corrections fails to provide a safe place for mental health treatment inside the jails, which results in not only the inmates’ human rights violation, but also in the violation of the counselors’ rights. One can observe how power relations are prevalent; as Krzykowski affirms, “I kept getting the message that whatever security says, goes”. Although in May, 2015, a senior adviser at Human Rights Watch released a report about physical maltreatment against inmates with mental disorders in American prisons; there is a “it’s none of our business culture,” which results in nobody advocating for them. Another important point according to Psychiatrist Kenneth Appelbaum, is that the American Psychiatry Association does not properly address the ethical challenges that their members who work in prisons face daily (Press, 2016). In other words, there is a lack of engagement in questioning how the mentally ill incarcerated population should be cared for. This lack of engagement is certainly a reflection of the elitism in the profession, that is, many professionals belittle the work developed in prisons.
Personal Reflection. In the beginning of the paper, I intended to discuss the evolution of the treatment of the mentally ill in the United States. However, as my research advanced and as I narrowed my subject of analysis to the prison system, I concluded that, despite historical advocacy, there was no evolution and that inhumane treatment continues to happen in different ways. Even though our society knows of the existence of human rights, the culture of human rights is far from implemented and internalized by individuals. Instead, I learned that there is the culture of fear and the culture of “it’s none of my business” inside prisons.
Barusch, A. (2014). Chapter 7: Mental Health. In Foundations of Social Policy: Social Justice in Human Perspective (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 219-250). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature (1843). (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/jackson/revival/dix.html
Parry, M. (2006). Dorothea Dix (1802-1887). Am J Public Health,96(4), 624-625. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.079152
Press, E. (2016, May 2). Madness: In Florida prisons, mentally ill inmates have been tortured, driven to suicide, and killed by guards. The New Yorker. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/the-torturing-of- mentally-ill-prisoners.
The State of Mental Health in America. (2016, October 31). Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america
Social Work as Means of Social Control
Posted by A.Kaye in Social Work
Fordham University, McLaughlin, School of Social Work, Social Control, Social Work, Social Work Legacy, Social work's legacy: irreconcilable differences?
The view of social work as a means of social control presented by McLaughlin in the article “Social Work’s Legacy: Irreconcilable Differences?” is an eye-opener to those new to the field of social work. According to the author, critics affirm that the mission of social work is no longer to help the poor and oppressed, but to control them, utilizing psychotherapy as a method of intervention (p.188). Interestingly, if one compares social work in the United States and social work in Brazil, one will realize that in Brazil the scope of social work does not include the clinical aspect. In other words, psychologists and psychiatrists will work in the mental health field, while social workers will address social justice issues at collective and individual levels. Perhaps, the Brazilian approach to social work would be more in alignment with scholars such as Spechat and Courtney, however, McLaughlin (2002), urges social workers to think reflectively about the betterment of the individual and the betterment of society as complementing each other (p.196-197).
Day (1981) in the article “Social Welfare: Context for Social Control”, shed some light on how social workers and human services organizations might control vulnerable communities and individuals. The author explains that “social workers are generally unaware of the extent of their control and most of them enter the human service field from feelings of caring” (p.30). Day (1981) corroborate McLaughlin’s thoughts on the importance of developing critical thinking about social work as a means of social control, so that social workers don’t become agents of such control, supporting and legitimating it (p.31). Historically, some of the ways social welfare exerted control over society was through the Statute of Laborer in 1349, in which people were kept in certain areas of work to economically benefit others; The War on Poverty in 1965, aiming at controlling civil disorder started by the disadvantaged; and the expansion of Community Mental Health Acts, which had the objective of quieting political unrest in the 1960s (p.32). The author does not deny the usefulness of such programs nor the unselfish feelings of people working for them, however, he emphasizes what he calls “the programs’ latent functions; public intrusion into private lives, expanding definitions of deviance and new pressures for and legitimation of conformity” (p.33).
Other important ways in which social workers and human services agencies exert control over society are through values, attitudes and the power relations. Day (1981) exemplifies human services organizations as symbols of power, in which the social worker is the expert and the client is the one seeking for help. One can imply that the client is inadequate and needs to be taught how to meet society’s standards of functioning (p.34). If not carefully observed, the power relation might translate into social workers adopting the position of experts and disregarding the client’s abilities, knowledge and rights.
Day, P. (1981). Social Welfare: Context for Social Control. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare,8(1), 29-44. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
McLaughlin, A. (2002). Social work’s legacy: Irreconcilable differences? Clinical Social Work Journal, 30(2), 187-198.
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Teaming Concept: a Remedy against the Factory Model in the School System
Integrating listening skills into Spanish classes
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Amy Poehler: Yes, I Get Asked the Juggle Question a Lot
October 21, 2013 By Chelsea 1 Comment
If we women have to hear ONE MORE TIME about “balancing it all,” I might spit out my coffee… well, maybe that’s extreme (I need all the caffeine I can get). Point being, Breezy Mama is so tired of the question “How do you balance it all” and knew that Amy Poehler MUST be extra tired of it. In fact, when sitting down to talk with the female lead of the upcoming Free Birds movie, Breezy Mama got her take on the over discussed topic, her biggest “mom fail” and more during a chat with the actress (and Tina Fey Golden Globe Co-host- yay!) along with other “mom” bloggers… here’s what went down.
I feel a question in general during interviews with mom actresses is asking women how you juggle it all. I’m curious, is that something that’s come up a lot today doing interviews?
It has, yes.
And does it bother you?
It doesn’t bother me. We all already know the answer in a way. Everybody’s answer is different, I guess, is a better way to put it.
And I think when you’re working, it’s just a question that men don’t get but women get all the time.
My answer is pretty much the same all the time, which is just kind of figuring out what is good for you. What works for you is what works. Everybody’s thing is different. And especially as you go on, you learn what things are important to you, what things fall away, and that you shouldn’t listen to anybody’s advice, and don’t worry about what anybody says. Do your thing. Whatever works for you and your family is the right thing.
You’ve got to be a little easy on yourself during a lot of it, too. I think you have to kind of give yourself a break because there are many things you can do in one day. Today is a Saturday, and it’s spent here. It’s not spent at home. So, that’s what happens. That’s work.
Have your sons seen Free Birds yet?
Not yet, no. I’m looking forward to it.
Do your kids normally recognize your voice if they hear it?
Sometimes they do. They’re not that impressed. They hear my voice every day, so they’ll be very impressed with Woody’s voice because they’re in love with–I mean, excuse me, with Owen’s–and Woody’s voice, but they’re in love with Owen’s voice because of Cars
Did they get to meet him?
No. I think it would make their heads explode to meet Lightning McQueen.
How was it working with Owen and Woody because they seem very out of control chummy? And so, being the only female in between them, what was that like?
Well, we never were in the studio together. In fact, the most amount of time the three of us have spent together has been today, really.
Owen and I did a film together, worked together before this project. So, we knew each other a little bit, and he’s a great guy. But we never recorded together. It’s like a buddy comedy with the two of them. And their chemistry is really natural. I knew that everyone would buy that they would be friends like they are in life.
Owen said he’d see clips of you improvising, and he’d get inspired.
Well, that’s nice.
Isn’t that nice? That’s something you should know about.
That’s really cool.
Is it vice-versa? Were there things that you saw of them that you thought were really funny?
Yes, they had done a lot of their stuff before I had come onto the project. So, when they were describing the two characters and the kind of like scrawny little Reggie and then Woody’s a giant turkey, I couldn’t quite see it. When I saw the animation and their voices, it was really funny and great.
They’re both such great actors. Working with Owen even in an animated way is really challenging and satisfying because he’s has such a distinct tone, and it’s fun to play against.
We asked them if they had dad fails. What’s your most embarrassing moment that you’d want to share –your most embarrassing mom fail?
–Oh, Gosh. Sometimes, I forget where I’m driving them to. That happens, right?
How did we get in this car?
Yes, how are we in this car, and who am I dropping off and where are we going – that happens a lot.
I’m trying to think of other stuff. It’s just a lot of forgetful stuff that every mother has to deal with. I think I’ve sent my older guy to school with like an empty lunch box.
Oh, really?
That’s a good one.
That’s a good one, right? He opened it up, and it was empty.
Exactly. Maybe it was the best thing that ever happened to him.
So, in this movie, you’re more of a strong character, and sometimes, you’ve done zany characters. Did you feel like you had to bring it in a little bit?
Yes, well, she’s kind of the straight turkey in the movie. And animation’s so fun because you get to take really big jumps but you do sometimes need a force that’s grounding everything together, which I think the character Jenny is. And I didn’t really do so much of a voice in this because they really kind of wanted it to be kind of natural.
But, I’ve played all different kinds of spectrum of that. So, it’s cool to actually play someone that feels like a somewhat normal animated character, if that makes sense. But, she’s also a turkey.
Are you going to add pizza to your Thanksgiving meal this year?
Yes, sure. I like to cook. I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like, but I like it. I feel like holidays in general–correct me if I’m wrong, you guys would know more than me–are becoming really lose in a good way. I feel like everybody’s deciding how they want it to be. Especially when you have your own family, you kind of get to decide how you want to spend your holiday, like what suddenly is important. I was at my parents’ house, Thanksgiving at my parents’. And I’m a New Englander, so Thanksgiving’s a really big deal.
Have you made some of your own traditions?
Yes. I’m trying to think of some good ones. I like watching movies with my kids on Thanksgiving night. That’s always a really fun thing, especially showing them a movie they’ve never seen is always really fun.
Last year, we watched Willie Wonka, which was a big deal.
Do you think your kids will not want to eat turkey after watching Free Birds?
I don’t know. The struggle to get my kids to eat anything right now, it’s like whatever my kids want to eat, I’m fine with, as long as they eat.
That seems to be kind of a universal theme with parents with young children, just trying to get them to eat.
Trying to get them to eat.
Do you and your former SNL cast members share stories?
Yes, all the SNL ladies have kids – me and Maya [Rudolph] and Tina [Fey] and Dratch [Rachel Dratch] and Molly [Shannon]. And so, we are always sharing stories and pictures, and we had a really nice moment a couple of years ago.
I was pregnant with my second kid, with Abel, so this must have been three years ago. Betty White did the Mother’s Day special at SNL, and everybody brought their kids. So, it was really cool. It was like all these little kids on stage.
And, Maya’s daughter, who she looks exactly like Maya, is nine now, and Tina’s daughter Alice I think is eight or nine. Nothing makes you feel older than other people’s kids growing up.
What do you like better for the kids, the East Coast or the West Coast?
I like them both. I’ve been lucky to be able to go back and forth. I’ve been here [in Los Angeles] about 17 years, and I shoot Parks and Recreation here, so we go back and forth. And I like them both. There’s something about New York City and living there that feels like you learn more walking to get a bagel in New York City than you can all day in Los Angeles.
Nobody walks in LA, so.
Nobody walks in LA.
But then, there’s also a really great community out here of friends and a lot of people I know who have children. I have a lot of friends who have children my age, and a lot of actors. And so, you kind of create your community out here.
It’s different everywhere. And it’s different at every age group, as you know. What’s good for them at two is different than what’s good for them at five and what will be good for them at ten.
Free Birds hits theaters every where on November 1. For more information, visit: freebirdsmovie.com/
To watch a clip with Amy Poehler as “Jenny,” check out this sneak peek:
Filed Under: Books Games Apps TV Movies, Celebrity Interviews Tagged With: Amy Poehler balancing motherhood, Amy Poehler Thanksgiving, Free Birds movie
Amy Poehler: Steppin' Out With Her Sons says:
[…] her interview with Breezy Mama – she said the kids aren’t too impressed with hearing her voice in […]
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Books 2 Screen
Books 2 Screen is an international news site examining the relationship of the publishing, film and television industry, with reviews, recommendations, commentaries and agency.
the b2s agency
‘The Child in Time’ gets picked up by Vision Films for Debut in China
books2screen 08/05/2018 News
‘Vision Films has picked up China rights to the upcoming “The Child In Time.” The film, about a writer dealing with the disappearance of his daughter, stars and is produced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
The pictures is adapted from Ian McEwan’s prize-winning novel and produced by Pinewood Television and SunnyMarch TV for BBC One in the UK and Masterpiece in the U.S. The screenplay is written by Stephen Butchard (“The Last Kingdom”) and directed by Julian Farino (“Entourage”).
“The Child in Time” is the first TV drama produced by Cumberbatch’s U.K. production company SunnyMarch TV. Studiocanal, which is handling international rights, became an investment partner in SunnyMarch TV in 2016.
“’The Child in Time’ is an amazing piece of drama with a real cinematic look and feel. The performances of the entire cast, in particular that of Benedict Cumberbatch, are breath-taking. We are delighted to bring this exceptional story to cinema audiences throughout China,” said Ricky Qi of Vision Film.’
Via Variety
bbc, Benedict Cumberbatch, books, China, ian mcewan, SunnyMarch, vision films
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Books 2 Screen is an industry focused site for books to film and television adaptations.
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SubjectEuropean Court of Justice; ECJ; Governance; EU legal order (1)Gender; European integration; European Union; Court of Justice (1)Research; Teaching; Law schools; Legal education (1)View MoreDate Issued
Law as the Object and Agent of Integration: Gendering the Court of Justice of the European Union, its decisions and their impact
Guth, Jessica (2016-06)
Transforming the European Legal Order: The European Court of Justice at 60+
The European Court of Justice has played a pivotal role in the transformation of international law obligations between Member States into an integrated legal order with direct applicability and effect in those Member States. This article explores whether or not the ECJ continues to be relevant to EU governance and integration and whether it continues to transform the legal orders of the member states. It briefly outlines the early case law which transformed the legal order and the preliminary reference procedure as an important element of that transformation and then considers the extent to which the ECJ continues to act in ways which are transformational even though the legal order itself has remained relatively static. The EU citizenship jurisprudence serves as a useful example of how integration is driven forward by the Court. This paper argues that the Court’s decisions do continue to have significant impact on areas of law and policy and EU governance generally. It illustrates this argument using gender equality law and the Human Rights as pertinent examples and concludes that the ECJ remains relevant in governance terms as it continues to drive forward EU integration in many areas and influence the development of law and policy across the member states.
Fostering curiosity: The Importance of Research and Teaching in Law Schools. A response to Dawn Oliver
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3 RPG Lessons from Final Fantasy
by Jennifer Mendez | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog, Game Development | 0 comments
It’s a science fiction and fantasy series created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed by Square Enix. It’s the largest RPG series on the planet—It’s Final Fantasy. First published in 1987, the series was originally a last-ditch effort in the game industry. Sakaguchi expected it to be the last game he ever made . . . unless it did well.
And we all know how that went.
Inspired by Tolkien, the Dragon Quest ripoff featured dwarves and elves, robots and underwater temples. Today’s 20- and 30-somethings grew up with Final Fantasy. We saw SquareSoft turn into Square Enix. Characters like Cloud, Tifa, Squall, and Rinoa grew up along with our generation. Players saw all their triumphs and tribulations, sympathizing with these characters.
Soon, it was more than a series. It became a story. It became a collection of characters with ups and downs. It went beyond the shiny crystals, giant swords, and a dead Aeris—although fans all agree it was a genuine tragedy.
So, love it or hate it, no one can dispute the fact that Final Fantasy is not only huge, with 14 main installments, 3 direct sequels and too many spinoffs, it also boasts a giant fan base. Clearly, they’re doing something right. Here are three of the many lessons you can use as a game developer.
The Music, Duh!
When you think of a story . . . what first comes to mind? Is it the setting? Is it the protagonist? Perhaps, but if we’re being perfectly honest, none of that truly comes to life until the music begins to play, right? Suddenly the story can go from peaceful and magical to an epic hero’s journey. The setting is no longer just a fictional fantasy place, but a far off land where exciting and dangerous things happen. In the first 1:40 of the video above, you get to go through all those motions. In 100 seconds!
The music in Final Fantasy has long been regarded as nothing short of epic. It’s enchanting with its ability to make players feel like they’re genuinely in the story, sharing the same space as the beloved characters. Every action becomes meaningful. Every fight more challenging.
If there’s nothing else you wish you take away from Final Fantasy, let it be the lesson that music makes the story.
It’s Approachable
Another lesson the series can teach any game developer is the fact that somehow, it’s approachable. Yes, Final Fantasy is approachable. It’s the largest RPG series in the world, with tons of games that don’t connect other than some common themes. Some items have the same names, like Potions or Phoenix Downs. There are staple creatures like the horse-bird Chocobos, or the Moogles. But all in all, none of the games are connected. And this is a good thing! Anyone can pick up any game and not feel like they’ve skipped to the middle or end of a long journey.
The lesson here? That a story can be the length of a game. It doesn’t need to be the next Mass Effect with Commander Shepard being in all three major installments before dying. It doesn’t need to be the next Uncharted, where Nathan Drake’s story continues through each game. Stories are great because they can all take place in the same universe, sharing elements, and yet being entirely their own. This makes it easier for players to pick up any game and become immersed.
Final Fantasy Makes Players Care
Finally, let’s take a look at the most important lesson of all: Final Fantasy knows how to make players feel like they’re on a journey. At times the journey is weird and confusing. At times, the translations from Japanese to English get a little wonky, but avid FF players always feel like they connect with the characters. Terra Branford and Cloud Strife make these stories. Every single character in the series has a message to send home, and each story has a way of connecting with the players. For instance, even the iconic Vivi Ornitier has meaning: he’s representative of the classic human struggle of having to figure out what makes us all unique in the world.
The music brings the setting to life, while the characters each bring their own message. The stories feature highs and lows, focusing on character mistakes, and challenges, as well as highlights. They know how to write a story where character relationships and actions matter.
The lesson here is to work on your writing. If you’re working on an RPG, make the story shine. Make it enthralling, with characters that can stand the test of time. And that usually means get yourself a writer who has experience writing fiction outside of games. Someone who can write a short story, or novel, and describe their characters in detail.
There are weaker games in the series, as well as stronger ones. Ask five Final Fantasy fans which is the best game, and you’ll get twenty different answers. But something everyone can agree on is the fact that the series as a whole is filled with magic, emotion, lovely music and a unique ability to captivate players on another level. All while being strangely approachable!
And it’s these traits you can incorporate in your next game. You can make a series, and stories can be the length of a single game. You should focus on amazing, memorable music. And stories do matter. It might not count in an FPS or strategy game, but it certainly does in an RPG.
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Passenger satisfaction rises at Canada's three largest airports: J.D. Power
Hundreds of passengers wait in a lineup at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday April 1, 2017. A J.D. Power survey says Canada's three largest airports scored above the North American average by passengers. Vancouver International led, scoring 781 on a 1,000-point scale that measured satisfaction with check-in; food, beverage and retail; accessibility; terminal facilities and baggage claim.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckDARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — A J.D. Power survey says passenger satisfaction has improved in two years at Canada’s three largest airports.
Vancouver International’s score rose five points to 781 on a 1,000-point scale that measured satisfaction with check-in; food, beverage and retail; accessibility; terminal facilities and baggage claim.
Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport scored 774, up from 760 in 2016.
Toronto’s Pearson International Airport received 761 points, up from 745 two years ago. Calgary’s score was unchanged at 756.
Overall airport satisfaction at North America’s 64 largest airports reached a record high of 761 points, 12 points higher than in 2017 and 30 points above 2016 when Canadian airports were last measured.
Increased scores are primarily driven by higher satisfaction with food, beverage, retail and security checks.
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Wake Forest University’s Family Business Center ~ Charlotte Metro’s forum to address economy
11.19.2008 Article, Faculty News, General
The executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the keynote speaker at the Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management’s Family Business Center ~ Charlotte Metro’s second quarterly forum of the year.
The forum entitled “Tapping the Economic Pulse” will be presented by Jeffrey Kane, senior vice president and Charlotte branch manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. It is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Also speaking will be Dan Fogel and John Silvia, Chief Economist for Wachovia.
Fogel is Babcock’s Associate Dean for Working Professional Programs and Executive Professor of Strategy. His published research includes work on behavioral studies, education, health care, psychology, sociology and economics, and he has written three books on managing in emerging market economies. His new book is on innovation processes in large companies. He has had teaching, research, consulting and academic administration assignments in the United States, Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. He also held managerial positions with oil and gas companies and a large hospital system. Fogel specializes in strategic management, especially innovation processes in firms, including those located in emerging and transition economies and in emerging industries.
Silvia joined Wachovia Corp. in February 2002 as chief economist for the bank. Previously, Silvia worked on Capitol Hill as senior economist for the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and as chief economist for the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Prior to that, he was chief economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments Inc. Silvia earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Northeastern University in Boston and has a master’s degree in economics from Brown University in Providence, R.I.
“We are delighted with the variety and quality of the forum speakers we have to offer our members and we hope that they will take advantage of this opportunity,” said Charlotte Metro Family Business Center Associate Director Rhonda Stokes.
The forum will be held at The Renaissance Hotel in SouthPark from noon to 4 p.m. A private lunch with the speakers is available to all Family Business Center members, sponsors and invited guests; the program begins at 1 p.m. Registration is required for all attendees. For information on FBC membership, guest policies and registration please contact Stokes at 704.366.0540.
The Charlotte Metro Family Business Center, established in 2003 under the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest’s Babcock School, addresses issues faced by closely held and family firms. The member-based organization uses the capabilities and educational resources at Wake Forest, in the community and beyond to provide closely held and family firms the assistance they need to grow and succeed from generation to generation.
Member dues and corporate sponsors Poyner & Spruill LLP and RSM McGladrey fund the Family Business Center ~ Charlotte Metro. Business North Carolina Magazine is the Media Sponsor. The Family Business Center is Charlotte’s only organization dedicated to the educational and professional development of family run and closely held businesses. The center offers its members an array of resources to deal with the dynamics of the unique issues faced by these businesses.
← Wake Forest University opens Community Law and Business Clinic in Downtown Winston-Salem
Babcock MBA students spend the day with Warren Buffett →
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This Australian Father of Four Was Living With Autism and Never Even Knew It
Chris Offer prefers sticking to his routines, he has a real eye for detail, and he doesn’t make a lot of eye contact when he carries on a conversation. He knows he’s always been a bit different, but he had no idea he was on the autism spectrum until his daughter was diagnosed with autism in 2013.
Man realizes he’s on the autism spectrum after his daughter is diagnosed. “It’s freeing.” https://t.co/XZpQXh9Jfy pic.twitter.com/OLFgXvQGSB
— ABC News (@ABC) March 7, 2016
A Diagnosis for Two
Chris’ wife, Jessica, knew something wasn’t right when their oldest daughter began having meltdowns around age four. Simple changes in her routine, such as taking a different route to school or encountering a new food on her plate, would often trigger hours of screaming. The little girl also had difficulties with social and sensory experiences. Chris dismissed these reactions as normal, but Jessica eventually consulted a doctor.
As the couple learned more about their daughter’s newly diagnosed condition, they realized the reactions were normal to Chris because he shared many of the traits that confirmed her diagnosis.
The Impact of a Diagnosis
Chris was surprised to learn that his daughter was on the autism spectrum, and he was just as shocked when he realized he was. The Australian father of four was 30 when he was formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and says the diagnosis was liberating. He believes that understanding the reasons behind his sometimes quirky ways helps him deal better with everyday life.
The diagnosis didn’t change Chris and Jessica’s relationship. She says those traits of autism are what make Chris the man she loves.
Adults and Autism
Chris Offer’s story isn’t uncommon. Very little was known about autism spectrum disorders until recently, so many adults on the spectrum were not diagnosed as children. Unfortunately, most of the current research and assessment tools available focus on children, but formal diagnostic checklists for adults are beginning to emerge.
If you think you may be on the spectrum and can’t find a qualified doctor in your area, consult a doctor with experience in childhood autism spectrum disorders who is willing to work with older patients.
An autism spectrum disorder diagnosis doesn’t make someone a different person, but it does provide better insight into his personality. Learn how this man’s Asperger’s diagnosis transformed his marriage.
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‘Frasier’ Star John Mahoney Dies at Age 77
Elizabeth Nelson
By Elizabeth Nelson
John Mahoney, best known for his role as Martin Crane, father of psychiatrists Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) on the television show Frasier, has passed away after a brief illness and hospitalization. The otherwise apparently healthy TV and theater star’s death surprised many of his friends and colleagues and even caused the opening night of a play at his home theatre to be closed in his honor.
Born in 1940 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, Mahoney was the seventh of eight children. His family was evacuated from their home during the Nazi bombing, and his sister ended up marrying an American soldier. Mahoney visited her in the U.S. and decided to emigrate there. He later won his citizenship by serving in the U.S. Army.
Photo: YouTube/Wochit Entertainment and Twitter/GarySinise
Mahoney found his calling late in life. Although he’d long been interested in acting, he didn’t quit his day job as a medical magazine editor and take the leap into acting until the ripe old age of 39. He went to acting school at the St. Nicholas Theater in Chicago before joining the Steppenwolf theater. In 1986, he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in John Guare’s American Playhouse: The House of Blue Leaves.
Photo: YouTube/Wochit Entertainment
Mahoney also appeared on the big screen in films like Tin Man, Moonstruck, and Say Anything, but his most famous work is still his role as retired cop Martin Crane, the cantankerous father of the Crane brothers, who had a special love for his old chair and his dog, Eddie. Mahoney spent a full decade, from 1993 to 2004, adding humor and realism to the NBC hit.
After 11 seasons of Frasier, the Emmy-nominated actor and SAG award winner returned to his favorite stage in Chicago. According to colleagues, he was a vibrant member of the cast at Steppenwolf and didn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Friends knew he was ill but that he was recovering—until things took a turn for the worse.
Mahoney passed away in hospice care in a hospital in his “home” city of Chicago on February 4, 2018, at the age of 77. The Steppenwolf Theatre cancelled the opening night of their fourth show of the season so cast and crew members could mourn his death.
Many celebrities who had worked with Mahoney also had something kind to say to mark the sad occasion. Gary Sinise posted on Twitter, “It was a great pleasure to know him and work with him. From Moira and I, Rest in peace, old friend.”
Photo: Twitter/GarySinise
Mahoney will undoubtedly be deeply missed, both by those closest to him and the loyal fans of his acting. Watch the video below to remember his life and work.
Elizabeth Nelson is a wordsmith, an alumna of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, a four-leaf-clover finder, and a grammar connoisseur. She has lived in west Michigan since age four but loves to travel to new (and old) places. In her free time, she. . . wait, what’s free time?
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Christ, Crime and Punishment
Reflections on the criminal justice system from a Christian perspective
Psalms for Prisoners
Warehouse of Lost Souls
Two Sides of a Coin
photo by Jamie McCaffrey
Think of a coin. The image that is stamped on the head and tail is just a thin facade on the surface. Forever bound together yet separated by the vast bulk of the material. Likewise, victims of crime and those accused of committing crime have one thing in common, both take issue with the criminal justice system.
Victims are made to relive their traumatic experience over and over. They may be made to feel like they are somehow at fault for having something bad happened to them. From their perspective the system is slow to move, and all too often denies them the justice they seek.
The accused feel that there is a rush to judgment, that facts don’t matter, and their side of the story is irrelevant. They believe they are being railroaded into taking a plea agreement to avoid extremely long sentences because of the fear that even without physical evidence or multiple eye witnesses that they will be convicted. Guilty until proven innocent.
In our modern democracy with guaranteed rights one wonders how either perspective could possibly be true, let alone both, yet they are. It is the system that is the problem. Crime has been part of our society from the dawn of time but the way we deal with it is prehistoric. Modern society has applied science to evidence collection; psychology to profile criminal behavior; trained investigators evaluate information and identify suspects; and the media spreads the word and enlists the public’s assistance to track down the perpetrator. Then the lawyers and courts get involved and everything goes sideways. Truth doesn’t matter only procedures and precedence. Under the law, black and white have taken on new definitions the only have meaning in that context.
Humans are the ones who makes decisions about the charges; humans weigh the evidence; humans reach a verdict; humans pass judgment; and humans carry out the sentence. It is the human factor that thwarts, short circuits, circumvents, or stymies the rules and regulations set in place to safeguard the process.
Evidence is planted, missed, or ignored. Witnesses are coerced, intimidated, or discredited. Police brutality, corruption, racial profiling, entrapment, illegal interrogation, false confessions. Political agendas, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel. Fallibility of witness memory. Victim statements manufactured and manipulated by leading questions. The wrong person picked out of a lineup. Innocent people are convicted in sent to prison. Guilty people get off on technicalities. The real perpetrators get away with murder even.
Humans with their prerogatives and passions; their intelligence and ignorance; their biases and beliefs; their motivations and methodologies; their dedication and dispositions are the cause when the prosecutor brings charges or decides to close the case; the jury gets the verdict right or gets the verdict wrong; when a person is convicted by a judge or when another judge overturns a conviction; when the parole board grants a parole or when they deny it.
You see it is all connected and yet disconnected at the same time. Both functional and dysfunctional; both transparent and opaque; both fair and biased. The one thing it is not is perfect. It may be the best we have, but we need to see it for the flawed system that it is and take that into account when preparing to cast stones. In John 8:7 Jesus said, “Let he that is without sin cast the first stone.” Studies have shown that in the state of Texas more than 5% of those put to death for murder were later found to be innocent.
So, what are the odds that someone convicted of a lesser crime might be innocent? Maybe we should save our vitriol for someone who truly deserves it rather than applying a liberal dose to every case. In a previous century tar and feathering was carried out by a mob of angry citizens. Today it is a virtual tar and feathering that happens in the media and on the Internet. As a society we have become quick to judge and condemn others while demanding grace and mercy for ourselves.
The problem is that we can’t judge ourselves, we are at the mercy of the court. Maybe, just maybe if we took a little more time and care in our decision making; looking before we leap; thinking before we act; putting ourselves in the other persons shoes; and “doing unto others as we would have them do unto us,” occasionally we wouldn’t find ourselves in such a messed-up situation. You can’t undo harm and there are no take backs in punishment. Saying “I’m sorry” or “My bad” can’t put things right. As the nursery rhyme says, “All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” And this is true whether he was pushed, jumped, or fell. Regardless of whether you are the victim, or the accused just remember that we’re all in this together for better or worse. Blaming others, excusing ourselves, or sticking your head in the sand can’t fix the problems in the criminal justice system. Be part of the solution rather than the problem. Hold the system accountable. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil the whole barrel. Demand better treatment for both victims and the accused, or someday when you find yourself in the system it will be too late.
tima6674 Christ, Crime and Punishment Leave a comment January 16, 2019 March 8, 2019 4 Minutes
You Might Be A Prisoner If:
An homage to Jeff Foxworthy
You try to buy things with Ramen Noodles.
You call out in a restaurant “Cookie for a burger!”
You send a written request to your doctor for an appointment.
Three times a day you stop what you’re doing and go sit on your bed.
You never make phone calls that last more than 15 minutes.
All the outfits in your closet are identical.
You can tell military time but you don’t salute officers.
You get signatures in your day planner for every appointment.
You get your hair cut with children’s safety scissors.
Instead of being chased by a posse, the posse travels with you.
You wish your gin had been brewed in a bathtub.
You sleep with the lights on for safety.
You gossip worse than women about other men.
You expect and accept “No” for an answer.
You are willing to stand in line at the worst restaurant in town.
You work for only pennies an hour.
You have to pay your roommate to get him to take a shower.
You paid for your tattoos with coffee.
Convictions are something on your rap sheet, not something you believe.
Earning a GED is considered a significant achievement.
You answer when people call you by a number instead of your name.
Instead of working 9 to 5 you have hard labor from 5 to 9.
You use a Bible as a doorstop or a wedge for your bunk.
You think HOPE is a four-letter word.
You think that instant coffee is the elixir of the gods.
You think that life and death is just fun and games.
You watch free cable but are not staying in a hotel.
The way you say ‘Thank you’ is “Good lookin’ out” and mean it literally.
All your worldly possessions fit into a duffle bag but you don’t deploy overseas.
The majority of the furniture in your room is bolted to the floor or walls.
tima6674 Warehouse of Lost Souls Leave a comment January 13, 2019 March 9, 2019 1 Minute
Everything Is Backwards In Prison
We lock our closets but we can’t lock the bathroom door. In fact, in many prisons there isn’t a bathroom door.
The best food you get to eat is vending machine food in the visiting room or gas station food from the commissary. The chow hall food is practically inedible.
The windows don’t have any curtains but still fail to let much light in.
It is dark in the housing units, yet people complain when you turn on the lights.
When you do turn on the lights they are still not bright enough to read by.
Bath soap and shampoo are used to wash your personal dishes.
The day room is most crowded at night.
We use chairs as a ladder to climb unto the top bunk instead of sitting on them.
Emergency count is never an emergency and always takes longer than regular count.
In the chow hall they feed grown men kid’s meal portions.
Disposable plastic silverware is used over and over forever.
Guys talk about the ugliest women as if they are beauty queens when they would never give them a second thought out in the world.
We refill the ink barrel of our favorite disposable pen.
We recharge disposable batteries.
Laundry comes out of the wash looking dirtier than before it was washed.
Headphones are used to block out sound.
The family we were tired of listening to can’t talk long enough on the phone.
We sometimes have to lock-up to get free of a bad situation.
New flat screen TVs have smaller screens than the old CRTs and cost 50% more.
Some work only to steal.
The MDOC pays students to go to school.
Some inmates have their people put money in other prisoner’s trust accounts because they can’t have any in their own.
We brush our teeth before meals.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Bad behavior is expected.
We learned that the truth will not set you free.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This is the opening of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776. The nation born from the struggle to achieve better treatment for its people by casting off its oppressors commemorates its freedom from July 4th rather than from September 3, 1783 when Great Britain signed the peace treaty ending the revolution and acknowledging the sovereignty of the United States of America. Freedom was not granted by the oppressors, rather it was taken by force by the oppressed. Unfortunately, not everyone in the country can celebrate freedom today. Millions of men and women are incarcerated in jails and prisons all across the country. When you don’t have the ability to participate in life, liberty, or pursue happiness there really isn’t much to celebrate on a national holiday that you can’t experience.
Christmas is a religious and cultural holiday. Thanksgiving remembers the difficulties of establishing a home in the “new world.” Memorial Day acknowledges the sacrifice of our soldiers to defend us. Labor Day acknowledges the efforts of the people to make the engines of commerce run. Those in prison can find connection to some or all these holidays, but Independence Day in my experience was different.
Prisoners have had their freedom taken away because they violated societies code of conduct. Why take away freedom? Because after life, liberty is the most valuable thing a person can possess. It is like the punishment we received as children when our parents took away our favorite toy. We didn’t like that but when that didn’t work, what did they do? They put us in time out, which escalated to grounding when behavior fails to conform to expectation.
Parents do this because it works, sort of. When we were little it didn’t take much to pursued us to behave. But over time the punishment increased in severity as the effectiveness diminished. The same thing happens with adults. Harsher punishments for more heinous crimes and 3 strike laws to increase penalties for repeat offenders. But just like children over time with repeated offense the effectiveness diminishes.
Nonetheless when you are in prison you are not free, but you remember what freedom was like. You miss it terribly because all around you are reminders of what you have lost and what it takes to deny it from you. On one hand you watch the officers and staff go home every night, cars driving by on the streets beyond the fences and the TV brings images of what’s passing you by. On the other hand, you can’t get away from razor wire, monotonous routine, and loneliness day after day. All of these are enough to drive you crazy and the last thing you want is something like a holiday dedicated to freedom to rub salt in the wound.
Holidays are times when people in the world get together with family and friends, take road trips, and gorge at feasts. Prison can only offer pale facsimiles that leave little to be desired. Once upon a time there were picnic holiday meals served on the big yard with burgers and hotdogs cooked on the grill, as the old timers tell it. But any pretense of holiday celebration is long gone. Holiday meals are only slightly distinguishable from any other meals. Like putting fixings on a burger and ice cream on pie. At my last prison the local community fireworks display was visible over the tree tops for those that had a view from their housing unit windows facing that direction. While they drew the attention of a few guys, most simply complained about the noise.
Holidays meant that non-custodial staff would have the day off, so things like the library or gym callouts would be cancelled. This always caused complaints, since these callouts would not be rescheduled for another day. The visiting room was always crowded on the holidays. Holidays meant limited hours compared to the normal visiting room hours of operation. Vending machines run low and there is no one to refill them. Lots of irregulars working means that chaos rules. All this takes away from the enjoyment of having contact with family or friends.
The phones are always busy on holidays as guys call home hoping to make contact with family and friends visiting the house that they wouldn’t normally get to speak with. Providing that you can get through.
After the Independence Day holiday is over there is an almost audible sigh of relief when things go back to “normal” at least until the next holiday in September. The only independence day that a prisoner wants to celebrate is the day that they are released from incarceration.
tima6674 Warehouse of Lost Souls Leave a comment January 4, 2019 March 11, 2019 3 Minutes
Vincent Van Gogh’s “Prisoners Walking The Round” also called “Prisoners Exercising” painted in 1890.
It is really easy to paint everyone in prison as being the same. Hardened criminals who are as monochromatic as the walls surrounding them with black hearts and dark thoughts that only know destruction. But that like most popular perceptions about prison is not just an over-simplification, it is wrong. Prison is a microcosm of society with people from all walks of life, many of whom I’ve tried to describe in this blog. There are colorful, creative people who have done some terrible things and are paying the price. However, rather than letting darkness consume them they are taking the proverbial lemon and making lemonade. They do this pouring out their creative energy in painting or writing. The University of Michigan Prison Creative Arts Project has for more than two decades hosted an exhibit of art by Michigan prisoners and for ten years have published an annual volume of creative writing. The annual art exhibit and reading are held in Ann Arbor and Detroit and are open to the general public.
Works of art and writing are submitted to a selection committee at the U of M Humanities School. Those that are accepted cover a wide range of subject matter from real life to flights of fancy and from poetry to non-fiction. Many of the works of art are available for sale with the proceeds going to the artist. The creative writing is published in book form that is available for sale by U of M. At the reading, mainly family and friends are invited to read on behalf of the incarcerated author. I was one of the rare authors who had paroled between the submittal and the reading and could present my own poem “Ode to Ramen.” A humorous but truthful analysis of the importance of Ramen Noodles to prisoners.
It is fascinating to see how others view their life behind bars in color or black and white. The diversity of perspectives and experience is showcased nicely through this program by U of M. So much of life behind bars is a mysterious secret that very few get a glimpse of first hand. There should be more programs like this that provide an outlet for inmates than can be witnessed by the public.
Here is the poem that I wrote regarding one aspect of prison life that was published in “Concertina Maze” The Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing, Vol. 9. 2016
Ode to Ramen
Like many prison inmates I own my very survival to your savory, salty goodness. The MRE of the penitentiary. You are always there when the chow hall lets me down to satisfy my hungry longing for sustenance.
Your noodley presence is the only constant in a place where no one knows what tomorrow may bring. More enduring than a Bunkie, waiting patiently in my locker to be called upon in a time of need.
Honeybuns and bagels may come and go, but your pasta lasts forever. You never grow old or mold, having a half-life rather than a shelf life. Meant to be crushed yet you are indestructible. Immortality incarnate.
Haute cuisine you may not be, yet comfort food you are. A staple ingredient in every dish, the most versatile of wonder foods. You inspire me to new heights of cookery as master chef of the microwave.
Flavor is your claim to fame. Packets of hot spicy intensity or meaty mellowness that travel far and wide beyond the expectations of ordinary condiments, to lift the spirits of diners in desperate need of taste enhancement.
Your value transcends your caloric content to become the currency of the land. Exchanging hands to pay our debts, you wander far before you spend your last to ensure that I will make it ‘till the dawn.
Hail to the noodle!
tima6674 Christ, Crime and Punishment Leave a comment January 4, 2019 March 11, 2019 3 Minutes
Care Less
The old adage is that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is never truer than in prison. I have encountered very few employees of the MDOC that I could honestly say cared about anything more than their jobs. Not doing their jobs well, just keeping them. Actions speak louder than words and the way some of the COs yell that’s saying something.
An example of a CO that is not treating inmates with respect is when they get on the PA and call for you by saying, “Hay get up here!” They use profanity and humiliation to publicly denigrate inmates. Using strong arm tactics, such as tearing up a person’s property when doing a shake down and taking property such as TVs as contraband in retaliation for a perceived slight.
Food service workers that would rather throw food away then feed a little extra to the inmates that work in the chow hall. Supervisors that refuse to write work reports with a perfect score, on the principle that we’re convicts. Medical staff that put company profits ahead of providing life-saving health care service. Vendors that make huge profits off of those who can least afford it.
From the inmates’ perspective it is really easy to be cynical about attitudes when those who have been entrusted with the care and feeding of inmates treat them worse than dogs at the pound. People who are always looking for an angle are jaded about the motives of others. Respect and the lack there of is a central premise of the prison culture. Inmates can spot a fake a mile away. Sincerity, truth, and information are of great value and in short supply. The few MDOC staff members that have these elusive qualities are respected. For the rest animosity, antagonism, a never-ending game of cat and mouse, with scores to settle and vendettas that result in guys going to the hole and COs getting hurt.
What is needed most by people who have received so little of it in their lives is having someone care about them as a person. To see them as more than a number and a pay check. To see them succeed, to go home and never come back. Once that happens, then maybe inmates will listen a little more carefully to what they are being taught in school and programming. Maybe they’ll be more cooperative with the system instead of being hell bent on destroying it from the inside.
I am not naive to think it will cure all the problems and that the hostility of people being held against their will, will go away. But would it really hurt those who work for the MDOC to start treating inmates as people? To do their jobs conscientiously with the goal of treating inmates as customers or patients instead of merchandise that is simply warehoused and shipped from place to place. We may be damaged goods, but we need help to put us back together, not to be thrown on the junk pile and discarded.
As human beings we are composed of bodies, souls, and spirits that require a lot of nurturing. The resources required to this are not cheap, but the fact is that prison as it currently exists causes more harm than good. It is failing to do the one job it is entrusted to do- that is to protect society by rehabilitating those who have been deemed unfit for a civil society. It is unfortunate that people end up in prison. An ounce of prevention is worth more and certainly costs less than a pound of cure.
But until the legislature and the general public are willing to pay the true cost of meeting the goal of reducing crime by addressing the root causes they are stuck instead paying for the cure. Don’t let it be money just flushed down the toilet, but rather well spent by corrections professionals who act the part and take their jobs seriously and care about making a difference.
tima6674 Christ, Crime and Punishment Leave a comment January 4, 2019 March 9, 2019 3 Minutes
Books by Robert Stroud are still in print today.
The Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud raised and studied birds while he was incarcerated at Leavenworth. A convicted murderer, he published Diseases of Canaries in 1933, which was smuggled out of prison and sold. He even ran a successful business from inside prison. While not allowed to keep birds at Alcatraz he instead wrote a history of the penal system. He was incarcerated for the last 54 years of his life and spent 42 of those years in solitary confinement. A dangerous, violent man who eventually became one of the best-known examples of self-improvement and rehabilitation in the federal prison system.
While no one is raising birds in their cells for sale in the MDOC, I’ve seen a few that had the birds feeding out of their hands in the big yard. Prisons are generally not located in heavily populated areas and are surrounded by farms, fields and forests. The result is that there is a fair amount of wild life present. Deer, wild turkeys, muskrats, foxes, opossum, raccoon, skunk, chipmunks, and dozens of species of birds. It is the small animals and birds that can come and go as they please through the perimeter, obviously the larger critters will only be visible outside of the fence, but a deer did get inside the fence one time.
I’ve watched guys hold out their hand and feed birds with crumbs of bread taken from the chow hall. Standing still with their arm outstretched near a bird perched on a fence or bench. The bird will hop onto the hand and feed for seconds at a time. Red Winged Black Birds, Chickadees, and other song birds that to some extent have become accustomed to humans can be coaxed from feeding nearby to feeding out of hand. No sudden movements, no noise, just patience.
Birds perch on fences, however in prison that can be dangerous since there is usually razor wire involved. I’ve seen countless one-legged birds hopping about. That’s a high price to pay for hanging out in prison just for the sake of a free meal.
Chipmunks are another species that benefits from inmate’s willingness to feed the animals, which is of course against the rules. Chipmunks hide in holes and are nervous by nature but can be coaxed out with a few peanuts. I’ve never seen one feed from a hand, but there was a game to see how close you could get to one.
Prison being prison, not every story is cute and cuddly. While I was at my first level I facility, several inmates got into trouble for catching, killing and trying to cook a duckling in the microwave.
Large open grassy areas tend to attract geese and ducks, especially if there are even small temporary bodies of standing water nearby. The big yard may look like a tempting location to raise a family. Inmates will step aside and allow the mother duck to lead her ducklings from one location to another across the yard. Ducklings grow fat from all the bread crumbs tossed their way. Free from predators 1ike foxes, hawks become the greatest threat. The ducks are closely watched and any loss to the family group is noted. Some guys find great joy in in watching the ducklings mature and are saddened when they fly away at the end of the summer. I think a part of these inmates who have invested their time and emotions into these ducklings flies away with them when they leave. You can see it in their eyes as they watch the ducks experience freedom that the inmates can only dream about.
Unlike Hogan’s Heroes or Shawshank Redemption the MDOC doesn’t use guard dogs. I’ve heard of dogs being brought in from the state police to search for drugs but that is about it. There are however several facilities that have begun raising puppies for the Leader Dogs for the Blind program. Writeups in the newspapers speak highly of these programs and the success rate that these dog programs have. They were going to set one up at my last level I facility but the new warden changed his mind. The inmates had already been selected and moved into a housing unit and the kennels had been built in the housing unit, but no dogs. There was one dog that came to live in the prison however. An officer had passed away after an extended illness and her dog was brought in in anticipation of the dog program. While not actually part of the program the dog was to be looked after and cared for by the inmates. It became the most popular individual on the compound. I would see it sometimes being taken for walks around the track during yard time. In the winter someone even made it a winter coat by cutting up a prisoner coat to make one with little sleeves for the front legs and an orange stripe across the shoulders just like the rest of the prisoners had. Doted on and spoiled rotten with lavish attention the dog was the center of attention everywhere it went. It became a sort of therapy dog for everyone at that prison. No one would dare to abuse or in any way hurt the dog or they would suffer the wrath of several hundred dog lovers.
Photo: Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press
They say that dogs are man’s best friend and that they don’t judge us but give unconditional affection. For many in prison that type of attention is exactly what prisoners need. In a place where there is so much negativity to find something as relentlessly positive as a wagging tail. To have something to care for and about when it feels like you’re forgotten and alone. To have a reason to do something for someone besides yourself. To be responsible for the well-being of another creature when your own is under duress. If one dog could do that what would 20 dogs do? The fact is that dogs make a positive contribution to the facilities that have them.
Photo: J. Scott Park / AP
There is a tremendous demand for these dogs and it would seem that while having the dogs would make for more work the dividends paid by the positive mood they bring that every warden should be clamoring to get a program at their facility. Unfortunately, that is not the case and you need to ask why. Just like Robert Stroud who benefited from a warden who saw the value in his bird research and gave him a second cell to house all his birds only to lose it all when a new warden came and didn’t see the value and thought that he only deserved punishment and harsh treatment. It all goes back to the question: Is prison only about punishment or should rehabilitation be the focus?
Education Connection
One of the strongest correlations in predicting whether or not a person will end up in prison is the lack of a high school education. This fact has been known for many years and has been codified into a law that requires inmates without a high school diploma or a GED to attend GED classes.
Even before there was a GED program in the MDOC there were primary and secondary education programs with Jackson Public Schools at the old walled prison in Jackson that allowed inmates to earn a high school diploma. In fact, until the Pell Grant for prisoners was eliminated under President Bill Clinton there were college classes taught by institutions such as Spring Arbor College, where inmates could earn a B.A. degree.
I worked as a tutor in the GED program for 5 years and had the privilege of working a long side two old timers who had earned their B.A. degrees from Spring Arbor College. They were bright, articulate, knowledgeable, and earnest in communicating their passion for helping men earn their GED.
In the MDOC the inmates who work as tutors are the key to the program. The reason is both simple and shocking. First is that peer to peer learning has been shown to be an effective adult learning tool. Inmates teaching inmates removes the power dynamic from the situation. Also, there is the ability to establish relationships that would be inappropriate for correction’s staff.
During my time as a tutor I worked directly for three different teachers at two different facilities. I knew 10 teachers well enough by interaction with them and their tutors to know about their classroom environments to say that what I am about to share is not atypical.
The first teacher I worked for knew my former employer from a previous career in medical equipment sales. All teachers in the MDOC GED program are certified educators and all that I am acquainted with had worked in public schools. My teacher, who I will not name, was no exception. He worked in primary education for Detroit Public Schools. In fact, he had been fired by them. The old saying is “Those who can’t do, teach.” In prison it goes a step further, “Those who can’t teach, teach in prison.” Teachers like many others who work in prison are there because they couldn’t make it in the free world. Like COs that couldn’t make it as police officers, there are those “teaching” in prison who couldn’t teach. This isn’t the case for all teachers, just like there are good COs, it is just that there are more than a few bad apples.
The second teacher I worked for was the Felix Unger to my first teacher’s Oscar Madison. They were in appearance the “Odd Couple.” One was nattily dressed and a stickler for organization, the other unkept and easy going. But being a snappy dresser didn’t make up for his inability to manage his class. I got along great with him until I made the mistake of correcting him in front of the class, when he incorrectly described how to solve a math problem. I went from getting a perfect work evaluation to ‘barely meets expectations.’ I had organized his filling system, written standard operating procedures to ensure that all future tutors would be able to maintain the system. The tutors took attendance, graded work, assigned student testing, maintained educational files, and worked one-on-one with students, while the teacher chatted with students and wrote more tickets than any other teacher. He did not have the respect of his students and did not have control of the class room. The result is that the class room did not provide a learning environment for those who wanted to learn.
My second teacher was the complete opposite. Wild hair and sloppily dressed, but he had a kind and gentle demeanor that commanded the respect of his students. His class room was a quiet, stress-free learning environment, where men succeeded in earning their GED. It was in this class that I earned my greatest compliment. I was on a visit and one of my students pointed me out to his family and said, “That man is helping me get my GED.” And he did. Just as the COs set the tone for what goes on in the housing units, the teachers set the tone for the class room and it makes all the difference when it comes to educational success.
The third teacher I worked for was not like either of my previous bosses. He worked for 20 years as a teacher in the MDOC, he had seen it all. He held court in his class room. He told stories in a folksy style. Nothing got under his skin except students that squandered the opportunities given to them. He wanted the best for his students and did more to help them succeed. He also saw to the needs of his tutors who he didn’t treat as inmates so much as co-workers. The respect was mutual.
Education is supposed to be a priority for the MDOC, yet year after year budget cuts to education have reduced the number of teachers in the class room and the resources available. When the new GED standard came out in 2014 the MDOC was not prepared to change over until 2016. Even then they still did not have the text books available in all subject matters in sufficient quantities for all students in all classes. They had bought new computers that were supposed to run new educational software for the students to prepare them for the computerized GED exams. Unfortunately, the computers sat unused for two years and when the new programs were implemented the servers and other hardware purchased were inadequate.
Examples of GED textbooks used by the MDOC.
The old GED standard was said to be about equivalent to an eight-grade education. The new GED based on the new high school graduation requirements significantly raised the bar. Many students who had passed some but not all subject areas were given several opportunities to complete their GED, but when push came to shove the lack of staff to administer the additional tests resulted in some students losing out and having to start over with a significantly elevated bar. This was a real blow to moral and I watched a number of students give up and throw in the towel, resigning themselves to the reality that the new GED standard was unattainable. The new GED was designed to be high school equivalent, while prisoners are anything but.
The old models of self-teaching by students with assistance from the teachers and tutors didn’t work that well under the old GED. With the significantly higher educational requirements the MDOC needs to rethink how it operates its classes. Self-learning only really occurs after fifth grade because students up to that point lack the necessary vocabulary and learning skills to effectively study on their own. When all you were asking was about three grades of learning many could get by with their life skills to bridge the gap and earn their GED. Under the new system it is asking too much for inmates, many of whom are functionally illiterate to self-study. What is needed is a structured class room environment where teachers actually teach and students are expected to learn.
Participation in the GED program was a parole board requirement, but because there weren’t enough teachers or class room space there were waiting lists based on ERD at each facility. The result was that inmates serving short sentences would go to the head of the list, but if they didn’t have an interest in learning thought that they could wait out their time. The result was that those who actually wanted to earn their GED and would write kite after kite asking to get into school would have to wait. And due to their longer sentences were further down the waiting list were prohibited from working in the interim.
In addition to the GED program the MDOC also offers vocational training programs intended to provide marketable job skills to aid inmates in gaining employment upon release. Programs like Carpentry, Electrical & Plumbing, Masonry & Concrete, Horticulture, and Food Service were popular. These programs were available to those who had a vocational training requirement from the parole board because they had no prior history of employment before coming to prison. These programs required a GED or high school diploma as a prerequisite.
I knew a guy who was hired to be a tutor in the Masonry & Concrete program as they were setting up the program. He was a masonry contractor in the free world and knowledgeable in all aspects of the trade. He was not impressed with the training curriculum and I would trust his judgement on this. What he also told me made me sick and it should make you angry. The facility where we were located was very limited in the available class room space. In fact, the GED class that I was a tutor for was relocated to a much smaller classroom that had previously been used for other programs such as AA, in order to give the larger classroom to the Plumbing & Electrical class. The room across the hall from my smaller class room was the technology room where the GED testing was held. They were displaced to make room for the Masonry class. Before the masonry class could begin a secure tool crib needed to be built along one wall of the room to store the tools to utilized by the class. When they brought the brand-new tools that had been ordered for the class to put them in the tool crib it was apparent that they would not all fit. With no other storage options available the teacher had his tutors throw thousands of dollars of brand new tools in the trash compactor rather than deal with the situation. After the class started one day I watched as they tracked cement dust all over the hallways in the school building. the utility closet was half way down the hall and they made a huge mess making mortar for a brick laying project.
The level of incompetence displayed is hard to grasp but it really happened. My teacher saw it coming and tried to warn them but like every other good idea proposed in the MDOC it was ignored. They tried to set up this program quickly and on the cheap and then forced it into a facility that could not accommodate it.
I understand that in recent years new programs have been introduced such as Asbestos Abatement for which I have no first-hand knowledge, just what I’ve seen on the news or read in the paper. It makes a great sound bite but if it is anything like the vocational education classes I’ve seen first-hand then it will be worse than useless and potentially dangerous to the students.
Many of the inmates participating in these programs selected them based on availability at the facility they were housed at, not on what they saw as a potential career that they would actually be interested in. They are just checking off a parole board requirement to increase their chances of parole. Given how these programs are run it is a pretty obvious and safe to say that the inmates aren’t the only ones going through the notions when it comes to educational programs.
I was surprised by how many guys I met in prison paid no attention to what was going on out in the world aside from popular culture. News programming was never on the in the day room. The only current events discussed were the rumors regarding issues pertaining to the MDOC. The only politicians that were talked about was the sitting governor and attorney general, usually in connection to a 4-1etter expletive. In the classroom I encouraged guys to read newspapers and would cut out articles on various topics. About the only ones I got them to read were the articles about crime or pop culture. The reality is that the typical inmate was already disconnected from the greater society and only focused on their subculture.
When you are in prison you don’t get much say into who your cell, cube or bunk mates are. If you don’t get along your option is to lock up. In an ideal world people can work through the vast majority of their differences, however prison is not ideal. The divide between an old white guy who never had a run in with the law before coming to prison and a young black man who started on a life of crime at age 12 when he caught his first juvenile case is vast.
There is no love lost between these two, the only thing they have in common is that they were convicted in the state of Michigan. More than likely they look down on the other and their crime with contempt. Without knowledge, exposure to others different from ourselves, and acceptance of the differences there will be continued strife. Not a good thing is a place where might makes right, and violence is the first and, in some cases, the only alternative considered.
Inmates are a captive audience. So what better place to provide diversity and civics training? Education is the proven solution to bridging the gap that divided us. More over by proactively front loading the training the inmates could be held responsible for their behavior in relation to the material. Outbursts and incidents could be used as teachable moments and remedial training to reinforce the importance of applying the material. The parole board would have more information to evaluate in regards to the expectations set out for inmate behavior. Raising expectations for behavior sets the bar higher. Well behaved inmates make for better behaved returning citizens.
In Michigan while on parole, parolees have the right to vote, but most don’t. They didn’t participate in the electoral process before, failing to engage in the basic rights and responsibility of the democratic process as the center of our society.
Programming in prison currently tries to educate inmates why committing crime is wrong. What is clearly lacking is teaching inmates about doing the right thing. They hold you responsible but don’t teach you responsibility. They say “ignorance is bliss,” but in this case we should make an exception.
Deaf, Blind and Dumb
While I was in Level II I lived in a handicap accessible housing unit. Seeing wheelchairs, white canes, TTY telephones, special showers and toilet stalls were the telltale signs that people with disabilities were present. With the aging population in Michigan prisons it’s not unexpected that there would be physically infirm seniors that required walkers or wheelchairs for mobility, but there were also single and double leg amputees. While not surprising that there are people from all walks of like, I wondered how those who couldn’t walk got there.
Prison is a place full of people seeking to exploit even perceived weaknesses to their advantage, so it doesn’t help to have those weaknesses clearly advertised. There also isn’t much in the way of empathy from the officers and staff, it is prohibited by policy and tends to be lacking by disposition for those who work in a place like this. This combination of inmates and staff makes a dangerous environment even more difficult for those who struggle with the basic, necessary activities of life.
One of the men I met there had lost both of his eyeballs to a childhood cancer. It was incredible enough that he was convicted of a heinous crime but to see what a blind man had to contend with in prison was heartbreaking. He was a person who had overcome his disability by learning to read Braille, college educated, and lived relatively independently. I watched him navigate from his cell across the yard to the chow hall, the school building, or medical with little or no assistance. The issue wasn’t what he could do for himself but what he wasn’t allowed to. He was actively fighting his conviction and the conditions of his incarceration. In the world he had access to technology that would allow him to process information. In prison he was forced to rely on an inmate to read his mail, including his legal mail that contained sensitive information regarding his criminal case.
The law library could not accommodate him because they would not provide legal text in Braille. In essence he was denied the ability to fully mount his appeal, which is a denial of his civil rights. He wasn’t one to take his setbacks lying down, so he fought the librarian and the administration tooth and nail for both the basic tools he needed and his own dignity. The courts have ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to prisons with considerations of safety and security limitations. However, in a place where logic and reason don’t apply it shouldn’t be a surprise that federally guaranteed rights like the ADA would be denied.
He contacted the Department of Justice ADA division in Washington D.C. and they tried to send him the relevant statutes in books on tape format. The mailroom would not deliver the tapes because they didn’t come from an approved vendor. They also claimed that the letter head on the enclosed documents was fake! Over and over they found any excuse they could to deny this man. He fought back by filling grievances, escalating to Step 2 and Step 3, as they were denied and dismissed repeatedly, going all the way to the Ombudsman in Lansing.
I have noticed that those who complain about their incarceration the most are singled out for retribution, abuse, and neglect. Rather than take the complaints seriously it is easier to dismiss the messenger, saying “they” are only inmates. I don’t know what happened to this blind crusader, but I’m sure that where ever he is he is still fighting the good fight. Why would anyone want to make life more difficult for someone who already has more to overcome than just being a felon. All he wanted was a fair hearing.
Being deaf poses a different set of difficulties. There were two guys, one who was hearing impaired but could function with hearing aids and was fluent in sign language. The second was deaf and could only communicate through signing. While I was in Level II with them the pair was inseparable for obvious reasons.
The officers and staff communicate verbally and relied on the first inmate to communicate with the second. For official communication there was a state translator, just as when a Spanish speaking inmate needed someone to translate at hearings. This person wasn’t on site but had to be brought in special for hearings like parole interviews or disciplinary hearings. One day after I had been moved to Level I, I ran into the first hearing impaired innate. I asked him how the second deaf inmate was doing. He just shook his head. When they moved him, there wasn’t anybody to take his place looking out for the deaf man and we both understood how difficult his situation was.
When you are deaf you can’t hear the CO calls your name over the PA system to come to the officer’s podium, or at count time to get on your bunk. Unless the officer was a regular unit officer aware of his situation he might be ignored or mistreated. In prison you have to look out for yourself since no one else will. But when you have a disability you don’t have that ability. In a place where you learn not to trust others, they are forced to. And when by some miracle you find someone you can trust to help you and the system takes that assistance away, it is a cruel and unfair punishment.
Not long ago I read in the news that legislation had been put forward that provide a mechanism for elderly and severely infirm inmates that posed no risk to the community to be transferred to a nursing home facility. I’ve been saying this for several years and it would seem like a no-brainer. There is a geriatric facility for these inmates, but I understand the conditions there are really bad and they have a hard time recruiting inmates to go there to serve as care givers to assist the inmates sent there to die. I really can’t imagine a tougher position to fill.
I was also not surprised to read the negative response this legislation received from the Attorney General and victim advocates who claim that any early release, regardless of the reason was an injustice. All of this just goes to prove that prison isn’t about handing out punishment to suite the crime, it is about vengeance. Inmates are not seen as individual human beings but as numbered animals that don’t have any civil or human rights. Whether the sentence is 2 years flat or life without the possibility of parole we are still talking about basic standards of care. The burden of support to maintain that level of basic care is placed upon the state. There are only two valid options: Either the state is committed to bearing that cost burden and fulfilling its obligation to care for those wards placed into its charge. Or let some go and only hold on to those who truly are a danger to society. Not everyone in prison is, not even those who are convicted of a violent crime are. Inmates must be individually assessed and then treated fairly according to a plan, not just lumped into a faceless mass where it is easy to overlook their humanity. The MDOC has chosen a 3rd way which is unacceptable and outrageous. They cling to discredited and outdated policies and procedures that threaten the wellbeing of those they claim to be rehabilitating.
As an update to this essay, an article published in the February 26, 2017 Detroit Free Press stated that a Federal Judge in Detroit has ruled that the MDOC for years has violated the ADA. Specifically, a lawsuit brought by Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service representing deaf and hearing imparted prisoners proved that the department routinely violated the prisoner’s rights under ADA. It only took the incarceration of a blind social worker who wrote letters to legislators and others regarding the situation to gain traction. Then the MDOC as it always does in a too little too late attempt to avoid the looming lawsuit issued a policy directive and started to institute changes to avoid the inevitable. While the court has not yet finalized the consent judgement it is likely that the department will have a federally appointed monitor for two years to oversee the necessary changes that must be implemented in order to bring the department into compliance with the ADA.
This was not the first lawsuit brought against the MDOC in relation to violations of the ADA. It was simply the first successful class action. The MDOC is no stranger to having a federally appointed monitor, there has been one in place since the 1980’s when a class action lawsuit regarding prison health care showed how poorly prisoner health was being managed by the department. This really does raise the question, why is it so difficult to get people to believe when prisoners make claims about the abuses that they suffer at the hands of their captors?
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Links to Websites I Recommend
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) a grass roots organization that believes that prison should only be used for those who absolutely must be incarcerated. That those incarcerated should have all the resources they need to turn their lives around.
KERYX is a lay-led, non-profit, interdenominational, Christian ministry that is active in prisons around the world and right here in Michigan. They provide a highly structured program that promotes solid Christian life-skills. I am a proud graduate of their program.
HonerRestored is an organization founded by a guy I knew in prison dedicated to abolishing the Sex Offender Registration Act in Michigan which the US Supreme Court has said violates the constitutional rights of those forced to register.
Reform Alliance The mission of the REFORM Alliance is to dramatically reduce the number of people who are unjustly under the control of the criminal justice system – starting with probation and parole. I wholeheartedly agree with goal.
The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. They achieve this through award-winning journalism, partnerships with other news outlets and public forums. In all of their work they strive to educate and enlarge the audience of people who care about the state of criminal justice.
Speaking for Those Who Can’t Speak for Themselves
Blog Threads
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Characterization of urban aerosol in Cork city (Ireland) using aerosol mass spectrometry
Name: Dall'Osto_Cork_AMS.pdf
Dall'Osto, M.; Ovadnevaite, J.; Ceburnis, D.; Martin, D.; Healy, Robert M.; O'Connor, Ian P.; Kourtchev, Ivan; Sodeau, John R.; Wenger, John C.; O'Dowd, Colin D.
Copyright: © 2013, the Authors. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Citation: Dall'Osto, M., Ovadnevaite, J., Ceburnis, D., Martin, D., Healy, R.M., O'Connor, I.P., Kourtchev, I., Sodeau, J.R., Wenger, J.C. and O'Dowd, C. (2013) 'Characterization of urban aerosol in Cork city (Ireland) using aerosol mass spectrometry', Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 13, pp. 4997–5015. doi: 10.5194/acp-13-4997-2013
Published Version: 10.5194/acp-13-4997-2013
Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).Ambient wintertime background urban aerosol in Cork city, Ireland, was characterized using aerosol mass spectrometry. During the three-week measurement study in 2009, 93% of the ca. 1 350 000 single particles characterized by an Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TSI ATOFMS) were classified into five organic-rich particle types, internally mixed to different proportions with elemental carbon (EC), sulphate and nitrate, while the remaining 7% was predominantly inorganic in nature. Non-refractory PM1 aerosol was characterized using a High Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Aerodyne HR-ToF-AMS) and was also found to comprise organic aerosol as the most abundant species (62 %), followed by nitrate (15 %), sulphate (9 %) and ammonium (9 %), and chloride (5 %). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to the HR-ToF-AMS organic matrix, and a five-factor solution was found to describe the variance in the data well. Specifically, "hydrocarbon-like" organic aerosol (HOA) comprised 20% of the mass, "low-volatility" oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) comprised 18 %, "biomass burning" organic aerosol (BBOA) comprised 23 %, non-wood solid-fuel combustion "peat and coal" organic aerosol (PCOA) comprised 21 %, and finally a species type characterized by primary m/z peaks at 41 and 55, similar to previously reported "cooking" organic aerosol (COA), but possessing different diurnal variations to what would be expected for cooking activities, contributed 18 %. Correlations between the different particle types obtained by the two aerosol mass spectrometers are also discussed. Despite wood, coal and peat being minor fuel types used for domestic space heating in urban areas, their relatively low combustion efficiencies result in a significant contribution to PM1 aerosol mass (44% and 28% of the total organic aerosol mass and non-refractory total PM1, respectively).
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2013, the Authors. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
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July 3, 2017 July 3, 2017 noelex22Leave a Comment on Rainbow Racing To Champion Diversity in yacht racing.
Rainbow Racing To Champion Diversity in yacht racing.
New Zealand short-handed sailor Cory McLennan has today announced the launch of Rainbow Racing – a 10-year project that will champion diversity and inclusiveness in sailing on a global scale.
The Rainbow Racing project will see McLennan compete in high-profile solo and short-handed yacht races around the world over the next decade. The 23-year-old wants to demonstrate that sailing is an accessible sport for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other rainbow communities.
McLennan made history in 2014 when, at 19 years old, he became the youngest person to complete the Solo Trans-Tasman yacht race. After that, he planned to take part in similar local and international races, and ultimately to compete in the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race.
But McLennan nearly gave up his dreams, and the sport of sailing altogether, because he felt great fear about ‘coming out’ to others in the sailing world.
“I went into hiding. I was scared that someone would find out, scared of what would happen to me. I nearly gave up sailing because I didn’t believe that I would be accepted, and I felt I couldn’t do it and be myself. However, my local club and the people at Yachting New Zealand have been very supportive and I am hoping this will be the case throughout the rest of the competition series.” McLennan said
There is still progress to be made. A 2015 study called Out on the Fields, the first international study on homophobia in sport, found 87 percent of the nearly 9500 participants had witnessed homophobia in sport. New Zealand also had the highest percentage (61 percent) of gay adults choosing to stay in the closet in sport.
All Blacks halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow admitted last week he had used gay slurs without intent and had now signed up to a campaign for gay awareness in a bid to stop homophobia in New Zealand sport.
McLennan wants to use his experiences to benefit others. “I want to show other people that it doesn’t matter in sport who you are, sport is about what you do. I want to show anyone that in sport you should be judged on your ability, not on your sexuality or gender.”
New Zealand’s major sporting organisations, including Yachting New Zealand, committed to the #sportforeveryone initiative in 2016, to tackle the lack of diversity in sport.
“We believe yachting is an inclusive sport because anyone who wants to get into the sport can,” Yachting New Zealand chief executive David Abercrombie said. “There are opportunities for everyone.
“Yachting New Zealand and World Sailing are aligned in their strategic direction and one of the aspects of that is inclusivity. We wish Cory well with his campaign and sailing ambitions.”
McLennan already has the backing of Proud to Play NZ, a charitable trust that tackles homophobia in sports. He is now seeking to partner with corporate sponsors who support equality, diversity and inclusion, using sailing as a platform to spread that message to a global audience.
Cory aims to compete in April’s Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge before tackling the two-handed category of June’s Auckland to Noumea race.
“Solo yacht racing is one of the most physically gruelling and mentally tough sports, and I want people to see that sexuality is no barrier to taking part,” he said. “I want to be the first openly gay person to race around the world in the Vendée Globe.”
“I started Rainbow Racing because I know how scared I was, and still am. It’s not easy to come out – it means putting myself out there and conquering my own fear – but if what I’m doing can help just one person with their fear, it’ll be worth it.”
McLennan aims to sail in competitions ending in Australia, where same-sex marriage is still not legal, and some of the Pacific Islands where homosexuality is illegal. McLennan plans to use this series to spread the message of equality to these countries.
Published by noelex22
View all posts by noelex22
Previous Cory’s Story
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“Top” 10 Democracy Realities in 2014
This is the second of a two part series. Like part 1, “top” is in parenthesis to acknowledge the relative nature of the selections. There is no presumption that this is the definitive list. Readers will, no doubt, have their own ideas.
The lens used to determine both lists were what were impediments/possibilities for We the People to have genuine opportunities to have their voices heard and ability to shape decisions impacting the world around them.
Overall, 2014 saw a surge in participation of people seeking to build power for just and peaceful change. The quest to build mass movements linked issues, strategies and people in ways unseen for many years.
1. Protests against police brutality
“Black Lives Matter” not only became a refrain of street protestors in 2014, but a movement sparked in response to the killings of blacks in Ferguson, New York City, Cleveland and many other communities. Participants are racially and age diverse – with some police officers among the growing ranks. Issues extend beyond issue of police mistreatment of people of color to militarization of police forces, disproportionate imprisonment of blacks, and institutional racism throughout society. Demands are equally expansive – from local to national, from political to cultural, from short- to long-term.
This growing movement has forced the mainstream culture to begin facing issues of race and prejudice as they relate to power and privilege. In doing so, it offers the opportunity for mass awareness and solidarity. Any progress in understanding and meaningful dialogue also strategically makes it more difficult for the power elite to use race as a divide and conquer strategy to maintain illegitimate power and authority.
2. Movement to end corporate personhood and money as speech
The Move to Amend movement to end the inane constitutional doctrines asserting corporations are “persons” and money equals “free speech” continues to grow from its inception is 2010 following the Citizen United vs FEC Supreme Court decision.
More people in more places educated, advocated and organized in their communities for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to achieve these duel objectives. Fueling the movement were the McCutcheon vs FEC and the Burwell vs Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decisions. The innumerable local, state and federal examples of growing corporate power and corruption associated with money in elections also contributed to a surge in awareness and attraction to this solution.
Many communities organized for passage of city council resolutions. Each and every of the two dozen communities that organized ballot initiatives were successful with most of the citizen driven ballot measures winning with landslide margins. That these these victories took place during the same elections that saw Republicans make gains at the federal and many state levels is evidence of the trans-partisan appeal of these concerns.
3. Growing environmental movement
The state of New York’s ban on fracking may have been the most tangible victory in response to organized citizen pressure, although no doubt the science and economics of gas drilling were also factors. Resistance to fracking grows both in the U.S. and Europe. Resistance included marches, rallies, forums, lobbying, civil disobedience and Community Bill of Rights initiatives.
The climate march in New York City drew hundreds of thousands of people. The Keystone pipeline continues to be delayed due in part to growing popular pressure (the fact that major Obama supporter Warren Buffett owns railroads that could transport the oil rather that pipelines was also a consideration).
The Vermont legislature passed a mandatory labeling bill for all food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Voters in Jackson county, Oregon and Maui county, Hawaii banned GMO crops. Voters in Oregon came within an eyelash of passing a statewide ballot measure on GMOs – only losing because of massive political campaign spending by the pro GMO food corporations.
4. Exposing the truth of money creation
Two of the fundamental sources of financial power of banking corporations worldwide are (1) most people believe a nation’s money is created by government, and (2) most money in a nation is actually created by private financial institutions, including private central banks.
So long as financial institutions control the issuance of money – whether by a private central bank (i.e. the misnamed Federal Reserve in the US) or by banking corporations (when they create money out of thin air as debt when they issue loans), financial institutions will not only possess the ultimate economic power in a society but the ultimate political power, since economic profits are translated to political power via lobbying and campaign contributions/investments.
More people worldwide are shedding the myth and understanding the reality of actual money creation – a major step toward the democratization of our money. Leading the way in 2014 was Britain.
Bank of England officials admitted in March that banks don’t loan out pre-existing deposits, they simply create it out of this air. Martin Wolf, the chief economics writer for the Financial Times (the Wall Street Journal of England) wrote an article in April “Strip private banks of their power to create money.” And the U.K Parliament debated money creation in November – for the first time in 170 years. All of this was in part the result of the ongoing education, advocacy and organizing of the pro democratization of money group, Positive Money.
5. Alternatives to dollar
The U.S. Empire hasn’t just been military. It’s been economic. The bomb and dollar operate hand-in-hand to maintain control and thwart democracy. There’s growing resistance to not simply U.S. military installations worldwide, but also to US-dominated World Bank and IMF policies, as well as to the US dollar as the world’s “reserve currency” – meaning nation’s must have dollars to purchase oil (the “petrodollar”) or conduct trade. This is changing.
The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations announced plans to launch their own rival development bank to the IMF and World Bank. Russia is setting up its own SWIFT banking transaction system. Nations began trading with one another in their own currencies. This movement is led by China and Russia, with the later willing to sell oil for Rubles and Yuans. England, Canada and other countries also began to accept non-dollar payments with other nations.
Breaking away from the dollar is a key ingredient for nations to achieve national monetary sovereignty.
6. Global resistance to corporate trade deals
Opposition to the proposed U.S.-Asian Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and U.S.-European Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) were global. Whenever and wherever negotiators and their corporate “advisors” met behind closed doors (where it should be acknowledged labor, indigenous, consumer, and environmental representatives were not invited), people were in the streets, lobbing their respective national elected representatives and educating the general public.
The message was clear and direct: these “trade” agreements are in actually about global rule which, if enacted, would circumvent democratically passed laws and regulations on labor, environmental, consumer, health, the internet and financial controls. Fast Track (which would have allowed the President to ram these measures through Congress) was at least temporarily derailed from a vote.
7. Increased revelations of spying and surveillance
The continued revelation of documents by Edward Snowden, Julian Assange (founder of WikiLeaks) and others detailing US domestic and international snooping of citizens en mass using the sweeping pretext of “terrorism” provided strengthened resolve to US citizens to take action to protect privacy and basic civil liberties and human rights under the U.S. Constitution. Actions calling for fundamental change at the legislative, executive, bureaucratic and judicial levels are all essential requirements for anything approaching a real democracy.
Snowden’s story received further attention when the documentary Citizenfour was released in the fall. He was honored in December with the Right Livelihood Award, an international award to “honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today.”
The flip side of technology as a tool of spying, surveillance and suppression is the way technology can be used for mass education, awareness and mobilization.
As “mainstream” media in all its forms becomes more corporatized, the Internet has become a more important source for alternative information and analysis. This made the nationwide struggle to maintain net neutrality all the more important in 2014.
Pictures and videos documenting police brutality as it happened from mobile phones sparked mass reactions. Twitter was used to mobilize mass actions, be they in the U.S. against police brutality or in Hong Kong for democracy, in an instant.
9. Local alternatives / sustainability
The more local the institution, the better chance people have to define it.
The last few years have seen a significant increase in the forms and numbers of local “micro” alternatives to large national or transnational “macro” political and economic institutions.
The rise of local independent businesses, local food production and distribution, local renewable energy, community internet broadband, community money (in both electronic and paper versions) sustainable housing, and decentralized transportation are among the many localized ways people are building democracy from the ground up.
10. Increasing disgust with US politicians and Supreme Court
A majority of U.S. residents feel public officials don’t represent their interests, given the massive disconnect between what the public desires on issue after issue and existing public policy. A national Rasmussen Reports survey in 2014 found that an all-time high 53 percent of all Americans believe that neither major political party “represents the American people,” while 65% of Americans are dissatisfied “with the U.S. system of government and its effectiveness,” according to a 2014 Gallop poll – also an all time high.
Public views on the Supreme Court weren’t much better. Just 35% in a 2014 poll gave the court a positive job performance rating and a strong majority believes that Justices are influenced more by their own personal beliefs and political leanings than by a strict legal analysis. A huge majority, 74%, believes there should be a fixed term of 18 years for Justices.
This growing awareness that our government is broken because the system is fixed is a very positive sign for achieving real democracy. It reflects that the U.S. “democracy myth” that keeps people on the sidelines, believing all is good and that others should make decisions for them is evaporating.
We have to take charge if we want real democracy, self-governance or self-determination. It won’t happen by magic or physics, only by intentional, deliberate and genuinely inclusive engagement with others.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged banking corporations, corporate personhood, corporate power, corporate rule, democratize money, environment, Fast Track, GMOs, local currency, money as speech, money is speech, Move to Amend, racism, spying, Supreme Court, TPP, TTIP by gcoleridge. Bookmark the permalink.
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GCU’s non-profit status could open door for athletic competition against ASU
Grand Canyon’s move to non-profit status could mean future basketball games between GCU coach Dan Majerle (pictured) and Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
By Nathanael Gabler | Cronkite News
PHOENIX — Facing bankruptcy, $20 million in debt and an enrollment of fewer than 1,000 traditional students, Grand Canyon University took on investors in 2004, making it the nation’s only for-profit university to compete in NCAA Division I athletics.
On Monday, a $875 million sale returned GCU to non-profit status, raising questions about the future of athletic competition between the school and Arizona State.
“The higher education landscape in greater Phoenix continues to evolve with ASU emerging as a major, international research university and Grand Canyon University emerging as a nonprofit Christian college,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement. “As each of us evolves, we see opportunities to work together across a spectrum of activities in academics and athletics.”
GCU joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2012. It’s for-profit status was met with criticism, including from Pac-12 university presidents, who wrote a letter to the NCAA questioning whether for-profit schools should be granted membership into Division I.
An ASU statement at the time of GCU’s move to Division I said “our concern is how athletics fit within the academic mission of for-profit universities. For-profit colleges are operated as businesses and are not accountable to their faculty or students” and “we cannot play teams that exist for profit and use their games playing games against to advance their stock prices.”
Although GCU has managed to schedule games against major programs, such as Arizona and Duke in basketball, it has yet to play ASU since its move to Division I. ASU and GCU, however, have competed in club sports.
The move to non-profit status means Grand Canyon will now become a full voting member of the NCAA. Although it was on a probationary period that comes with a move to Division I, GCU has been eligible for all conference and NCAA tournament action since 2017.
GCU’s return to a non-profit university may have cleared up past issues with Arizona State.
Grand Canyon President Brian Mueller and Crow met about a month ago to discuss the conversion and future relationship. Mueller said they left the meeting committed to a “strong, cooperative relationship.”
“There’s a lot of people, a lot of presidents, that want to have strong relationships with Grand Canyon, but they felt, they were queasy about doing that because of our for-profit status,” Mueller said. “Now that’s been removed, so it’s a good thing for them and us.”
GCU does not field a football team but it has found success with many of the 21 teams it does field. The men’s basketball team has never finished below third place in the WAC since its move to Division I, accumulating a 22-12 record this past season. Two baseball players, Jake Wong and Mick Vorhof, were picked in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft, and the women’s golf team won its first WAC title this past season.
Grand Canyon and ASU are not scheduled to compete in any sport for the upcoming season, but as evident by comments from both presidents, these changes could be coming soon.
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Cryptids, Cryptid Wiki, Aquatic-based Cryptid,
Oceanic Cryptids
Ocean carcasses
Globsters
Asian cryptids
Aquatic mammals with hair
Sakhalin Island Woolly Whale
The Sakhalin Island Woolly Whale was a large unidentified mass that washed ashore on a beach in Sakhalin Island, Russia, in June 20th, 2015. The carcass was over 11 ft (1.2 m) long, 4 ft (0.9 m) wide, and was also estimated to weigh 1/4 of a ton. It was described as having a beak, covered in white fur, and bones protruding along its sides.
Scientists have yet to identify the strange prehistoric-like "mutant", which has similarities to a dolphin but is twice as large as a human being.
Found on the shoreline of Sakhalin Island, which is closer to the United States than it is to Moscow.
The strange white fur
The extraordinary pictures show a bloodied carcass ripped apart with its bones showing.
They also show what appears to be thick long hair hanging off the creature's remains, a characteristic that has puzzled marine biologists.
Nikolay Kim, deputy head of the Forecasting Department at the Sakhalin Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, said he believed it to be a species of “big dolphin".
"According to a characteristic of the skin, it is a rare species," he said.
"I doubt that it lived in our waters. Most likely, the animal was brought by a warm current.
"We often get tropical and subtropical species here and when they cool down they stay here and then die.
"I can confidently say that this is some kind of a dolphin.
"However, it has fur. It's unusual. Dolphins do not have any fur."
Pictures of the carcass have caused a sensation on Russian social media, with many local people speculating about what the animal is.
One said: "It looks like some mutant sea monster with a beak."
Some claim it resembles a Ganges River dolphin, which are normally found in the fresh water regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
One online comment beside a photograph jokes: "Probably, our summer is so cold that even the Indian Dolphins getting into local waters, are covered with fur."
With a small triangular hump instead of a dorsal fin, a brown colour and the tendency to swim on their sides, Ganges dolphins are different from other typical species of dolphins.
However, crucially, they have no fur and only grow to about 2.4 metres in length - much smaller than the carcass washed up on the Russian coastline.
There are about 40 different species of dolphin in the world with the largest being the Orca, which grows to up to 31ft long (10m) and is more commonly known as the Killer Whale.
According to the famous marine park Sea World, dolphins are born with short hair but shed it shortly after birth. Could this be some sort of Dolphin that doesn't shed it's hair?
This carcass was also speculated to be decomposing remains of a beaked whale via a Twitter post by Darren Naish. It was later "confirmed" as a beaked whale by various bloggers, who provided little additional information, even though the beaked whale is not a species, rather 22 known species of the Ziphiidae family.
Retrieved from "https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Sakhalin_Island_Woolly_Whale?oldid=99516"
Aquatic-based Cryptid
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National Organizationsupport2019-07-02T01:37:18+00:00
Hezekiah Sistrunk, Jr.
President & National Partner
Hezekiah Sistrunk, Jr., is a National Partner and
President of The Cochran Firm, Chairman of the
National Firm’s Executive/Management Committee
and the Managing Partner of the Firm’s Atlanta Office.
The Board of Directors is the core leadership of The Cochran Firm. Comprised of Mr. Cochran’s
founding partners, protege’s and closest colleagues, the Board of Directors meets to determine the
direction of The Firm and discuss ways to best continue the legacy that Johnnie Cochran left behind.
The Cochran Firm Atlanta
Hezekiah Sistrunk, Jr. is a National Partner and President of The Cochran Firm, Chairman of the National Firm’s Executive Committee and the Managing Partner of the Cochran Firm Atlanta
Mr. Sistrunk’s practice focuses largely on the litigation of complex disputes involving common law, statutory law, contract law, physician and hospital liability law, product liability law, commercial, corporate and business issues, catastrophic personal injury cases and class action/ mass torts/pharmaceutical litigation. Over the course of his career, in fact, Mr. Sistrunk has prosecuted and defended hundreds of litigated matters before state courts, federal courts and administrative agencies and has tried over 100 cases to verdict
Mr. Sistrunk has lectured on medical professional liability issues, complex litigation matters including class action and mass tort litigation and has conducted risk management and risk assessment seminars for various clients. In addition to his trial experience, lecturing, and advising clients, Mr. Sistrunk has also served as a mediator in hundreds of matters
Gate City Bar Association Hall of Fame
Lawyer of the Year Award, Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs in Atlanta, 2019
Top 100 Lawyers in Georgia, National Trial Lawyers, 2011 – 2018
AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale – Hubbell Law Directory
Clarence Darrow Award
Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. Award, National Bar Association
Best Lawyers in America, 2015 – 2019
Georgia Bar Association
National Trial Lawyers Association
National Board of Complex Litigation Lawyers, Founding Membe
B.A. – With Honors, North Carolina State University
J.D. – Duke University Law School, Elv in R. Latty Scholar
J. Keith Givens
The Cochran Firm Dothan
Keith Givens, managing partner and shareholder of The Cochran Firm, P.C., has been a civil trial lawyer for consumers and injury victims for over 35 years. A founding partner with Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Keith has managed the firm’s national operations and growth since 1998. He concentrated his practice in the areas of personal injury and wrongful death. Currently, he focuses his practice on truck accident cases, product claims, and complex litigation. Keith has obtained over $1 billion in case verdicts and settlements for his clients. He obtained Alabama’s highest verdict for a single wrongful death, a $25 million jury verdict against a drunk driver and a lounge for the family of a man who was killed while jogging. He was also the plaintiffs’ attorney in the $700 million settlement of an environmental case involving PCB, which was the largest settlement in Alabama history at the time. Keith was a finalist for the Public Justice Foundation’s 2008 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, receiving recognition for his work on the environmental case of Perrine v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company. The Perrine case resulted in a $381 million jury verdict and was the highest consumer verdict in the nation in 2007.
Keith is a past president of The National Trial Lawyers Association, an invitation-only association of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from each state. He has been a member of The National Trial Lawyers Executive Committee since 2007 and a member of the Editorial Board for The Trial Lawyer, a nationally distributed magazine for trial lawyers, since 2010. Keith has served as president, president-elect and on the board of governors for The Alabama Association for Justice, with which he is a sustaining member. Keith also served as president of the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation and was president of the Southeast Alabama Trial Lawyers Association for two years. He has been a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar Association (1989 – 2009) and by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (1990 – 2007).
Rated AV Preeminent® by the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register
The Alabama Trial Lawyers Association’s Al Sansone Service Award
Finalist for the Public Justice Foundation’s Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, 2008
Named to Lawyers of Color Power List, 2015
Named to The Trial Lawyer Magazine’s RoundTable
America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers, 2014-2018
America’s 100 Most Influential Trial Lawyers, 2011-2013
Named one of The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 100 Alabama Trial Lawyers
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers
Alabama Civil Justice Foundation
Alabama Law School Foundation Board of Directors
American Association of Justice
Editorial Board for The Trial Lawyer
Florida State Bar Association
Georgia State Bar Association
Houston County Bar Association
Southeast Alabama Trial Lawyers Association
The Alabama Trial Lawyers Association
The National Trial Lawyers Association, Executive Committee Member, and former President
University of Alabama, Law School Foundation, Board of Directors
B.S. – University of Alabama
J.D. – University of Alabama School of Law
Derek Sells
The Cochran Firm New York
Derek Sells is the Managing Partner for The Cochran Firm’s New York office. He is an exceptional trial attorney, having achieved many successful results, including a damages trial verdict against The City of New York for $33.52 Million Dollar, a result featured in the Nation Law Journal’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2002.
A 1985 graduate of Dartmouth College and a 1988 Yale Law School graduate, Derek began his legal career at the prestigious Washington, D.C. firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. He then joined the Washington, D.C. Public Defender Service, rising to a senior trial attorney.
In 1995, Derek joined New York’s Schneider Kleinick Weitz Damashek & Shoot, later known as The Cochran Firm, Schneider Kleinick Weitz Damashek & Shoot, as a trial attor ney. In May 2002, Derek became Managing Partner of The Cochran Firm. He has since amassed an extraordinary number of Million Dollar verdicts and settlements, exceeding a total of $100 Million Dollars.
Derek has taught trial advocacy at various seminars, in cluding those sponsored by the New York State Trial lawyers Association, the New York State Bar Association and Harvard Law School. He is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C. bars.
Derek was selected to 2010 New York Super Lawyers for personal inj ury plaintiff – general. Only 5% of lawyers in the state of New York are chosen for this honor each year. The multi – phase, selection process for this recognition includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent evaluation of candidates by the attorne y – led, research staff at Super Lawyers, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good – standing and disciplinary check.
New York Bar Association
Washington D.C. Bar Association
B.S. – Dartmouth College
J.D. – Yale Law School
Angela Mason serves as the managing partner for The Cochran Firm – Dothan and sits on the Board of Directors for the National Cochran Firm. She began practicing law in 1996, first serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Ira DeMent in the Middle District of Alabama and then beginning private practice with the law firm that would evolve into The Cochran Firm. Her personal injury law practice focuses primarily on complex and mass torts litigation, pursuing claims for people who have been injured or treated unfairly by negligent and irresponsible corporations. Most recently, she has been litigating against pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers who distributed dangerous products in the marketplace, large corporations who denied their employees’ fair wages, and large corporations who have contaminated people and their properties with dangerous substances. A finalist for the Public Justice Foundation’s 2008 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, Angela was recognized for her work on the environmental case of Perrine v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company. The Perrine case resulted in a $390 million verdict and was the highest consumer verdict in the U.S. in 2007.
Licensed to practice law in Alabama, Georgia and Washington, D.C., and admitted pro hac vice to numerous state and federal courts, Angela has worked with top trial lawyers from around the nation on numerous lawsuits. She has been appointed to the Discovery Teams for Multi-district Litigation in the DePuy ASR Hip Litigation in Ohio, the DePuy Pinnacle Hip Litigation in Texas and the Yasmin & Yaz Liability Litigation in Illinois. Angela served on the bellwether trial teams in both the DePuy Pinnacle and Yasmin & Yaz litigations, and she was appointed to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee in the Just For Men Hair Color lawsuit as well.
Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Alabama, 2013 – 2018
Very High Rating in Legal Ability & Ethical Standards, 2017 – 2018
The Cochran Firm’s President Award, 2010
Lawyers of Distinction, 2018
Alabama Trial Lawyers Association Editorial Board
Mass Tort Trial Lawyers Association Executive Committee
Houston County Bar Association, Grievance Committee & Board of Directors
B.A. – With Highest Honors, Auburn University
M.A. – With Highest Honors, Auburn University
J.D. – Summa Cum Laude, University of Georgia School of Law
Jeffery Mitchell
The Cochran Firm New Orleans
Jeffrey Mitchell
Born in Mobile, Alabama Jeff Mitchell graduated from Louisiana State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. He attended Louisiana State University, The Paul M. Herbert, School of Law from which he obtained his Juris Doctor Degree in 1989.
Jeff has focused his practice primarily in the areas of Traumatic Brain Injuries and Medical Malpractice. Jeff is one of approximately 13 lawyers in Louisiana to be Board Certified in Medical Malpractice by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. Jeff also handles cases in the areas of Automobile Accidents, Products Liability, Premises Li ability and Maritime Law.
Mr. Mitchell was featured in the April 23, 2012 edition of Newsweek Magazine as one of the Nationwide Leading Attorneys in Medical Malpractice. Only 19 attorneys nationwide were featured overall and only 11 were featured in the area of medical malpractice. Mr. Mitchell was also selected for inclusion in the 2012-2019 editions of The Best Lawyers in America. Selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 3.9 million confidential evaluations by top attorneys. Mr. Mitchell was also selected for inclusion in the 2012-2010 editions of Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of medical malpractice. Only 5 percent of the attorneys in the State of Louisiana are named to the very prestigious list. Mr. Mitchell’s law firm, The Cochran Firm- Metairie was a recipient of the 2014-2016 Litigator Awards, which honors the top 1% of lawyers in this country. The awards are based on actual “Verdict & Settlement” dollar achievement rather than peer popularity making them perhaps the most rigorous and openly judged Award Ratings.
Mr. Mitchell was hand-picked by Mr. Cochran to serve as the Chairman of the Medical Malpractice Section of The Cochran Firm; Mr. Mitchell has served as the President of the National Brain Injury Trial Lawyers. Mr. Mitchell has authored numerous articles and appeared frequently as a lecturer at legal seminars on the topics of Medical Malpractice and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
HONROS & AWARDS
AV Rating, Martindale – Hubbell
National Finalist, Leading Lawyers in America, Law Dragon’s Annual Guide
Leadership in Law Award, 2010
Top 100 Trial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers, 2007 – 2010
Top Lawyers in Medical Malpractice, New Orleans Magazine, 2009
Louisiana Bar Association
American College of Barristers
Louisiana Association for Justice, Medical Malpractice Section
National Trial Lawyers
B. S . – Louisiana State University
J.D. – Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert School of Law
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Unites States Court of Federal Claims
Shean Williams
A dedicated fighter in the battle against injustice, Attorney Shean Williams is a masterful litigator who prides himself on his strong work ethic and tenacity. Mr. Williams simply doesn’t give up, and he always puts his clients first
For the last 20 years Mr. Williams has been committed to fighting for injured people and their families in the areas of trucking litigation, auto accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home litigation, premises liability, civil rights litigation, and prod ucts liability. His jury verdicts and settlements are in excess of $80 million. Mr. Williams is proud to have obtained many multimillion – dollar verdicts and settlements for his injured clients. Specifically, Mr. Williams was one of the lead attorneys who obtained a $20 – Million wrongful death verdict in Clayton County, Georgia and a $17.5 Million verdict in Fulton County, Georgia.
Mr. Williams’ specialty is the unique way he connects with members of his jury panel, making complex themes more relatable to the everyday person. Shean has his finger on the pulse of his community donating time, talent, and money to many diverse civic groups including New Mercies Christian Church, Project Destiny, Inc., Green Pastures Christian Church, The Winning Circle, and Star Struck Foundation.
Mr. Williams shared a special bond with Founding Partner Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Their relationship went beyond the typical mentor – mentee relationship. They were more like father and son. Mr. Williams is reminded daily of the l essons and wisdom that Mr. Cochran imparted, and that inspiration is a driving force for him to continue Mr. Cochran’s legacy today.
The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association
Gate City Bar Association
National Bar Association
The Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America
B. S . – Miami University of Ohio
J.D. – Georgia State University
Federal Courts of the State of Georgia
Appellate Courts of the State of Georgia
Samuel Cherry
The Cochran Firm Mid-South
Sam Cherry is a founding partner of The Cochran Firm, Managing Attorney for The Cochran Firm Mid-South, and serves as a member of The Cochran Firm’s management team for national operations. Sam is nationally acclaimed for verdicts and settlements in product liability cases where he has obtained over $160 million for his clients. At 11 years old, he was involved in a horrible vehicle accident that cost him his left eye and seriously disfigured his face. He suffered numerous orthopedic injuries involving his spine, arms and legs, was unconscious for three weeks and endured over 20 surgeries in attempts to correct some of the damage. As such, Sam understands the pain and suffering that his clients face. He has been very instrumental in the development of product liability claims against manufacturers of defective aerial lift devices. Because of his efforts, many safety innovations have been incorporated within the aerial lift device industry
Alabama Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Alabama Trial Lawyers Association
J.D. – Cumberland School of Law
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John Hamilton Morgan Papers
Typescript Letters from John Morgan to Church leaders, 1878-1887, Part 8
Title Typescript Letters from John Morgan to Church leaders, 1878-1887, Part 8
Creator Morgan, John (John Hamilton), 1842-1894
Date 1885; 1886
Description Scan of 11 letters from John Morgan, President of the Southern States Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to Church President John Taylor and other Church officials: [1 - 2] Letter dated 9 December 1885 at Salt Lake City, Utah, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [3] Letter dated 22 December 1885 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [4] Letter dated 11 February 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [5 - 6] Letter dated 9 March 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [7] Letter dated 22 April 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to George Reynolds at Salt Lake City, Utah; [8 - 10] Letter dated 27 April 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [11 - 12] Letter dated 11 May 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [13] Letter dated 4 June 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to "Brother Spence" (W. C. Spence, Church agent for emigration and transportation); [14 - 15] Letter dated 7 June 1886 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from John Morgan to President John Taylor; [16] Letter dated 22 June 1886 at South Pueblo, Colorado, from John Morgan to "Brother Richards" (probably Apostle Franklin D. Richards); [17 - 18] Letter dated 14 July 1886 at Salt Lake City, Utah, from John Morgan to President John Taylor
Spatial Coverage Southern States; Colorado
Subject Morgan, John (John Hamilton), 1842-1894--Correspondence; Taylor, John, 1808-1887--Correspondence; Mormon missionaries--Correspondence; Mormon missionaries--Southern States; Mormon Church--Southern States--History; Mormon Church--San Luis Valley (Colo. and N.M.)--History; Nuttall, L. John (Leonard John), 1834-1905--Correspondence; Richards, F. D. (Franklin Dewey), 1821-1899--Correspondence
Metadata Cataloger Halima Noor; Ken Rockwell
File Name 1465_02_09.pdf
ARK ark:/87278/s6fr0p3r
Setname uum_jhmp
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6fr0p3r
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Lacrosse, Sports
Men’s lacrosse falls 19-18 in overtime, Gray sets new program records
March 21, 2018 1:25 am by Nicole Havens
Sophomore midfielder John MacLean scored four goals in BU’s 19-18 overtime loss against Harvard Tuesday night. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Despite freshman attack Chris Gray setting the program record for assists (eight) and points (10) in a single game for the Boston University men’s lacrosse team, the Terriers (4-5, 0-3 Patriot League) fell to Harvard University 19-18 in overtime Tuesday night.
BU had a 14-9 lead at the end of the third quarter, but Harvard (6-1) stormed back in the final quarter with nine goals, including four from sophomore attack Kyle Anderson, to push an overtime.
Senior attack Morgan Cheek’s tally two minutes into the overtime period — his fifth of the contest — gave the Crimson the win.
This marked the Terriers third consecutive loss, and BU head coach Ryan Polley said he was disappointed that his team couldn’t seal the game, but happy with the team’s season-high 18 goals.
“We probably needed one or two more plays down the stretch to secure the win and to Harvard’s credit, they made a lot of plays to get back in the game,” Polley said. “It just seemed like we were one play away from kind of ending it and we were just unable to do it, but there were a lot of positives from tonight and I’m really pleased with the way the offense is playing.”
Junior attack James Burr and senior attack Jack Wilson finished the contest with five and four goals apiece for the Terriers.
After matching the program record for points in one game with seven last Saturday against Bucknell University, Gray finished with two goals and eight assists against Harvard.
“… He’s just playing lights out,” Polley said. “He’s a great player and he just was outstanding tonight and we’ll continue to get him the ball and put him in some spots to make plays.”
The matchup opened with each team trading man-up goals, which were followed by three consecutive goals from the Crimson for a 4-1 lead.
However, with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter, freshman midfielder and faceoff specialist Sean Christman won the draw at the faceoff X and fed the ball to Gray, who found the back of the net.
BU followed this up with three more goals to take a 5-4 lead at the end of the frame.
Christman went 18-for-35 at the X overall, a career best.
Polley noted the importance of Christman’s contribution to Gray’s first goal of the game and giving the offense possession.
“Sean’s had two good games in a row so I thought he battled pretty hard at the X and got us some transition early,” Polley said of Christman. “We were down 4-1 and he pops one forward and we got a goal. That kind of got us going offensively.”
Another goal from sophomore midfielder John MacLean 35 seconds into the second quarter capped BU’s 5-0 run.
Harvard knotted the game up at seven with 3:19 remaining in the first half, but the Terriers responded with another goal from Burr and a buzzer beater from senior midfielder Hayden Ruiz to put BU up 9-7 at the half.
The Terriers kept their lead throughout the third stanza as they outscored the Crimson 5-2.
The final quarter told a different story as Harvard outscored BU 9-4.
Cheek — one of the Harvard’s main offensive playmakers — came to full form and dodged the Terriers’ zone defense, scoring two goals while registering five assists over the final 15 minutes of the game.
“We had a couple breakdowns in the defensive side,” Polley said. “Cheek made some plays on his own and right now every goal matters and we had some breakdowns in coverage and we kind of fell asleep on one that I can recall. At the end of the day, he’s a great player and he made some great plays.”
Burr found the back of the net with 7:06 to extend the Terriers’ lead to 18-12, but this would remain BU’s last goal of the night as Harvard followed up with seven unanswered goals, including the game-winner in overtime from Cheek.
Polley said that moving forward to Lafayette College this weekend, his team needs to play a full 60 minutes and not breakdown in critical moments of the game.
“We had chances to end the game, we had chances to get a stop, we had a chance one-on-one with a goalie with a couple minutes to go. We just didn’t make the plays,” Polley said. “We just have to continue to put pressure on our guys in practice and try to put them in those high-stress situations. Hopefully those guys will get it done in practice and then that will equate to getting it done in the games.”
Author: Nicole Havens
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Empire Of Deceit (CD)
> CD/DVDs>Empire Of Deceit (CD)
Item Code: MQ62
Publisher: ILMQuest
Oneness of God (2...
Who is God? (CD)
Author Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Dr. Philips gives 2 lectures dealing with the same basic issue: corruption. In "Empire of Deceit" we are reminded of Satan, and his ancient and prolonged vow to destroy human beings. In "The Blind Heart" we are warned on the diseases of the heart and their cures. A great lecture combo for the routine tazkiyah which every soul should perform.
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada, where he accepted Islam in 1972. He completed a diploma in Arabic, and a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool Ad-Deen) at the Islamic Univeristy of Madeenah in 1979. At the University of Riyadh, College of Education, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985, and in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, he completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in 1994.
Since 1994 he has founded and directed the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (which is now known as Discover Islam) and the Foreign Literature Department of Dar Al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, UAE. Presently, he is a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai and Ajman University in Ajman, UAE.
More items by this publisher: ILMQuest
shahzad a. on 09/17/2018 great speech
Spear of the Devil + Bathe Yourself With Money...
Oneness of God (2 CDs)
Princess of the Believers (CD)
Racism, Youth Issues (DVD)
Muslim ID: Told From a New Perspective (2 DVDs)
Thugs in the Masjid (CD)
ISLAM - The Only Solution to World Peace (2 CDs)
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Vatterott College-Sunset Hills
Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges
2016 Undergraduate Tuition
0.869% growth from 2015
2016 Average Net Price
After Financial Aid
2015 Student Loan
Default Rate
2016 Enrolled Students
100% Full-Time
2016 Graduation Rate
125 Graduates
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is a higher education institution located in St. Louis County, MO. In 2016, the most popular Bachelor's Degree concentrations at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills were Network & System Administration (0 degrees awarded).
In 2016, 135 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills. 41.5% of these degrees were awarded to women, and 58.5% awarded men. The majority of degree recipients were white (89 degrees), 3.42 times more than then the next closest race/ethnicity group, unknown (26 degrees).
The median undergraduate tuition at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is $11,836, which is $-964 less than the national average for Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges ($12,800).
Photo by Alex Proimos
Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges: Associates DominantBaccalaureate/Associates Colleges
After taking grants and loans into account, the average net price for students is $18,406.
In 2016, 86% of undergraduate students received federal grants, while 88% of undergraduate students received federal loans.
Student Expenses
Tuition Costs
In 2016, the cost of tuition at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was $11,836. The cost of tuition at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is $-964 less than than the overall (public and private) national average for Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges ($12,800).
This chart compares the tuition costs of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) with those of other similar universities.
Average Net Price
In 2016 Vatterott College-Sunset Hills had an average net price — the price paid after factoring in grants and loans — of $18,406. Between 2015 and 2016, the average net price of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills grew by 1.9%.
This chart compares the average net price of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) with that of other similar universities.
Average net price is calculated from full-time beginning undergraduate students who were awarded a grant or scholarship from federal, state or local governments, or the institution.
Other Student Expenses
The average yearly cost of room and board at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was of $6,118 in 2016. During the same period, the average yearly cost of books and supplies was $1,682. The cost of room and board increased by 1.63% between 2015 and 2016. The cost of books and supplies increased by 4.47% during the same period.
This chart compares the average student costs at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) with that of similar universities.
Financial Aid by Income Level
Of Undergraduates Receive Grants
Of Undergraduates Receive Federal Loans
86% of undergraduate students at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills received grants or loans in 2016. This represents a growth of 0% with respect to 2015, when 86% of undergraduate students received financial aid.
This chart compares the average award discount at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) with that of other similar universities.
The average award discount is the ratio between the average grant or scholarship value, and the cost, which is the sum of out-of-state tuition, room, board, book, supplies, and other expenses.
Student Loan Default Rate
Cohort default rates only account for borrowers who default in the first three years, and some schools only have a small proportion of borrowers entering repayment. These rates should be interpreted with caution, as they may not be reflective of the entire school population.
2015 Default Rate
Number of Defaults
In 2015 the default rate for borrower's at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was 26%, which represents 1420 out of the 5464 total borrowers.
A cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year.
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills received N/A undergraduate applications in N/A, which represents a 0% annual growth. Out of those N/A applicants, N/A students were accepted for enrollment, representing a N/A% acceptance rate.
There were 328 students enrolled at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills in 2016, and N/A% of first-time enrollees submitted SAT scores with their applications.
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills has an overall enrollment yield of N/A%, which represents the number of admitted students who ended up enrolling.
Acceptance Rate in N/A
Accepted Out of N/A
In N/A, the undergraduate acceptance rate of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was N/A% (N/A admissions from N/A applications). This is approximately the same as the acceptance rate of N/A, which was N/A%. Between N/A and N/A, the number of applicants stayed by N/A%, while admissions stayed by N/A%.
This chart compares the acceptance rate of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) with that of other similar universities.
Submission Percentage
Scores Submitted
N/A% of enrolled first-time students at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills in N/A submitted SAT scores with their applications.
This chart shows the SAT scores for the 25th and 75th percentile of applicants broken out into each section of the test that their are evaluated on.
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills has a total enrollment of 328 students. The full-time enrollment at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is 328 students and the part-time enrollment is 0. This means that 100% of students enrolled at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are enrolled full-time.
The enrolled student population at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills, both undergraduate and graduate, is 70.1% White, 20.1% Black or African American, 0.915% Hispanic or Latino, 0.915% Two or More Races, 0.61% Asian, 0.61% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.305% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.
Students enrolled at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills in full-time Undergraduate programs are majority White Male (45.4%), followed by White Female (24.7%) and Black or African American Male (10.4%). Students enrolled in full-time Graduate programs are majority N/A, followed by N/A and N/A.
Full-Time vs Part-Time Enrollment
Full-Time Enrollment
The total enrollment at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills, both undergraduate and graduate, is 328 students. The full-time enrollment at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is 328 and the part-time enrollment is 0. This means that 100% of students enrolled at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are enrolled full-time compared with 44.9% at similar Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges.
This chart shows the full-time vs part-time enrollment status at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) compares to similar universities.
Retention Rate over Time
N/A Retention Rate
Retention rate measures the number of first-time students who began their studies the previous fall and returned to school the following fall. The retention rate for full-time undergraduates at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was N/A%. Compared with the full-time retention rate at similar Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges (63%), Vatterott College-Sunset Hills had a retention rate approximately the same as its peers.
This chart shows the retention rate over time at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (highlighted in red) compares to similar universities.
Enrollment by Race & Ethnicity
The enrolled student population at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is 70.1% White, 20.1% Black or African American, 0.915% Hispanic or Latino, 0.915% Two or More Races, 0.61% Asian, 0.61% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.305% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. This includes both full-time and part-time students as well as graduate and undergraduates. By comparison, enrollment for all Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges is 47.2% White, 23.1% Hispanic or Latino, and 14.6% Black or African American.
Any student who is studying in the United States on a temporary basis is categorized as a "Non-Resident Alien", and the share of those students are shown in the chart below. Additionally, 21 students (6.4%) did not report their race.
In 2016, 23 fewer women than men received degrees from Vatterott College-Sunset Hills. The majority of degree recipients at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are white (89 degrees awarded). There were 3.42 times more white graduates than the next closest race/ethnicity group, unknown (26 degrees).
The most common Bachelor's Degree concentration at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is Network & System Administration (0 degrees awarded), followed by N/A and N/A.
The most specialized majors across all degree types at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills, meaning they have significantly more degrees awarded in that concentration than the national average across all institutions, are Construction (25 degrees awarded), Mechanical Technologies (33 degrees), and Engineering Technologies (13 degrees).
Common Jobs by Major
Most Common Job
The most common jobs for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are Registered nurses (1,242,301 people), Software developers, applications & systems software (438,072 people), Miscellaneous managers (219,402 people), Medical & health services managers (141,260 people), and Other Computer Occupations (125,192 people).
The most specialized majors at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are Construction (25 degrees awarded), Mechanical Technologies (33 degrees), Engineering Technologies (13 degrees), Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services (9 degrees), and Health (39 degrees).
Highest Paying Jobs by Major
Highest Paying Job
The highest paying jobs for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are Physicians & surgeons, Securities, commodities, & financial services sales agents, Chief executives & legislators, Personal financial advisors, and Aircraft pilots & flight engineers
Common Industries by Major
Most Common Industry
The most common industries for people who hold a degree in one of the 5 most specialized majors at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are Hospitals (1,445,183 people), Computer Systems Design (534,399 people), Elementary & secondary schools (237,765 people), Outpatient care centers (195,388 people), and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges (187,322 people).
Majors Awarded
IPEDS uses the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) standard, so the categories may not match the exact concentrations offered by Vatterott College-Sunset Hills.
Network & System Administration
In N/A, the most common bachelors degree concentration at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was Network & System Administration with 0 degrees awarded.
This visualization illustrates the percentage of degree recipients from bachelors degree programs at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills according to their major.
Gender Breakdown for Common Majors
In 2016, 79 degrees were awarded to men at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills, which is 1.41 times more than the number of degrees awarded to females (56).
This chart displays the gender disparity between the top 5 majors at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills by degrees awarded.
Most Common Male Majors
In N/A, 26 degrees were awarded to men at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills in Automobile Mechanics Technology, which is 13 times more than the 2 female recipients with that same degree.
Most Common Female Majors
In N/A, 22 degrees were awarded to women at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills in Medical Insurance Coding Specialist, which is N/A times more than the 0 male recipients with that same degree.
100% Completion Time
In 2016, 100% of students graduating from Vatterott College-Sunset Hills completed their program within 100% "normal time" (i.e. 4 years for a 4-year degree). Comparatively, 100% completed their degrees within 150% of the normal time, and 100% within 200%.
The following chart shows these completion rates over time compared to the average for the Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges Carnegie Classification group.
Graduation rate is defined as the percentage of full-time, first-time students who received a degree or award within a specific percentage of "normal time" to completion for their program.
Graduation Rate by Race and Gender
Showing demographic groups with ≥ 5 graduating students.
Highest Graduation Rate (100%)
The student demographic with the highest graduation rate at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is Male and Asian (100% graduation rate). Across all Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges, Asian Female students have the highest graduation rate (67.2%).
The department of education defines graduation rate as the percentage of full-time, first-time students who received a degree or award within 150% of "normal time" to completion.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categorizes any student who is studying in the United States on a temporary basis as a "Non-Resident Alien", and the graduation rate of those students is shown in the chart below. Additionally, 8.8% of graduates (11 students) did not report their race.
Race & Ethnicity by Share
89 degrees awarded
The most common race/ethnicity at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is white (89 degrees awarded). There were 3.42 times more white recipients than the next closest race/ethnicity group, unknown (26 degrees).
19.3% of degree recipients (26 students) did not report their race.
Most Common Gender Demographic
Black or African American Male
The most common race/ethnicity and gender grouping at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills is white male (59 degrees awarded). There were 1.97 times more white male recipients than the next closest race/ethnicity group, white female (30 degrees).
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills has an endowment valued at nearly $N/A, as of the end of the 2015 fiscal year. The return on its endowment was of $0 (N/A%), compared to the 0.934% average return ($83.5k on $8.94M) across all Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges.
In 2015, Vatterott College-Sunset Hills had a total expenditure of $N/A. Of that $N/A, they spent $2.78M on salaries and $N/A on benefits.
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills employs N/A N/A, N/A N/A, and N/A N/A. Most academics at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are N/A (N/A), N/A(N/A), and N/A (N/A).
The most common positions for non-instructional staff at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills are: Librarians, Curators, Archivists, and Academic Affairs and Other Education Services, with 9 employees, Sales and related, with 4 employees, and Business and Financial Operations with 2 employees.
2015 Endowment
growth from 2014
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills has an endowment valued at about $N/A, as of the end of the 2015 fiscal year. The endowment of Vatterott College-Sunset Hills stayed 0% from the previous year. The value of their endowment was $N/A approximately the same as than the median endowment of Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges according to the Carnegie Classification grouping.
This line chart shows how the endowment at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills (in red) compares to that of some similar universities.
The small bar chart below shows the endowment quintiles for all universities in the Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges: Associates Dominant Carnegie Classification grouping.
Government Grants and Contracts
Grants & Contracts
$0 - Federal
$0 - State
$0 - Local
As of 2015, Vatterott College-Sunset Hills received $0 in grants and contracts from the federal government, $0 from state grants and contracts, and $0 from local grants and contracts.
Primary Expenses
Expenditure values can vary depending on whether the institution is public or private, and are not available for private-for-profit schools.
Salary Expenditure
Benefits Expenditure
The bar chart shows the share of the primary expenses at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills over time, and the line chart shows the expenditure for solely salaries and benefits over time compared to the median for the Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges Carnegie Classification grouping.
Expenditure by Category
Academic supportAuxiliary enterprisesHospital servicesIndependent operationsInstructionInstitutional supportOperation & maintenance of plantOther expensesPublic serviceResearchStudent services
This tree map shows all of the primary expenses of Research at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills as a share of total expenditure.
2015 Salaries
decline from 2014
In 2015, Vatterott College-Sunset Hills paid a median of $2.78M in salaries, which represents N/A% of their overall expenditure ($N/A) and a 0.00414% decline from the previous year. This is compared to a 0% growth from N/A and a 0% growth from N/A.
The median for similar Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges is 3.29M (34.3% of overall expenditures).
Instructional Salaries
In 2015, Vatterott College-Sunset Hills paid a total of $217k to 4 employees working as instructors, which represents 7.82% of all salaries paid.
This is compared to a median of $672k (20.4%) for similar Baccalaureate/Associates Colleges.
Most Common Instructor
N/A Employees
Librarians, Curators, Archivists, and Academic Affairs and Other Education Services
Most Common Non-Instructional Employee
In N/A, the most common positions for instructional staff at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills were N/A with N/A employees; N/A with N/A employees; and N/A with N/A employees.
In N/A, the most common positions for non-instructional staff at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills were Librarians, Curators, Archivists, and Academic Affairs and Other Education Services with 9 employees; Sales and related with 4 employees; and Business and Financial Operations with 2 employees.
Instructors by Academic Rank and Gender
Most Common Demographic
In N/A, the most common demographic for instructional staff at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills was N/A with N/A employees, N/A with N/A employees, and N/A with N/A employees.
This chart shows the gender split between each academic rank present at Vatterott College-Sunset Hills.
Great Basin College
Ranken Technical College
Vatterott College-Berkeley
Everest University-Orange Park
Everest University-Tampa
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Remembering the Hyde County School Boycott– A 50th Anniversary Celebration
August 26, 2018 February 21, 2019 / David Cecelski
Swan Quarter, N.C., fall of 1968. Courtesy, N.C. Museum of History
This is the 1st part of a series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hyde County, N.C., school boycott, a remarkable chapter in the history of America’s civil rights movement and the subject of my first book, Along Freedom Road
The villages and natural areas around Lake Mattamuskeet are some of my favorite places on the North Carolina coast. They make up the mainland part of Hyde County and have a singular austere beauty: endless miles of salt marsh, great swamplands, glorious sunrises and a landscape of woods and fields dotted with lovely old churches and fish houses.
One of the things I like most about Hyde County is that, in the wintertime, you can almost always hear the haunting cries of the birds—the hronk, hronk, hronk of the Canada geese, the snow geese’s plaintive culk, culk and the tundra swans that sound like baying hounds somewhere far-off.
The great lake draws the migratory birds all the way from the tundra at the edge of the Arctic Sea and Greenland. When you live in Hyde County, as I did for a year when I was young, the soft murmur of their cries on the lake at night sounds like the Earth’s heartbeat.
The Hyde County protestors during the first march to Raleigh, 1969. Courtesy, N.C. Museum of History
The county sits on the northern edge of Pamlico Sound and water is everywhere: the great estuary intermingling with lakes and tidal creeks, bogs and pocosins and old slave-dug canals.
Ocracoke Island is in Hyde County and attracts a busy tourist trade and new residents. But on the mainland, where most of the county’s people live, all is quiet. There the population has been declining steadily for more than a century. Whole villages have disappeared, lost to the swamps and tides.
The county has been poor for a long time, too. In the 1950s and ‘60s, it was one of America’s most impoverished counties.
Today even the county seat, Swan Quarter, has a population of less than 500 residents. In 2003 Hurricane Isabel nearly swallowed up the community. When you visit, you will see that the village looks as if it is still trying to decide whether or not it is time to throw in the towel.
The county has two other towns, Engelhard, a fishing village on Far Creek, which has a population of five or six hundred, and Fairfield, a long-fading timber village on the north side of the lake, on the edge of what the early colonists called the Great Alligator Swamp.
Today I think a state prison is the county’s largest employer, but when I lived there most people made their livings as crab pickers, oyster shuckers, fishermen, farmers and field hands.
That year I occasionally met people from other places, too—often times, recluses and runaways, hiding from something or licking wounds, or sometimes doing things they ought’en to have done (where they hoped nobody would notice), living on the far edge of the world.
You might not think Hyde County was the kind of place where one of the most extraordinary events in America’s civil rights history occurred, but it did happen there, in 1968 and 1969, and it was the subject of my first book, which was called Along Freedom Road.
Saving Historically Black Schools
Fifty years ago this week, Hyde County’s African American families pulled their children out of the public schools. They stayed out of school for an entire year. They marched day after day for months.
Ironically, a school desegregation plan sparked the black community’s boycott. In 1954, in Brown v. the Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional.
As in most of the state’s other school districts, Hyde County’s white leaders resisted the Supreme Court’s ruling for 14 years.
Finally, under pressure from the federal government, most of the state’s school districts allowed black and white children to go to school together between 1968 and 1971.
But as in the rest of the South, white political leaders turned school desegregation into a one-way street.
In nearly all school districts, those white leaders closed historically African American schools, even when they were newer or had better physical plants than their white counterparts.
White school leaders sent black children to previously all-white schools, and they discharged or demoted black principals. They fired a high proportion of black teachers. In many cases, they relegated black children to a second-class status within desegregated schools.
Many black communities reluctantly accepted this kind of school desegregation, no matter how galling and unfair.
After all, they had been struggling for decades to end Jim Crow schools. On the cusp of victory, many black leaders worried that they might spark a white backlash that would jeopardize school integration if they challenged the racially discriminatory way that local, state and federal leaders were carrying out the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Hyde County’s African American families had a different way of thinking. They were very, very proud of their schools and of a black tradition of education that had sustained their children’s spirits and prepared them for the future since the first days of freedom.
They had been prepared to make sacrifices for school integration. They understood that everybody would have to give up something in order to accomplish a successful merger of the white and black schools.
But they heard what was happening in other counties in eastern North Carolina: black schools closing, black principals and teachers being demoted or fired, black children being punished disproportionately and shunted into special education classes, climates of racial hostility, black voices no longer heard on school issues.
When Hyde County’s black families learned that the local school desegregation plan required closing their historically black schools and sending their children to the county’s one white school, they decided it was time to take a stand.
If this is what “school desegregation” meant, they would keep their own schools. They said no.
“We were all brothers and sisters then”
For an entire year, thousands of Hyde County’s African American citizens marched and protested and petitioned. They started alternative schools in their churches.
They marched all the way to Raleigh—twice. They endured tear gassing, and they fought a gun battle with the Ku Klux Klan.
Arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience, they filled the jail in Swan Quarter. When they ran out of room in the local jail, authorities sent them to jails in a half-dozen other towns in eastern N.C. They sent some of the young ladies all the way to the Women’s Prison in Raleigh.
And the authorities didn’t know what to do with all the little children, the elementary school students and the 11, 12 and 13 years olds—and they didn’t know what to do with the grandmothers, either.
Hyde County’s black citizens and supporters marching toward the N.C. General Assembly in Raleigh, N.C. Courtesy, N.C. Museum of History
Hyde County’s black children went into those jails singing freedom songs, filled with joy, and determined.
“If we do not do something now, it will never happen,” they told Dudley Flood, a representative from the N.C. Dept. of Public Instruction that eventually helped to negotiate a settlement to the school boycott—one that, for the young people, was an extraordinary victory.
They may have been the children of crab pickers, tenant farmers and oystermen, but Flood was awed by their commitment and dedication, and by their intellectual curiosity. He marveled at how quickly they learned and grew. He told me that he wished he had a room full of students like them when he had been a public school teacher.
He admired their commitment to the African American freedom struggle, too. The children, he said, “had become convinced that they owed it to future generations.”
“You walked, talked, ate, thought, … lived for the movement,” one of those students, Alice Mackey Spencer, told me. “It’s all you did.”
Another of the former teenage civil rights activists, Thomas Whitaker, told me that he “felt like I was giving myself completely to something larger and more important than myself.”
“We were all brothers and sisters then,” he and others told me again and again when I was writing Along Freedom Road.
Celebrating A Half Century Later
In a few days, those young people are coming home again. Over Labor Day weekend, they’ll be gathering at one of the county’s historically African American schools to honor the 50thanniversary of the school boycott.
They’ll be celebrating those times “when they were all brothers and sisters.” They’ll be remembering those days when the whole nation was watching them.
They’ll also be honoring all those who contributed to the school boycott, but who aren’t with us anymore.
I hope they will take a collective bow. They accomplished so much and inspired so many. And for those who would listen, they offered lessons about what really makes a good school and what really matters most in a child’s upbringing that are as relevant today as 50 years ago.
My wife Laura and I will be there, too. I’m honored to be a small part of the celebration and I’ll try to share as much of what happens there on this blog as possible. And between now and then, I’ll be re-visiting a few of my favorite stories from Along Freedom Road here.
Next time– `In our blood from way back’– the history of the O. A. Peay School
Freedom Stories, The Hyde County School Boycott
civil rights movement, Engelhard N.C., Fairfield N.C., Hyde County, Lake Mattamuskeet, Pamlico Sound, Schools, Swan Quarter N.C.
← Marines– The Last Days of a New River Fishing Village
“In Our Blood from Way Back:” The History of the O. A. Peay School →
2 thoughts on “Remembering the Hyde County School Boycott– A 50th Anniversary Celebration”
Randolph H. Latimore, Sr
Mr. Cecelski
Thank you so much for sharing your article. Mr. Whitaker often talks of the era during the integration of schools in Hyde. As you know, he is on the Board of Education. Our Child Nutrition Manager, Mrs. Mamie Brimmage was also quite active in the movement to integrate the schools. Both indivuals have shared very vivid accountings of events during this time.
Additionally, I have had one individual who was involved in the shoot-out between the Klan and members of the “Movement” share with me the events of that night.
The historical significance of this upcoming event cannot be over stated. I look forward to the next article. Thank you.
Randolph Latimore, Sr.
Superintendent – Hyde County Schools
Dear Supt. Lattimore, Thank you so much for your note. I appreciate your thoughtful words very much, and I look forward to meeting you this weekend. Please give Mr. Whitaker my bests in the meantime– he and his generation in Hyde County are true heroes to me, as well as good friends. Most sincerely, and thank you again for adding your voice here, David
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Robert De Niro & Martin Scorsese On ‘The Irishman’, Paradise Lost In ‘Casino’, & Lessons Learned During ‘King Of Comedy’ – Tribeca
Robert De Niro joked with Stephen Colbert during his sit-down on The Late Show a week ago, noting that when it came to his Tribeca Talk with Martin Scorsese, he’d ask a question, leave for coffee, and return minutes later to ask the next question.
That was hardly the case here today, as the two went back and forth onstage for more than 90 minutes at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, covering a majority of ground; from their collaborations together, such as Mean Streets, The King of Comedy and Casino, to those pics in which the Raging Bull Oscar winner did not star, i.e. Silence and The Wolf of Wall Street.
However, for those fans looking to hear more about their ninth team-up together, The Irishman, or see a clip from that upcoming Netflix movie, the duo didn’t dive into any great details. Rather, they delivered passing mentions of the pic. Outside of today’s Tribeca Talk, Deadline hears that the film wasn’t ready to deliver a clip yet, which makes sense, given that footage wasn’t shown from Scorsese’s last movie Silence, a December 2017 release, until mid October that year.
Kicking off their chat with a clip between Harvey Keital and Robert De Niro conversing in Mean Streets, Scorsese briefly spoke about the extension of the mob genre with The Irishman. “It’s a world that’s been romanticized since then (Mean Streets),” said the filmmaker about mob pics. “Even in our new film, the nature of who these people are, are not necessarily from the trappings around them, but who the people are.”
Robert De Niro on the set of ‘The Irishman’ in NYC William Jewell/Ace Pictures/REX/Shutterstock
“The book was terrific,” said De Niro about Charles Brandt’s novel I Heard You Paint Houses, which The Irishman is based upon, about the exploits of mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran. “I heard you paint houses” are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Sheeran, who De Niro plays in the pic, and to paint a house means to kill a man. In the book, Sheeran, a WWII army vet, confesses to the author that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob and for his friend, Hoffa. Sheeran worked for mob boss Russell Bufalino, who ordered him to off Hoffa.
“I said Marty, read this, see what you think. We were about to do something else and we went into The Irishman,” said De Niro.
“I think, profoundly, you felt the heart of this character, this situation, and it’s universal. It happens to be set in this world,” added Scorsese.
Toward the end of their session, an audience member screamed out for more info on The Irishman, and Scorsese responded, “It’s in the milieu of the pictures we’ve done together, and that we’re known for, and I think, I hope, it’s from a different vantage point. When years go by, you see things in a special way,” said the The Departed Oscar-winning director.
Making a cameo in the audience was Leonardo DiCaprio, who gave a wave to the stage. He emerged toward the end as the De Niro and Scorsese discussed The Wolf of Wall Street and how the snake oil salesman story, per the director, was “a very American story, about the land of opportunity.” He also regaled the audience with the tale on how De Niro recommended a young DiCaprio to him following This Boy’s Life, “something he never does,” said Scorsese about De Niro.
“He liked the pictures we made, he wanted to make films like that and not be afraid of certain topics,” said Scorsese about DiCaprio, who has clocked five movies with the filmmaker.
“One of the people in the (US presidential) cabinet said the movie misrepresented the financial world,” said Scorsese about The Wolf of Wall Street.
One of the more interesting stories De Niro and Scorsese chatted about was their work on the 1982 film The King of Comedy. De Niro loved Paul Zimmerman’s script. The writer gave it to De Niro and Scorsese in Cannes. Milos Forman wanted to make it with De Niro, but under another writer. But the actor wanted Scorsese to direct. Scorsese at the time didn’t have his heart in the film. However, De Niro did, and it was a big learning experience for the director. “I felt like it was a one-line gag,” said Scorsese about the pic, which follows a wannabe stand-up who stalks a late night talk show host in hopes of performing on his show. “He wants to be on TV so badly, he kidnaps a TV show host,” said Scorsese.
“But I missed what you saw, the burning need of the celebrity, the yearning to be famous, but famous for what?” said the director. The pic reminded him of the George Cukor film It Should Happen to You, about a young woman played by Judy Holliday who rents a billboard to advertise herself, and her life changes over night. Scorsese could see why the project spoke to De Niro, with the actor’s star wattage booming post Godfather II.
Scorsese and De Niro even met a real-life Rupert Pupkin-type prior to filming. They recalled a guy who wrote De Niro extensively, asking to have dinner with them. De Niro brought Scorsese over to the guy’s house for the experience. “I remember sitting on the guy’s bed in his bedroom and he’s living with his parents,” said the actor.
Scorsese remembered that King of Comedy came out “and we got killed (by the critics). There were these new popular shows like Entertainment Tonight that said that (the film) ‘blames the media. That’s outrageous!’ At that point, it was absolutely the wrong time to release a film after Raging Bull and Heaven’s Gate and Apocalypse Now. They expected, from our collaboration, something different. This was different, but they wanted another way.”
King of Comedy also repped, per Scorsese, the first time he worked with a big personality star, that being Jerry Lewis. One day on the set, Scorsese kept Lewis waiting around past midnight, and received a stern visit from the actor, who asked the director to give him a heads-up should the production go long and he wasn’t needed. “I thought ‘Oh, it’s not only about us,'” said Scorsese, indicating he was used to doing low-budget movies, working round the clock with his friends like De Niro.
“I began to understand about time and the physicality of the shoot,” said Scorsese, adding “the improv (in the film) went on for ages.” But time has been on the side of King of Comedy. Scorsese mentioned that, by 1990, film magazines were heralding the movie as one of 1980s’ best. “People now think it was a glorious hit, but it was reviled (when it opened). In Los Angeles, we were replaced by a film called Losin’ It,” added the director.
Scorsese showed a clip from Casino, and it was the moment where Joe Pesci’s Nicky Santoro meets up with De Niro’s Ace Rothstein in the desert and unloads a mouthful of curses on him; how he’s being too flamboyant in his oversee of the casino. Scorsese called Pesci’s tirade in the scene “like jazz.” Scorsese found Casino to be a version of Paradise Lost: “God gives them this paradise of sin, Las Vegas, and they can do anything and they screw it up. And they’re cast out of the paradise.”
More remember when: Scorsese recalled when producer Irwin Winkler brought some UA executives over to the apartment to talk about Raging Bull before it went into production. Apparently, they just wanted to talk about the pic with him and De Niro. One of the suits asked why they would want to be make a movie about boxer Jake La Motta. “‘This guy is a cockroach,” Scorsese recalled the exec saying. “Your reaction was articulate,” Scorsese told De Niro, “You said, ‘No, he’s not.'” And with that, production moved forward. Scorsese later learned from Winkler that the execs were coming over in an attempt to shut-down Raging Bull.
At the end of today’s talk, De Niro was asked by an audience member if he still auditions.
“I have readings of movies,” said the the two-time Oscar winner, a process which enables him to feel out a director and a project. “But traditional readings like that, not for a long time.”
This article was printed from https://deadline.com/2019/04/robert-de-niro-martin-scorsese-the-irishman-tribeca-film-festival-1202603448/
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← NY Comic Con ’16: Day Two Overview
NY Comic Con ’16: Day Three Overview →
“Ha ha, very funny. You’re a funny guy, Frank. You know, all you think about is yourself. I could complain, too, you know. I would like some new clothes. You get to dress nice. Here I am still looking like Linc from The Mod Squad,” says Cyrus. Frank Bannister responds, “You died in the ’70s. It’s a bummer.”
Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners started life as a spin-off Tales From the Crypt film written by Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh that was to be directed by Robert Zemeckis (who was an executive producer of the TV series). Zemeckis read the script and loved it, but felt Jackson should have the honor of directing it (Zemeckis stayed on as producer, helped the film get financed, and even suggested that Michael J. Fox play the male lead). I first became aware of the film through TV spots for it when it was coming to theaters in the summer of 1996. I didn’t get to see the film until I bought it on VHS (in the years since I’ve upgraded to DVD and then Blu-ray). I didn’t get to see it on the big screen until recently (it was the director’s cut, which added 12 minutes that fleshes out the story even better) and it was a thrilling experience.
1996’s The Frighteners follows a ghost-busting con man (in league with the very ghosts he supposedly gets rid of) who discovers there’s an apparition who really is haunting his town and piling up a large number of kills. He teams up with a doctor (the only person in town who believes in his abilities) to stop the deadly spectre. Jackson brought together a terrific ensemble that includes Michael J. Fox (as Frank Bannister), Trini Alvarado (as Dr. Lucy Lynskey), Jeffrey Combs (as Agent Milton Dammers), Chi McBride (as Cyrus), Jim Fyfe (as Stuart), John Astin (as the Judge), Dee Wallace (as Patricia Bradley), Jake Busey (as Johnny Bartlett), Julianna McCarthy (as Mrs. Bradley), Troy Evans (as Sheriff Walt Perry), Peter Dobson (as Ray Lynskey), R. Lee Ermey (as Sergeant Hiles), Elizabeth Hawthorne (as Magda Rees-Jones), Angela Bloomfield (as Debra Bannister), and Melanie Lynskey (as a Deputy).
Fox gives a phenomenal performance as a former architect who cons people out of money by “exorcising” the very ghosts who work for him while still trying to get over the death of his wife from five years earlier. He brings courage and determination as he tries to clear his name of the murders and find redemption. Alvarado gives a strong performance as the doctor who tries to help Bannister, Combs balances creepiness and absurdity as an FBI agent who spent too many years undercover with bizarre cases, and Wallace is sympathetic and unsuspecting as the former accomplice to a serial killer. McBride and Fyfe are hilarious as Bannister’s go-to ghosts, Astin is an emotional anchor for Bannister, trying to get him to go back to his life, and Ermey is a scene-stealer as he spoofs his character from Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.
Jackson’s strong direction draws top-notch performances as well as utilizes zany angles and moving shots (anyone who’s seen any of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films he later made should be a little familiar with his style). The screenplay by Jackson and Walsh is a wonderful mix of horror and comedy with a budding love story and a large dose of tragedy. The cinematography by John Blick and Alun Bollinger reflects dark tone of the film, and Grant Major’s production design is phenomenal (Mrs. Bradley’s house and the old hospital were among my favorite set pieces). The special effects by Weta Digital were spectacular (from the CGI to the miniature work), and the makeup design by Richard Taylor and Rick Baker was top-notch (Baker’s work on the Judge was just eerie).
Barbara Darragh’s costume designs reflect the dreary atmosphere of the film. Jamie Selkirk’s editing moves the film at a good pace, and Danny Elfman delivers a wicked score that emphasizes both the horror and comedic elements. Jackson’s The Frighteners is a gem of a cult classic that is a much more important film than anyone realizes (it was the expansion of the computers used by Weta for the special effects in this film that led Jackson to pursue a project that could further utilize those computers: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and this film would also mark Fox’s last leading role in a live action feature film).
This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged Alun Bollinger, Angela Bloomfield, Barbara Darragh, Chi McBride, Danny Elfman, Dee Wallace, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Fran Walsh, Full Metal Jacket, Grant Major, Jake Busey, Jamie Selkirk, Jeffrey Combs, Jim Fyfe, John Astin, John Blick, Julianna McCarthy, Melanie Lynskey, Michael J. Fox, Peter Dobson, Peter Jackson, R. Lee Ermey, Richard Taylor, Rick Baker, Robert Zemeckis, Stanley Kubrick, Tales From the Crypt, The Frighteners, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Trini Alvarado, Troy Evans, Weta Digital. Bookmark the permalink.
One response to “The Frighteners (1996)”
Pingback: Happy Halloween 2016 – to my fellow bloggers and horror fans! | parlor of horror
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Tagged: Raging Bull
Review – Grudge Match (2013)
Director: Peter Segal
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger, Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Jon Bernthal
Hollywood has a history of mashing together popular franchises in the search of blockbuster success. We’ve had AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason. Back in the 1940s you had Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The same mindset is at play in Peter Segal’s Grudge Match, which may as well have been called ‘Rocky vs. Raging Bull.’ Of course, technically it is not a mash up as it presents new and original characters. But in casting Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in the leads, the filmmakers have inherited the audience’s associations with the legendary pugilists they have previously portrayed. It’s an odd pairing because despite both being about boxing, the two films couldn’t be more different. Rocky is an uplifting sports movie about a likeable underdog who finally gets his shot. Raging Bull is an art-house film about a damaged man whose anger and violence destroys his life. There is a reason there are six Rocky movies and only one Raging Bull.
But this isn’t Balboa vs La Motta. It is Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp vs. Billy ‘The Kid’ McDonnen. Razor and The Kid enjoyed one of the great sporting rivalries in their prime. They met twice in the ring for one victory a piece, with each loss being the only defeat of that fighter’s career. But the third and deciding bout never happened because in the lead up to the anticipated fight Razor shocked the world by announcing his retirement. Thirty years go by before a down-and-out, motor-mouthed promoter manages to coax them back in the ring for the grudge match the world has been waiting to see.
Grudge Match clearly wants to trade off the legacies of Rocky and Raging Bull. So we first meet The Kid doing a rather pathetic nightclub show which is reminiscent of the final act of Raging Bull, and we have the obligatory scene in a meat locker where Razor shapes up to punch a beef carcass before being told not to. There is also a key plot point relating to Razor and the final fight which comes straight out of Rocky II. But as much as it tries to get you to think of those movies, you are also very aware that what you are watching isn’t them. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the training montage which feels eerily quiet without the brass of ‘Gonna Fly Now’ blaring over the soundtrack.
Rather than being a straight up sports movie Grudge Match is a comedy, and that doesn’t help it. The jokes aren’t good enough to make the film genuinely funny, but they are constant enough to be a distraction. Some of the jokes are also in surprisingly poor taste. While De Niro has settled into a career as a comic actor, and Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin are right at home, the comedy format doesn’t make the best use of Stallone. Sly is a better actor than many people give him credit for. He has a real ability to elicit sympathy for a character – it’s part of what made the Rocky franchise work – and in the more dramatic scenes of Grudge Match he acts rings around De Niro. But he struggles with comedy. His sense of timing and his delivery aren’t as strong as his co-stars and the material isn’t good enough to compensate for that.
All of the film’s plot complications feel unnecessarily forced and the final fight, despite being the thing the whole movie has built towards, doesn’t quite crescendo the way that it should. In the end this movie feels as tired as its two aging stars must have after going ten rounds. The most interesting part of the movie comes in the final credits where there is a short scene between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
Rating – ★☆
Written by duncanemclean 1 Comment Posted in Reviews Tagged with Alan Arkin, Boxing, Comedy, Grudge Match, Kevin Hart, Kim Bassinger, Peter Segal, Raging Bull, Robert De Niro, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone
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Contracts for April 9, 2018
SRC Inc., North Syracuse, New York, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $57,500,000 undefinitized contract action for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems supplies. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2018. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal year 2016 and 2017 procurement funds in the amount of $28,080,497 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-18-C-0006).
Leidos Inc., S&R and Intelligence Systems Services, Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,870,939 ceiling cost-reimbursement contract for compact semiconductor mid- and long-wave opto-electronics research (COSMO). This contract provides for the advance of semiconductor lasers suitable for current and future infrared countermeasure applications. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be complete by April 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal year 2018 research and development funds in the amount of $500,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 8, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9451-18-C-0014).
The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is being awarded a $35,969,268 modification P00107 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-14-C-0067) for the procurement of P-8A maintenance device training system production concurrency upgrades in support of the U.S. Navy and the government of Australia. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (95 percent); and Edinburgh, Australia (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2020. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Navy); and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $35,969,268 will be obligated at time of award, $18,063,363 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($18,063,363; 51 percent); and the government of Australia ($17,905,905; 49 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
International Systems Management Corp., Greenbelt, Maryland, is being awarded a $7,078,371 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering support services to conduct feasibility studies, program planning and scheduling support, and technical services in support of the Australia SEA 4000 and SEA 5000 programs. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $12,040,531. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales to the commonwealth of Australia. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C. (92 percent); and Mobile, Alabama (8 percent), and is expected to be completed by April 2021. If all options are exercised, work will continue through April 2023. Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $1,228,050 will be obligated at the time of award and not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(4): international agreement. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-18-C-5106).
Design and Production Inc.,* Lorton, Virginia, was awarded a $16,000,000 modification (P00001) to contract W912WJ-16-D-0014 for exhibit fabrication and installation for the National Museum of the United States Army, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
Shannon and Wilson Inc., Lake Oswego, Oregon, was awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architecture and engineering, geological and geotechnical engineering services in support of civil works water resources infrastructure. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 9, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla, Washington, is the contracting activity (W912EF-18-D-0001).
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Archive for the tag “APSA”
Saving #Syria’s Cultural Heritage – how to help
Bricking up the 13th century prayer niche of the Halawiye Madrasa, Aleppo
Little known and little recognised, groups of Syrians inside Syria are working together to try to save the destruction of their country’s cultural identity. Confronted with the inertia of the international community, the occasional statement and handwringing from UNESCO and the Syrian government’s own narrative presenting itself as the custodian of the country’s rich treasures, these groups are taking matters into their own hands. A mix of academics, archaeologists, students and ordinary citizens with a deep love for their country, they have almost no funding and most are volunteers.
Protecting the tomb of the Prophet Zachariah, inside the Aleppo Great Mosque
A recent study (by Heritage for Peace see link below) has shown that 38 organisations are involved worldwide in efforts to highlight the damage to Syria’s cultural heritage, including the big names like UNESCO, Blue Shield, the Global Heritage Fund, the World Monument Fund, ICCROM and ICOMOS. The overwhelming majority are talking shops, gathering data and posting it online. They are largely based outside Syria and function only through the official channel of the Syrian Directorate-General of Museums and Antiquities (DGAM) which in turn only functions in the regime-held areas of the country. Of these 38 organisations, 14 have been formed since 2011 specifically in response to the Syrian crisis, mainly from volunteer groups. Only six of the organisations are Syrian, working on the ground inside the country, and of these only three that we are aware of are taking pro-active, pre-emptive measures to protect ancient buildings. It is a chronic state of affairs, but such is their commitment to doing whatever they can that they are prepared sometimes even to risk their lives in order to protect and save their cultural identity.
Bricking up Zachariah’s Tomb, Aleppo Great Mosque
Aleppo, once Syria’s largest and richest city, is where such actions have been most prevalent. The Division of Antiquities of the Free Council of Aleppo was founded in 2013 and has sandbagged and walled up the precious sundial in the Aleppo Great Umayyad Mosque, and bricked up its shrine of the Prophet Zachariah. With the help of the Tawhid Brigade from the Free Syrian Army, they have dismantled its 12th century wooden mihrab for safe-keeping away from the front line.
The Syrian Association for Preserving Heritage and Ancient Landmarks was founded in Aleppo in 2013. Its members, many of them archaeology students from Aleppo University, at considerable risk to themselves, saved the stones from the fallen minaret of the Great Umayyad Mosque and have put them safely elsewhere awaiting reconstruction after the war. They also helped the Free Council of Aleppo with protecting the sundial and removing the mihrab.
Protecting the sundial in the courtyard of the Aleppo Great Mosque
The Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology (APSA) was founded in 2012 in Strasbourg by a group of Syrian archaeologists and journalists. Together with collaborators on the ground they have compiled an extensive website cataloguing the damage (www.apsa2011.com) and have also held short workshops in Turkey’s Gaziantep to train Syrians in techniques of how to record damage and how to carry out simple protection measures.
Syrian aircraft dropping barrel bombs to dislodge refugees sheltering in the Byzantine Dead City of Shanshara, near Al-Bara, Idlib Province
An APSA team goes to document the damage at the Dead City of Shanshara, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed in June 2011, near Al-Bara and Kafaranbel, Idlib Province
All of this work goes unrewarded financially and unrecognised internationally. Syria’s concentration and range of cultural heritage sites far exceed that of neighbouring Iraq. Yet while Iraq benefited from a UN resolution in 2003 after the US invasion banning trade in its antiquities, the Syrian case has been largely ignored, complicated by politics. Stepping up to the challenge, the Global Heritage Fund UK has recently agreed to help by acting as a channel for funds for anyone who would like to help support this work. The sums involved are small by the standards of international organisations. But international organisations like UNESCO cannot operate inside Syria without the permission of the Syrian government – a permission which has not been forthcoming.
APSA is looking to raise £32,000. So far they have raised £6,400. If each of the 624,000 people who clicked to view the recent BBC feature highlighting the problem (see below) had been able to contribute just £1, the target could have been met 20 times over.
Anyone who would like to do something tangible to help can contact cgiangrande@globalheritage fund.org, or use the donation form below. Even small amounts will make a huge difference. Handwringing and nostalgia, alas, do not.
Global Heritage Fund – 2014DonationFormV2
http://www.heritageforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Towards-a-protection-of-the-Syrian-cultural-heritage.pdf
http://www.apsa2011.com/index.php/en/
Presentation given on 30 June by Diana Darke and Zahed Tajeddin to the Global Heritage Fund UK on saving Syria’s Cultural Heritage
Posted in Iraq, Syria, Uncategorized and tagged Aleppo, Aleppo Great Mosque, APSA, Damascus, Free Syrian Army, Global Heritage Fund UK, Iraq, Syria, UNESCO, Zachariah's Tomb
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Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region
Established: February 2013
A Congolese woman from Aru, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. UN Photo/Martine Perret
The United Nations (UN) has long been engaged in efforts to bring peace and stability to Africa’s Great Lakes region, which has been plagued by decades of political instability and armed conflicts, porous borders and humanitarian crises, as well as tensions over natural resources and other potentially destabilizing factors.
A key step in the efforts has been the adoption, on 24 February 2013, of a UN-brokered accord aimed at stabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the region. The Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework (PSC Framework) was signed by 11 countries, namely Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In early 2014, Kenya and Sudan became the 12th and 13th signatories of the Framework. The UN, the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are acting as Guarantors of the Framework.
The Agreement encompasses commitments at the national, regional and international level geared towards addressing the root causes of conflict and ending the recurring cycles of violence in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes region. Its implementation is supported by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region.
The work of the Special Envoy, as reflected in his Strategic Plan for 2018-2020, consists of establishing confidence and strengthening regional relations and cooperation between the signatories of the framework, especially the core countries of the region. It further focuses on supporting cross-border efforts to neutralize negative forces, finding political solutions to displacements of populations, enhancing judicial cooperation in the Great Lakes, and advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda regionally, as well as strengthening the role of youth. The efforts of the Special Envoy build on existing accords for the region and continent, in close coordination with regional and international organizations. Furthermore, through the Great Lakes Regional Strategic Framework, the Special Envoy coordinates closely with UN entities present in the region, including the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the Special Envoy for Burundi and the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).
The Special Envoy is supported by a small Office based in Nairobi, Kenya, and by the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) at UN Headquarters in New York.
Head of Mission: Huang Xia
National: 8
International: 19
Visit the mission website
Connect with Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region on Social Media
Map of UN Special Political Missions
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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘B.B. King’ tag.
A Few Words with B. B. King
May 17, 2015 in Concerts, Music, Music Journalism, Tribute | Tags: 2004 concerts, B.B. King, Count Basie Theater, Easton PA, New Brunswick NJ, Ravi Shankar, Red Bank NJ, Reflections, State Theater, State Theatre | by Robin Renee | Leave a comment
Back in the early 2000’s, I wrote for several different Central Jersey newspapers. It was never a style of writing that I loved exactly, but I learned I was pretty good at finding the formula and building what was needed. One of the best things about this kind of freelance work was discovering I could request interviews with all kinds of amazing, well-known people. Within a few days I could be in the midst of a great conversation with someone I admired all my life. I would sometimes suggest writing about shows I knew of and had a personal interest in covering, but just as often I’d pick up assignments. I felt blessed – and quite a bit nervous – when I was given the opportunity to interview B. B. King.
He was coming to The New Brunswick State Theatre, The Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, and The State Theater in Easton, PA in January 2004. We had a brief phone conversation and I captured the quotes I needed to construct a few paragraphs and let readers know he was coming to town. At the show in New Brunswick, what I remember most is how little I was able to say to him in person. I am not generally starstruck, but then again, here was a legend beyond legends. What could I really say? I remember talking to a few of his band members and being impressed by how crisply they were dressed and how they referred to him solely as Mr. King. When I got through the meet-and-greet line I shook his hand and let him know I was the one who spoke to him for the show preview. He smiled and said he’d been curious to meet me. I got a quick autograph, then realized I was without words. I slipped back into the room and just observed for a little while before leaving. I’ve come to remember this show in a way similar to how I recall seeing Ravi Shankar perform in Philadelphia. In each case it was incredibly moving and mostly beyond descriptive language to hear and witness an absolute master.
Here is some of what I wrote by way of announcing the shows in 2004:
On the cover of his latest studio CD, “Reflections,” B. B. King, with eyes closed, looks absorbed in sweet concentration, like a man offering a loving prayer, or an artist fully consumed by the music we will find therein. Yet, the 78-year-old guitar pioneer thinks of himself in simpler terms. “I’m kind of what you call a country boy. I was born and raised on the plantation,” he says of his origins in Itta Bena, Mississippi.
A simple country boy, perhaps, but with a difference: He can play the guitar like nobody’s business. He sings with deep conviction that retains that hint of hurt and grit that only authentic blues can deliver. The “King of the Blues” will rule the land Tuesday at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, and at Easton PA’s State Theater on Thursday.
“Everybody has, believe it or not, a soul, and everybody feels something… I play things that I feel and enjoy doing,” he reveals during a telephone interview before a concert in Quebec City.
Revered by rock favorites like The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, his profound influence on the face of music across genres and decades continues. In 1948 he left farm work for Memphis, Tennessee, and he had his first hits, “Three O’Clock Blues” and “She’s Dynamite,” by 1951. His signature song, “The Thrill Is Gone” scored his first Grammy in 1970. King paired with Clapton on “Riding with the King” in 2000, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
King recalls the making of “Reflections,” his 32nd album. “I think we got some pretty good work on it. I don’t think I’ve ever made a perfect CD,” he says modestly.
I am even more astounded by his humility today than I was then. This quote is so startling:
“I always find faults in nearly everything I’ve done, but still people seem to give me compliments…and I accept that. I think the people’s judgment is much better than mine.”
I don’t believe it was false humility. I do hope he ultimately knew and truly experienced his own brilliance and the joyful sounds he brought the world.
Rest well, Mr. King.
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Our hits and misses from the 2017 New York Auto Show
European debuts cover all the bases in New York
Apple can now test self-driving cars in California
At this year's New York Auto Show, it's tough to resist the allure of horsepower and speed
by Staff | April 13, 2017
At the 2017 New York Auto Show, one thing is abundantly clear – horsepower is still king.
We learned that two ways. Naturally, the Dodge Challenger Demon absolutely stole the show. It’s a street-legal drag racer with 840 horsepower, 770 lb.-ft. of torque and a zero-to-100 km/h time of 2.3 seconds. Filled to the brim with engineering tricks and technology that help it dominate drag strips, the Demon is insanity on wheels. Nail the perfect launch at a drag strip and it can cover a quarter-mile in 9.65 seconds – the Demon is blisteringly fast, to the point where it’s more or less banned from NHRA competition unless it has a roll cage.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg – the refreshed Porsche 911 GT3, with its 500 horsepower and stratospheric 9,000 rpm redline, is nothing short of breathtaking. Similarly, Jaguar is making the F-Type more accessible and affordable by introducing a new entry-level model powered by a 296-horsepower turbo-four. But there’s one debut that leaves us conflicted; we seem to have a love-hate relationship with the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
What are your favourites from the 2017 New York Auto Show?
Automotive Engines
National Hot Rod Association
Big horsepower rules at the 2017 New York Auto Show
Acura, Lexus, Subaru put on a strong showing in New York
Emory does it again with the gorgeously resto-modified Outlaw 911K
Porsche sells no more than two duplicate sports cars per year
Voitures Extravert expanding its run of electric Porsche 911s to 36
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SOUTH SEA BUBBLES IN SCIENCE.
that electricity miglit afford an economical method of treating large quantities of water, is reticent in regard to such a scheme, while the electrician, ignorant of chemistry, is ready to concede that the chemists may have found a cheap extractor, so the promoter can play the chemist against the electrician, and there is no arbitrator in sight. The American is peculiarly in peril from the absence of a large body of men trained in technical science, such as exist in Germany. He also has been unduly excited, and his desire for love of sudden wealth stimulated by phenomenal successes. The commercial triumph of the telephone has led to a multitude of scientific bubbles, and has resulted, like the discovery of gold in the Klondike, in a rush into electrical schemes which have been held up to a hungry crowd of victims as second only to the Bell telephone.
While the telegraph and the telephone can prevent speculations like the South Sea Bubble in a great measure, for such schemes were much aided by a lack of a general dissemination of intelligence, and this lack is supplied by a quick interchange of knowledge, they bring their own peculiar peril, for they are examples of what profit may be reaped from discovery in the world of science. The commercial enterprises of the world have been brought within reach of the many by the telegraph and telephone. They no longer belong to the few, while the successful working of the field of science is still confined to a minority and the general public; even the cultivated people are very ignorant of the approaches to the New El Dorado. No bogus land scheme or salted mining enterprise can be kept in existence to-day for a long period; but the Keeley motor, with its ethereal vibrations and its pseudo-molecular motions, was limited in activity only by the life of the promoter. Instead of the alchemists we have the seekers after power, which costs nothing, and in the train of the honest inventor there are unscrupulous promoters ready to capitalize any remarkable new fact or discovery which attracts public attention.
I have mentioned the influence of the first Duchess of Marlborough in inducing her husband, the great duke, to sell out his shares in the South Sea Bubble when they had risen to a high value because this example of discrimination and prudence in a woman supports one in the belief that all women are not prone to invest in women's bank schemes, in Keeley motors, or in enterprises for "carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." One of my friends recently visited the office of a company which proposed to produce power without the expenditure of a due amount of energy, and found among those anxious to invest a woman who said that she had just received a dividend from the company for extracting gold from salt water, and she was
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World Heritage Committee inscribes East Rennell on the List of World Heritage in Danger
whc2013_east-rennell_0_4.jpg
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 18 June—The World Heritage site of East Rennell has been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to logging that is affecting the ecosystem of the Solomon Islands’ World Heritage site.
The World Heritage Committee determined that logging is threatening the outstanding universal value of East Rennell, and asked the national authorities to provide an impact assessment study of the logging, although it is taking place outside the site’s core area.
Forests cover most of the land area of the 37,000-hectare site, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998. The site makes up the southern third of Rennell Island, the southernmost island in the Solomon Island group in the western Pacific.
It is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and its dense forest has a canopy averaging 20 metres in height. The forest is an essential component of the atoll, which is considered to be a true natural laboratory for scientific study.
Media contacts: Roni Amelan or Agnès Bardon: +33 (0)6 31 54 30 36 / +855 95 440 774
Photos will be available: www.unesco.org/new/whc-photos
Video footage for broadcasters at: http://www.unesco.org/new/new-inscriptions
* webcast: http://whc.unesco.org
World Heritage, World Heritage, World Heritage, Natural Heritage
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Jesus Christ the Savior, Baptizer, Healer, Coming King
Presbyterian (member churches)
Glenn Burris, Jr.
1923, Los Angeles, California
foursquare.org
Part of a series on
Pentecostalism
Methodist revivals
Restorationism
Holiness movement
Bethel Bible College
1904–1905 Welsh Revival
Azusa Street Revival
Charles Fox Parham
William J. Seymour
Key beliefs
Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Latter rain
Speaking in tongues
Divine healing
Asa A. Allen
Yiye Ávila
Joseph Ayo Babalola
William M. Branham
David Yonggi Cho
Jack Coe
Lucy F. Farrow
Donald Gee
Rex Humbard
George Jeffreys
Kathryn Kuhlman
Gerald Archie Mangun
Charles Harrison Mason
David du Plessis
Bishop Ida Robinson
Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson
Smith Wigglesworth
Maria Woodworth-Etter
Category:Pentecostals
Major denominations
Apostolic Church
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
International Pentecostal Holiness Church
United Pentecostal Church International
Related movements
Oneness Pentecostalism
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG), commonly referred to as the Foursquare Church, is an evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. As of 2000, it had a worldwide membership of over 8,000,000, with almost 60,000 churches in 144 countries. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States.
2 Beliefs
3.1 Local churches
5 Nigeria
In 1922, Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944), an evangelist known as "Sister Aimee", explained for the first time her definition of the term Foursquare Gospel (theological concept "Full Gospel").[1] According to chapter 1 of Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel had a vision of God as revealed to be four different aspects: a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. It also represents the four aspects of the Department of Christ; Savior, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Healer and Soon-coming King. This was the vision and name she gave at Foursquare Church, founded in 1923 in Los Angeles,[2] which became her center of operations, and where she also opened in 1923 Angelus Temple, seating 5,300 people, in Echo Park.[3] The attendance has become a megachurch with 10,000 people.[4] McPherson was a flamboyant celebrity in her day, participating in publicity events, such as weekly Sunday parades through the streets of Los Angeles, along with the mayor and movie stars, directly to Angelus Temple. She built the temple, as well as what is now known as Life Pacific College adjacent to it, on the northwest corner of land that she owned in the middle of the city.
McPherson's celebrity status continued after her death, with biopics such as the 1976 Hallmark Hall of Fame drama The Disappearance of Aimee depicting her life, as well as the 2006 independent film Aimee Semple McPherson, which particularly focused on her month-long disappearance in May–June 1926 and the legal controversy that followed.[5][6][7]
After Aimee Semple McPherson's death in 1944, her son Rolf K. McPherson became president and leader of the church, a position he held for 44 years.[8][9] The Foursquare Church formed the "Pentecostal Fellowship of North America" in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa, in an alliance with the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Open Bible Standard Churches, the Pentecostal Holiness Church, and others. In 1994, 46 years after the founding of the Pentecostal Fellowship, it was reorganized as the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America after combining with African-American organizations, most significantly the Church of God in Christ.
Angelus Temple, built by Aimee Semple McPherson and dedicated January 1, 1923. The temple is opposite Echo Park, near downtown Los Angeles, California.
On May 31, 1988, John R. Holland became the Church's third President, a position he held until July 1997.[9]
Harold Helms served as interim president from July 1997 until July 1998; he was followed by Paul C. Risser, who became the president on April 16, 1998, at the church's 75th annual convention.[10]
In October 2003, under Risser's tenure, the church sold Los Angeles radio station KFSG-FM to the Spanish Broadcasting System for $250 million.[11] Risser's leadership led to another high-profile controversy for the church, when, without the involvement of the denomination's board of directors and finance council, church funds were invested in firms that targeted the "close-knit evangelical community" but turned out to be Ponzi schemes.[12] Risser resigned his leadership position under fire in March 2004.
Jack W. Hayford, founder of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California served as the president of the Foursquare Church from 2004 to 2009. Hayford along with Pastors Roy Hicks, Jr. in Eugene, Oregon, Jerry Cook in Gresham, Oregon, Ronald D. Mehl of the Beaverton Foursquare Church in Beaverton, Oregon, and John Holland in Vancouver, British Columbia, have been credited by the church with setting a plan for the denomination's continued survival despite its staggering financial losses estimated at $15 million under the failed leadership of Paul Risser.[13]
The Foursquare denomination, under Hayford's leadership, is in "Missional Conversation" with the emerging church movement, claimed to be part of a "Church Multiplication" effort.[14] "Church Multiplication" also supports the house church movement through resources that support the expansion of "Foursquare Simple Church Networks."[15]
Glenn Burris Jr. has held the position of president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel since June 2009. In 2014, facts came to light that under Burris' leadership, the Church lost yet another $2 million in a failed investment of a Broadway play based on the life of Aimee McPherson.
Beliefs[edit]
The beliefs of the Foursquare Church are expressed in its Declaration of Faith, compiled by its founder Aimee Semple McPherson.[16] McPherson also authored a shorter, more concise creedal statement.[17]
The church believes in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the deity of Jesus Christ.[18] It believes that human beings were created in the image of God but, because of the Fall, are naturally depraved and sinful.[19] It believes in the substitutionary atonement accomplished by the death of Christ. The church teaches that salvation is by grace through faith and not by good works.[20] Believers are justified by faith and born again upon repentance and acceptance of Christ as Lord and king.[21] Consistent with its belief in human free will, the Foursquare Church also teaches that it is possible for a believer to backslide or commit apostasy.[22]
The Foursquare Church teaches that sanctification is a continual process of spiritual growth.[23] Christian perfection and holiness can be attained through surrender and consecration to God. This spiritual growth is believed to be promoted by Bible study and prayer.[24] The Foursquare Church believes in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an event separate from conversion that empowers the individual and the wider church to fulfill the church's mission of evangelization. The Foursquare Church expects Spirit baptism to be received in the same manner as recorded in the Book of Acts, namely that the believer will receive spiritual gifts, possibly (though not necessarily) including speaking in tongues.[25] The evidence of the Spirit-filled life is the Fruit of the Spirit. The church believes that spiritual gifts continue in operation for the edification of the church.[26]
The Foursquare Church believes that divine healing is a part of Christ's atonement. It teaches that the sick can be healed in response to prayer.[27] The Foursquare Church anticipates a premillennial return of Christ to earth.[28] It believes that there will be a future final judgment where the righteous will receive everlasting life and the wicked everlasting punishment. The Foursquare Church observes believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion as ordinances.[29] Open communion is practiced.[30] Anointing of the sick and tithing are practiced as well.[31]
Structure[edit]
The Foursquare Convention is the chief decision making body of the Foursquare Church. Meeting regularly every year, the convention's voting membership includes international officers and licensed ministers. Each Foursquare church located in the United States has the right to send one voting delegate per every 50 church members.[32] National Foursquare Churches outside of the United States may send one official delegate to the convention.[33]
A board of 12 to 20 directors manages the Foursquare Church. In addition to overseeing the Church's activities, the board of directors appoints officers and is responsible for licensing and ordaining ministers. Members of the board include the president, vice presidents, and at least nine ministers representing geographic regions. Church members in good standing may also be appointed to the board.[34]
Local churches[edit]
Local Foursquare churches are subordinate parts of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and are operated according to the bylaws of the international church. There are two categories of Foursquare churches.[35] A "charter member church" is a member church that has no legal existence apart from the international church and whose property is owned by the international church. The second category is "covenant member church", which include "pioneer churches" and previously non-member churches. Pioneer churches are recently established church plants that have not been upgraded to charter member status. Covenant member churches might also be previously non-member churches that join the Foursquare Church but choose not to transfer their real property to the international church.[36]
Non-member churches may choose to affiliate with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel without becoming a full member of the international church. These "community member churches" retain their separate legal identities and autonomy. They are not under the control or authority of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and they license or ordain their own ministers. Community member churches affiliate with the Foursquare Church "on a relational basis of shared principles, endeavors, goals and purpose". This relationship between the international church and the community member church can be terminated by either party with or without cause.[37] Members of community member churches are not members of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.[38]
North America[edit]
In the United States, the church is divided into districts, divisions, and individual churches. A General Supervisor oversees the national office and district supervisors; district supervisors oversee divisional superintendents who have oversight of individual churches within the local region. Rev. Tammy Dunahoo currently (2014) serves as General Supervisor.
Two colleges are affiliated with the Foursquare Church. These are: Life Pacific College, formerly "L. I. F. E. Bible College," in San Dimas, California, and Pacific Life Bible College in Surrey, British Columbia.
The update in the 2008 Foursquare Church Annual Report provides 2007 data of the movement's statistics in the United States, as of April 1, 2008:
Salvations: 107,727
Water Baptisms: 15,788
Holy Spirit Baptisms: 11,221
Members and Adherents: 257,357
Churches: 1,874
Ministries: 6,717
Church Plants: 78[citation needed]
Over 30 churches from Louisiana and Mississippi are said to be formalizing into the Foursquare Church as of October, 2010.[citation needed]
In 2006, membership in the United States was 353,995 in 1,875 churches.[39] While congregations are concentrated along the West Coast, the denomination is well distributed across the United States.[40] The states with the highest membership rates are Oregon, Hawaii, Montana, Washington, and California.[40]
In Canada, Anna D. Britton, a graduate of L.I.F.E. Bible College in Los Angeles, moved to Vancouver, B.C. in 1927, established L.I.F.E. Bible College of Canada in 1928 and grew a small group of believers into a congregation of nearly 1,000, known as Kingsway Foursquare Church. Her vision prompted her to extend the Foursquare Gospel to the three western provinces of Canada over which she served as Supervisor for many years. Other Supervisors of the Western Canada District have been, B.A. McKeown, Clarence Hall, Warren Johnson, Guy Duffield, Charles Baldwin, Harold Wood, Roy Hicks Sr., and John Holland.
Victor Gardner became Supervisor of the Western Canada District in 1974. Eventually, in order to comply with Canadian law, The Western Canada District needed to register all properties in the name of a Canadian Corporation and gain control of all finances as well. Victor Gardner led the development of the Constitution and Bylaws, the Administrative Manual and oversaw the transfer of all the legal documents so on March 5, 1981, the Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada (FGCC) came into being.[41][failed verification]
Tim Peterson was President of the FGCC from 1992–2007. His wife, Laurene, also worked in the National Office of FGCC, and together they oversaw the establishment of a healthy corporate structure and developed National Teams.
Barry Buzza, who planted the largest Foursquare Church in Canada, Northside Church, a three-campus church in the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, and two in Port Coquitlam) in the Vancouver metropolitan area of British Columbia was elected as President on July 1, 2007. His inauguration took place at the FGCC Convention on Thursday, October 25, 2007 at the Chandos Pattison Auditorium in Surrey, British Columbia.
Steve Falkiner was appointed President in 2012 and currently serves in this role.
Nigeria[edit]
The church has a major presence in Nigeria. It entered Nigeria in 1955 through the ministry of Rev. & Mrs Harold Curtis who established the LIFE Theological Seminary at Herbert Macurley Road, Yaba, Lagos.[citation needed] The missionary couples trained a group of young boys and taught them the doctrines of Foursquare as contained in the 22 tenets of faith of the movement.[citation needed] Today, the church is one of the largest in Nigeria. The church is currently headed by Rev. Felix Meduoye in Nigeria. The headquarter of Foursquare Gospel Church In Nigeria is at 62/66 Akinwunmi Street, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. The church has an international conference center at Orinsunmibare Idimu, Lagos.[42]
Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Philippines
List of the largest Protestant bodies
^ What is Foursquare?, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Accessed September 11, 2016
^ Edith Waldvogel Blumhofer, Aimee Semple McPherson: everybody's sister, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 1993, page 246–247
^ Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, USA, 2002, page 295
^ Thomas, Lately Storming Heaven: The Lives and Turmoils of Minnie Kennedy and Aimee Semple McPherson, Ballantine Books, USA, 1970) page 32
^ Epstein, Daniel Mark, Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson (Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1993) pp. 296, chapter "Kidnapped"
^ Matthew Avery Sutton, Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007)p90, chapters "Kidnapping the Bride of Christ and p119, "Unraveling the Mystery"
^ Cox, Raymond L. The Verdict is In, ( R.L. Cox and Heritage Committee, California, 1983) entire book focuses on the reported kidnapping
^ J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, page 1461
^ a b "Our History". Victoria Foursquare Church website. Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
^ "September 13–15, 2002 Retreat Details". foursquarenwmensretreat.org. Archived from the original on December 15, 2004. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
^ Lattin, Don (2004-06-05). "Popular evangelist elected to head Foursquare Church". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
^ Lattin, Don (2004-06-03). "Foursquare sinner forgiven: Former president's investing may have cost church $15 million". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
^ "History: 1944-Present". Church's official website. Archived from the original on 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
^ "Church Multiplication: Missional Conversation". Retrieved 2008-08-05. The missional conversation has arisen as a result of many diverse followers of Jesus re-thinking and re-imagining what it means to be church in the 21st century. We are welcoming this conversation, and as the Spirit leads, inviting all to learn and contribute to what we believe will shape the prophetic future of the church.
^ "Church Multiplication: Simple Church". Retrieved 2008-08-05. The main purpose of this site will be to give you a place to connect with others who are hearing God's call to explore the simple church world and to provide you with a growing body of resources pertinent to the simple church journey.
^ Declaration of Faith of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Accessed January 11, 2013.
^ Creedal Statements of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Accessed January 11, 2013.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 1–3
^ III. The Fall of Man, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 9.
^ VI. Repentance and Acceptance and VII. The New Birth, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 24.
^ VIII. Daily Christian Life, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 25–27.
^ X. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ XII. The Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ XIV. Divine Healing, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ IX. Water Baptism and the Lord's Supper, ICFG Declaration of Faith.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 14 and 23.
^ ICFG Creedal Statements 10, 11, 21.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws 2012 edition, Article V 5.5, p. 7.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article XVIIII, p. 46.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article VI, pp. 9–12.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article III 3.3, p. 3.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article III 3.8 A–B, p. 4.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article III 3.8 C, p. 5.
^ Foursquare Church Bylaws, Article IV, p. 5.
^ "2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches". The National Council of Churches. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
^ a b "2000 Religious Congregations and Membership Study". Glenmary Research Center. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
^ "Foursquare Canada". Foursquare Canada.
^ "Home - FGC Yaba". FGC Yaba.
Foursquare Gospel Publications. The Foursquare Church Annual Report 2006.
Glenmary Research Center. Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States (2000).
Mead, Frank S., Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood. Handbook of Denominations in the United States.
Melton, J. Gordon (Ed.). Encyclopedia of American Religions.
Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. The Vine and the Branches: A History of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
Daniel Mark Epstein. Sister Aimee
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For other uses, see Zumbi (disambiguation).
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Zumbi dos Palmares
Bronze head of Zumbi in Brasília, Brazil
King of Quilombo dos Palmares
Ganga Zumba (Uncle)
Camuanga (son) (de jure) of the resistance, kingdom destroyed.
Nzumbi, Francisco
Captaincy of Pernambuco, Portuguese Colony of Brazil
20 November 1695 (aged 39–40)
Quilombo dos Palmares (Today Alagoas, Brazil)
Zumbi (1655 – November 20, 1695), also known as Zumbi dos Palmares (Portuguese pronunciation: [zũˈbi dus pɐwˈmaɾis]), was a Brazilian of Kongo/Angola origin and a quilombola leader, being one of the pioneers of resistance to slavery of Africans by the Portuguese in Brazil. He was also the last of the kings of the Quilombo dos Palmares, a settlement of Afro-Brazilian people who had liberated themselves from enslavement, in the present-day state of Alagoas, Brazil. Zumbi today is revered in Afro-Brazilian culture as a powerful symbol of resistance against the enslavement of Africans in the colony of Brazil.[1] He was married to the less known but also great warrior Dandara.
1 Quilombos
2 Origins
4 King of the Quilombo dos Palmares
5 Importance today
6 Tributes
Quilombos[edit]
Quilombos were communities in Brazil founded by individuals of African descent (Angola) who escaped slavery (these escaped slaves are commonly referred to as Maroons[2]). Members of quilombos often returned to plantations or towns to encourage their former fellow Africans to flee and join the quilombos. If necessary, they brought others by force and sabotaged plantations. Anyone who came to quilombos on their own were considered free, but those who were captured and brought by force were considered slaves and continued to be so in the new settlements. They could be considered free if they were to bring another captive to the settlement. Women were also targets of capture, including black, white, Indian and mulatas (women of mixed African and European ancestry), who were forcibly relocated to Palmares.[3] Some women, however, fled voluntarily to Palmares to escape abusive spouses and/or masters.[3] Since small in numbers, men were also recruited to join Palmares and even Portuguese soldiers fleeing forced recruitment were sought out.[3]
Palmares was established around 1605 by 40 enslaved central Africans who fled to the heavily forested hills that parallel the northern coast of Brazil.[4] Here they instituted a free settlement they called Angola janga (Little Angola), which would grow to be the greatest community of escaped slaves in the Americas.[4] Portuguese authorities called this area Palmares, due to its many palm trees, and were locked in deadly clashes with it for much of the 17th century.[4]
Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining kingdom of Maroons escaped from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Pernambuco".[5] At its height, Palmares had a population of more than 30,000. Palmares developed into a confederation of 11 towns, spanning rugged mountainous terrain in frontier zones across the present day states of Alagoas and Pernambuco.[3] Palmares was an autonomous state based on African political and religious customs that supported itself though means of agriculture, fishing, hunting, gathering, trading, and raiding nearby Brazilian plantations and settlements.[3]
Origins[edit]
Zumbi's mother Sabina was a sister of Ganga Zumba, who is said to have been the son of princess Aqualtune, daughter of an unknown King of Kongo. It is unknown if Zumbi's mother was also daughter of the princess, but this still makes him related to the Kongo nobility. Zumbi and his relatives are of Central African descent. They were brought to the Americas after the Battle of Mbwila, which occurred in modern-day Angola. The Portuguese won the battle eventually, killing 5,000 men, and captured the king, his two sons, his two nephews, four governors, various court officials, 95 title holders and 400 other nobles who were put on ships and sold as slaves in the Americas. It is very probable that Ganga and Sabina were among these nobles. The whereabouts of the rest of the individuals captured after the Battle of Mbwila is unknown. Some are believed to have been sent to Spanish America, but Ganga Zumba, his brother Zona and Sabina were made slaves at the plantation of Santa Rita in the Captaincy of Pernambuco in what is now northeast Brazil. From there, they escaped to Palmares.
Early life[edit]
Zumbi was born free in Palmares in 1655, believed to be descended from the Imbangala warriors from Angola.[6] He was captured by the Portuguese and given to a missionary, Father António Melo, when he was approximately six years old. Father António Melo baptized Zumbi and gave him the name of Francisco. Zumbi was taught the sacraments, learned Portuguese and Latin and succeeded in the End of building a Kongo kingdom in Palmares . Despite attempts to subjugate him, Zumbi escaped in 1670 and, at the age of 15, returned to his birthplace. Zumbi became known for his physical prowess and cunning in battle and he was a respected military strategist by the time he was in his early twenties.
Capoeira or the Dance of War by Johann Moritz Rugendas, 1835
King of the Quilombo dos Palmares[edit]
By 1678, the governor of the captaincy of Pernambuco, Pedro Almeida, weary of the longstanding conflict with Palmares, approached its king Ganga Zumba with an olive branch. Almeida offered freedom for all runaway slaves if Palmares would submit to Portuguese authority, a proposal which Ganga Zumba favored. But Zumbi – who became the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom's forces in 1675 - was distrustful of the Portuguese. Further, he refused to accept freedom for the people of Palmares while other Africans remained enslaved. He rejected Almeida's overture and challenged Ganga Zumba's kingship. In 1687 Zumbi killed his uncle Ganga Zumba. Zumbi sought to implement a far more aggressive stance against the Portuguese[4] Vowing to continue the resistance to Portuguese oppression, Zumbi became the new king of Palmares.
Zumbi's determination and heroic efforts to fight for Palmares' independence increased his prestige. Predictably, when Zumbi gained authority, tensions with the Portuguese quickly escalated. In 1694, fifteen years after Zumbi assumed kingship of Palmares, the Portuguese colonists under the military commanders Domingos Jorge Velho and Bernardo Vieira de Melo launched an assault on the Palmares. They made use of artillery as well as a fierce force of Brazilian Indian fighters, which took 42 days to defeat the kingdom.[4] On February 6, 1694, after 67 years of ceaseless conflict with the cafuzos, or Maroons, of Palmares, the Portuguese succeeded in destroying Cerca do Macaco, the kingdom's central settlement. Some resistance continued, but on November 20, 1695 Zumbi was killed and decapitated, his head displayed on a pike to dispel any legends of his immortality.
Although it was eventually crushed, the success of Palmares through most of the 17th century greatly challenged colonial authority and would stand as a beacon of slave resistance in the times to come.[3]
Importance today[edit]
Zumbi (1927) by Antônio Parreiras
November 20 is celebrated, chiefly in Brazil, as a day of Afro-Brazilian consciousness. The day has special meaning for those Brazilians of African descent who honour Zumbi as a hero, freedom fighter, and symbol of freedom. Zumbi has become a hero of the 20th-century Afro-Brazilian political movement, as well as a national hero in Brazil. Today, Zumbi is considered a hero of great magnitude amongst Afro-Brazilians who celebrate his courage, leadership qualities, and heroic resistance to Portuguese colonial rule.[3]
Tributes[edit]
Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport is the name of the airport serving Maceió, Brazil.
Subject of the 1974 Jorge Ben song "Zumbi".
Gilberto Gil released a CD called Z300 Anos de Zumbi.
Quilombo, 1985, film by Carlos Diegues about Palmares, ASIN B0009WIE8E
The band name Chico Science & Nação Zumbi (later just Nação Zumbi after the death of frontman Chico Science)
Soulfly has the song titled "Zumbi", and mentioned in various lyrics as well.
Mentioned in the Sepultura song "Ratamahatta."
His name is given to a fighter in the Macromedia Flash game Capoeira Fighter 2 & 3.
On March 21, 1997, his name and biography were entered into the Book of Steel of the Tancredo Neves Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom, a monument dedicated to the honor Brazil's national heroes.
Arena Conta Zumbí, a 1964 play about Zumbí by the 20th-century Brazilian dramatists Gianfrancesco Guarnieri and Augusto Boal, with music by Edu Lobo.[7]
Latin America portal
Human rights portal
History portal
Atlantic slave trade
Cafuzo
Palmares (quilombo)
Triangular trade
List of slaves
^ Araujo, Ana Lucia (2012). "Zumbi and the Voices of the Emergent Public Memory of Slavery and Resistance in Brazil". Comparativ: Leipziger Beiträge zur Universalgeschichte und Vergleichenden Gesellschaftsforschung. 22: 95–111.
^ Price, R. ed., 1996. Maroon societies: Rebel slave communities in the Americas. JHU Press.
^ a b c d e f g The human tradition in colonial Latin America. Andrien, Kenneth J., 1951- (2nd ed.). Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. 2013. ISBN 9781442212992. OCLC 839678886. CS1 maint: others (link)
^ a b c d e FAGAN, BRIAN (1993). "Timelines: Brazil's Little Angola". Archaeology. 46 (4): 14–19. JSTOR 41771048.
^ Braudel (1984), p. 390.
^ Rodriguez (2006), p. 587.
^ Augusto Boal, Theater of the Oppressed, pp. 143–153 © Pluto Press, http://www.plutobooks.com
Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World, vol. III of Civilization and Capitalism, 1984 (in French 1979).
Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2006.
Diggs, Irene, "Zumbi and the Republic of Os Palmares", vol. 14 of Phylon (1940–65)
Chapman, Charles E., "Palmares: The Negro Numantia", vol. 3 of The Journal of Negro History (January 1918).
Kent, R. K., "Palmares: An African State in Brazil", vol. 6 of The Journal of African History (1965).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zumbi dos Palmares.
The Slave King
300 Years of Zumbi
Taiguara performing the song composed in Zumbi's honour
Ganga Zumba King of Palmares
1680–1695 Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zumbi&oldid=899559741"
17th-century Brazilian people
Brazilian people of Angolan descent
Brazilian rebel slaves
Executed Brazilian people
Executed monarchs
Humanitarians
People executed by Colonial Brazil
People executed by Portugal by decapitation
CS1 maint: others
Articles lacking in-text citations from August 2011
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EVFTA on track to bring new German investors
In the first eight months of 2017 Germany was the EU largest foreign investor in Vietnam Wolfgang Manig Deputy Head of Mission and Economic Counsellor at the German Embassy in Vietnam talked about German firms views on Vietnam as an attractive investment destination
What is your assessment of German businesses’ performance in Vietnam now and their future prospects?
For German companies, Vietnam is seen as a first-class investment destination. According to international assessments, the business prospects are bright and the willingness of Vietnam to welcome foreign investment remains very satisfactory.
In general, German companies in Vietnam intend to expand their activities, and this corresponds with the export initiatives of the German federal government to promote German business abroad, which include renewable energy, energy efficiency, health care, and special programmes for German small- and medium-sized enterprises.
World-famous German textile companies investing in Vietnam have presented their expansion intentions to the prime minister. They intend to expand their investments, creating highly qualified jobs, a transfer of technology, and state-of-the-art labour conditions.
However, I deplore that the lack of flexibility by the Vietnamese administration to meet the requirements of German companies remains an obstacle for these plans. I understand that in Vietnam, the “art of doing business” is different from European and world standards. But in accordance with the Party Central Committee’s resolution on the integration of Vietnam into the globalised world issued in October 2016, Vietnam’s administration has to understand that attracting foreign investment demands an adaptation to international standards.
It cannot be expected that the world will do business in the Vietnamese way, which is still far too often connected to personal relations including mutual financial and family dependencies. These are just other words for corruption in the modern definition of “non-compliance.”
The EU and Vietnam are conducting final procedures for the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) next summer. How important is the EVFTA to Germany’s businesses and investors in Vietnam?
The EVFTA opens new opportunities for both Vietnam and Germany. Both governments have expressed their commitment to creating beneficial conditions in order to increase bilateral trade volume to US$20 billion by 2020. The EVFTA will help tremendously to reach this objective. Reduction of duties will further enable the import of high-tech solutions, both in machinery and services.
For Vietnam’s exports to Germany and to the European Union as a whole, new opportunities will present themselves. These will pay off when Vietnamese companies accept that productivity has to be increased, particularly with a systematic reform of vocational training. In Germany and Europe we call it “life-long learning.”
On the other hand, the EVFTA urges Vietnam to speed up its modernisation, not only in the economic field. The implementation of the International Labour Organization’s conventions is crucial. Free exchange of information, respecting new ideas-even if they are in a certain way revolutionary at first sight, and seem to be incompatible with the traditional way of doing business or regulating social affairs-and new forms of interaction between employers and employees are the litmus test for the functioning of the EVFTA.
What are the key challenges that German firms and investors are facing in Vietnam?
I may refer to the first question. The German Embassy is far too often asked by German companies to intervene at the political level due to lack of a working judiciary. Although Vietnam has a good set of legal provisions, the competency of the staff working in the administration, particularly on the provincial and local levels, is weak.
Decisions are often discretionary or made without profound knowledge of the legal rules, or both. Rules and procedures are changed fast, sometimes without taking into account existing rules which contradict the new ones. Pharmacy and agriculture are the most recent examples, the automotive sector another.
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Faith and Reason: The Cradle of Truth
by Dr. Gerard M. Verschuuren
Of course, it’s a travesty, but a very widely held one. We all have heard how some people caricature religious believers. On weekdays, they are critical, want proofs, look for arguments, and believe something only if there is no further doubt. Then, on Sundays, they turn a switch, set their understanding to zero and their gaze on infinity. The contrast painted in this parody is clear: Religious believers live a schizophrenic life. It is the life of reason on weekdays and the life of faith on Sundays. This perceived contrast cannot be true, though. It is based on distorted and shallow concepts of faith, reason, and the differences between the two, as we will see in this book.
Paperback $18.99 | Kindle $9.99
“This book is not a moment too soon. One of the signs of our times has to be the displacement of both faith and reason by a tyranny of the emotive. Truth is no longer found at the intersection of faith and reason but is now located in vague, individual sentiment. The way out of this cultural morass is for clear minds and holy hearts to lead the way. Gerard Verschuuren has proven himself to be such a guide in this important book.” — Fr. Joseph M. Gile, S.T.D., Dean of Graduate Studies and Adult and Continuing Education, Newman University, Wichita, KS
“If you are searching for a Catholic book on the link between philosophy and theology that you can actually understand, look no further. Faith and Reason is a clearly written exposition and defense of man’s ability to know God and his creation. Gerard Verschuuren sets forth a truly Catholic appreciation of our place in the universe: man is a free, rational creature with an eternal destiny. His reasoning power allows him to understand who he is, who God is and to discover that the embrace of God by the act of faith is the fulfillment of our being and of every true and good desire in the human heart.” -— Fr. Gerald E. Murray, J.C.D., Pastor of Holy Family Church in New York City, NY, Commentator for religion on EWTN and Fox News
Gerard M. Verschuuren is a human geneticist who also earned a doctorate in the philosophy of science. He studied and worked at universities in Europe and the United States. Currently semi-retired, he spends most of his time as a writer, speaker, and consultant on the interface of science and religion, faith and reason.
More information about his life and works may be found on his Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Verschuuren
A review of Aquinas and Modern Science: A New Synthesis of Faith and Reason, by Gerard M. Verschuuren, has appeared in Volume 57, Issue 4 (December 2017) of the International Philosophical Quarterly
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Diana Glassman: Banking on the Environment
Photo courtesy of TD Bank
December 5, 2013 — The connection between banking and the environment may not seem obvious at first, but it runs deep. To learn more, Ensia recently spoke with Diana Glassman, head of Environmental Affairs for TD Bank, a retail bank with approximately 1,300 branches in the eastern United States. Over the course of our conversation we discussed TD Bank’s environmental initiatives, criticism of the banking sector for financing fossil fuels, the intersection of energy and water, and more.
Todd Reubold
Part of your role at TD Bank involves identifying opportunities to expand the company’s environmental commitment. Can you tell me more?
Diana Glassman
TD Bank seeks to be an environmental leader. This is a belief held at the top. It’s the right thing to do, and it also has business benefits. There are revenue benefits, there are brand benefits, there are employee benefits, there are reputation benefits, all of which are important to a growing business.
Can you give me a few examples of TD Bank’s environmental initiatives?
The first is our own emissions. We’ve made a commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2015, per employee. Another area is paper. We have made a public commitment to reduce our paper consumption by 20 percent by 2015. And third, we work with local organizations through our TD Forests initiative to promote urban greening in our communities. We see trees and open spaces as central to what makes a community thrive. It’s more than beautification; it‘s about making the community strong.
Also, we have an amazing green building program. We have the country’s first net-zero energy bank branch, down in Florida. All of our new expansion sites — and we’re building lots of them up and down the East Coast — they‘re all certified LEED.
We already are the first large North American-based bank to be carbon neutral. We did that back in 2010. We want to keep reducing our actual output per person.
What’s the role of the banking sector — or TD Bank in particular — in addressing vexing environmental challenges?
The bank has a very important role in society. It is a multiplier. It provides financing. It asks questions of its clients before providing them with money. It’s important that if a company or individual comes to us, they need to know that we will look at their compliance with environmental standards, and think about the environment as it relates to their risk profile and the like. It’s very, very important. It’s our responsibility to make sure that this is done right.
The banking sector — including TD Bank — has been criticized for financing fossil fuels. What’s your response?
We all share the same society. We all share the same concerns. We’re all concerned about energy. We’re all concerned about food. We‘re all concerned about living in a healthy environment. Society is trying to figure out how to deal with all of these and the trade-offs, and society hasn’t quite figured it out. The world needs energy. Things get really bad really quickly if you don‘t have energy. We support energy diversity – this includes everything from reducing impacts of fossil fuels to the renewable energy sector. We believe in a carbon tax. We want to do what we can to get the public dialogue going constructively, and continue from there.
You’re an expert on the intersection of energy and water use. What do you mean when you say, “What’s green is not necessarily blue”?
The environment and the water-energy-food nexus, it‘s all connected. When we make decisions about energy, we generally focus on one or two dimensions, but we don‘t really think about that other dimension, the water dimension.
We think about water in three ways. One, how much you consume or how much is taken away from its source. Two, how much is withdrawn but gets sent back. And lastly, the pollution impact. When you think of energy, you have to think about all three. For example, conventional solar thermal plants consume more [water] than most coal-fired power plants that produce the same amount of energy output. And where do we find solar thermal plants? Arid areas.
People also don‘t appreciate how much energy is embedded in water. It takes so much energy to move water around, heat it, clean it and process it. We‘ve got to cut it.
Can you tell me a bit more about the importance of engaging your company’s employees in hitting your environmental goals?
We want to make environment part of the thought process in any business decision we make. In order to do that, we first have to capture the hearts and minds of our employees. How do you do that? It’s “The 4Hs of Environmental Engagement SM – Head. Heart. Hands. Horn.SM” Head stands for what many people call awareness and education. Heart is for the passion factor. Hands signifies when we get employees to take action, whether it’s go out and plant trees, turn their taps off, turn off lights, whatever. And lastly, Horn means how to get believers to go and inspire other people. Research shows that people believe other people. Word of mouth is key.
You have to meet people where they are. There‘s going to be one sub-group that’s the super greenies. There’s going to be another group that kind of likes it. There are going to be senior executives who are going to relate differently. You tailor your tactics accordingly, and take each group through The 4H’s.
But the real question is, how does this transcend companies? How do we engage the world? If we can engage the public to think about their demand patterns, their own personal supply chains — that, to me, is a critical leverage point.
What’s your hope for the future?
I really am optimistic. I do see a generational trend, a corporate trend. I see governmental trends. There are lots of reasons why people should be positive about the future.
Pingback, Dec. 9th, 2013
An interview with Diana Glassman: Banking on the Environment |
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Petroleum Cleanup Program Bill is now Law
By Steve Hilfiker
Petroleum Cleanup Program
After unanimous approval through both houses last spring, a veto in the summer, and an override in the fall, House Bill 1385 has made it to law. The Florida Legislature voted to override the Governor’s veto of the bill in a Special Session on November 16, 2010. The law amends Florida Statute (FS) section 376.3071 subsection (5)(c), which allows Long Term Natural Attenuation Monitoring (LTNAM) strategies as outlined below, and subsection (11)(b), which is the primary focus of this article.
FS 376.3071(11)(b) now provides a Low-Scored-Site Initiative (LSSI) designed to reduce the backlog of sites in the petroleum cleanup program. The premise for LSSI is that the cleanup program has not sampled most of the low scored sites in many years. The initiative is based on the likelihood that many of these sites have attenuated naturally and are no longer impacted.
For sites scored 10 or less with state restoration funding eligibility, the law states that up to $10 million shall be encumbered annually from the Inland Protection Trust Fund for LSSI. A maximum of $30,000 per site is available for assessment and six months of groundwater monitoring, for sites that meet the criteria specified in paragraph (11)(b)1 of the law.
Funding will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to ten sites per fiscal year for each responsible party or site owner. The bill was silent on payment of deductibles and copayments but it did not amend other sections of the Florida Statutes regarding these subjects. Funding is not available for the establishment of institutional or engineering controls, which are mentioned in revised FS section (11)(b)1 only once. The reference is in paragraph (11)(b)1.f as the means to achieve the criteria if impacted soil that is subject to human exposure exists within two feet of land surface.
Based on paragraph (11)(b)2, if the assessment results demonstrate that no soil or groundwater impacts exist above the FDEP regulatory cleanup target levels, these sites can obtain a Site Rehabilitation Completion Orders (SRCO), which represent final agency action for properties that are regulated by FAC Chapter 62-770. If impacts exist but are contained within site boundaries, No Further Action (NFA) can be obtained if the criteria of (11)(b)1 are met. Per the law, the FDEP-issued determination of NFA acknowledges that minimal contamination exists onsite and that such contamination is not a threat to human health or the environment. An opinion is offered at the end of this article regarding restrictive covenants on the LSSI sites that meet the criteria for No Further Action.
The law states that any site with priority ranking scores of 10 or less may voluntarily participate in the program regardless of eligibility. NFA status for sites scored 10 or less and releases reported prior to 1995 has been available through non-reimbursable voluntary cleanup in accordance with FS section (11)(b) based on similar criteria since the 1990s. The new law makes the achievement of NFA status for sites 10 or less available through the use of state funding and opens the opportunity to any 10 and under site, not just those with discharges reported prior to 1995.
FS 376.3071(5)(c) introduces Long Term Natural Attenuation Monitoring (LTNAM) to the various means of compliance with the petroleum cleanup rule. LTNAM is designed to maximize the benefits of natural degradation and minimize remedial costs on sites where the plume is shrinking or stable and confined to the source property. If cost effective, this provision allows for the turning off of systems when sites reach NAM levels to allow for reviewing the feasibility of attenuation as the method to complete the cleanup.
The FDEP has indicated that it will be posting draft guidance for implementation of each of these new procedures on its web site in December. A two-week industry comment period will follow for each, and the FDEP anticipates a roll out date for the new procedures in January. The LSSI guidance is expected to be released and implemented first, with the LTNAM guidance and implementation to follow shortly thereafter. FDEP intends to have a public meeting on or about January 11, 2011 for going over both programs with the public.
The remainder of this article is my opinion based on my understanding and involvement in the communications that led to the bill.
It is my understanding that the intent of both the original and revised statute FS 376.3071(11)(b) is to enable a means of unconditional NFA to 10 and under sites. My understanding is supported by the language of the former section (11)(b) which allows NFA for sites scored 10 and under based essentially on (in summary) no free product, limited groundwater impacts, no exposure hazards, and no excessively contaminated soil. But the prior statute frequently referenced institutional and engineering controls.
Every mention of the use of institutional and engineering controls in the former statute section (11)(b) is stated as follows: “Where appropriate, institutional and engineering controls meeting the requirements of subparagraph (5)(b)4. may be required by the department to meet these criteria”. In the new version of the law, the ‘where appropriate’ phrases have been stricken, as have former paragraphs (11)(b)7 through (11)(b)10.
My understanding of the intent of House Bill 1385 regarding this subject is supported by the language of paragraph (11)(b)2 as discussed above. In particular, this new statute makes a distinction between SRCO and NFA; it states that a determination of NFA acknowledges that minimal contamination exists onsite and that such contamination is not a threat to human health or the environment. Based on my recollection of the initial communications regarding the intent of the bill, the amendments to the statute referenced in the prior paragraph were designed to provide NFA without conditions, without institutional and engineering controls, without restrictive covenants, and without deed restrictions.
It is my understanding that the FDEP OGC intends to require deed restrictions on the NFA sites. This is a very important subject and I believe it will lead to interesting dialog in December, during the 2-week industry comment period on the FDEP new guidance.
I believe the bill’s intent was to have the work orders end in one of the following three options:
1. Site Rehabilitation Completion Order (SRCO),
2. No Further Action (NFA) – file closure – no conditions, or
3. the site doesn’t qualify for either and it gets back in the score line.
Paragraph four of the “Summary Analysis” on page 1, and paragraph six of the “Full Analysis” on page 2 of the 3/11/10 “House Staff Analysis” supports the opinion above. More specifically, page four paragraph two of the 3/11/10 “House Staff Analysis”, states: “If these conditions are met {(11)(b)1}, the FDEP must issue a NFA, which means minimal contamination exists onsite and that contamination is not a threat to human health or the environment.”
Nothing is mentioned in the bill or the staff analysis about the use of institutional and engineering controls as a requirement for NFA sites, except for the circumstance in the second half of section (11)(b)1.f as described in the next paragraph. As I read it, NFA criteria can be achieved based on 1.a.–e. and the first half of 1f.
The conditions under subparagraph (11)(b)1.a. through f are the criteria to achieve NFA for these sites. Paragraph 1.f.has “or” (not “and”) in the midst of its condition; it says that the site can achieve NFA if “soils on-site that are subject to human exposure found between land surface and 2 feet below land surface meet the SCTLs established by department rule or human exposure is limited by appropriate institutional or engineering controls” In other words, if the site meets 1.a. – 1.f. only by using the option where such controls are necessary, it is only then that such a site shall be required to have deed restrictions.
The preceding paragraph mentions a circumstance where a site owner could use institutional or engineering controls to qualify for the NFA (the second half of rule 1.f.). The end of paragraph (11)(b)3.a. states: the department may not pay the costs associated with the establishment of institutional or engineering controls”. In my opinion, this language applies to the discussion in the prior paragraph and does not mean that the NFA sites are to be NFA with condition sites.
NFA should mean NFA, not NFA with deed restrictions.
Steve Hilfiker is President of Environmental Risk Management, Inc and can be reached at steve@ermi.net.
News & BlogFlorida Cleanup Program, Florida Legislature, Groundwater monitoring, lee county environmental policy, lee county environmental risk management, lee county government, Long Term Natural Attenuation Monitoring, Low-Scored-Site Initiative
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MACD: Moving Average Convergence/Divergence
March 18, 2018 Trading Basics
Moving Averages combined with Convergence and Divergence – that’s how you can define the MACD (pronounced “M-A-C-D” or “Mac-Dee”, like Mcdonalds), another widely used technical indicator. The specific thing that makes it stand out and hold a loyal following is that it provides signals in a clear way by interpreting two different moving averages and turning the difference between them into a momentum oscillator.
The indicator has three components:
The MACD Line – it’s calculated by subtracting the 26-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) from the 12-day EMA.
A 9-day EMA is also calculated in the same chart and is called a Signal Line. When the two cross this serves as a buy or sell signal.
The MACD Histogram represents the difference between the MACD and the Signal Line. When it’s positive that means the MACD Line is above the Signal Line and vice versa.
Here’s the formula these three variables are calculated by:
MACD Line: (12-day EMA – 26-day EMA)
Signal Line: 9-day EMA of MACD Line
MACD Histogram: MACD Line – Signal Line
The indicator moves above and below a zero line, so its focus is not on overbought or oversold levels (like the RSI), as it doesn’t have any borders on its top and bottom.
The number of days used for creating the MACD are what its creator Gerald Appel developed in 1979 and are the most widely used set but they can be changed to suit different time frames, trading styles and instruments. This is usually done before activating the MACD from the indicator list of your charting or trading platform.
Now we reach something many consider to be a trickier part. What are convergence and divergence, what do these seemingly hard words mean. They’re actually not that hard to understand:
Convergence – this is when the moving averages are moving closer and closer to each other
Divergence – when the moving averages are moving further apart.
Interpreting the MACD focuses on when these two things occur. The 12-day moving average responds to shorter term development and should catch any recent spikes or drops, while the 26-day is slower and in theory aims at pointing at more stable trends that can be seen over the course of the last month or so.
Bullish signals happen when the 12-day EMA moves above the 26-day EMA which is also represented by a histogram bar above the zero line. Bearish signals work the other way around – the 12-day moves below the 26-day and we get a bar pointing downwards.
The momentum of these signals is signified by the increase of the bars in the histogram – the more they increase, the stronger the move is perceived to be.
The MACD is known to be a two-in-one indicator and that’s why many traders like it but it does have its weaknesses. One of them is that it doesn’t take into consideration support and resistance levels as it has no way of interpreting the chart itself. Another thing to keep in mind is that its sensitivity has to be adapted to the volatility of the market – the 9, 12 and 26 day values were derived from data that covered many years. But different trading periods have higher and lower volatility for which the indicator may need some adjustment.
Convergence Divergence MACD moving average Moving Average Convergence Divergence technical indicator TRADING trading education
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How to Recover After Losing Your Entire Trading Account
4 Tips on How to Trade Large Positions
Over the last several weeks we’ve been mentioning both emotions and your trading diary quite often. Although we’ve said that you should make notes and comments about your mental state during trading, we realized that we need to be a bit more specific about it. So here are some detailed steps on how to combine…
Losing everything you deposited in a trading account is more common than most people believe. It’s actually part and parcel for most traders, especially at the beginning of their trading journey, before they find their bearings and a trading method they can rely on. Whether it’s because they lack discipline, don’t have a trading diary…
Trading large positions, moving serious money around, risking, but also profiting. That’s the image we have in our heads once we start trading (or even before). Making it big! But for most this is a just a destination and the journey towards it holds the keys to not only reaching it but also staying there.…
Adding to Positions – How and Why?
Adding to positions while they’re still open isn’t something that’s usually a part of the initial trading plan. It’s more of an advanced skill and it can be used for both a winning or a losing trade. But what many traders underestimate is how this affects them in purely mental ways. When adding to a…
Does the 10 000-Hour Rule Apply To Trading?
July 9, 2018 Trading Basics
All good things come to those who study. At least that’s what parents say and it’s why some new traders start on an arduous journey of applying the famous 10 000-hour rule to their studies of the market. But is this number really relevant when it comes to trading forex, stocks and cryptocurrencies? To answer…
How to Set Your Trading Station
Just like any new activity we take up, there are mistakes that come from inexperience. Whether it’s going to the gym and buying all the gizmos that tell you when you’re tired (in a visually pleasing and fancy way), or if you want to have a home brewery and you assemble a small factory in…
Feeling Regret About Your Trades? Use it!
June 30, 2018 Trading Basics
Just like with almost everything in life, trading can cause regret. Whether it’s for a missed opportunity or for a wrong decision, those little red and green numbers have the ability to push us into some pretty extreme emotions. Regret can control our behavior because it happens right after we’ve had a bad trade. It…
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Posts Tagged ‘The Ingenu
Candide and Other Stories – Voltaire (Translated by Roger Pearson)
Tags: Candide, classics, fiction, Oxford World's Classics, The Ingenu, Voltaire, Zadig
Candide and Other Stories by Voltaire (translated by Roger Pearson)
A compact collection that pairs Voltaire’s most famous work with a handful of lesser known stories, the Oxford World Classic’s edition of Candide is an interesting read but one that left me wanting a lot more.
A short tale and infamous almost right after its publication, Candide follows a the titular character through Europe, the New World and a couple of places not exactly on the map, showing up philosophers and organized religion everywhere he goes. He’s a guy with a cheerful sort of naïveté, always looking on the bright side of things as his life goes into the shitter.
It’s an interesting story, especially the more one digs into it and the philosophical arguments of Voltaire – “we must cultivate our garden,” as Candide says in the book’s final line – and it’s something I’m not sure I feel too comfortable digging into too deeply. I enjoyed it enough, but kept finding myself flipping back and forth at a vertigo-inducing rate to the notes at the back. And even those weren’t always enough.
Don’t get me wrong: Roger Pearson has included tons of notes with his translation, about a dozen pages worth, and some are helpful for the average reader on everything from Jansenism to the German philosopher Robeck, who preached about the absurdity of living. I assume he have been a fun person to have at parties. But I still found myself looking up places and names, always with the feeling I was missing something.
Then again, as Martin tells Candide, this world was created “to drive us mad.”
The other stories are an interesting bunch. Micromegas, a sci-fi story where two giant aliens hop around the solar system looking for signs of life; Zadig, a 1,001 Nights-styled story where the guy who tries to do the right thing always ends up punished; The White Bull, which satirizes the Old Testament; The Ingenu, which goes at melodramatic fiction (and Jansenism); What Pleases the Ladies, a verse takeoff of Chaucer.
Personally, I enjoyed The White Bull the most of the bunch: it follows a princess, a sentient bull and a king’s attempts to keep them separated, plus several cameos from Old Testament. Here, Voltaire plays the more fabulist aspects of the books against Greek and Roman mythology, especially Ovid’s Metamorphoses, playing up the fantastic elements. It’s an effective technique, much more so than his more direct snipes in the other stories.
Conversely, I enjoyed The Ingenu the least: it follows a native (at one point given a Christian name of Hercules, but generally without a name) through a winding story of intrigue, corruption and spoiled virtue. It plays with several clichés of this style of fiction – A noble savage who’s above the petty disputes of civilized society! His love must sacrifice her virginity for him! There’s a long deathbed scene! – but they didn’t do anything for me, feeling more like Voltaire having a laugh than the pointed satire of his other stories.
Generally, I enjoyed Pearson’s translation, which includes a lengthy introduction and a handful of notes, although I question Oxford’s decision to label an 18-year old translation as new; according to the editorial material was first published in 1990, nearly two decades before my 2008 edition. That’s a minor matter, though.
The notes are a little more: some are inserted in the text, others at the back of the book. A couple of them are printed in both places, for some reason. More frustrating are Pearson’s occasional editorial comments. As noted above, some of his notes are helpful, but others are a little pedantic, like the lengthy one about Jesuits and St. Anthony (which also has a bit of conjecture, too!) all from a chance remark of a character.
In another note, Pearson mentions a man named Gordon who was actually imprisoned like a character in the story The Ingenu, but notes “There is no evidence Voltaire actually knew this, although the parallel suggests he may have.” Well, if you say so.
Rating 8/10. As a whole, it’s a nicer collection than some of the others floating around out there. Penguin has Candide published on it’s own, with Zadig and The Ingenu in a separate volume. And with a list price of $8, it’s cheaper than a Norton Critical Edition (which also doesn’t include other Voltaire stories). For people who want to read Candide, you could do a lot worse. But people who really want to get into the story and the philosophy behind it, might not find everything they’re looking for.
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Now that they’re in the game again, let’s ask “who is al Qaeda?”
Larry Kummer, Editor Book, Film, & TV Reviews, Our Long War 9 January 2014 7 January 2018
Summary: US counterinsurgency experts have declared al Qaeda down for the count many times. Their #3 executive assassinated, repeatedly. Defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet in the 13th year after 9-11 we have been ejected from Iraq, which has burst into flames again. We face almost certain defeat in Afghanistan. Our special operations forces fight shadowy jihadists in dozens of nations. Our strategy of lavish killing, often in support of corrupt tyrants, doesn’t seem to be working. Perhaps we should go back to step one, and learn about the organization that initiated the Long War. Owen Bennett-Jones walks us through two new books helping us do so.
Flag of Jihad
.“Bunches of Guys“
by Owen Bennett-Jones
Published in the London Review of Books
Red emphasis added
Reprinted with the permission of the author and LRB.
A review of these books:
Decoding al-Qaida’s Strategy: The Deep Battle against America by Michael Ryan
The Terrorist’s Dilemma: Managing Violent Covert Organisations by Jacob Shapiro
As they fled Afghanistan after 9/11 some of bin Laden’s followers wondered whether the attacks on the US had been a mistake. Among them was one of al-Qaida’s most acerbic writers, Abu Musab al-Suri. In public he backed bin Laden: privately he described him as an obstinate egotist. And he was scathing about the consequences of 9/11: ‘The outcome, as I see it, was to put a catastrophic end to the jihadi current which started in the early 1960s.’ Al-Suri believed that the Afghan Taliban regime, the most religiously correct Islamic emirate in centuries, had been destroyed for the sake of a provocative attack on a country al-Qaida could not defeat.
Before 9/11, the organisation’s training camps had processed a steady stream of highly motivated recruits. After the attacks it was on the run. Another senior al-Qaida figure, Abu al Walid al-Masri, put it even more bluntly. Bin Laden, he said, had led his followers to ‘the abyss’.
A decade later those concerns seemed to have been vindicated. By 2011 al-Qaida had been reduced to a few bands of men hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Distracted by the need to evade death or capture they were capable of mounting only puny attacks. Their allies in the Afghan Taliban were a shadow of their former selves: they may have been fighting US forces with increasing vigour, but they were nowhere near conquering Kabul for a second time.
It was much the same story in North Africa, where the local al-Qaida branch, al Shabab, was thrown out of Mogadishu by African Union forces fighting in support of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. In Saudi Arabia, al-Qaida had suffered an even more devastating reverse. In 2003 the royal family had to be persuaded that al-Qaida was a genuine threat, but once that was done the state was running a concerted and well-resourced security and propaganda campaign. Senior clerics were seen on TV denouncing the organisation.
At the same time, many of al-Qaida’s most capable leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man who put together the 9/11 attack, were languishing in Guantánamo. Those who were still in Pakistan faced drone strikes of such accuracy that they had to be continually on the move and could not risk meeting up for more than a few minutes. The West’s assault on al-Qaida’s finances had left bin Laden, the son of one of the wealthiest families on earth, worrying about money for the first time in his life. Then in May 2011 the US located and killed him.
All of which makes plain how remarkable al-Qaida’s resurgence over the last three years has been.
{Preview ended. Go to the London Review of Books website to read the rest. Better yet, subscribe. It should be on your To Read list}
About the author of the review
Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance British journalist and one of the hosts of Newshour on the BBC World Service. See his Wikipedia entry.
(a) Posts about bin Laden:
Important: Was 9/11 the most effective single military operation in the history of the world?, 11 June 2008
Bin Laden wins by using the “Tactics of Mistake” against America, 6 February 2011
A brief note about the death of bin Laden, 2 May 2011
Important: About the strategic significance of bin Laden’s execution, and the road not taken, 5 May 2011
(b) These posts about AQ remain relevant today:
Important: Lessons Learned from the American Expedition to Iraq, 29 December 2005 — Is al Qaeda like Cobra, SPECTRE, and THRUSH?
The enigma of Al Qaeda. Even in death, these unanswered questions remain important, 15 September 2008
“Strategic Divergence: The War Against the Taliban and the War Against Al Qaeda” by George Friedman, 31 January 2009
Can we defeat our almost imaginary enemies?, 10 December 2009
“The Almanac of Al Qaeda” – about our foe, 16 June 2010
Today’s news about the Af-Pak War, about al Qaeda’s strength, 1 July 2010
Important: Does al Qaeda still exist?, 31 March 2011
A look at al Qaeda, the long war — and us, 7 August 2013
We cannot defeat al Qaeda unless we understand it. And since we’re told mostly exaggerations and lies…, 12 October 2013
All posts on the FM website about al Qaeda are listed here.
(c) For more information about our Islamic foes:
Important: Are islamic extremists like the anarchists?, 14 December 2009
Important: RAND explains How Terrorist Groups End, and gives Lessons for Countering al Qa’ida, 15 January 2010
Stratfor’s strategic analysis – “Jihadism in 2010: The Threat Continues”, 17 March 2010
Stratfor: “Jihadism: The Grassroots Paradox”, 21 March 2010
Stratfor: Setting the Record Straight on Grassroots Jihadism, 1 May 2010
Hard (and disturbing) information about schools in Pakistan – the madāris , 1 May 2011
jacob shairo
own bennett-jones
Published 9 January 2014 7 January 2018
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5 thoughts on “Now that they’re in the game again, let’s ask “who is al Qaeda?””
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MikeF says:
Excellent review by Owen Bennett-Jones. I’ll try to add a couple of additional thoughts.
1. For those interested, all works cited in these books are provided free in English at USMA’s CTC {Combating Terrorism Center at West Point}. I’d recommend anyone that wants to better understand AQ to spend a day reading through the direct texts and draw your own conclusions. The CTC has been a national treasure for many us fighting in the so-called Long War over the last decade. You might find yourself surprised at how much we might agree with some of AQ’s grievances.
2. To understand AQ, I spent a lot of time trying to understand the Arab world. In the bigger picture, I believe that the Arab world and Islam is undergoing it’s own internal Political and Religious Reformation. This process started almost a century ago as the Ottoman Empire crumbled and the Sykes-Picote treaty drew new lines in the sand and created nation-states. AQ is an ideology that provides an alternative to government and religion from the current hated norm. Thus, it has not died. It was never dead, and it resonates with some folks.
3. If we want to understand AQ, then we must respect the ideology and stop dismissing it as terrorism. Terrorism is merely the form of political violence that AQ is using in order to gain power and maneuver space (Given their size, it is the only option that they have). Instead, I think that we need to look at AQ in the same vein that we would consider the spirit of the American Revolution, the ideals of the French Revolution, and the initial ideals of the Russian Revolution. Previously (myself included), AQ was dismissed as akin to anarchist in the late 19th century angry at uncontrolled capitalism.
4. The breakout of fighting in Iraq was predicted. What is currently happening is not a surprise to folks who spent a lot of time in these provinces (It caused many nightmares for me and great sadness). Over the next year, we can expect the Sunnis to escalate in order to control Northern Syria, Anbar Province, Saladin Province, and Diyala Province in Iraq. The fighting is due to mistakes by both the Assad and Maliki govt’s inability to govern inclusively. Rather, they govern as a means of vengeance. The question at hand is how much of the ideology of AQ will resonate or immerse into the way the Sunnis choose to govern. Don’t be fooled- these are not ungoverned spaces. They just aren’t governed by nation-states. (See also Kurdistan).
5. Be wary of experts. Currently, most experts are trying to justify and protect their published thoughts and theories promoting US military intervention in the form of COIN (i.e. their misreadings of the Malayan conflict). The funniest quote that I’ve read is “COIN cannot die because if their is an insurgency, then there must be counter-insurgency.” This is stupid thinking that has led to trillions of dollars wasted and countless lives lost. Either through hubris or tunnel vision, they’ve lost the ability to think creatively and analytically.
6. Counter-Terrorism. Read Nick Terse’s “Spec Ops Goes Global” over at Tom’s Dispatch. I’d ask that you try to stay objective- I have a lot of good friends in that world. I disagree with their missions, but they honestly believe in them. I hope that Nick’s piece will lead to a public discourse on what we as a nation want our Spec Ops doing in foreign policy. They are no longer a small strategic asset used sparingly. They are the main effort. Thus, they cannot operate in the shadows, and we must take ownership for their actions.
Forecast: Unfortunately, unless we see major internal political reform, we can expect the next two decades to continue to be bloody in the Middle East. During this fighting (as with the last two decades in Iraq), we will see massive population displacements. I have no idea what the final lines in the sand will look like.
Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful and informative comment. I added a link to the excellent TomDispatch article (I’ve been promoting that on Twitter), and added the full title to the USMA CTC (a great resource, which I’ve found helpful). I will lift this into a post in the next few days.
I agree with this on all points. There are many posts on the FM website on the themes you touched upon.
About our Special Operations Forces:
The biggest re-branding exercise in the history of the world, 21 August 2010 — A new & darker image for America.
Killing the leaders of our enemy. Is this the fast track to victory – or disaster?, 25 October 2010
About the strategic significance of bin Laden’s execution, and the road not taken, 5 May 2011
The men of US Special Operations Command are heroes. But are their deeds heroic?, 15 August 2011
The military takes us back to the future. To Vietnam, again and again.. 14 March 2013
The current fighting in Iraq was quite obvious in 2008 as the endgame, despite the crowing of the COIN folks about their pacification of Iraq:
The Iraq insurgency has ended, which opens a path to peace, 13 March 2007
Beyond Insurgency: An End to Our War in Iraq, 27 September 2007:
Iraq, after the war, 20 May 2008
Thomas More says:
11 January 2014 at 5:15 am
The redoubtable William S. Lind has an excellent article that touches on this issue: “Islam’s Civil War
America can win it—by staying out,” The American Conservative, 24 September 2013.
Thomas,
Lind is also always worth reading.
Thanks for posting. I will add this to the post.
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With more than 20 designated Fair Trade Towns from coast to coast, it took a really impressive application for our independent judges to decide on the winner – and for the third year in a row, the city of Brandon, Manitoba surpassed all expectations. The steering committee from Brandon excels in their commitment to the fair trade movement, their community involvement and education, and partnership building.
Here are some highlights of Brandon’s achievements which led to the award of Town of the Year:
The steering committee defined clear goals to achieve, including events, fundraising and other initiatives.
Significant media coverage (online and print) was received about these initiatives. They also expanded their own social media profile.
Brandon participated in more than 30 events around the city during the year, including product tastings, demonstrations and educational presentations.
Strong partnerships were developed with campuses, retail stores, cafes, festivals, charities and other organizations.
“Winning the Fair Trade Town of the Year award for a 3rd year in a row is an amazing honour! The Brandon Fair Trade Town Steering Committee, a Marquis Project initiative, send a special shout out to the City of Brandon’s Mayor and City Councillors, the local restaurants, cafes and gas bars that carry Fairtrade certified products, the many organizations that support and promote fair trade in Brandon, the local media for their continued interest and publicity and of course, all the individuals that choose fair trade when possible throughout the year!” Mireille Saurette
For more information please visit our page about the Canadian Fairtrade Awards and about the Fair Trade Town Program.
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Politics : Our pro-wall conservatives hypocrites?
Our pro-wall conservatives hypocrites?
Whenever an American kills multiple people in a mass shooting, and liberals argue for gun control, conservatives spout gun control won't fix the problem. We need to focus on mental illness. If someone wants to kill someone, they're going to anyway; gun laws won't change that.
But on conservative media with a pro-wall agenda, they'll often air a story entirely made to capitalize on emotion about an illegal immigrant who murdered someone, with its point being if there were a wall, the person wouldn't have gotten over to the states, and committed murder. So in this case, conservatives believe a law or policy will affect one's decision to murder? If they were consistent, they'd say if a person wants to murder, they're going to murder. A wall isn't going to change that.
Also, there's no logical connection to made from building a wall to a murder committed by an illegal immigrant, unless you're making the argument that 1) illegal immigrants are intentionally coming over to murder (which stats don't support) or 2) immigrants i.e. Mexicans have a genetic disposition to murder, which is racist and xenophobic and thus dismissed. Other than that, you can't connect the two. When conservative media airs this emotional drivel, they won't admit to xenophobia, but they fail to realize that's the only connection of relevancy between building a wall and that murder. There's no other logical idea they could be implying.
More, Americans commit murder all the time. When they do, people tend to focus on the murder itself, not the murderer's mode of entry and travel. When Ted Bundy killed and raped women, Americans weren't saying well if they had this section of the highway blocked, Bundy wouldn't have been able to drive over and pick up this victim. Yet when the murderer is an immigrant, Americans somehow want to make the argument about immigration reform.
The argument "If there were a wall, they wouldn't have murdered" fails. The lack of a wall doesn't make someone murder. A wall is incapable of offering therapy. THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO.
Murder can be committed by anyone. When a person murders, their ethnicity, birthplace, and status as a citizen should never be called into question. They have no relevancy to the situation. It's a moot point. The only relevant information here is they are a human being who murdered. That's it. Murder is about the human condition, not infrastructure.
Re: Our pro-wall conservatives hypocrites?
Juan Kerr
Most caught serial killers have been European decent white men
It does seem as if ethnicity can be a factor
LOL. 🤡🌎
MovieChatLegend
^Left wing lunacy
Steve Lake
Doesn't matter. Your argument is a moot point cause there shouldn't be even 1 single illegal living in the United States. Not 1. So comparing them to Americans is asinine.
The only poster who had his account banned 4 times without ever breaking any rules each of those times.
AOC4PREZ
Also ironic that their so called 'pro life' stance doesn't include innocent children gunned down in mass shootings. Perhaps the wall should be reinforced with thoughts and prayers since that seems to be their solution for our schools…
Jan_El_Senor
I am a dick. I've always been a dick.
Platonic_Caveman
Hispanics from south of the border are on the average far more religious and hardworking than people of any race who grow up in the U.S. I feel safer walking down the street in Tijuana than East L.A.
Uh, look man. Make tool! Caveman. No fool!
I GameBoy - H. superior
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A Random Thought on “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002)
Having the music of Jerry Goldsmith on the brain (yesterday being his birthday), I couldn’t help but think about one of his final film scores: Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Billed from the outset as the final adventure of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast (most of whom had been in their roles since 1987), there was a heightened sense of excitement as the release date for this film approached. Everyone wanted to see what would happen, how would the series end, etc. And then the film came out…
I was only 14 when I saw Nemesis for the first time, and I remember loving it just as much as Insurrection. But as I grew older, I began to read that Star Trek: Nemesis had been rather poorly received, that it was even considered the worst of the films (a strong statement given that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier usually receives that dubious distinction). But what hurt me the most was the criticisms I heard about Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Nemesis. People were saying that this film was “not his best effort” and that the themes were “overly simplistic.”
With all due respect, anyone who says these things about a work of Jerry Goldsmith does not understand how the man worked. By 2002, Goldsmith had been working in Hollywood for over fifty years, his skills honed into a finely tuned art. He knew, more than anyone else I suspect, what kind of music Star Trek: Nemesis needed. Since this film marked the end of an era (the reboot not being planned yet), Goldsmith created a score that was intentionally somber. Of course the music ends on a hopeful note, but the tone is meant to be sad; the long-running adventure is finally ending, companions are parting ways, all of this should evoke a sense of impending loss.
And as for the themes being overly simplistic…listen to the soundtrack album, or even part of the album, without dialogue or sound effects, and try to tell me that the music is “simplistic.” (I particularly recommend “Ideals” from the soundtrack).
Maybe I’m just biased because I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation…but I hear nothing wrong in the scores Goldsmith created. Just some random thoughts.
*Film poster is the property of Paramount and is only being used for illustration
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This entry was posted in Films, Jerry Goldsmith, Star Trek and tagged film, film music, Jerry Goldsmith, Patrick Stewart, Star Trek, Star Trek: Nemesis, Tom Hardy on February 11, 2016 by Film Music Central.
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8 thoughts on “A Random Thought on “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002)”
Victor De Leon February 12, 2016 at 1:51 am
I never understood the hate that both the film and the score to STNemesis received, myself. I own every JG Star Trek score and even when the last 2 scores he did took a different and more melancholic route, than say, First Contact, I highly respect his work on the latter TNG films. Ever since TMP (even though Horner rocked TWoK and TSfS), I wished he had scored all of them! Great observations in this post. Well done. Couldn’t have said it any better myself!
Film Music Central Post author February 12, 2016 at 2:21 am
Thank you so much! Yea, I never understood the hate either, though now that some time has passed, I think Nemesis is starting to get re-evaluated (which is good). I have all of Goldsmith’s Next Generation work, but I still need TMP and Final Frontier. I know what you mean about wishing he’d scored all of them, I heard he was offered The Undiscovered Country but he turned it down.
TUD is a decent score but Jerry’s flair for political thematic motifs would have suited that story so well! My least favorite ST score is to Voyage Home and Generations second (even though that score has its moments).
Yea, the big drawback to Generations is the entire set up feels like an extended episode of the tv series (and the music didn’t help). I don’t watch Voyage Home very often (it’s my least favorite) but I remember the music wasn’t terribly memorable. Undiscovered country has a beautiful theme for Spock that’s eerily similar to the one Horner created for II and III
R Willson February 18, 2016 at 4:57 pm
Nemesis the movie and story itself is rather wanting in some areas. I’m a bit ambivalent about the score. It seems like a step up from the somewhat pedestrian (for JG, anyway) score for Insurrection, but not very much seems to stand out in it, except for four or five somewhat interesting themes. I haven’t watched it enough, and I didn’t feel the need to go after its soundtrack……..
Film Music Central Post author February 18, 2016 at 4:59 pm
I’m probably a little biased because I love so much of Goldsmith’s work, I can agree with the story not being the best, but it has its moments 😊
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Foodnstuff
Energy decline & self-sufficiency from Melbourne, Australia
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A video to watch »
Help this farmer fight Monsanto
I’ve been following this case for a while.
Like most people who grow their own food, one of the reasons I do it is so I don’t have to eat genetically-modified food. I don’t like Monsanto (who does?). They’re insane. Someone’s got to make a stand against them and maybe this guy can do it.
It’s the end of the year and my personal spending budget has wound up in the black for once. Instead of buying myself a present I’ve donated $50 towards Steve Marsh’s fight against Monsanto. He deserves all the support he can get. Here’s hoping for a good outcome.
This entry was posted on December 21, 2013 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Rants, Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Help this farmer fight Monsanto”
notsomethingelse Says:
December 21, 2013 at 6:50 pm | Reply
Good on ya, foodnstuff. I donated a similar amount to Steve’s fighting fund, must be a couple of years ago now, when it first came to light.
Incidentally, I don’t think Monsanto are insane. What they do is insane to any rational person, but I think they are working to a very carefully designed and well thought out plan to not only dominate world food supply but also to reap the benefits of supplying their, and their other big-pharma cronies monopolised pharmaceutical remedies to an increasingly sick population. Killing many but keeping the rest of them sick yet just alive enough to keep eating their GMO based diet. Talk about a captive market. A devious but very clever plan.
Also, I think Steve’s case is not against Monsanto, if memory serves me well, but against his neighbour from whose property the GMO contamination drifted, and possibly against the WA State Government for allowing it to happen. However, I think that Monsanto are backing the defence of that neighbouring farmer who used their seed.
It will certainly be interesting to follow the case next year.
narf77 Says:
Most interesting. W.A. is my home state and as such, I like to keep in touch. Kudos on your support for his cause and it will be very interesting to see how this all pans out…
I am writing from Canada where we had a somewhat similar case some years ago known as Monsanto vs Schmeiser. He lost the case in the Supreme Court of Canada so very precedent setting. This is what Wikipedia says (in part).
Origin of the patented seed in Schmeiser’s fields[edit]
As established in the original Federal Court trial decision, Percy Schmeiser, a canola breeder and grower in Bruno, Saskatchewan, first discovered Roundup-resistant canola in his crops in 1997.[4] He had used Roundup herbicide to clear weeds around power poles and in ditches adjacent to a public road running beside one of his fields, and noticed that some of the canola which had been sprayed had survived. Schmeiser then performed a test by applying Roundup to an additional 3 acres (12,000 m2) to 4 acres (16,000 m2) of the same field. He found that 60% of the canola plants survived. At harvest time, Schmeiser instructed a farmhand to harvest the test field. That seed was stored separately from the rest of the harvest, and used the next year to seed approximately 1,000 acres (4 km²) of canola.
At the time, Roundup Ready canola was in use by several farmers in the area. Schmeiser claimed that he did not plant the initial Roundup Ready canola in 1997, and that his field of custom-bred canola had been accidentally contaminated. While the origin of the plants on Schmeiser’s farm in 1997 remains unclear, the trial judge found that with respect to the 1998 crop, “none of the suggested sources [proposed by Schmeiser] could reasonably explain the concentration or extent of Roundup Ready canola of a commercial quality” ultimately present in Schmeiser’s 1998 crop.[5]
Dispute[edit]
In 1998, Monsanto learned that Schmeiser was growing a Roundup-resistant crop and approached him to sign a license agreement to their patents and to pay a license fee. Schmeiser refused, maintaining that the 1997 contamination was accidental and that he owned the seed he harvested, and he could use the harvested seed as he wished because it was his physical property. Monsanto then sued Schmeiser for patent infringement, filing its case in Canadian federal court on August 6, 1998.[4] Negotiations to settle the matter collapsed on August 10, 1999, leading Schmeiser to file a countersuit against Monsanto for $10 million for libel, trespass, and contaminating his fields.[6][7]
Patent rights versus property rights[edit]
Regarding the question of patent rights and the farmer’s right to use seed taken from his fields, Monsanto said that because they hold a patent on the gene, and on canola cells containing the gene, they have a legal right to control its use, including the intentional replanting of seed collected from plants with the gene which grew accidentally. Schmeiser insisted on his “farmer’s rights” to do anything he wished with seeds harvested from any plants grown on his field – including plants from seeds that were accidentally sown – and that this tangible property right overrides Monsanto’s patent rights.
Canadian law does not mention any such “farmer’s rights”; the court held that the farmer’s right to save and replant seeds is simply the right of a property owner to use his or her property as he or she wishes, and hence the right to use the seeds is subject to the same legal restrictions on use rights that apply in any case of ownership of property, including restrictions arising from patents in particular. The court wrote: “Thus a farmer whose field contains seed or plants originating from seed spilled into them, or blown as seed, in swaths from a neighbour’s land or even growing from germination by pollen carried into his field from elsewhere by insects, birds, or by the wind, may own the seed or plants on his land even if he did not set about to plant them. He does not, however, own the right to the use of the patented gene, or of the seed or plant containing the patented gene or cell.”[4]
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LOCKERS ARE USED AT RENTER’S OWN RISK. THE OPERATOR (INCLUDING EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND/OR CONTRACTORS OF THE OPERATOR, THE EVENT AND THE VENUE) DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY ITEMS STORED WITHIN THE LOCKERS OR THE LOCKER FACILITY, INCLUDING LOSSES RESULTING FROM LOCK FAILURE, RIOTS, VANDALISM, WEATHER, LOCKER ACCESSED BY OTHERS, COMBINATION ACCESSED BY OTHERS, THEFT, OR FAILURE TO COLLECT THE ARTICLES AFTER USE.
If you’re only going to work out with us occasionally, purchase a virtual punch card. It’s good for six months from the purchase date and provides membership level access to facilities on a visit by visit basis. Virtual punch cards are only redeemable by the individual who purchases the punch card; punch cards cannot be transferred/used by other guests, family members, or other members. Punch cards are not transferable, replaceable, renewable, or refundable.
There are two safes in the RPD--one in the West Office and the other in the Waiting Room. Both yield valuable resources well worth grabbing. We won't spoil what's inside each here (spoiler: they're all useful items), but we will reveal how to open them. The safe solutions are found in memos scattered around the building, which we've detailed the locations of for all of you completionists out there.
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Forensic Phonetics Australia
Evaluation of covert recordings used as evidence in criminal trials
Audio mentioned in articles
Some of my articles include a link to this page, to allow readers to hear the audio for themselves. Please find the audio you want below. Please also note that this site now contains extensive information additional to the discussion in these articles, so do feel welcome to have a look around. Any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to get in contact.
Interpretation of a crisis call
Fraser, H., Stevenson, B., & Marks, T. (2011). Interpretation of a Crisis Call: Persistence of a primed perception of a disputed utterance. International Journal of Speech Language and the Law, 18(2), 261–292. http://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v18i2.261
The full crisis call
Please be aware this is potentially distressing to listen to; it is a real person reporting a real murder.
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Bain-phonecall.mp3
Except including the crucial phrase
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Bain-phonecall-section.mp3
The crucial phrase in isolation
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Bain-phonecall-small-section.mp3
The pact experiments
Fraser, H. (2013). Hard-to-hear covert recordings used as evidence in criminal cases: Have we brought back police ‘verballing’? In K. Richards & J. Tauri (Eds.), Crime Justice and Social Democracy: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Volume 1 (pp. 67–76). Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
Fraser, H., & Stevenson, B. (2014). The power and persistence of contextual priming: more risks in using police transcripts to aid jurors’ perception of poor quality covert recordings. International Journal of Evidence and Proof, 18, 205–229.
One-minute extract (from 38-minute covert recording)
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/pact-1-min-sample.mp3
14-second extract (included in the above excerpt)
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/HFexpt22kNORMVERYSHORT.mp3
2.5-second extract (included in the above excerpt)
https://forensicphonetics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/HFexptCRUCIAL-PHRASE.mp3
Looking for the site about forensic transcription?
Forensic Transcription Australia is a site with explanations, audio demonstrations and case studies detailing how current legal practice for transcribing indistinct covert recordings unintentionally creates injustice and unfairness. Click here to go there now.
The site you are on now, Forensic Phonetics Australia, is being developed to cover more general issues of forensic phonetics.
DISCLAIMER: This site contains general information only, and no responsibility is taken for its accuracy, completeness or relevance to particular legal cases. Please exercise due diligence in researching the issues for yourself before using this material for your specific purposes.
All content © copyright Helen Fraser 2013-2017.
By all means link to it but please do not copy or re-purpose without permission.
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June : Mysterious fungus threatens local trees
Mysterious fungus threatens local trees
Bheka Nxele (Working for Ecosystems) and Errol Douwes (South African Wildlife Management Association)
check a tree for signs of fungal infection.
FRUIT- bearing trees in local orchards as well as indigenous trees face a threat as a fungus which lives in a symbiotic relationship with the Polyphagous Shothole Boerer Beetle is mysteriously spreading through South Africa - it has already been spotted in some avocado trees in backyards.
The beetle is thought to have originated in South East Asia.
Errol Douwes, senior manager for restoration ecology at the South African Wildlife Management Association recently gave a talk on the beetle at the Durban North Garden Club.
"It appears to be spreading quite quickly through South Africa. It effects a whole lot of different trees. There are many street trees that it breeds in that we are aware of and there is a growing list of indigenous trees that we are aware of as well," said Douwes.
While the beetle does not pose much of a threat, beside boering holes into the tree, it has a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that is proving to be deadly.
"There are lots of different types of fungus - many of them attack trees, but the trees are often able to respond and fight them off, similarly to the way a human immune system fights off infections. The problem with this particular fungus is that some species of trees don't seem to be able to resist it and the fungus spreads through the tree and kills the tree," he said.
Douwes said the fungus does not pose a threat to humans.
"I don't think fruit would be infected. The big concern is for fruit tree or timber farmers or anyone who is growing trees and may be susceptible to the fungus, is that
they could loose their crops and trees won't produce fruit to begin with," he said.
A tell-tale sign that a tree is infected is wood that is stained and presented with holes.
"The boere beetle makes tiny little holes from the stem in, about the diameter of a toothpick. On some trees, it's quite difficult to see that hole. Sometimes you willb be able to see fras, the sawdust pushed out by the beetle as it chews its way into the tree. But the most important thing is, if one were to cut the bark, they would see those tiny holes coupled with a dark vertical staining- that's a clear sign that the fungus is in the wood," said Douwes.
According to the Forestry and Agriculture Biotechnology Institute (FABI) the fungus has been found in on some backyard avocado's in Sandton and Knysna.
"Other fruit trees in private gardens on which it has been found include lemon, orange, guava, peach, and grapevine. However, at this point there is no evidence suggesting that (the fungus) poses a threat to these crops, but producers should carefully monitor and report any infestations," read the site.
In the commercial sector, oak and pine trees are at highest risk.
Residents who notice these signs are urged to report it to FABI as researchers are trying to track and understand the spread of the fungus. Call 012 420-3937 or 3938 or email: admin@fabi.up.ac.za
Source: Northglen News
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Mike Huckabee’s Flawed Logic on the GOP’s Future
May 10, 2009 , at 8:09 PM
Take a look at this comment from Mike Huckabee’s interview yesterday with the Visalia (CA) Times-Delta:
Here’s what I find: People that are social conservatives are also economic conservatives. But a lot of the economic conservatives are not social conservatives. Throw the social conservatives the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs.
If you accept Huckabee’s assertion — that social conservatives are always economic conservatives, but economic conservatives are not always social conservatives — it follows that social conservatives are necessarily a subset of economic conservatives:
If this is the case, however, is does not follow, as Huckabee states, that “[t]hrow the social conservatives, the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs.” After all, the social conservatives are also economic conservatives. If you adopt a message of economic conservatism, it will also appeal to the social conservatives. On the other hand, if you adopt a socially conservative message, a lot of the economic conservatives might be turned off by it and could leave the party.
So the equilibrium strategy under Huckabee’s model is probably to adopt an economically conservative, but socially moderate message. Sure, the social conservatives might not be particularly happy about this state of affairs — but unless they wanted to form a third party, they wouldn’t have anywhere else to go. (For reasons that we will leave as an exercise to the reader, it wouldn’t make sense for the Democrats to adopt a socially conservative, economically liberal platform under this scenario.)
The GOP’s real problem, of course, is that there is far from perfect overlap between social conservatives and economic conservatives. You probably have something like this:
The base voters are the ones that are both economically and socially conservative; these are ~25 percent of voters the that still identify as Republican. However, whereas during 1994-2004, the Republicans seemed to be winning many or most swing voters who were either economically conservative or socially but not both, they now seem to be losing much of both groups.
In November, for instance, Obama won 43 percent of voters who attended church on an at-least-weekly basis. Considering that many of the 57 percent of such voters he didn’t win were probably also economic conservatives, that suggests that Obama won a majority of voters who are socially conservative but economically liberal — particularly African-American and Latino voters, who often fit this description.
Obama also, however, won a majority of voters making $200,000 or more, who as a group can be presumed to be fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
We should also mention the importance of the War on Terror to the GOP’s successes in the 2002 midterms and the 2004 Presidential election. In 2004, 19 percent of voters described terrorism as their most important issue, and 86 percent of such voters picked George W. Bush (this was more than enough to outweigh the gains that John Kerry made on Iraq). By comparison, only 9 percent of voters described terrorism as the most important issue in 2008 (86 percent of them voted for John McCain). That change alone accounts for a drop of about 7 percent in the GOP’s margins.
Security issues, indeed, may have been the glue that was helping to hold the fiscal and social conservatives together into a winning electoral coalition. There were a lot of security conservatives after 9/11 — and my guess is that the Republicans were winning the vast majority of them provided they were either social conservatives or economic conservatives. With homeland security issues having faded into the background, however, and foreign policy issues starting to work against the Republicans, the strange-bedfellowness of the relationship between social and fiscal conservatives is now becoming more apparent.
The irony of all of this is that Huckabee’s greatest appeal is probably to economically moderate (or even liberal), but socially conservative voters, precisely the sorts of voters that he says don’t exist. But these voters do exist, and the GOP’s medium-term choice is probably in picking between them (which, FWIW, probably requires their making significant into the Hispanic and perhaps even African-American communities) and their alter egos, which are fiscally conservative but socially moderate, libertarianish voters. Right now, however, the GOP’s messaging is so haphazard that they are probably losing majorities of both groups.
Ideology (51 posts) Foreign Policy (44) Conservatives (36) Mike Huckabee (32) Values (12) National Security (11) 2004 election (8) Political Spectrum (8)
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Millennial Men More Likely To Come Down With "Super Bowl Fever"
posted by R.J. Johnson - @rickerthewriter - Feb 1, 2019
If you plan on calling out sick the day after Super Bowl LIII to help recover from all the excitement and thrills of the big game, it's probably a good idea to start thinking up your excuse now. A new survey says more than 17 million other people across the country will also be complaining to their boss about having the "sniffles" too.
According to the new Super Bowl Fever Survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos, Monday (2/4) is likely to be the biggest day of post-Super Bowl absenteeism since they began tracking the number of people calling out the day after the Big Game in 2005. The institute surveyed 1,107 adults across the U.S. earlier this month to find out their plans for the Monday after the Super Bowl.
More than 8 million workers plan on taking a pre-approved day off, but at least 4.7 million people will take a "sick" day, even though they're not ill.
This year's game in Atlanta between the the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots promises to be a good one, with Vegas oddsmakers giving the Patriots a mere 2.5-point advantage. A video game simulation from EA Sports' "Madden 19" also predicts a corker of a game for fans.
Joyce Maroney, the executive director for The Workforce Institute at Kronos says organizations that make it easy for staffers to schedule around big events like this will see better outcomes for their business through the entire year.
“This year marks the largest anticipated day of Super Bowl-related absenteeism we’ve seen since The Workforce Institute at Kronos began tracking this phenomenon in 2005. Both employees and their bosses continue to play hooky the day after The Big Game. Yet many younger employees report feeling more anxious about this Monday than any other Monday of the year, suggesting they do not feel comfortable having an open and honest conversation with their manager," said Maroney.
A separate survey from AskMen showed that millennial men were more than twice as likely (11 percent) to skip work the Monday after the Super Bowl as women (4 percent).
According to the AskMen survey, bosses in Connecticut have more to worry about than bosses in other states. AskMen found that the state led the country with 23 percent of people who say they plan on calling out sick on Monday. Kansas was next with 20 percent of respondents saying they plan on calling out on Monday, with Maryland (18 percent) Oregon (18 percent) and Indiana (17) rounding out the top five.
Of course, it's not just employees that are calling out sick, managers and bosses reported that they aren't likely to work normal hours the Monday after the Super Bowl.
Various efforts have been made to turn the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday - including a petition launched by Heinz in 2017. But it failed to reach its 100,000 signature goal and the company never followed up by sending the petition to Congress.
Photo: AskMen.com
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‘Yesterday’ Movie Review
‘Yesterday’ (2019)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Jack Barth & Richard Curtis
Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Joel Fry, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran & Ana de Armas
Summer is always a grab bag of movies. Some are the standard schlock, we get several blockbusters, a few romantic comedies, the occasional horror flick, etc. Every so often, we also get a film that defies exact classification and hits us like a refreshing evening breeze. ‘Yesterday‘ is just such a film. Co-written by Richard Curtis (‘Love Actually‘, ‘Pirate Radio‘) and directed by Danny Boyle (‘Slumdog Millionaire‘), ‘Yesterday’ isn’t exactly a rom-com, nor is it technically a drama or a plain outright comedy movie but it blends a little bit of all of these aspects into a fun, trip down the imaginary “What if…?” path.
The premise is simple: a struggling songwriter & musician (played brilliantly by Himesh Patel) gets into an accident during a mysterious world wide blackout. When he regains consciousness, he finds he’s the only one in the world who is able to remember The Beatles. With no one else having ever written these classic songs, he immediately sets to recording the many hits from The Beatles catalog and then passes them off as his own which suddenly catapults him into the fame, stardom and acclaim that he’s always wanted. But it doesn’t come without a cost. The cast is wonderful and seem to have a natural chemistry. Ed Sheeran was delightful as himself (one would hope, yeah?) and Lily James always lights up any scene in which she appears with a charismatic grace that effortlessly seems to guide her along. Kate McKinnon is a favorite of mine and there simply aren’t enough adjectives to describe her comedic exuberance.
The few problems I did have with this film are that the “incident” that resulted in this “Beatles blackout” was never explained. Not a deal-breaker and who knows if an explanation would have added or detracted from the story, but it still left me puzzled that it was never really addressed. The other issue I had was with the romantic aspect of the movie. The two main characters of Jack & Ellie are JUST friends throughout the first half of the film with Ellie also acting as Jack’s manager. They even make it a point of saying so several times early on in the movie. Therefore the sudden confession from Ellie that she has always loved Jack felt to me as though it were merely an afterthought in the plot. Luckily Himesh Patel & Lily James have such a good on-screen chemistry that it was something else I was able to brush aside. The music is great and the journey on which we are taken in the film is a fun one. I was also surprised once or twice by where the film went which was something that I’m not used to with many of today’s Hollywood fare. ‘Yesterday’ is a fun, feel-good flick that you don’t need to think too hard about so just sit back, listen to the music and enjoy the ride. Even with it’s minor flaws, I’d say ‘Yesterday’ is able to “Come Together” to a 7.5 out of 10. Get your “Ticket To Ride” at theaters now for what promises to be one of the warmest movies of the summer.
‘Men In Black: International’ Movie Review
‘Men In Black: International’ (2019)
Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures & Amblin Entertainment
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Written by: Matt Holloway, Art Marcum & Lowell Cunningham
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Rebecca Ferguson & Kumail Nanjiani
Now that we are in June, it’s time for the onslaught of summer blockbusters to start hitting theaters. And when it comes to summer blockbusters, ‘Men In Black‘ always comes to mind. It’s been 7 years since the third movie in the franchise was released. This time around, we get a different cast and an international setting (it even says so in the title). Tessa Thompson plays Agent M who has spent her whole life trying to find and join MIB since an alien encounter as a child changed her life. Now that the head of the New York office (Emma Thompson) has given her a chance, her first mission is to investigate something “off” about the London branch. She is greeted by the head of that bureau (Liam Neeson) and ends up forcing her way onto an assignment with Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) protecting an alien dignitary. But when the job goes sideways, the alien reveals the fact that MIB has a mole within its ranks and it becomes a race against time to protect a weapon given to M by the alien and discover just who the traitor among them could be!
While this film isn’t quite as perfect as the original ‘MIB’, it still carries a hefty amount of fun. Tessa Thompson & Chris Hemsworth have the same chemistry that they displayed in 2017’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok‘ and seem to effortlessly glide through the film while charming the audience along the way as they carry us across the globe with them. The CGI alien character of Pawny (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) becomes the duo’s de facto sidekick and provides some great comedic bits without ever veering into “Jar Jar” territory. As a fan of the MIB films, I would say that this latest entry is serviceable & solid, but it just never quite feels like it stretches to the heights that the original or even the sequel attained. The acting is great and there is no shortage of action, but my main gripe is that the reveal of the mole is telegraphed early on and I easily saw it coming from the first act leaving no real surprise for me at the end of the film. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give ‘Men In Black: International‘ a solid 7. Despite the flaws, it’s still a very engaging and fun way to kick off summer movie season!
‘Dark Phoenix’ Movie Review
‘Dark Phoenix’ (2019)
20th Century Fox Pictures & Marvel Entertainment
Directed by: Simon Kinberg
Written by: Simon Kinberg
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee & Jessica Chastain
The newest X-Men film from 20th Century Fox is also the last. ‘Dark Phoenix‘ will hit theaters this weekend and will bring to a close Fox’s run of doing X films with the rights to Marvel’s Merry Mutants now belonging in the Disney stable after the latter’s purchase of the former earlier this year. I was hoping that the franchise would close out with a bang but sadly it ended up going out with a long, tired sigh. The decision to revisit the Dark Phoenix story line after the 2006 attempt in ‘X-Men: The Last Stand‘ originally raised some eyebrows, but many were optimistic that the wrongs of that film would be righted in the 2019 telling. Unfortunately, this version just ends up making a complete batch of all new wrongs.
For those unfamiliar with this classic X-Men tale from either the comics or from the 2006 film mentioned earlier, X-Men team member Jean Grey is imbued with the cosmic entity known as The Phoenix Force. It ends up making her the most powerful being on the planet and also ends up corrupting her mind. Her teammates want to save her, but an alien race known as the D’Bari, whose planet was destroyed by The Phoenix, want to harness that power to make Earth their new home. We end up getting the tired tropes of friends becoming enemies and enemies becoming friends, a few decent fight scenes and, at the end, a film that feels more like a last minute attempt to elevate writer / director Simon Kinberg‘s ego (since the 2006 film that he also wrote is often regarded as one of the weaker entries in the series).
‘Dark Phoenix’ suffers from the previous films’ scrambling of the time lines between the original movies and the new ones. I found myself wondering “How can THAT happen if….?” but then I was forced to dismiss it away as being probably dealt with in one of the other films, but not being memorable enough to cement that detail in my mind. The frequently changing cast within the series also leaves one with a lack of investment in any of their fates no matter how badly the writing insists that we care. Therefore, the circumstances surrounding Jean’s increase in powers, her change to the dark side and her subsequent “redemption” don’t hold nearly as much sway as Kinberg would probably have wanted.
Rather than using the Shi-Ar as the alien race that is after The Phoenix Force, the lesser known D’Bari are introduced. For the casual movie goer, this isn’t necessarily an issue, but the X-Men fans will be left shaking their heads wondering “Why?”. Jessica Chastain, who is normally fantastic, does what she can with the role she was given but seems rather flat as the villain and, instead, feels like she’s only there to give some kind of push back to the heroes. This serves to lessen the feeling of Jean Grey being the villain of the piece (as she should be in a movie titled after her darker alter ego). It also leaves Sophie Turner‘s performance feeling a little wooden, in my opinion. Normally James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have been the stand outs in this latest crop of X-films and whether it was the knowledge that this was their last outing in the roles of Professor X and Magneto, respectively, or just due to the weak writing, even they seemed tired of it all. For me, the stars who really seemed invested were Tye Sheridan as Cyclops and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler. Even Jennifer Lawrence seemed like she had mentally checked out in this one.
At the end of the day, the film has one or two decent action sequences but suffers from bad writing, a hurried plot and an ending that lacks any kind of punch at all. If you’re a fan of the X-Men comics, this movie will not be a winner for you. If you’ve enjoyed the previous X-Men films, then you might find a few enjoyable moments, but chances are you’ve already enjoyed those moments when this plot was done better back in 2006 with the 3rd film. On a scale of 1 – 10, Cerebro cannot detect anything above a 3.5. If you’re in the mood for a movie this weekend, may I suggest checking out ‘Rocketman’, ‘Brightburn’ or ‘Godzilla’ and save this one for Redbox or Netflix. For me, it’s very sad to see my favorite Marvel super heroes team go out on such a low note.
‘Pet Sematary’ Movie Review
‘Pet Sematary’ (2019)
Di Bonaventura Pictures
Directed by: Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Wydmyer
Written by: Stephen King (novel), Matt Greenberg & Jeff Buhler (screenplay)
Starring: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, Jete Laurence, Hugo & Lucas Lavoie, Obssa Ahmed & John Lithgow.
Remakes are a staple of Hollywood. What we hope for is that the remake brings something new or gives us a fresh take on a classic film. While we certainly get some changes in this latest version of Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary‘, it’s hard to say that they are better than the original film from 1989 (yeah… it’s been that long ago). In the film, Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves his family to rural Maine in order to slow down and spend more time with his two children, 8yr old Ellie and 2yr old Gage. When the family cat ends up being found dead on the side of the road, long time Ludlow resident Jud (John Lithgow) suggests that Louis bury the cat in a secret, ancient burial ground on the family’s new property so that Ellie won’t have to be heartbroken about the loss of her pet. And while Church the cat does indeed come back, it’s not the same at all. Louis is perplexed by the cat’s return but when Ellie is accidentally killed by a truck after being lured to the road by Church, Louis is grief-stricken and exhumes his daughter’s body in order to also bring her back. This, of course, all ties into the movie’s tag line that “Sometimes dead is better.”
The acting is very good and there are plenty of jump scares, but I didn’t find myself ever feeling truly terrified. Overall, the film does a great job of building tension and keeping a solid feeling of pure dread throughout its 1hr and 41 minute run time and the acting from Jason Clarke & Amy Seimetz as the bereaved parents is both wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. While I’m normally a huge fan of John Lithgow, his portrayal of lifelong Ludlow resident Jud didn’t feel quite as perfect as Fred Gwynne‘s did in the original. Jete Laurence was quite convincingly disturbing as recently returned-from-the-dead Ellie and the switch up of having the older child die as opposed to little 2yr old Gage as shown in the original movie made for some interesting dynamics in the film.
At the end of the day, it is a remake and it’s not quite as horrifying as King’s actual novels (scant few of the movies have been) but it definitely delivers a strong sense of foreboding from the moment the credits begin to roll to the eerie image at the end. Based on all of these elements, I would rate the newest ‘Pet Sematary’ a 6.5 out of 10. Tickets are available online.
‘Us’ Movie Review
‘Us’ (2019)
Blumhouse Productions / Monkeypaw Productions
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Written by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elizabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph & Evan Alex.
Following the huge success of his last film ‘Get Out‘, Jordan Peele comes at us again with a new horror film which delivers the same gut-wrenching suspense as his last. ‘Us‘, which is both written and directed by Peele, is a story of a Adelaide Wilson (played by Lupita Nyong’o) and her family who, while on vacation in the area where she suffered a traumatic event as a child, experience a new terror when a family who looks identical to them arrives to claim what is theirs. Now Adelaide, her husband Gabe (portrayed by Winston Duke) and their two children Zora & Jason (Shahadi Wright Joseph & Evan Alex, respectively) must battle to stay alive as they are stalked and tormented by their evil doppelgangers (referred to as “The Tethered”). To say much more would spoil some key moments and plot points and this is one movie where the less you know about it, the more impactful it is. Needless to say that Peele proves once again that he is a modern day Hitchcock when it comes to spinning imaginative and inventive suspense and horror.
The story is helped along by a frenzied and forceful score from Michael Abels that accentuates the movie in all of the right spots. Lupita Nyong’o has repeatedly demonstrated her acting chops and they are on full display here as a mother desperate to survive and keep her entire family alive. Kudos also belong to Shahadi Wirhgt Joseph as her daughter, Zora, who is deliciously disturbing to view as Zora’s “tethered” self and as manages to demonstrate a fantastic and innate acting skill set that almost seems like it should belong to someone twice or even three times her age. The only complaint I had was that a few of the “dad jokes” from the Gabe character (well-played by Winston Duke) kind of took me out of the scene on occasion. Yes, I’m sure they were intentional and, yes, I understand the need for some people / characters to cut the tension, but the humor somehow felt out of place in an otherwise masterful film from Peele. The camera work and cinematography also lent to the dizzying and disconcerting feelings that are, no doubt, experienced by the main ensemble cast. There was very little about this film that was predictable and the ending is a twist that I truly didn’t see coming. Suffice it to say that ‘Us’ gets a solid 9 out of 10 from me and is a movie that deserves to be seen in theaters as soon as you can do so!!
‘Captain Marvel’ Movie Review
‘Captain Marvel’ (2019)
Marvel Studios / Walt Disney
Directed by: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Written by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Meg LeFauve, Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Gemma Chan, Lashana Lynch, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou & Lee Pace
The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe blasts into theaters this weekend! ‘Captain Marvel‘ hits the ground running as we are treated to the MCU’s first female-led movie to date starring Brie Larson in the titular role. Beginning the film as a Kree soldier, Vers (Larson) fights alongside her elite team working to stop the spread of the shape-shifting Skrull alien race. But when a mission goes wrong and she ends up being captured by the enemy, she begins to learn that her memories may have been tampered with and she soon begins to question everything that she’s come to know.
Anyone familiar with the comics will recognize the convoluted and complicated history that Carol Danvers (AKA: Ms. Marvel, AKA: Binary, AKA: Warbird, AKA: Captain Marvel) has had since she first debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 back in 1968. So while her origin story isn’t as clear cut as, say, Captain America’s or Iron Man’s, the writing and directing team of Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck do a truly superb job of giving us a succinct and solid genesis for this dynamic character. The story is set in the mid-1990’s which provides a lot of fun moments complete with Blockbuster Video stores, NIN shirts and AltaVista search engines. We also get to see a young Agent Nick Fury and rookie Agent Phil Coulson (although much more of the former than we see of the latter). The film has all of the action, fun and heart that we’ve grown accustomed to see in the Marvel movies and, being set in the 90’s, also boasts the best soundtrack since the original ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy‘.
The entire cast is exceptional and it’s always great to get more of Samuel L. Jackson‘s Nick Fury. I was also very pleased at the inclusion of young Monica Rambeau (who is the Captain Marvel that I remember when I started reading Marvel Comics) but her mother Maria Rambeau has a larger role as Carol Danver’s former USAF partner (played by Lashana Lynch). Jude Law plays Carol’s / Vers’ commander Yon-Rogg and Gemma Chan is plays Kree soldier / sniper Minn-Erva. Other noteworthy names such as Annette Bening, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Mendelsohn and Lee Pace round out this awesome ensemble who come together to deliver one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s strongest entries to date. It provides a serviceable origin to a character who has a rather complex back story and it perfectly sets the stage for the upcoming ‘Avengers: Endgame’ due out in May. Tickets are on sale now AND make sure you stick around for both of the post credit scenes!! On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say that ‘Captain Marvel’ rates an out of this world 8.5! Take it from Kree… I mean… take it from me, this will be one movie that you’ll need to get out and see in theaters right away!
‘LEGO Movie 2’ Movie Review
Directed by: Mike MItchell
Written by: Chris Miller, Phil Lord & Matthew Fogel
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Allison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Jadon Sand & Brooklynn Prince
The newest LEGO movie comes out this weekend – ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part‘! Picking up right where the original left off, we see Emmet (Chris Pratt), Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and Company adjusting to life after the fall of Lord Business but then… invaders from DUPLO (a younger child’s LEGO toy) appear and begin to wreak havoc. A time jump 5 years into the future finds that the town of Bricksburg has become a hostile dystopia after constant attacks from the DUPLO universe. Wyldstyle’s insistence that Emmet toughen up makes him take on a dangerous mission leading him to meet adventurer Rex Dangervest who has a plan for how to destroy their mutual enemies once and for all.
As with most sequels, this film falls a little short of the rather high benchmark set by the original. It’s still fun and still an enjoyable movie with several “LOL” moments, but the charm and panache of its predecessor have vanished. The film’s score and musical numbers are dynamic and catchy and there’s enough humor to keep you from getting bored however the whole product feels rather lackluster despite this. Obviously the whole plot of the movie is an imaginary scenario revolving around the desire of real life little sister Bianca (played by Brooklynn Prince) to play with her real life older brother Finn (a role reprised by Jadon Sand from the original) but, the whimsy of the LEGO action that the first film had didn’t quite translate over into the sequel. No doubt this movie will still perform well at the box office, but I wouldn’t expect it to rake in quite as much of a box office haul as others in the series have garnered. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d have to say that this film only builds its way up to a 6.5. Sadly, everything is not as awesome as it originally was, but it’s still a good film to catch if you’re looking for some silly fun as an alternative to some of the other films currently in theaters.
‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Movie Review
A new movie hits theaters on February 14th which somehow may escape the notice of the casual moviegoer but should definitely be on everyone’s radar. ‘Alita: Battle Angel‘ is based on the manga of Yukito Kishiro and brought to life on the screen by producers James Cameron & Jon Landau and director Robert Rodriguez. That pedigree alone should make people stand up and take notice, but actually seeing the film is something else altogether. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where cybernetic genius Dr. Ido finds the discarded core of a cyborg in the trash heaps of Iron City. He places the core in the cyborg body he had built for his daughter before she was tragically killed. Upon awakening, Alita (named by Dr. Ido) has no memory of her past but soon begins to discover her extraordinary skills as she learns more about herself and the world around her. The film is grounded, yet visually stunning thanks to seamlessly combined elements of motion capture, CGI and real sets. The incredible cast which consists of such heavy-hitters as Mahershala Ali, Jennifer Connelly & Christoph Waltz as well as solid players like Ed Skrein, Michelle Rodriguez and also Rosa Salazar in the title role, give top notch performances thus helping to keep the viewer immersed in and committed to the story.
There was one little, tiny complaint I had with the film which, for the sake of not spoiling anything, I cannot mention. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It combined small elements from some of my other favorite films which added to my enchantment. I saw aspects of ‘Blade Runner‘, ‘Hunger Games‘, ‘Dark City‘, etc in both the fantastical story as well as in the characterization by some of the actors (maybe I like post-apocalyptic films too much, now that I think about it…). The screening I attended was in IMAX and, given the vibrant richness of the effects and the breathtaking visuals, is definitely the way to see this movie! For me, this is a film that fired on all cylinders 98% of the time and I can’t see any other way to describe ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ other than “a collaborative masterpiece by Cameron & Rodriguez.” Both of these craftsmen left their indelible mark on the movie and it will, no doubt, come to be included among the top films of their career. It also rates very high on the rewatchability scale which is always something I take into consideration when rating a film. Personally, I’d rate this movie a solid 9.5 out of 10. Get your tickets now as this is a movie that deserves to be seen in theaters and especially in IMAX or 3-D if you can!!
‘Glass’ Movie Review
‘Glass’ (2019)
Blumhouse Productions & Blinding Edge Pictures
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Anna Taylor-Joy, James McAvoy, Sarah Paulson, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson & Spencer Treat Clark
‘Glass‘ is a movie I’ve been hyped about ever since the post credits scene of ‘Split‘ which hit theaters almost 3 years ago to the day. A fantastic movie with so many memorable performances was now tied into the same world as ‘Unbreakable‘ which was released back in 2000 when writer / director M. Night Shyamalan was at the top of his game. Suddenly, we realized we were getting an origin story with ‘Split’ and that we would be getting a trilogy out of all of this. It was brilliant in its design, simple in its execution, and we eagerly awaited the payoff. Whether through expectations being too high or due to Shyamalan being unable to stick the landing, ‘Glass’ was not quite the exciting third act climax that we’d hoped to see. Picking up several months after the events of ‘Split’, David Dunn (a role being reprised by Bruce Willis) owns an electronics store with his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark also reprising his role) but he also patrols the city as the mysterious vigilante “Overseer” on the search for Kevin Wendall Crumb (played by James McAvoy) who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. One of Crumb’s personalities is a super human figure known as The Beast who plans to kill 4 cheerleaders who were kidnapped by a few of his other personalities. An initial confrontation between Dunn & The Beast comes to an abrupt end when a squad of police intervene along with psychiatrist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) who has both men subdued and taken to a mental hospital for treatment to cure them of their delusions that they are super heroes. Also at this clinic is a catatonic Elijah Price (played again by Samuel L. Jackson) AKA: Mr. Glass. Soon it becomes apparent that Mr. Glass has been playing the long game and intends to seize this opportunity to pit David against The Beast in front of the entire world to prove his theory that comic book heroes actually exist among us.
While the ride itself is decently satisfying, the payoff feels less so. There are some fun moments seeing these characters together on the screen and the performances are solid from the cast with McAvoy stealing the show by once again portraying 20+ personalities. Samuel L. Jackson is also fantastic (but c’mon… when is he not?) as this film’s title character but Bruce Willis seems just kind of… there. Not that there was anything wrong with his performance, but I feel that his character was not done much service in this film and he’s not used to the levels I was expecting to see. Sarah Paulson is wonderful and Anya Taylor-Joy (back from ‘Split‘) also delivers a terrific performance. This is definitely a film where one needs to see the first two installments to fully understand and appreciate what the movie does have to offer. The twist ending (an M. Night Shyamalan staple) is fine, but it’s only ‘The Village‘ fine and not ‘Unbreakable‘ fine. Due to the rather unsatisfactory conclusion and a lack of feeling any of that real gut-twisting suspense that was quite present in the first two installments, I’d have to give ‘Glass’ a very fragile 5 out of 10. See this film for closure and not for any new ground to be broken. Maybe if you go in with lower expectations, you’ll end up enjoying it more than I did. (It’s also worth noting that there are no post credit scenes in this one, so feel free to take off as soon as the movie concludes.) ‘Glass’ opens in theaters across the U.S. on Friday 1/18/2019.
‘Aquaman’ Movie Review
The next entry in the DC Cinematic Universe hits theaters this weekend and “hit” is exactly the word I’d use to describe ‘Aquaman‘. We’ve already seen Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry in 2017’s ‘Justice League‘ but now he is on his own in an epic film that serves as both a solo adventure and an origin story. For a character that has always been treated as sort of a throwaway member of the DC stable, this movie does an excellent job of painting Aquaman as a major player in the the DCEU pantheon while detailing the incredible history of this superhero who first appeared in comics nearly 60 years ago! Caught between the human world in which he was raised but also feeling the call of his Atlantean heritage, Aquaman is sought out by Princess Mera (Amber Heard) to help stop a war led by Aquaman’s half-brother, King Orm (played by Patrick Wilson) who plans to unite the remaining kingdoms of Atlantis, wipe out the surface world and declare himself Ocean Master. In order to stop him, Arthur must embrace his heritage and seek out the lost Trident of Atlan in order defeat Orm and prove himself worthy of leading his people.
The story itself is fairly predictable, but the stylized journey on which we are taken is worth every second. While Ocean Master is the main adversary, a better known DC Comics baddie also appears – Black Manta (superbly played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and I wish we could have gotten to see even more of him!! However, the entire cast is brilliant and director James Wan ensures that the pacing of the movie stays consistently strong, which it needed to considering the lengthy 2hr, 22min run time. The visuals are stunning and seeing it in 3D only enhanced the experience. In fact, I’d say that it is easily the most visually captivating and beautiful of any of the DC films to date! With ‘Wonder Woman‘ having done so well for Warner Bros and now with ‘Aquaman’ already making such a splash at the world wide box office, I’m sure that the tsunami of hits will just keep coming for the DCEU at this point! On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say that ‘Aquaman’ crests at an 8.5. Make sure to get out and see it in 3D or IMAX where available as this is one movie that you deserve to have flood your senses at maximum levels!!
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Character Stories
World points shop
Son of a Butcher
By Providence March 28 in Character Stories
Providence 31
Posts: 79 posts
“I always knew my father was up to something. For a good while I just didn’t know what.”
“You see, my father didn’t want to involve the family in anything. To us and the public, he was the second generation owner of a butcher shop, right in the heart of New York City. My grandfather opened that shop when he came from the old country. It was the pride of the family.”
Paul Zampa was born on May 21st 1980 in Brooklyn, New York City. The third son and fourth child of Anthony and Angelina Zampa. The Zampas were famous in their neighbourhood for their family run butcher shop. Anthony Zampa was a suspected low level associate of the Colombo Crime Family, but was never publicly found to be involved in any criminal activity, despite the circumstances of his death.
“I wasn’t an idiot though. None of us were. We all knew that we had a little too much allowance for the children of a butcher, and had a few too many uncles and aunties”
“But I never questioned it. I was happy feigning blissful ignorance. That is, until we were forced to face the truth. My father was shot dead shortly after closing up shop one night in ‘95. My oldest brother, Anthony Junior, he tried keeping the shop running, but it was like you could never quite get the blood stains out of the floor, no matter how hard you tried.”
On July 2nd in Brooklyn, New York City, a shooting took place in the Zampa butcher shop, around 7PM. When police arrived on scene, they found Anthony Zampa dead, a single bullet to the back of his head. There were no signs of forced entry or struggle. A few months later, the Zampa butcher shop closed for business, and the Zampa family which had been a household name in that part of Brooklyn, seemed to scatter with the winds.
“My mother didn’t deal with the news very well. Luckily for all of us though, Anthony Junior was a good son, he took care of her. Looking back on it, I regret I didn’t do more myself. Now my sister, she was the oldest of us. Her and my younger brother were always close, so when the family collapsed, she took him out west somewhere, San Fierro or some or another. Last I hear they’re doing well. Good on them.
“That left me to do my own thing though. I was 15 and had just lost my father and my biggest role model. I think it was pretty natural that I’d turn to the New York City nightlife in that situation. I met a lot of good friends during those next few years, but not a lot of good people. I left school as soon as I could, all I wanted to do was be with my friends. And girlfriends.”
In the mid to late ‘90s, Paul Zampa found himself involved in a number of petty crimes. Burglary, vehicle theft and the likes. The Zampa family had fallen on tough times following the closure of their butcher shop. Many of the juvie officers from that time remember Zampa, and wager that he felt forced to commit crime for a living. It didn’t help his situation that Paul Zampa was known to be a heavy partier.
“It was around this time I met the love of my life. Diana Fazio, a name my mother would approve of. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew that I was gonna marry her, that she was my ticket to heaven.”
“We were bad kids. We all had italian surnames, we felt like a regular mob. Of course we weren’t, but we had seen the movies. It wasn’t until I met some of the people my father had been involved with that I really understood.”
In 2002, Paul Zampa married Diana Fazio. By all accounts they were a great pair, and the marriage had approval from both families. It wouldn’t be long before the Zampa pair moved out of New York City, to the other side of the country in Las Venturas. Many speculate that Paul was trying to get away from something. Perhaps he had realised the error of his ways. In any case, Paul found himself picking up his father’s profession, finding work at a butchers.”
“I don’t think my mother ever really forgave me for leaving, but Brooklyn was gonna be the death of me. I found a real job, and I could send real money back to her, to help Anthony Junior take care of her. At the time, Venturas was like paradise to me. I earned well enough to support my wife, and the living costs were so cheap in the middle of the desert, that I had enough money to develop a gambling habit.”
“Of course now it’s become painfully obvious to me that just because I left Brooklyn, Brooklyn never really left me. I tried being a middle class family man for 18 years. But there’s a reason men in their 40s end up killing themselves so much.”
The Zampa pair had been gone from public eye for most of their 18 year long marriage, but the name suddenly appeared in records again when they filed for divorce. It seems that Diana’s infertility and Paul’s wish for a big family had clashed too often, and a messy split took place. Paul left most of the belonging to his now ex-wife Diana, and has most recently been seen living in Los Santos.”
“It wasn’t her fault, of course it wasn’t. But I just couldn’t get over it. The least I could do for my mother was provide her with some grandkids before she passed on, and it had become clear that Diana wasn’t going to be the mother. I gave her everything she wanted, to give her a chance on her own. I’m told she found some rich gook to leech off of. Good for her.”
“I didn’t want to go back home. They wouldn’t approve. I had to make something of myself, for god’s sake I’m approaching 40, it’s about time. I’ve started over before and I’m ready to do it again. However, this time instead of being scared off from my father’s untimely demise, I’ll learn a lesson from it.”
Edited June 26 by Providence
Benny Black 84
Posts: 302 posts
Character Name: Raymond Barnes
Looks solid.
alma 133
Forgot to save chatlogs from first days RP, but here's day 3.
Go To Topic Listing Character Stories
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You are at:Home»North America»What to Do on North Padre Island, TX
What to Do on North Padre Island, TX
By Sarah Enelow on February 9, 2016 North America, Texas
You might be familiar with South Padre Island, of unfortunate Girls Gone Wild fame, but if you really want to appreciate the Texas Gulf Coast, head north to the protected National Seashore. These 70 miles of coastline are the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world.
Besides the usual swimming and sunbathing, here’s what you can do on peaceful North Padre Island:
Camp on the beach. There’s nothing quite as serene as falling asleep under the stars in this quiet corner of the Gulf. You’ll enjoy some exquisite sunrises and sunsets, and you can spend your days hiking along grassy dunes to Laguna Madre, one of only six hypersaline (saltier than the ocean) lagoons in the world. North Padre is also a great place to catch some fish for dinner, or maybe even a shark, so long as you have a valid Texas fishing license and saltwater stamp.
Learn to windsurf. At Worldwinds you can rent equipment and take lessons in windsurfing from internationally recognized experts. Classes range from totally beginner to advanced. If you find yourself there on a not-so-windy afternoon, which is unlikely considering the average wind speed is 18 mph, the National Seashore’s official vendor also rents one- and two-person kayaks.
Watch baby sea turtles take their first steps. North Padre is home to the endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, and there are dozens of hatchling releases each year on the beach. These are open to the public, free of charge, and quite popular, so try to plan ahead. If your visit doesn’t coincide with a release, there are always coyotes and white-tail deer running around.
What’s your favorite thing to do on North Padre Island?
Sarah Enelow
Sarah is the North America Editor for Go! Girl Guides and she wrote the New York City guidebook. Raised in rural Texas on mesquite barbecue and barrel racing, Sarah lived in Indiana for two years before moving to New York by herself. Some of her favorite experiences in North America include snowmachining outside of Anchorage, exploring Caladesi Island off the coast of Florida, touring a Cold War bunker in West Virginia, watching the sun set over Chicago from Lake Michigan, and taking an overnight train from Montreal to Halifax.
Three Heart Pumping Adventures in Albany, NY
How to Travel in Your Home State
The Secrets of California’s Highway 1
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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Alice Eve’ tag.
September 22, 2013 in Uncategorized | Tags: Alan Tudyk, Alice Eve, Andrew Garfield, Chris Messina, Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Gael Garcia Bernal, Matthew McConaughey, Max Landis, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan | by Jared | Leave a comment
#30. Ruby Sparks
Saw this on my baseball road trip last year. A decent Twilight Zone episode. Not sure if reading any more into it is a worthwhile exercise. Didn’t really have the indie feeling I was expecting, given it was written by Zoe Kazan and starring her and Paul Dano. Chris Messina was a great presence, as always.
#29. Headhunters
Saw this with John at last year’s Filmfest DC. Not quite as twisty as I felt I had been promised, but still an engaging thriller. I do take particular umbrage with one facet of the film. 5’6″ is not short, and I, for one, was unable to suspend my disbelief that anyone could think it was, or have any resulting feelings of inadequacy.
#28. Life of Pi
I’ve written about this one plenty. Given all the talk of visuals and spirituality, I was expecting to dislike it, so I was pleasantly surprised at how strong the story actually was. I didn’t really get falling in love with it, but it was a worthy entry into the awards race.
#27. Wreck-It Ralph
Boasts a very clever premise and a generally interesting story. I found the film to be more kid-oriented than I might have liked. Of course, it is perfectly reasonable for a movie to be targeted at children. But one of the things that puts Pixar in a class by itself is how their films can appeal to all ages. I’m terrible at identifying voices, but I never would have gotten that Alan Tudyk was behind King Candy, in a splendid bit of voice acting.
#26. Killer Joe
Matthew McConaughey should have received a Supporting Actor nomination for his role here, in my humble opinion. In this grimy, sweaty, hot mess of a movie, his Killer Joe is a dark, twisted revelation. The film is all kinds of bonkers, perhaps refreshingly so. The rest of the main cast: Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Chuch, and Juno Temple are expertly cast to fill out this melange of nutty characters. And the final scene really sealed the deal for me, I found it to be an instant classic.
#25. Men in Black III
A perfectly decent movie with unexpected heart. One of the keys to the success of this franchise is the playful sense of humor, which this installment largely continues. Casting Josh Brolin as a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones was rather inspired, as Brolin is note perfect. Emma Thompson was fun addition, as was Alice Eve as her younger self. Though the former went to Cambridge and the latter went to Oxford, and I’ve been told those shouldn’t be mixed up. The film probably could have used more of the ladies. I also liked Michael Stuhlbarg’s character.
#24. Prometheus
Full disclosure: This was the first film in the Alien franchise I watched. I liked this one a lot, but I later watched Alien and found it to be pretty much the same thing. So I wonder what I would have thought if I watched the films in reverse order. At any rate the film was pretty taut. There were maybe too many underdeveloped characters, and the ending was a little messy. But I enjoyed the mythology, and the acting was first rate. The people who were clamoring for a Michael Fassbender acting nomination had an interesting case, I thought.
#23. The Amazing Spider-Man
Another movie hard to evaluate in a vacuum. Can we all just agree that everyone knows the Spiderman origin story at this point? Frankly, it seems like I tend to not enjoy origin stories all that much. I think comic book films would be vastly improved if we got away from the super long story of the character’s beginnings and went right into the interesting part of the story. Or, just do something like the fantastic montage at the beginning of Watchmen. (I know, I know, easy for me to say.) In any case, the reason this movie ranks so highly is the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, so ably played by the pigdog Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. As the next movie on my list shows, there’s a lot of good stuff that can be mined from the life of a teenage superhero. There are now tons of movies with lavish special effects and epic fights. What will set movies apart, I think, are the same things that always have: compelling stories and interesting characters. This film took the time to build something with Garfield and Stone, and it paid off. Of course, it helped having such dynamic stars.
#22. Chronicle
Max Landis obviously has thought a lot about superheroes, and I think he understands what makes them compelling. This is a superhero origin story worth telling. Because it is about things like growing up and becoming an adult and dealing with the world and friendship. There are big fights where buildings get destroyed, sure. But that’s not the essence of the film. The movie instead looks how three teens deal with new-found superpowers and with each other. It is a clever concept that’s well-executed.
#21. The Loneliest Planet
This is a movie I should have hated. Much of the film is devoted to lovingly and painstakingly capturing the beauty of the Caucasus Mountains. The plot can probably be completely and accurately summarized in two or three sentences. But somehow, it resonated with me. It was the last film of a flurry I saw in an effort to cast a more-informed Spirit Award ballot, so that is part of it. And the more uncouth of you might suggest the opening shot of a naked Hani Furstenberg jumping up and down perhaps unduly influenced my thinking. Instead, and I hate to spoil/hype it up even more than descriptions elsewhere already do, but this film is about one scene, one moment, that defines who we are and what we become. It feels almost pretentious as I’m typing it. And yet, i believe it. The long set up becomes worthwhile. Gael Garcia Bernal is an extremely talented actor, and it feels like he’s wasted a little bit until the pivotal scene, when the casting becomes perfect. Maybe I’m overselling it, and it was just a combination of a million factors leading to the perfect time for me to watch the movie, I dunno. But I was kinda blown away by what it did.
September 10, 2013 in Lists | Tags: Alice Eve, Clint Eastwood, Judd Apatow, Kelly MacDonald, Naomi Watts, RZA | by Jared | Leave a comment
#60. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars. I thought the film actually had a pretty clever sense of humor at times, but the witty dialogue was too sparsely interspersed with the underdeveloped plot. Which included Charles Darwin mooning over Queen Victoria, so in retrospect, maybe I’m being a little bit too harsh.
#59. The Decoy Bride
Like I wasn’t going to watch a romantic comedy starring Alice Eve, Kelly MacDonald, and David Tennant. The story, on the very slight chance you don’t know, is that Alice Eve is a famous actress (from the film: “You know, they asked 10,000 men to name their ideal partner and 9,800 said Lara [Eve’s character]. Statistically that includes at least 800 gay men. If you’re male and Lara Tyler’s interested in you, she’s the one; it’s kind of a rule. You can’t be happy with Lara Tyler, you can’t be happy with anyone.”) who is marrying David Tennant, a well-known author. Tennant had set his book on a tiny island in Scotland, so they decide to get married there. With the slight problem that Tennant never actually bothered to go there to research what the island is like. Kelly MacDonald plays a local girl, desperate to get out, who, through a totally realistic series of events ends up being a decoy bride to fool the paparazzi, but accidentally gets married. MacDonald shines in the role, not unexpectedly. As I think I mentioned earlier in this series, I really hope Eve can break out of playing the incredibly hot love interest, because I’m convinced she can do more. That said, it isn’t like she’s miscast in the role, and her come hither look is out of this world. The film felt like it had been chopped up a little too much and (spoiler alert) MacDonald and Tennant maybe fall in love a little too quickly. And I do think there’s some fascinating ideas in here.
#58. Bernie
I felt like this film had a very consistent sense of humor, unfortunately that sense of humor didn’t exactly overlap with mine. Though it did with John, so consider yourself warned. We talked about the movie some in our Spirit Awards wrap, so feel free to check that out. Both of us chose the movie for film of the year, though for me that was more due to the weakness of the other nominees. I liked Jack Black in the role, it was similar to his other characters, but with a little more depth. And MacLaine and McConaughey were both pretty solid as well.
#57. The Hunger Games
I’m sure other people have mentioned this, but Jennifer Lawrence is an incredibly beautiful woman, so why the need to turn her into plastic on the posters? I haven’t read any of the books in the series for whatever that is worth. And I have seen Battle Royale. Multiple times. Actually, I think as an Orientation aide one year at college, I may have forced some first-years (or “freshmen”) to watch the movie. The comparisons are obvious, of course, and while Battle Royale is the better movie, I think it is also important to keep in mind that the two have some significant differences. Anyway, again, not having read the books, it felt like the movie bit off more than it could chew. It introduced a number of different story points which all sounded pretty interesting, but the film just couldn’t adequately explain all of them. I mean, I love me some The Running Man, so I’m all for movies about dystopian game shows where people have to kill each other. Having kids kill each other on screen is naturally going to be very difficult to pull off, so while I definitely don’t want to call the film a cop out, I am not certain I loved how Katniss performed in the games.
#56. Trouble with the Curve
I think I spent three innings at a Potomac Nationals game going over this movie with a friend in quite explicit detail, so sorry, any people sitting around me who hadn’t yet seen the movie and who will never read this blog. It is too simple to call this film a response to Moneyball, but it wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate. I won’t go into every single problem I had with the movie, as someone who knows a little bit about this stuff, but let me bring up three points. First, there is no serious person high up in any major league team who would advocate for taking the #2 overall pick in the draft solely based on what his computer tells him. Second, any team with the #2 overall pick would have extensively scouted prime candidates for the pick prior to two months before the draft. And third, the odds of someone being considered that high in the draft having trouble with the curve but no other scout picking up on it AND that player not being exposed to top quality pitching talents at various high school tournaments is extremely small. That said, I’ll watch the heck out of any baseball movie, and if the movie is about Clint Eastwood being a curmudgeonly scout, with Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake flirting and spouting Orioles trivia, well, it can’t be all bad. The subplots surrounding Amy Adams (her strained relationship with her dad and her burgeoning relationship with Timberlake) weren’t terribly well-developed, which really is what is holding this movie back more than any issues I had with the depiction of baseball.
#55. Paranorman
My notes on this Best Animated Film nominee read: “Got deep at times, except for story.” Hm. I think what I was trying to say is that the plot isn’t really anything to write home about. Which isn’t necessarily a mortal sin for a film targeted at a wide audience. But I found the subject matter rather thought-provoking. The film takes a nuanced look at what it means to be an outcast. And not just the superficial “oh he wears glasses and likes sci-fi” kind of “nerd” outcast. I was pretty surprised. If the story was more interesting, this really could have been a knockout of a movie.
#54. This Is 40
I mean, sure, I’ll keep watching anything Judd Apatow makes. But it sure seems like there’s been a steady decline in the quality of his films. I’ve got a few theories why his past two movies haven’t been as good as his earlier output, but I’m not really satisfied with them, and it is a small sample size anyway. But this one is probably only memorable for Megan Fox being in it (and not being half bad). I don’t want to say that Apatow has lost his sense of humor, but it seems like maybe in an attempt to make us sympathize with his main characters, he’s lost sight a little bit of what made his TV and films so good.
#53. The Man with the Iron Fists
The first five actors billed in this one are: RZA, Rick Yune, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, and Dave Bautista. Which is probably all you need to know. I want to make sure to give credit to RZA for his direction. Many of the fight scenes were strikingly bold and showy without being distracting, a fine line to hold when making a martial arts film like this one. The screenplay from RZA and Eli Roth was…well…it got us to the fight sequences, so it had that. The problem, of course, is figuring out how to develop a sensical screenplay while devoting so much time to the fights and to setting up the fights.
#52. The Impossible
I was really dreading seeing this movie. Bad on you, publicity department. But I ended up seeing the film and liking it more than I expected. Good on you, publicity department. I think the subject matter is just tough to watch. I have no idea, for example, to whom I would recommend the film. It is kind of depressing and vaguely uplifting. Naomi Watts was good, but it was clearly a supporting actress performance, in my humble opinion.
#51. Gayby
A Spirit Award nominee. Maybe gets lost a little bit among all the unorthodox ways people are raising kids movies. But it was actually pretty funny at times. The character, in particular, were amusing, and I enjoyed spending time with them. I almost want to argue this set up would have been better as a TV show. I mean, the characters were better-developed and the writing sharper than the vast majority of first-season sitcoms. I think it would be pretty doable as a TV show. Just not sure anyone would watch.
Jared Ranks 2012: 110 to 101
July 23, 2013 in Lists | Tags: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Alice Eve, ATM, Aubrey Plaza, Denis Levant, Frankenweenie, Gina Carano, Haywire, Helen Mirren, Hitchcock, Holy Motors, Jake Johnson, Jimmi Simpson, John August, Kill List, Mark Duplass, Marla Sokoloff, Rachel Weisz, Safety Not Guaranteed, Scents and Sensibility, The Deep Blue Sea, Tim Burton | by Jared | Leave a comment
#110. Safety Not Guaranteed
Saw this one in theaters with my family. In completely unrelated news, I haven’t been asked to pick a family movie since then. The film is gratingly lo-fi. Which means the actors don’t have anywhere to hide. Aubrey Plaza actually acquits herself quite nicely, she can definitely anchor a movie. And Jake Johnson can curmudgeon his way across any screen of mine any time he likes. Mark Duplass, though, I don’t know. At this point I’ve seen him in a bunch of things, and I’m impressed with the variety of roles he takes, and that he also writes, directs, and produces many films. But I can only take him in small doses of smarminess. The Mindy Project has used him well, I think. And he’s best on The League when relegated to a supporting slot being douchey. I will say that this movie has a cameo it managed to hide very well. Also, the guys who wrote and directed this (Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, respectively) are lined up to do Jurassic Park IV. So, uh, be prepared for that.
109. Kill List
This one came across my radar because I saw multiple places talking about how it was a riveting, surprising thriller which defied genre and contained some crazy twists. I…must have seen a different cut of the movie than everyone else? I was never on the edge of my seat, save for that one time I almost nodded off. Weird for the sake of being weird, I suppose the film did kinda cut through genres, but not to any meaningful effect. For me, the film just became progressively more and more bonkers. A little unsettling, sure, but more puzzling than disquieting. And I didn’t find the film particularly twisty. There’s one bit at the end, but by that point the movie had veered so far off course that the twist didn’t have the impact it must have had on others.
108. Hitchcock
I’ll always remember seeing this in theaters with John. Not due to anything from the film, which may well have been the least essential movie of the year. Helen Mirren was fun, naturally, but man, what a waste of her and everything else. There was no reason this story had to be told, because there wasn’t really a story at all. But anyway. So I meet up with John before the movie. We watch the movie. We walk the six or seven blocks to California Tortilla. We order food. We eat the food there. We chitchat, of course. I remember at one point John mentioned how he had realized NBC still had the prior Olympics up online so he was watching something like archery. So. Including the movie, we’ve been hanging out for about four hours at this point. We’ve finished up the tortillas and it is just about time to start heading back home. And then John tells me, oh, by the way, he proposed last weekend.
107. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
The movie that launched a million jokes on the Internet. It made two big mistakes, I think. First, I haven’t read Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel, but his screenplay is entirely too earnest. There are plenty of vampire movies these days, most of which have, frankly, more engaging dramatic premises than our 16th president deciding to fight the bloodsuckers. If any movie was set up to be tongue in cheek, it was this one, which took itself entirely too seriously. Second, the story’s structure is rather awkward. It felt like the first three-quarters of the movie was an origin story, and then as soon as Lincoln gets involved with politics, we jumped forward to the presidency, with a climactic action sequence. A sequence which was, admittedly, pretty cool, surely thanks to director Timur Bekmambetov who would undoubtedly be my first choice to direct any sort of gothic and/or steampunk scenes my movie required, though I might ask him to step aside once filming of those had completed. A highly interesting cast, including Dominic Cooper, Benjamin Mackie, Rufus Sewell, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead was pretty much wasted, with Jimmi Simpson the only one who I thought managed to come off OK.
106. Holy Motors
Multiple movie blogs I follow were in love with this film. There’s, sadly, only so much time to watch movies (even for me!), and so I have to make hard decisions about which movies to see. And an important factor is whether the movie inspires passion in anyone. Better if it someone whose opinion I respect, of course, but I’m always fascinated to see which movie inspire fervent emotion. All of which is to say that while I personally found this movie kinda boring, I stand by the process by which it ended up on my Netflix queue. The structure of the film was kinda cool, with Denis Levant taking on a number of different personas in a number of different situations, over the course of a day. And Levant was quite good in the role (even if Tatiana Maslany has essentially ruined actors playing different characters). I could see the different parts of the day working well as a series of one-act plays tied together by some common purpose or theme. But to me, the different parts of the days felt like disparate middle acts of a wide variety of three act plays: experimental, musical, etc. without any reason they were mashed together.
105. The Deep Blue Sea
Rachel Weisz received some Oscar attention for her performance in this film, including garnering a Golden Globe nomination. Unfortunately, there were three major roadblocks, none of which were her fault: the film was released early in the year, nobody saw it, and it is mind-numbingly dull. It is a character study without really studying a character. People mope, stuff happens off-screen, people get angry or sad or mope some more. That’s not entirely fair, of course, I get that it is about love or wanting to be in love, and a time not so long ago when women still didn’t have a ton of options (or, at least, were constrained by society) in terms of deciding who or how to love. Although, really, I could say it is about pretty much anything. Not like you’ll stay awake long enough to disagree with me. Tom Hiddleston is solid, as usual. Rachel Weisz is good, certainly better than Quvenzhane Wallis, but I’m not sure she would have made my final list.
104. Frankenweenie
I’m sad I didn’t like this one, because John August wrote the screenplay, and I’ve loved his blog for years. But this half-baked riff on the story of Frankenstein’s monster was entirely forgettable. The concept of all these horror movie standbys being in middle school was pretty clever, but that seemed to be about where the creativity stopped. Imdb lists a biopic of Margaret Keane as Tim Burton’s next directorial effort and one wonders if the break from his gothic sensibilities might do him some good.
103. Haywire
An action movie for people who don’t like action movies. (And I love me some action movies.) The film is super stripped down, which in theory is a welcome breath of fresh air compared to summer blockbuster fare. But Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Dobbs go too far in the other direction, as this film is spare to the point of distraction. For me, the comparison to make is with Colombiana. Both feature strong and deadly hitwomen, but where Colombiana is fun and gripping, this one was a chore to get through. Soderbergh did a great job pulling down name talent, as Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewen McGregor, Michael Douglas, and Antonio Banderas all litter the cast, among others, but almost serve more as a distraction, given the limited nature of their roles. Speaking of Colombiana, I would love to see Gina Carano in a Luc Besson film, I think that’s pretty much a perfect match.
102. ATM
I want to stress that I think Alice Eve is a talented actress. She’s been in a couple of my favorite movies, but even in the clunkers she’s shown an impressive magnetism. I sincerely hope that she gets a chance to play some meatier roles in the near future. That said, since I’m going to lose my man card with the next movie on my list, let me ask a question. If you are going to have a movie where Alice Eve is trapped in a room and decided that harsh weather would play a factor, would you decide to place the setting somewhere cold, where she’d have to wear as many layers as possible, or, I don’t know, somewhere really hot where it is the exact opposite?! I feel like that should have been the studio’s first note. At any rate, I tend to be a big fan of one-setting films, but this one missed for me. It wasn’t terribly clever, and the ending was far from satisfying. The end credits seemed fascinated by the bad guy’s detailed and elaborate plans, but said plans weren’t really displayed in the movie.
101. Scents and Sensibility
I’m scared to look back and see how many years in a row I’ve told myself to stop watching terrible Marla Sokoloff films. I’d like to say it ends now, but let’s face it, time has shown that I’m an idiot. This one is based off of Sense and Sensibility, only Marla Sokoloff’s character has a real talent for making scented lotions, so it is Scents and Sensibility. And that’s probably the most clever thing about the screenplay. The film also stars Ashley Williams (aka Victoria from HIMYM). Who, like Sokoloff, deserves better. Most frustrating to me, I think, is that I know many people poured many hours into making this film. I’m sure most, if not all of those people put in hard, solid work, work of which they wanted to be proud. So I can’t understand the process which led to this film being the final product. Surely at some point, someone asked about the vision, the creativity, the flair, the reason for existing so sorely lacking from this movie?
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In 1947, Milton Caniff — creator of the adventure cartoon strip “Steve Canyon” — was honored as the first “Cartoonist of the Year” by the newly created National Cartoonist Society. His award was a silver cigarette box, engraved with artist Billy De Beck’s “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith” characters. Seven years later, the Reuben Award was introduced, and to this day it is the highest honor the profession bestows when recognizing the outstanding cartoonist of the year. Past winners include Al Capp, Charles M. Schulze, Johnny Hart, Bill Keane, Bill Watterson, Gary Larson, Gary Trudeau, Matt Groening, Greg Evans, and Bill Amend, to name a few.
Dave in front of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
And the award goes to… Dave Coverly!
This year, I am excited to report that the prestigious and highly coveted Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year went to my friend and honorary Druidiot since 2005, Dave Coverly. After being nominated for the past four years, Dave and Speedbump edged out Dan Piraro (Bizarro) and Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine) this past weekend in L.A. to win the NCS’s top award, and join the ranks of an amazing group of artists. Congratulations, Dave!
In honor of this well-deserved achievement, “Speedbumps” is the Happy Medium Song of the Day; an apropos tune by one of Dave’s favorite bands, Luna.
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Robert Mapplethorpe The Archive
Author: Frances Terpak, Robert Mapplethorpe
Publisher : Getty Trust Publications
Imprint : Getty Research Institute,U.S.
RRP : 81.0
Author : Frances Terpak, Robert Mapplethorpe
Dewey classification : 779.092
Illustrations : 410 Colour illustrations
Local Description
Celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe challenged the limits of censorship and conformity, com- bining technical and formal mastery with unexpected, often provocative content that secured his place in history. Mapplethorpe's artistic vision helped shape the social and cultural fabric of the 1970s and 80s and, following his death in 1989 from AIDS, informed the political landscape of the 1990s. His photographic works continue to resonate with audiences all over the world. Throughout his career, Mapplethorpe preserved studio files and art from every period and vein of his production, including student work, jewelry, sculptures, and commercial assignments. The resulting archive is fascinating and astonishing. With over four hundred illustrations, this volume surveys a virtually unknown resource that sheds new light on the artist's motivations, connections, business acumen, and tal- ent as a curator and collector.
Frances Terpak is curator of photographs at the Getty Research Institute, where she has built the photographic and optical devices collections. She is the author of "Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China" (Getty Publications, 2011). Michelle Brunnick is a visual artist and critical theorist. She was the Robert Mapplethorpe archive curatorial assistant at the Getty Research Institute. Patti Smith is a singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, and she won the National Book Award in 2010 for her memoir "Just Kids." Jonathan Weinberg is a visiting critic at the Yale School of Art and a lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design. "
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More Than 50 Hospitalized From Synthetic Marijuana in Brooklyn
The incident follows a series of recent synthetic cannabis hospitalizations in Chicago.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 31: A passed out man lies on a sidewalk in an area which has witnessed an explosion in the use of K2 or ‘Spice’, a synthetic marijuana drug in East Harlem on August 31, 2015 in New York City. New York, along with other cities, is experiencing a deadly epidemic of synthetic marijuana usage including varieties known as K2 or ‘Spice’ which can cause extreme reactions in some users. According to New York’s health department, more than 120 people visited an emergency room in the city in just one week in April. While the state banned the ingredients used to make K2 in 2012, distributors have switched to other ingredients and names in an attempt to circumvent the law. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
More than 50 people were hospitalized in Brooklyn starting late last week as police tracked down a dangerous batch of synthetic marijuana, also known as K2 or spice. The spike in hospitalizations, which began on Friday (May 18) and continued through the weekend, has not resulted in any deaths, according to NYPD. The police arrested at least 12 individuals suspected of distributing the substance.
On Tuesday, NYPD Department Chief Terence Monahan held a press conference to address the issue.
“We want to get the word out that there is a dangerous batch of K2 out on the streets in Brooklyn,” he told reporters. “Even though this is concentrated, currently, in Brooklyn we want to make sure this doesn’t extend to other parts of the city.”
On Monday evening, the BYPD issued an alert which outlined the affected areas where victims were found and suspects were apprehended in North Brooklyn.
That list of areas includes Broadway & Myrtle Avenue, 2570 Fulton Street, 599 Ralph Avenue, 2399 Van Sinderen Avenue and 2402 Atlantic Avenue.
Three of the locations are homeless shelters, Monahan pointed out, saying in Tuesday’s conference that Broadway and Myrtle seem to be the epicenter.
Synthetic cannabis is a substance which is often sprayed onto dry leaves and mimics the effects of organic cannabis, oftentimes to a greater degree than the real thing. Despite activating similar receptors in the brain, synthetic marijuana contains none of the same ingredients as its organic counterpart and has limited quality control to prevent dangerous chemicals from being added.
Police initially suspected synthetics cannabis as the cause when patients were brought into the hospital exhibiting symptoms of severe bleeding from their gums, nose, and mouth.
The NYPD dealt with a similar case in 2016 which saw 33 Brooklyn residents hospitalized within a period of 11 hours.
A spike in lethal K2 hospitalizations was also seen in the Chicago area in April when more than 100 patients were admitted after consuming synthetic marijuana which contained rat poison on it.
Written by Miroslav Tomoski
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February 13, 2019 / 12:45 PM / 5 months ago
Indian opposition says would tighten land use rules to help farmers
Devjyot Ghoshal
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - India’s opposition, bidding to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in upcoming elections, will impose tight curbs on land acquisition for industry if voted into power to help protect farmers, its leaders said on Wednesday.
Akhilesh Yadav, chief of the regional Samajwadi Party, speaks during a news conference at his party's headquarters in Lucknow, February 12, 2019. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar
Indian political parties are facing a backlash from voters in the countryside, with farmers upset over weak produce prices and a lack of jobs, fuelling a race to appease them ahead of the elections that are due by May.
Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the regional Samajwadi Party in the most populous Uttar Pradesh state, told Reuters that no fertile land should be given up to industry.
Concerns over farmers’ rights have risen over a $17 billion bullet train project that Modi has pushed, prompting protests by fruit growers who are set to lose some of their land in Maharashtra.
Mango farmers in Maharashtra are also trying to block a planned $44 billion refinery to be run by a consortium including Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer.
“You have to decide if you want a government for the industry, or for the poor,” Yadav said in an interview in Lucknow, which is a battleground state electing the largest number of representatives to parliament.
“We want to build industry, right? We’ll put it in Chambal-Yamuna, I have plenty of land there,” Yadav said, referring to an underdeveloped part of Uttar Pradesh where there is little farming.
But companies are hesitant to go there because it is remote, lacks good connectivity and is considered part of the state’s crime belt.
Yadav has entered into an alliance with a party representing lower castes and is trying to form a broader coalition with the main opposition Congress and other regional parties against Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and ensure there is no division of votes.
A spokesman for Congress said the party would work to protect the interest of farmers, especially those with small land holdings. It supported the idea of industry setting up projects in underdeveloped areas and said they could be offered incentives.
“We are going to be very focused on the farming community,” Sanjay Jha said. “We believe that India is facing a humongous rural crisis at the moment.”
Polls are predicting a tight finish in the election, raising the possibility that regional chieftains like Yadav will become key players in any coalition government.
Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Nick Macfie
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HIStalk Interviews Michael Rothman, Co-Founder, Rothman Healthcare Corporation
October 25, 2010 Interviews 6 Comments
Michael Rothman, PhD is co-founder, chief science officer, and board chair of Rothman Healthcare Corporation of San Francisco, CA.
Tell me about yourself and about Rothman Healthcare.
I have a PhD in chemistry. I’ve been doing data analysis for 30 years. I spent a good chunk of that time working for IBM, including a stint at IBM Watson Research Lab. I then went off and did consulting for a while.
The reason that I got involved in this whole thing is a personal one. My mother was a patient at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. She went in to have a valve replacement operation. She did well initially, and then started fading. The problem is that no one understood that she was getting sicker until she was very ill. Without going into the whole story, she ended up dying about a week and a half later.
My brother and I spent a long time trying to understand what had gone wrong. What we decided was that, in a way, the system had failed her. It really is almost impossible to look at the electronic medical record and catch a slow deterioration in a patient’s condition, especially with the fact that there are so many different doctors and nurses that take care of a single patient.
We asked the question: why isn’t there a simple measure of a patient’s overall condition that can be plotted versus time to show a doctor or a nurse that someone is getting sicker?
We went in and spoke to the CEO of Sarasota Memorial, who let us come in to the hospital and try out some ideas for several weeks. That led to a real project about four months later. Over the next couple of years, we analyzed about 60,000 patient visits and data extracted from the electronic medical record at four different hospitals. That led to development of software — in fact, a product and a company to deliver that product — to do that very simple thing that we started out to do: provide a measure of a patient’s condition so that a doctor or nurse can see if a patient is getting sicker.
I have to ask the obvious question in terms of how Sarasota came to be involved with your product. Was that related to … you know what I’m getting at. Was this in terms of a lawsuit or something about your mother’s treatment, or was this just their interest in improving what you had seen firsthand?
That’s interesting. No, it was not involved with a lawsuit. We actually considered the idea of suing and rejected it because it’s an empty thing to do. It would not have been of any value to us to get a sum of money. What we wanted to do was try and prevent what happened to our mother from happening to someone else. No, there were no legal negotiations involved.
Did they undertake this with you in the spirit of recognizing that they had room for improvement and that you had something to offer as someone with skin in the game?
They were a pioneer in electronic medical records. My mother died in 2003 and they had already had an EMR, I think, seven or eight years.
Yes, they’re an Eclipsys client.
Yes, yes, and they had been frustrated really, by the lack of insight that they had been able to extract from all this data. They had all this data and it’s difficult to maintain, it’s expensive, and they were waiting for the real demonstration of value.
My brother had worked in data visualization for many years, and as I said, I worked in data analysis. When we came there, it just caught their attention. The CEO was very sympathetic about what had happened in my mother’s case, but there was something else in the background. There was this underlying feeling that something should be done with all this data.
Maybe what we want is people who are coming at it in a very fresh way. We did not have medical backgrounds. In fact, if we had, I don’t think that we really would have been successful, as it turns out.
If this could happen at Sarasota, it could happen anywhere because that’s a highly regarded hospital using a highly regarded clinical system that they’ve used very well for a long time. If you were talking about the experience of Sarasota to this point, what would be their results?
We developed this index, which we named in honor of my mother — the Florence A. Rothman Index. This is a general measure of a patient’s condition. It’s now part of a software product which we deliver and is being used at Sarasota Memorial.
In terms of a measure of success of this endeavor, it really was if we could help one person avoid what had happened to my mother, then that was the sign of success. But I think we’ve helped many people at this point, but I also think we can help many more.
I guess the toughest part is that you don’t really have any way to know whether your product helped. There’s no recordable event that says, “Hey, we just saved this patient because of something we showed a clinician.” Is that going to be a challenge to go into another site to have something more than just anecdotal discussion?
In fact, we did a clinical trial at Sarasota with 1,600 patients over about five months. It was with a randomized, concurrent control group. If a patient was born in an even year, his doctors or nurses would be able to see the graph, and if he or she was born in an odd year, they wouldn’t be able to see the graph.
We then looked at the outcome as measured, in this case by discharge disposition. What we found was that more patients ended up in a healthier condition and so were able to be discharged to home rather than to rehab or skilled nursing facility. We had a seven per cent increase in discharges to home. It turned out to be a number that was statistically significant.
We’re in the process of setting up clinical trials at a number of other hospitals to replicate this and to extend the work, and to show that we have benefit at not just Sarasota, but other hospitals as well.
As I was trying to conceptualize why this works, I thought of the stock market, where you may track five stocks and think you know everything there is until you look at a stock market index and a long-term trend. Then you realize that you got so wrapped up in the trees that you didn’t see the forest. Does it happen often that the data there but clinicians miss the trend?
Yes, that’s part of it. The thing is, there’s plenty of data. We’re not creating any more data. What we’re doing is two things. We take 26 different medical measurements which are available, basically, at all hospitals. We extract the amount of risk which is inherent in the value of each of these measurements and come up with a single score.
Now in a sense, that’s what a doctor or nurse does when they go in. They come up with an overall sense of how the patient is and a good doctor does it well, or a good nurse does it well. But the problem is if a doctor is rushed, a nurse is rushed, how completely can they really evaluate all the data that’s there? Even even more importantly, do they really know how that patient was the day before when maybe this is the first time they’ve ever seen the patient?
Getting that trend is very difficult to do, even if you’re a doctor and you’re sitting down and studying what’s in the medical record. It’s hard to figure out what the trend is, especially if it’s a gradual deterioration.
There’s one other thing, and that is doctors tend to look at three things when they’re doing an evaluation. They look at vital signs, they look at lab tests, and they look at the last doctor’s notes. However, there is a source of information that they tend to overlook, and that is the nurse’s assessments.
The nurses do what is called “the head to toe assessment” of the patient. It’s something that’s taught at nursing school. They evaluate each physiological system and they record it on the computer. Really, doctors don’t look at it.
One of the things that we’ve done is we’ve said, “Hey, this is actually very valuable information about how someone is.” So we used nursing data in the calculation of our score. It gives the doctor access to something that he doesn’t normally look at.
How did you come up with the 26? How do you know those are the most relevant ones? Are you continuing to see how well the correlate with patient status changes, or do you think you’ll be adding more measures?
We started by going to the electronic medical record and saying, “What’s there?” We looked to see what measurements really are available on all patients. Not only are they available on all patients, but they’re available and they are taken on a continuing basis on all patients. That really brings you down to a relatively small number of potential variables.
Then we tested the variables against different measurements and we looked at the independence of variables. We spent a long time working on the model building itself, but in answer to your question, are we continuing to test it and look for opportunities to enhance it? The answer is yes, although we are comfortable with what we have now. I’m sure that there will be opportunities to enhance it in the future.
Do you think there’ll be ways that you can build into the presentation of the information the ability to collect new information that will help you determine if the correlation is better since your system does not accept data entry?
Let me say two things. One is we’re presenting doctors and the nurses with this graph, and basically, every time a piece of data is entered into the electronic medical record, we recalculate the score and we put another point on the graph. That’s the operational side of it.
But what you’re getting at really is something that we thought of right at the outset, and that is when someone is doing medical research, one of the tough things is to have a good measure of an outcome. If you’re looking for mortality as an outcome, generally mortality is very low in procedures or when you’re dealing with one drug or another. So you need large sample sizes to get specifically significant differences between drug A and drug B, or procedure A and procedure B.
At the point at which our index becomes generally accepted as a measure of patient condition, all of a sudden you have another measure of outcome. You can say, “Hey, we have procedure A and the folks who went through procedure A ended up with an average score of 75 after a week, and procedure B, the folks ended up with a score of 65. And just to calibrate you, 100 is the best and 0 is close to the worst.”
You have a way of getting a quick read on the impact of procedure A versus procedure B, or drug A versus drug B, or workflow A versus workflow B. I think there’s a lot of potential in terms of helping in medical research.
Do you see it as being something that’s applied like a pain scale or a blood sugar reading where there’s a standing order that says if the patient’s Rothman Index gets to this, then transfer them to ICU?
We are not prescriptive, nor diagnostic. We’re not telling a doctor or a nurse what’s wrong with the patient or what to do. We’re basically alerting them that something is happening. But what you’re talking about sounds like the rapid response team Initiative. Is that what you’re referring to?
Yes. It seems like one of the key problems is failure to act. There’s something going on, no one notices, there’s no predefined pathways — someone just says, “Wow, this is bad,” and then nothing happens.
Absolutely. There was a talk given by Dr. Edgar Jimenez, who is the president of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. He’s also an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and Florida State University, as well as director of medical critical care at Orlando Regional Medical Center. It was a talk given at the 6th International Conference on Rapid Response Systems in May at Pittsburgh. He was talking about some work that he’s done, preliminary work at Orlando Regional Medical Center with regard to rapid response teams.
One of the problems with rapid response teams is it takes the nurse on the floor to activate the system. Some nurses are going to be great at it, some nurses are not going to be great at it, but many times nurses are overwhelmed. As you say, someone can deteriorate and no one notice, so the team doesn’t get called.
They are very excited about the system because of a capability that we have. We produce a graph showing the patient’s condition over time. We can actually produce a single screen with several hundred graphs on it so you can look at the entire hospital on one screen. The graphs are color-coded and it’s really quite easy to see a decline, even though the size of the graphs themselves is small.
One of the clinical trials that we’re going to be doing is on the order of surveillance, where a member of the rapid response team sits in an office and looks at the entire hospital and says, “Hey, there’s a downturn on the sixth floor,” and picks up the phone and calls the nurse on the sixth floor and says, “What’s going on with Mr. Smith?” If the answer is, “I thought he was going home tomorrow, I didn’t know there was anything going on,” then the rapid response team becomes proactive. They activate themselves. They really become a backup for the doctors and nurses to try and prevent people from falling through the cracks.
I would think there’s some potential use even for things like staffing or for nurse acuity; where you have patients whose diagnosis doesn’t really tell you the significance of their care requirements. The number is relative, right? It isn’t just that your number gets worse, but that if your number is lower than some other guy’s number, you’re in worse condition?
It’s an absolute value and it also shows you changes. It’s interesting that you say that because whenever we’ve spoken to, especially a chief nursing officer, she says, “Hey, I can use this as an acuity tool to help me with staffing.” I think there is some dissatisfaction with the tools that are out there because they require nurses to enter data and they can be subjective.
Our system is, in a sense, an absolute measure of the patient’s condition. As I’ve said, we color-code the graph — red being the worst — and so you can say, “Hey, if I have five red patients in one nursing unit, one thing I’m not going to do is assign them all to the same nurse because that’s going to lead to a bad outcome.” It could also be used at a higher level in terms of management of nursing hours, although we’ve not gone down that pathway yet. But it’s been suggested.
I’m a believer in the 80/20 rule –– show me the 20% of patients who are the sickest and if I manage those well, I’ll improve my overall outcomes.
Yes, I think you are right on. We really think that we have a potential of making significant impact in the quality of healthcare and we have people who have had many years’ experience in hospitals who feel the same way. It’s very exciting for us.
I know that you worked with Helios, or ObjectsPlus as it used to be called, when you started connecting to Eclipsys at Sarasota. What kind of interfacing would be required for a non-Eclipsys user and how difficult is it to manage those interfaces?
We’ve spoken to a couple of the other EMR vendors. We are prepared to interface with any of the systems.
Really, we are self-contained. We touch the world in two ways. On the one hand, we go up to the hospital’s database and we extract data periodically, but we do it in a way which has no impact on response time. Hospitals are very sensitive to anything that may degrade their response time for doctors and nurses, so we have a way of not doing that. Basically, it’s not a real-time query, so we wait for real-time queries to finish.
The other place is when a nurse goes to a nursing station and she goes to her computer and she wants to see the graph. All we need to do is know who the current patient is that you’re looking at and we can be either loosely integrated or tightly integrated with the system. With Eclipsys, we’re tightly integrated, so that there’s actually a tab on the main screen that says Rothman Index. A Sunrise Clinical Manager user wouldn’t know that they’re not using Eclipsys-native software.
But if it’s a looser integration, it might be an icon on the desktop. You click on that icon and you’re already logged on to our system through a single sign-on software system which is controlling their screen. We would know which patient you’re pointing at. We just need to know which patient it is and our server has the data and has the values of the Index, and would then be able to display a graph.
Does it alert or is it just display? Does somebody have to notice that the number’s bad or can it automatically page and escalate?
We produce a graph, but we also produce a number. That number can be used in a rule that is created by the hospital to generate an alert.
What parts of the system do you consider the proprietary and how do you envision this turning into a business?
The algorithm is proprietary, although we’re submitting an article for publication which will give the general outlines of what we’re doing. Doctors don’t like the idea of a black box. I guess that’s the proprietary element of it — the algorithm.
We’ve submitted several patent applications on the work. But we’ve spent years now validating this and so, in a sense, the protection that we have is the fact that we’ve done all this work. If someone wanted to do the same thing, it’s going to take them quite a bit of time.
Are you going to try to sell this directly to hospitals or partner with vendors? How do you see this getting out in the field?
We’re starting out by selling it to individual hospitals. We’re starting clinical trials at a number of them. The basic idea is an annual license fee, which is based on the size of the hospital. But we can see going into the future that we might partner with one or another or maybe all of the EMR companies to make it available to their customers.
Is it satisfying to see this turn into a business when the original point of it was a very personal circumstance that you knew you could improve for others?
I think that in order to deliver this and really have the largest impact, we needed to make it into a business. If it were simply a study or a paper, I don’t think that it would have reached a lot of people.
The fact that we were willing to go the extra distance to make it into a product that hospitals would be able to use easily and it will reach a lot of people, that really is a way to achieve our original goal. We just didn’t want this to happen to someone else’s mother. I think we’re going to end up accomplishing that goal.
Lincoln Farnum says:
I love that guy. He seems totally sincere and is using what looks to me like some pretty cool science to do good work. I’m very pro-Rothman!
Ruminating says:
This is where the power of an EHR/EMR comes into play. If the data is just collected, stored and displayed by the EMR, it has value over its’ paper counterpart, but the REAL value and, where most of us get excited, is in the ability to quickly analyze trends and provoke proper actions by care givers to save more lives.
Of course, the “Suzy’s” of the world will still claim that paper based charts are best and that EMRs kill people – but, you cannot accurately, efficiently, and effectively do what Rothman is talking about with first having the data. And, the care of the patient will always be variable based upon the competence of the caregiver to quickly and effectively assimilate vast amounts of information – assuming it was even recorded correctly and timely.
Having complete, correct data, quickly available, is the key building block to changing healthcare. The days of just recording information on a chart for historical and medical-legal purposes, must end, and we need to move beyond that to taking action on the overall picture that the data paints for us, but where before we were too bogged down to notice.
Naysayers – fight this if you want. But, this is where the rest of us are heading. The really exciting thing is that many others, besides Rothman, are working on this same idea, in many different ways and have been for years.
Rosy Snipples says:
Thank you for this interview.
Was patient consent required for the Sarasota clinical trial?
Lazlo Hollyfeld says:
Great interview. Keep these things of interviews from companies that are up-and-coming and in areas that often get overlooked.
Michael Rothman really seems to be on the track to make a discernable and palpable difference in patient care, in a hospital environment.
Has any thought been given to how you could alter this application to work in a primary care setting? It would be a useful tool, especially for large practices where patients possibly see any number of doctors on a rotating basis, so it is hard for a provider to get a good “snapshot,” if you will, of how the patient is doing overall.
Michael Rothman says:
Thank you for the comments. As I read my remarks, I realize that I left out an important point. In describing the creation of what has become our product, I noted “that led to development of software — in fact, a product and a company to deliver that product…”
As anyone who has built a company well understands, this is not something that one person does! After my brother, Steven Rothman, and I began, we brought in Dr. George Almasi, who in fact wrote all the code, Daniel Rothman, an MBA student who helped us develop the business plan, and later Dr. Duncan Finlay, former CEO of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, to lead the company and be our CEO.
We’ve been at this now for almost 6 years.
Currently we are a company of 15 people, with many important contributions by others.
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Elephants in Asia, Ethically Price
Elephants in Asia, Ethically
Imagining A Brighter Future
What will the future bring for Asia's elephants?
A Shift Toward Wild Elephant Tourism
Antoinette van de Water
Bring the Elephant Home
The best way for tourism to contribute to elephant conservation, and the most authentic way for tourists to experience elephants, is wild elephant tourism.
The fee to enter protected areas can be used for habitat maintenance and improvement, the prevention of poaching and for research. Furthermore, local communities could be included as partners, benefiting from and helping to protect wild elephants in their natural habitats.
Wild elephant tourism has provided huge economic benefits for many African countries but also in Nepal, India and Borneo. Thailand has many beautiful national parks, full of biodiversity and the potential for authentic wildlife observation.
Compared to the elephant excursions currently on offer this would require a fundamental change of attitude and expectations from tourists. Patience, time and distance from the animals are required, and in the wild nothing is guaranteed. But the tradeoff is a true, authentic wildlife experience.
Imagine a Thailand where tourists leave with photos of free-roaming herds of wild elephants in a tropical forest, instead of images of tame animals carrying people, painting senseless pictures, and forced to ride on bicycles.
In the long run, the demand for up-close encounters with elephants – and for elephants in captivity in general – should end.
With a shift towards observing elephants in the (semi) wild, we can aim for elephant lives that are truly worth living, and for the conservation of the species. The central question is how much are we willing to change our own expectations as individuals and how much of a role we’re willing to play to help bring that about.
The Future Is In The Forest
Monica Wrobel
Elephant Family
Hidden in their natural habitat of jungle and forest, it is difficult to gauge the number of Asian elephants left in the wild, although official estimates range from just 25,000 to 50,000.
Over the last 100 years the wild population has crashed by 90 per cent, earning a place on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of the most endangered species.
The reason for their near-disappearance from the wild is simple: their forests are vanishing. Without its natural habitat, the Asian elephant is homeless and cannot survive in the wild.
A call for better conditions
In an ideal world, all elephants would be wild and free to roam in their natural habitat. For thousands of elephants this is not possible, either because their habitat has disappeared or because they were born into captivity and don’t know how to survive in the wild.
There are around 15,000 captive Asian elephants in the world today, for whom release into the wild may never be possible.
Elephants eat up to 200kg of food per day and can live up to 70 years, so keeping them happy and healthy is an expensive business.
It is possible for tourism to cover the cost of an elephant’s upkeep and welfare but it is essential that the animal is cared for properly, that it has adequate space, access to water, and companionship to suit its personality. Unfortunately, that is all too rare.
Towards wild elephant tourism
For any elephant experience – even at a responsible rescue centre – it is worth remembering that any close encounter with a wild animal means asking it to change its natural behaviour. Only when we keep our distance from a wild animal are we truly respecting its freedom.
So what does this mean for the future of elephant tourism? To truly put the big picture of conservation first, countries that are home to Asian elephants must be encouraged to protect as much of their habitat as possible.
For a tourist, seeing an Asian elephant in the wild is one of the most thrilling experiences you can have. The future of these animals is in our hands. It’s up to us to vote with our wallets and demand more in-the-wild observation rather than hands-on entertainment.
Humane experiences with Asia’s sacred animal
Previous Should Elephant Riding Be Illegal? Next Welcome To South America!
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Industrial-Organizational Psychologist Andrew Barsa Joins Shaker as Analyst on Insights Team
Barsa Brings Consulting Experience to Enhance Shaker’s Assessment Technology
CLEVELAND (June 30, 2016)—Shaker, the market leader in engaging, realistic job previews and custom simulations for pre-employment testing, today announced the addition of Andrew Barsa as an analyst to the company’s Insights team. In this role, he is responsible for the ongoing refinement of Shaker’s Virtual Job Tryout® assessments, conducting quality of hire business impact analysis and documenting return on investment for Shaker’s clients.
“Our clients are truly seeing the value of big data practices and talent analytics with candidate data from the Virtual Job Tryout,” said Joseph P. Murphy, executive vice president of Shaker. “By welcoming Andrew to Shaker’s Insights team, we have extended our analytical bench strength and enhanced our statistical modeling capabilities. As a result, we can continue meeting customer expectations and ensure maximum benefit from their investment in Virtual Job Tryout technology.”
Barsa joins Shaker following his work with consulting firm Barrett and Associates conducting extensive legal and industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology research to document assessment fairness. He previously worked for TimkenSteel Corporation, where he provided assessment support, conducted research and statistical analyses and created a number of resources designed to aid leadership training, organizational information sharing and new-hire development.
Barsa is currently a Ph.D. candidate in I-O psychology at The University of Akron, where he expects to complete his degree later this year. He earned a master’s degree in I-O psychology from The University of Akron and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from John Carroll University.
“The University of Akron offers incredible exposure to business for students pursuing an advanced degree in I-O psychology,” said Michael J. Hudy, vice president, Selection Science at Shaker. “Andrew has accumulated a distinctive array of selection science and organizational change experiences early in his career. His skills in predictive analytics, assessment development and business impact analysis make him ideally suited for stepping into our Insights team.”
“My interest in working with Shaker stems from my extensive experience with scientific research, statistics and technology in psychology over the course of my academic and professional careers,” said Barsa. “After further exploring the products the company creates, it became clear to me that this was an organization that not only worked in all of my areas of interest but also afforded its employees opportunities to adapt, reinvent and grow to meet the rapidly changing demands of the current selection world. As a Cleveland native, I can’t think of a better fit for me as I take the next step in my professional career than with a company I truly believe in.”
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Rob Halford Offers Advice on Identifying Depression + How To Help
Ethan Miller, Getty Images
Judas Priest's Rob Halford discussed the importance of keeping the conversation of mental health open following the recent suicides of iconic rock musicians.
In a chat with Wall of Sound, the veteran vocalist got real about the situation, telling the interviewer that mental health is something we have to keep discussing in order to effect change. While he noted it's often difficult to identify someone in the throes of depression or other mental disorders, the best thing one can do is reach out.
"We have to keep talking about this," Halford said in the interview excerpt transcribed by Blabbermouth. "Because here's the thing with this type of situation... When we lose our dear friends, we always hear the story, 'Well, they were fine. They had a great show and said see you tomorrow on the bus,' and they're gone."
The Judas Priest frontman continued, "It's an incredibly difficult thing to try to focus in and try to figure out what's going on in somebody's head. The only thing you can do is love each other and support each other and just see if there are any kind of telltale signals. And there generally is something somewhere in the mix that's just gone by you in what happens in a day. But it's awful."
Singling out the succession of suicides that have haunted rock music of late, Halford suggests that major depression in the music scene "doesn't seem to go away." But he does commend forthrightness in addressing it.
"Rock 'n' roll, creative people, it's just this terrible, terrible thing that just doesn't seem to go away. But what is good is that these days now, it's being discussed more openly. It used to be, 'Oh, you're depressed. Pull your boots up and get out there.' You can't do that. You've gotta try and help the person," the singer said.
Still, the Judas Priest icon and "Metal God" put himself in the shoes of those experiencing it worst. He said that, in his own journey, getting clean and quitting drinking is what propelled him through mental health struggles.
"Each of us deals with it in our own way," Halford added of the constant struggle. "I will say for myself, when I stopped drinking and drugging 33 years ago, that was the best thing I could have done for myself."
Further, Halford gives what's probably the most important advice for a person experiencing mental issues or suicidal thoughts: Whether it's a friend or a support line, seeking help in the situation isn't something that needs a stigma.
"I know for a fact that there are outlets instantly where you can reach to. It's on the internet. Just sending a text to somebody, staying in touch, looking after each other, seeing how you mate is doing. 'You haven't called me for a couple of days. Is everything all right?' An e-mail. Anything. It's reaching out, it's staying with each other, having each other's backs, as the expression goes, and trying to do what you can."
A new Judas Priest album, the follow-up to last year's Firepower, is currently in the works. They'll be out on the road with Uriah Heep at the following stops:
May 03 - Hollywood, Fla. @ Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
May 06 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium
May 08 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Fox Theatre
May 09 - Biloxi, Miss. @ Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
May 12 - Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem
May 14 - Huntington, N.Y. @ The Paramount
May 16 - Uncasville, Ct. @ Mohegan Sun Arena
May 18 - Albany, N.Y. @ Palace Theatre
May 22 - Milwaukee, Wis. @ Riverside Theater
May 25 - Rosemont, Ill. @ Rosemont Theatre
May 28 - Austin, Texas @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater
May 31 - Dallas, Texas @ The Bomb Factory
Jun. 01 - Little Rock, Ark. @ First Security Amphitheater
Jun. 03 - St. Louis, Mo. @ Stifel Theatre
Jun. 05 - Colorado Springs, Colo. @ Broadmoor World Arena
Jun. 08 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan @ SaskTel Centre
Jun. 10 - Lethbridge, Alberta @ ENMAX Centre
Jun. 11 - Edmonton, Alberta @ Rogers Place
Jun. 13 - Dawson Creek, British Columbia @ Encana Events Centre
Jun. 14 - Prince George, British Columbia @ CN Centre
Jun. 16 - Kelowna, British Columbia @ Prospera Place
Jun. 17 - Abbotsford, British Columbia @ Abbotsford Centre
Jun. 19 - Airway Heights, Wash. @ Northern Quest Resort and Casino
Jun. 21 - Kent, Wash. @ Accesso Showare Center
Jun. 22 - Portland, Ore. @ Moda Theatre of the Clouds
Jun. 24 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Warfield Theatre
Jun. 27 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Microsoft Theater
Jun. 29 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel
Where Does Halford Rank Among the Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Frontmen?
Source: Rob Halford Offers Advice on Identifying Depression + How To Help
Filed Under: judas priest, rob halford
Categories: Videos
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Dr. Lawrence Schovanec Talks Coliseum/Auditorium, Texas Tech Costa Rica
Connor Abernathie
Wednesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Texas Tech President Dr. Lawrence Schovanec joined Dave and Matt to talk about new hires at the university, the future of the Coliseum & Auditorium, Texas Tech baseball, the new Texas Tech in Costa Rica and more.
Dr. Schovanec started the discussion by talking about Texas Tech's new hire, Dr. Herrera-Estrella, who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a world-renowned cotton researcher. He will bring a group of five or six to Texas Tech, where a new greenhouse will be constructed where they will conduct their research.
The Texas Tech president also talked about the future of the coliseum auditorium, which was recently voted on in favor of turning back over to Texas Tech. In the fall of 2018 Texas Tech will take possession of the facilities where they will have to pay for maintenance and utilities.
Dr. Schovanec explained that they need to assess the cost and decide what is going to be built there afterwords, but that after the ABC Rodeo this year, plans for demolition will begin.
"Given the cost of maintaining that building, it's probably not going to stay there a long time. I would hope that maybe within a year we might see some demolition, but we want to make sure we are talking to people who might be affected by this."
They also discussed the new Texas Tech facility opening in Costa Rica. "There were a group of individuals there who were looking for a partner to start a university that had sort of a national stature," Schovanec explained. The new building is a several story, state of the art facility that offers unique courses for students down in Costa Rica.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
KFYO Mornings with Dave King & Matt Martin airs weekday mornings live, from 6:00 AM to 8:30 AM on News/Talk 95.1 FM and 790 AM KFYO, online at KFYO.com, & on the free KFYO app.
Filed Under: Dr. Lawrence Schovanec, Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, texas tech, Texas Tech University Costa Rica
Categories: Interview, Lubbock News, Videos
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Behind Russian President Putin's First Visit to Singapore
By Chris Cheang
The author is a Senior Fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He served three tours of duty in the Singapore Embassy in Moscow between 1994 and 2013. A version of this article was first published on RSIS and then reproduced by the EastAsiaForum on 23 November 2018.
SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first-ever state visit to Singapore on November 13, 2018. Coinciding with the 33rd ASEAN summit, 3rd ASEAN–Russia summit, 13th East Asia Summit (EAS), and 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Singapore, the visit marks an important step in Russia’s efforts to broaden its pivot to the East.
Asia Editor
Germany Backs UNCTAD to Help Africa Implement Continental Trade Deal
By Rita Joshi
BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – Eight months after the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the first pan-African agreement of its kind, Germany has donated 1.6 million euros to UNCTAD, to help the UN's trade and development body work with African partners to implement the landmark continental pact on cross-border commerce.
"This is a big new step forward in the economic development of Africa," said Ambassador Hans-Peter Jugel, Germany’s deputy envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, adding that the African Union had sought UNCTAD's support to meet the aims of the AfCFTA.
Rita Joshi
EU-ACP Initiative Leads to Natural Disaster Risk Reduction
By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR) launched in 2011 has worked to build climate and disaster resilience in ACP countries, where the impacts of climate change are increasingly visible, says a new report.
The Program is an initiative of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, in partnership with the European Union (EU), and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).
Reinhard Jacobsen
Finland Eyes Nuclear Power to Hit Climate Targets
By Jeffrey Donovan
The author is Press and Public Information Officer of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), based in Vienna. This article first appeared on the IAEA website on November 16, 2018.
VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – Along the pine-lined shores of Finland’s bucolic western coast, a clean energy vision of the Nordic country’s future is quietly taking shape. On the tiny island of Olkiluoto, workers are applying the finishing touches to a new Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR) set to supply 10% of Finland’s electricity needs. Like all nuclear power reactors, the massive 1600 MW unit will emit virtually no greenhouse gases (GHG) even as it churns out a steady stream of baseload electricity capable of providing power to millions of homes.
Jaya Ramachandran
Reconciliation Continues to Evade Serbia-Kosovo Relations
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – One hundred years after the end of the First World War, which was triggered by a crisis in the Balkans, peace in the region is nowhere within reach yet. This has been highlighted by a senior United Nations official in his regular briefing to the UN Security Council on November 14.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, told the Security Council that President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and President Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo have confirmed their "mutual intention" to continue working towards a negotiated settlement but the situation on the ground remains marred by "frequent adversarial actions," with real consequences for people on the ground.
J Nastranis
Nuclear Arms Control is Going Down a Trumpian Hole
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Reacting to the radio interview by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to mark Armistice Day, in which he was reported as saying, “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America… We need a true European army”, President Donald Trump blew a fuse. He tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting.”
Jonathan Power
'Growing Economic Divides' Trouble Europe
By Robert Johnson
BRUSSELS (IDN) – A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of Growing Economic Divides, which threaten to create tensions not only between the young and the old but also between employers and employees as well as between the low- and high-income earners. At the heart of the growing divides is housing, and these often play out across regions within countries, says a new World Bank report. High-productivity jobs are concentrated in metropolitan regions where housing prices are inflated and rents are high.
Migration a Major Issue in EU's Relations with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States
BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As the United Nations Global Compact fractures, migration has become a key issue in negotiations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) which kicked off in September 2018 to hammer out a successor to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement set to expire in 2020.
The ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou, Benin, on June 23, 2000, was concluded for a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020. It is the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU. In 2010, ACP-EU cooperation was adapted to new challenges such as climate change, food security, regional integration, State fragility and aid effectiveness.
Disarmament in Uncertain Times Discussed in Reykjavik
By Lowana Veal
REYKJAVIK (IDN) – With tension rapidly escalating between the United States and Russia – and indeed between these countries and others – a seminar on disarmament held in parallel with the 14th NATO Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iceland came at an appropriate time.
The idea for the seminar, entitled ‘Practical Approaches to Disarmament in Uncertain Times', surfaced in July when Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, was in Brussels for a NATO conference. While inviting NATO officials to Reykjavik, Jakobsdottir said the focus would be on disarmament. "Disarmament is not discussed enough at NATO meetings,” she told IDN.
Lowana Veal
Theresa May Should Join Angela Merkel at the Retirement Door
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Is Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, responsible for Brexit? In a way yes she is because at the time of the great economic crisis of 2007-2013, counterproductively she insisted on austerity throughout the European Union. Austerity helped turn the poorer classes of the UK towards Brexit.
But so also are the people in high places who lied to the British electorate and persuaded them to vote in a referendum for it. So are those who have fanned the anti-immigrant flames all over Europe. Angela Merkel, in this case, was the most heroic of all the leaders of the West in going the other way and taking in one million, mainly Syrian, refugees.
U.S. Sanctions Against Iran Raise the Spectre of 'Black November' – and More
Women, Peace and Security is Germany's Priority in 2019-2020 Security Council Membership
Participation in Landmark NATO Exercise Reveals Iceland's Dilemma
Multilateralism and Sovereignty are not Antithetical
India Hosts G4 Meeting Pressing For Security Council Reform
Copyright © 2009-2019 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
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Is New York City’s Garment Center Worth Saving?
under Ask a Designer, Designers, Featured
by jeffreytompkins
At this very moment, thousands of people in Midtown Manhattan are designing and manufacturing apparel all within a 10-block radius in New York City’s Garment Center. The innovation, opportunity, and jobs that the Garment Center provides is essential not only to the New York City economy but also to the American fashion industry as a whole. In this 100-year-old neighborhood, the trim-and-fabric suppliers, pattern-makers, sewers, pressers, and finishers act as a self-sustaining ecosystem, providing support for established and emerging designers all over America.
MAKING IT IN NYC
For the nascent designer, the resources and mentorship these local businesses offer are invaluable, not to mention incomparable. Losing this base would put the future of American fashion in jeopardy. The clustering of all of these resources makes the neighborhood a fashion research-and-development hub unmatched by any other city in the world.
For the nascent designer, the resources and mentorship these local businesses offer are invaluable, not to mention incomparable.
When it comes to manufacturing, proximity offers both environmental and competitive advantages. A brand manufacturing in the Garment Center has direct access to its production. It’s able to constantly monitor the quality of their product, as well as tighten its supply chain to avoid excess inventory and waste. When production is readily accessible to both the designer and the consumer, it improves the quality and the speed at which garments can be produced. Shipments that roll down the street, rather than fly in from abroad, drastically reduce the carbon footprint of apparel manufacturing.
Manufacturing jobs in this district have provided a sustainable and steady middle-class living for the skilled labor in our factories for decades. Domestic manufacturing is a viable economic solution and the American people are beginning to realize its role in job creation, innovation, and sustainability. To save the Garment Center means more opportunities for designers, middle-class New Yorkers, and fashion companies all across America.
+ Save the Garment Center
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One thought on “Is New York City’s Garment Center Worth Saving?”
Bionicrat December 22, 2012 at 9:31 am
It should be saved because New York is ALL about FASHION!!!!
{{category(n, postList)}}
Is New York City's Garment Center Worth Saving?
Save the Garment Center
At this very moment, thousands of people in Midtown Manhattan are designing and manufacturing apparel all within a 10-block radius in New York City�s Garment Center. The innovation, opportunity, and jobs that the Garment Center provides is essential not only to the New York City economy but also to the American fashion industry as a whole. In this 100-year-old neighborhood, the trim-and-fabric suppliers, pattern-makers, sewers, pressers, and finishers act as a self-sustaining ecosystem, providing support for established and emerging designers all over America.
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← Rail timetable taking the ‘freedom’ out of Freedom Passes
Politicians lead call for 1,000 years more cricket at Mitcham →
Brick by Brick hires firm which has Butler’s son on staff
Posted on July 24, 2018 by insidecroydon
WALTER CRONXITE reveals a series of failures to declare interests by the Town Hall’s deputy leader, despite family links to a consultancy which has been handed hundreds of thousands of pounds of contracts by Croydon Council
Family planning: Alison Butler and Paul Scott
Town Hall contracts worth almost £200,000 have been awarded over the past four years to a company which has close family ties to Alison Butler, the Labour councillor for Bensham Manor ward and deputy leader of the council.
And now that same firm, The Campaign Company, is being hired to run public consultations on behalf of Brick by Brick, the council’s wholly owned housing developer, for which Butler, as the cabinet member responsible for homes, has a direct responsibility.
Butler has not declared her close family connections to The Campaign Company.
TCC – whose corporate slogan is “Values first” – was formed in 2001 by David Evans, who was the Labour Party’s assistant general secretary from 1999, and who had responsibility for organising Tony Blair’s 2001 General Election campaign.
Evans has continued to utilise his political campaigning expertise, at least locally. He oversaw the campaign which saw Labour regain control of Croydon Town Hall at the 2014 local elections. It is widely understood that Evans’ work on Labour’s campaign was done voluntarily.
In the years prior to 2014, Croydon-based TCC never got much work from its local council, which had been under Conservative Party control from 2006.
But once Croydon Labour leader Tony Newman was back in office, with Butler at his side, that began to change.
David Evans: The Campaign Company founder linked to Butler
In October 2014, an 18-month council consultation for something called the Fairness Commission was initially awarded by Croydon Council to Quadrant Consultants. Quadrant then subcontracted the £130,912 deal to The Campaign Company.
Chaired by the Bishop of Croydon, the Fairness Commission duly delivered its report, though it was late and mostly never heard of again. TCC put together the lavish-looking report, which used lots of lovely colour pictures, but had little else by way of substance.
“It had all the look of a soft contract handed to Evans in return for other ‘services rendered’,” a Katharine Street source suggests.
According to a Freedom of Information response by the council, from 2014 to 2017, Evans’ TCC picked up a further three council contracts, between them worth in total £64,370, and all for what amounted to just a few months’ work.
In the main, these contracts were awarded by council officers, under delegated authority, and so were never subject to any scrutiny at council meetings. It would seem unlikely, though, that the agreements were entered into without some knowledge of the council leadership, including Butler.
In one case, however, there is documented proof that Butler knew that council work was being placed with Evans’s company. The council report, from 2016, was “noted” by Butler in her role as cabinet member for homes, regeneration and planning. The contract was for a £16,100 to operate a pilot for the council’s housing department called “FairBnB”.
Butler never made any declaration in the councillors’ register of interests over TCC, even though Evans is the father of her daughter from a relationship in the 1990s.
Now, TCC is embarking into the business of developer consultations for Brick by Brick. This is the council-owned home-building enterprise championed by Butler, who at the 2016 Labour Party conference got plaudits for her efforts to end the housing crisis.
A FoI response provided a document which showed Alison Butler had seen a council deal worth more than £16,000 for a brief pilot project awarded to TCC in 2016
Since it was set up in 2015, Brick by Brick has so far managed to deliver precisely… zero homes.
Using £36.8million in loans from the council and building on public land – including green spaces between social housing, on a children’s playground and with in-fill and back-garden developments – Brick by Brick is beginning the process of developing a second tranche of sites, for hundreds more homes on top of the 1,000 already with planning permission.
How Alison Butler’s son appears on The Campaign Company website
Brick by Brick’s early schemes have been a PR disaster with residents across the borough. According to the company’s own figures, it is struggling to meet its target of providing even 50 per cent of the homes as “affordable”; nearly two-thirds of those in development so far, using council land and money, will be immediately going for private sale.
It has been suggested within the Croydon Labour Party that much of the unpopularity of Brick by Brick’s early schemes has been because of poorly run consultations, leaving existing residents hostile to the badly presented projects.
So now Evans’ The Campaign Company has been brought in to run public engagement over newly proposed sites.
Where this becomes a matter of integrity for the council, its councillors and their leadership is that, since July last year, TCC has included among its staff Jed Mohammed.
TCC intern Mohammed is Alison Butler’s son from another relationship.
As one widely respected Croydon Labour member said, “I like Dave, he’s a decent guy.
“But this is one hell of a conflict. Why do they think they can get away with it?”
Again, Butler has made no mention of her son working for a council contractor in the council’s register of interests.
While there is no suggestion that Butler has benefited financially, or directly, from the awarding of any of these contracts, that of itself is not necessarily the only consideration when making declarations of interest.
According to Government guidance on councillors’ conduct and their declarations of interest, it says, “Under your council’s code of conduct you must act in conformity with the Seven Principles of Public Life. One of these is the principle of integrity – that ‘Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships’.”
The emphasis on that final sentence is provided by the Whitehall guide for councillors. It is significant that the guidance says that councillors must declare any interests or relationships.
Inside Croydon asked Councillor Butler (council allowances: £48,660) why she had never declared her close family links to The Campaign Company. The council’s deputy leader had failed to respond by the time of publication.
Alison Butler with council leader Tony Newman. Butler has refused to answer questions on her failure to declare her connections to TCC
There is, of course, another alleged conflict of interest involving Butler and the council’s planning procedures, which some regard as Croydon’s own peculiar take on “family planning”.
Because it hardly matters how good, or bad, a job which Evans, Mohammed and their colleagues at The Campaign Company do with the consultations on Brick by Brick housing schemes, there seems little risk that any will be refused planning permission.
So far, of 43 applications, not a single Brick by Brick scheme has been refused consent by Croydon’s planning committee, which is chaired by Paul Scott.
And Scott (council allowances: £38,000) just happens to be married to Alison Butler, the cabinet member responsible for delivering on the Brick by Brick project. Trebles all round, as they might put it at Private Eye…
This entry was posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman and tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, David Evans, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, The Campaign Company, Tony Newman. Bookmark the permalink.
9 Responses to Brick by Brick hires firm which has Butler’s son on staff
Warren Whyatt says:
I just can’t understand why you are all so surprised, I’ve always thought the Council’s motto was “It’s not what you know but who you know”.
happygrumpyguy says:
If this isn’t the definition of corrupt behaviour I don’t know what is.
It seems that whatever safeguards and regulations there are to prevent this type of self-serving behaviour simply aren’t working. I am used to seeing this type of thing in my business dealings in Asia and the Middle East, but to have it happening where I live is really depressing. Clearly these people have no conscience and no comprehension of what is expected of them as Public Servants paid for by the taxpayer.
Dave Scott says:
It bloody stinks!
derekthrower says:
In the old days of local government, when councillors used to have to consider the actions of the District Auditor and could also face being surcharged for irresponsible financial behaviour, it did seem at least (for all it’s faults) to make local authority elected members act with some standards over conflicts of interest and fear repercussions for their behaviour.
The Butler-Scott axis at the heart of Croydon Council does not appear to ever register a conflict of interest, because everything they do is a conflict of interest.
It is funny that our dynamic Tories have an open and justifiable goal to scrutinise and seek remedies against our local Bonnie & Clyde, but just as unsurprisingly don’t ever appear to do anything about it. They have too many of their own conflicts of interests to worry about.
So as we go on “Keeping it in the Extended Family”, just consider there are legal remedies that can be followed apparently, but must be so ineffective that no one never appears to use them. Part two here appears to be the relevant section.
https://www.nao.org.uk/code-audit-practice/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2015/03/Council-accounts-a-guide-to-your-rights.pdf
Arfur Towcrate (@ArfurZTowcrate) says:
“TCC – Values First” it says by the mug shots of David Evans and Jed Mohammed. Family values, if Alison Butler’s seemingly nepotistic behaviour is anything to go by.
Try checking details of TCC and other current contractors on the council website.
It tells you that, “The London Borough of Croydon has joined the London Contracts Register. This allows you to view the contracts held by the borough as well as those held by most of the local authorities in the greater London area. You can access the register via the London Contracts Register website.”
Their link to that website doesn’t work. A bit of Googling finds that it is because “The London Contracts Register, previously provided by London Councils, has now ended – as of 30 April 2018. Boroughs comply with transparency requirements via other platforms, either their own websites or others such as the London Tenders Portal or capitalEsourcing.”
The “Croydon” button on the London Tenders Portal takes you back to Croydon council’s website.
capitalEsourcing’s list of participating councils does not include Croydon.
Transparent? No, opaque – and with our money. Something is rotten in the borough of Croydon.
timbartell says:
In the Croydon orchestra the string section is jointly led by Scott and Butler on violin
Wonderful!!! Croydon is really emulating the big boys now. We’re finally in the Premier League.
Run by an autocrat and a closed circle of acolytes, impervious to any form or criticism or comment but very quick to take offence at even the mildest of perceived insults, acting only on internal agenda and in no way responsive to the real needs or wishes of the electorate, riding roughshod over established procedures of control, making sure the emolument system works best for him and his mates, allowing blatant nepotism and greatly under the influence of unresponsive and secretive one paid senior officer who seems to be more in control of policy than the chief incumbent and his cabal.
It’s a horror.
Could you Trump that anywhere else in local government?
sue wills (@susiesue67) says:
Why is this allowed to continue? Why are we, residents, not demanding for all of those involved being removed and fined? Doesn’t Croydon deserve better than this?
If I was watching this played out as a sitcom, it would be considered too far-fetched and farcical – even Alison Butler’s twitter account is alisonb4croydon – !!!!
And don’t even get me started about the bins…
It is all so depressing 😦
Yes, the council’s deputy leader doesn’t appear to have thought through her Twitter handle before hitting upon it… Like she failed to consider the consequences of handing over some of Croydon’s housing budget to a business involving her relations.
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Aspen Music Festival a... Radio
About the Festival: Big dreamers. Big stars. Big music. Set in the awe-inspiring majesty of the Colorado Rockies, the Aspen Music Festival and School has carried on the vision of creativity and education that started with the 1949 Goethe Bicentennial Convocation. Elizabeth and Walter Paepcke of Chicago launched the two-week celebration in Aspen that brought figures such as Albert Schweitzer, Arthur Rubinstein, and many other noted individuals for lectures,symposia, and concerts. Uniting ...
Thursday, February 12, 2015: Winter Music Series: Alisa Weilerstein
MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient Alisa Weilerstein plays a stunning program of Golijov, Kodaly, and two Bach cello suites.
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Ysaÿe: Sonata in D minor, Op. 27, No. 3, "Ballade"
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Sven Herpig
Project Director Transatlantic Cyber Forum
Stiftung Neue Verantwortung
Sven Herpig is project director for international cyber security policy. This includes the transatlantic expert network Transatlantic Cyber Forum (TCF), the EU Cyber Direct (EUCD) project funded by the European Commission as well as an ongoing analysis of German cyber security policies.
Sven’s current focal areas include attacks on machine learning applications, the resiliency strategy of the European Union, government hacking and vulnerability management best practices, security measures for protecting elections as well as the German cyber security architecture and policies.
Since the start of his academic career, Sven’s focus was the intersection of cyberspace and international relations. He conducted research inter alia on the application of social constructivism to discourse on the Internet, Internet governance by states and the strategic implications of cyber operations - his PhD work.
On the side, Sven works as Lecturer. His latest seminar focused on cyber strategies in the international context, taught 2017 at the Center for Global Studies, University of Bonn.
Before Sven set up the TCF, he was working with the federal government for several years. First, we worked with the IT security staff at the Federal Foreign Office. He then became deputy of the cyber security and society unit at the Federal Office for Information Security where he headed the internal negotiations for the federal cyber security strategy 2016 as single point of contact.
Sven served as German expert for the EU DG for Internal Policies Study on government hacking, presented inter alia at the US Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, the European Parliament, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and the Employee Association for Foreign and Security Policy in the German Parliament.
He regularly appears in German, American and EU media and presents at international expert workshops and conferences.
Sven is member of the Security and Integrity Initiative for the protection of elections organized by the Federal Office for Information Security as well as member of Economic Council's federal working group on cyber security.
Recent Events and Presentations
Allowing Companies to Hack Back: Good Security or Vigilante Justice?
From data breaches to denial of service attacks, the private sector routinely faces a barrage of threats from those seeking to wreak havoc on their digital systems. When faced with an attack, companies can take steps to secure their own systems, but they are not authorized to retaliate against any system that they do not own. What are the domestic and international implications of authorizing private entities to engage in offensive cybersecurity operations?
More presentations by Sven Herpig
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Category Archives: United States
Some Things Never Change: Mr. Dooley Examines Opposition to New Immigration to the USA (1902)
When it comes to the tricks and false logic – not to mention outright racism – used by the US capitalist class and their bought-and-paid-for politicians in order to deflect attention away from their naked robbery of the working class by telling workers that “it’s all the immigrants’ fault”, nothing ever seems to change. The capitalist class keeps telling the same old tired lies about how the lives of workers would be absolutely marvelous if only it wasn’t for the immigrants coming in and messing things up – and the most ignorant workers keep on believing this nonsense. It’s a lot easier for a slavish worker to attack a defenseless immigrant mother than it is to stand up for workers rights against the cops, courts and prisons of the capitalist class that are the actual source of the worker’s misery.
In the early 1900s, political satirist Finley Peter Dunne, who had started his career working for a number of Chicago newspapers had his most inspired creation, a first-or-second generation Irish-American bartender from Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood – Mr. Dooley – take on the immigration issue. As you’ll see in this hilarious piece, the arguments used in 2018 against today’s immigrants are the same tired and long-ago-discredited arguments that were common and tiresome already in 1900. The capitalist class and their racist attack dog politicians and nativist fascists have never been able to come up with a single legitimate reason to oppose new immigration, because there isn’t one. The scapegoating of immigrants by the capitalists and those who they have “running point” for them by spreading racist lies about the new immigrants has never been very sophisticated in its arguments because the kind of workers who believe this shit have never been very sophisticated in their reasoning. The immigrant-hating workers of 2018, like their idiot ancestors of 1900 are slaves of the capitalist class, without the guts to fight against the politically powerful capitalist class who are the ACTUAL cause of poverty and unemployment under capitalism; these worker-cowards prefer to use the limited amount of “courage” they possess to attack veiled Muslim women on buses, or half-starved immigrant women and their children who risk their lives to seek refuge here in the USA. Workers who allow themselves to be used by the capitalist class and their politicians to attack our immigrant sisters and brothers are nothing but traitors to the working class. They are scabs and proto-fascists, racist scum who will eat all the shit the capitalists can throw on them and then thank their capitalist masters and ask for more. The capitalists and their racist, immigrant-hating worker-slaves, not the immigrant workers, are the biggest threat to the working class of the USA and the world. As workers in the USA – and especially union workers – we have to educate ourselves to recognize all the dirty tricks the capitalist class will pull on us in order to keep us divided and conquered. Anti-immigrant racism is one of the dirtiest tricks in the trick-bag of capitalism; but it’s also one of the easiest to recognize and to defeat. By standing up for the rights of all immigrants to be treated as our working-class sisters and brothers – which the vast majority of them truly are – the US working class strengthens its power to defend its most vital class interests. The Independent Workers Party of Chicago – seeks to build a revolutionary socialist Trotskyist political party of the working class that will be completely independent of the capitalist class in every way and that will fight for the rights of the workers in the USA and around the world. We don’t just want to organize protest against the brutalities being waged against our immigrant and refugee working-class sisters and brothers; we want to elect true worker-representatives to every legislative office in the land so that we can repeal anti-immigrant legislation and to block all attempts by the capitalists and their bought-and-paid-for politicians to pass new anti-worker legislation of any kind. Once the working class – which represents about 70% of the total US population – takes its rightful place as 70% of the elected representatives in the national government, we will no longer have to beg the capitalist politicians to do us favors – we’ll be writing and passing our own pro-worker legislation. Eventually we’ll be in a position to democratically decide to put the capitalist system out of our misery permanently by overthrowing the capitalist system and replacing it with an egalitarian revolutionary socialist workers republic. This is what we’ve got to do… but this will only happen if the working class wants it to happen and joins us in this struggle. Without a political party of the working class in possession of the majority of the seats of the legislatures of the nation, no effective and enduring political change in favor of the working class can be put forward or guaranteed at all. Join us!
Note on the text: Mr. Dooley speaks English with a heavy Irish brogue which can be difficult to understand at first; but if you try to sound out the at first seemingly incomprehensible transliteration of the text by speaking to yourself in a heavy Irish accent, you’ll soon find that you can read Dunne’s written “Irish” quite well. – IWPCHI
Finley Peter Dunne – Mr Dooley’s Observations – Immigration – Link to Full Text .pdf
Finley Peter Dunne – Mr Dooley’s Observations – Immigration
Posted in History, Immigrant Rights, Independent Workers Party, Political Science, Racism, Trotskyism 101, United States, United States, US, US Government Scandals, Women's Rights, Working Class Political Parties
Tagged Finley Peter Dunne, immigrant rights, immigration, Independent Workers Party of Chicago, Mr. Dooley, racism, US, Workers Party
“Fight for $15” “Speaks Truth to Power”; “Power” Says: “Go to Hell!”
The capitalists who run this country – and who own and operate both of the political parties – the Democrats and the Republicans – and who also own and operate the Green Party and the Libertarian Party as well – tell you that you should not expect to make a decent living wage while working at a typical service economy job. It was this same capitalist class – or their parents – the capitalists of the last generation – who systematically dismantled the large industries of this country in the 1970s and 1980s – the steel mills – they shut them down; the factories – they shut them down and moved them overseas where the unions were weak and the wages were low. The US capitalist class deliberately destroyed millions of high-paying union jobs here in the USA – and told the workers “oh don’t worry; the economy is just evolving into a service economy – there will be plenty of jobs for everyone.” What they didn’t tell you is that these new jobs would be low-paying and unskilled and that they would be non-union jobs. And now when you demand that you be paid a decent living wage in this new “service economy – they tell you that your demands are unreasonable; that raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy! When you play by the rules that the capitalist class creates to make themselves rich and drive you into poverty you will lose every time. Is $15/hour “unreasonable”? No! In fact, $15 an hour is far too low to be a living wage.
Economists have told us that in order for a person or a family to live decently, to be able to afford to pay for housing, food, clothing, daycare and all the other expenses of life – and now they have added the burden of paying for health care too, something that no workers in any other industrialized country have to pay for – in order for us to live well we should not have to pay more than 25% of our monthly income for housing. Originally, back in the 1970s, the limit was 25% – in the 1980s, when it first became clear even to the government economists that very few people in the US actually paid just 25% of their income on housing – they were paying much more – they raised the limit to 30%. So now they go by this new limit that you should never have to pay more than 30% of your monthly income on housing. And so they took that 30% number and they used it to create what they call a “living wage”: that is: how much money does a worker have to make to be able to pay no more than 30% of his or her given monthly income in any city in the USA? And for Chicago – and this was ten years ago! – they came up with the figure of $20 an hour or something like that. That was 10 years ago – and it was confirmed again in a new study published in 2015! This is true!
In 2015 the “National Low Income Housing Coalition” published a study called “Out of Reach – Low Wages and High Rents Lock Renters Out”. Now you know that this study’s conclusions must be very reasonable because the study was funded by the banking firm of J.P. Morgan and Chase! In this study, the average housing costs are calculated for every state and every county in every state, and then they determine from what the rent costs for an average two-bedroom apartment in every county and use that figure to determine what the mimimum wage must be in order for workers to not have to pay more than 30% of their income on rent. For Cook County, IL – this was a study published in 2015, so the figures at the time of publication were most likely a year old – they determined that a fair minimum wage for a worker with a small family who needed a two bedroom apartment had to be at least $21.02/hr or $43,720 a year! This is why we in the Independent Workers party of Chicago don’t understand why your leaders are “Fighting for $15” when even J.P. Morgan Chase’s own study says that in order to live like a human being here in Chicago you need to make at least $21/hour! Obviously, the leaders of the “Fight for $15” movement are overly concerned that if they ask for $21 – which is what is actually necessary – they will seem unreasonable to the capitalists. So they are limiting the demand to just $15/hour. Very reasonable, right? They are more concerned about looking reasonable to the billionaires than they are about fighting for you and your families!
The Democrats ho run “Fight for $15” are doing what the US billionaire class hired them to do: keep wages low and profits high. $15/hr minwage is $6 BELOW what J.P. Morgan study said – in 2015 – was minimum wage necessary to live decently in Cook County. Source: “Out of Reach” p 69.
So the organizers of “Fight for $15” go and bring their very, overly reasonable demand for a statewide $15/hour minimum wage to Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois. Now as we all know, Bruce Rauner is a very wealthy man. He’s not just a millionaire – he’s not even a “hundred-millionaire”! He’s a BILLIONAIRE! He has spent his life robbing the workers of this nation blind so he could have all that money – that is a fact – no one gets to be a billionaire without ripping off a whole lot of people!
And what does Billionaire Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner say to you when you ask him for the very, overly reasonable minimum wage of $15/hour? He tells you to go to hell! Why? Because in his opinion – and in the opinion of the US capitalist class – which makes up less than 5 percent of the US population – it will “ruin the Illinois economy” if millions of Illinoisans get paid just $15/hr. ! “$15/hr is UNREASONABLE” says billionaire Bruce Rauner!
Well that is bullshit! But do you want to know what is really unreasonable and what is really ruining the US and the world economy? What is REALLY unreasonable is that capitalist billionaire Bruce Rauner and his billionaire friends – who together make up only 3% of the US population – own over 50% of the wealth of the USA! The billionaires of the US – and that includes that racist pig president we have now, the friend of the Nazis and enemy of the workers Donald Trump – these billionaires who make up just 3% of the population own over 50% of the national wealth! And does Bruce Rauner think that THAT is unreasonable? NO HE DOESN’T! He thinks that it is fair for 3% to own 50% of the wealth – to him and his capitalist friends, they’re splitting the wealth evenly 50-50: 50% for the 3% who are billionaires and 50% for the other 97% of the US population! And he has the nerve to tell you that your very reasonable demand for just $15/hr is UNREASONABLE and that if it is adopted it will ruin the economy!
The life of a capitalist wage slave is not pleasant once you know how badly you’re getting screwed by your capitalist “friends”. Recent Trends in WEALTH Distribution in USA, 1989-2013. Federal Reserve Bulletin, p. 11.
Bruce Rauner is a liar! When the minimum wage is increased all of that money that gets paid to the workers gets put right back into the economy and makes the economy grow. The more the workers make the better the economy is. For the workers all that money is going to get spent on the necessities of life for ourselves and our families. So when Bruce Rauner or anyone tells you that raising the minimum wage is going to ruin the economy, they are lying! What these lies about raising the minimum wage mean is that these billionaires who own this country and who own and operate both of the political parties in this phony democracy of ours would rather see you all drop dead than give you a living wage so you and your families can live like human beings! And this 3% of filthy rich greedheads will impoverish the entire nation and get away with it because they own and operate the political parties in this country! The fact is that in this phony democracy of ours, the minority rules! The 3% can tell 97% to go to hell and get away with it every time because they own the politicians in all of the major political parties – and then they turn around and call this a democratic system of government!
How is it that just 3% of the population gets to own 50% of the national wealth and gets to deny the vast majority of the population – you, the working class – the right to raise the minimum wage to a reasonable level for survival? They get to do this because YOU the workers – who make up at least 70% of the population – do not have even ONE representative at the state or national levels of government! Every single state rep and state senator – every single representative and senator in Washington – is owned by the billionaires of this country. The billionaires have bought every important politician in the statehouses and in the national government – and you the workers, who make up the vast majority of the population – do not have even ONE representative fighting for your rights! How did this happen and what can you do about it?
It has happened because you have not created your own workers party that is owned and operated by you – instead you have remained loyal to the two parties of big business – the Republicans and especially the Democrats. So when they tell you that you don’t need your own political party, all you need to do is “speak truth to power” power can ignore you, because you do not have even one representative in the state or national governments of this country. Because you the workers have not understood the importance of having your own political party owned and operated by you – a workers party that has the power – because you are the vast majority of the population of this country – to run this nation in YOUR interest – “power” can just ignore you and can continue to run the government in the interests of the 3%.
They tell you that the Democratic Party is “the party of the working class”. Well everyone knows that is a huge lie. If the Democratic Party was “the party of the working class”… when Barack Obama was first elected and came into office in 2009 the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. The Republican Party had been completely discredited in the corrupt swindle of the housing crash of 2008. The Democrats, who controlled the White House, the House and the Senate in Washington could have passed any kind of legislation they wanted to! If they wanted to make the minimum wage $15/hr they could have done it right then and there. But they didn’t: instead, they took out a loan for $1.7 trillion dollars to bail out the banks that had created the housing crash in the first place – and then they stood by and did nothing as millions of people lost their homes. They didn’t even send one banker responsible for this biggest-ever swindle in the history of the world to jail! And they didn’t do a damned thing for the workers in the entire 8 years of Obama’s presidency. The Democratic Party runs most of the major cities in the USA – which means that they run the racist police departments of the USA! It is the racist police run by the Democrats who have been murdering black workers with impunity and getting away with it because Democratic States Attorneys refuse to prosecute the cops even for the most savage crimes against the workers. Anyone who thinks that the Democratic Party is “the party of the workers” should have their head examined! The Democrats do not now and they never have been “the party of the working class”. Almost every single Democrat and every single Republican in the last analysis is a bought-and-paid-for servant of the billionaire class – the capitalist class of the US.
What can you do about this? It is absolutely necessary – if you want to be able to exercise your rights as the vast majority of the population as workers – you absolutely MUST dump the Democrats and the Republicans and build yourselves a workers party that is 100% funded by you, run by you and operated solely in YOUR class interests. You need a workers party that will lead the fight for a workers government – those who labor should and must rule! That is the kind of party we in the Independent Workers Party of Chicago want to build. It will be a party that is owned and operated by you the working class. It will not represent the capitalist class at all – it will only represent you the workers. But how will we fund this party? It will be funded through your donations and for those who want to be members of the party through your membership dues – just like a trade union. All of the money will be spent on organizing this party and getting as many worker-representatives elected as possible to the local, state and national legislative bodies of this nation. This party will be an actual political party – not just a lame NGO that relegates itself to “speaking truth to power”. The working class will BE the power! We will no longer go around begging the politicians owned and operated by the working class to “do for us”: we will do for ourselves! We will be in a position not to just BEG for a raise in the minimum wage, we will have a majority in the house and senate and we will be able to pass whatever legislation we want. In other words, a workers party will demand that the majority – the working class – must decide how this country is run and will take the power out of the hands of the 3% of greedy billionaires like Bruce Rauner and place it in the hands of the vast majority – you, the working class! We need to throw out of power – permanently – that gang of greedy billionaires that is right now using their Democratic and Republican parties to run this country like a slave plantation!
The revolutionary Trotskyist Independent Workers Party of Chicago says: the organizers of the fight for $15 are being far too reasonable: it costs more than $15/hr to live decently in Chicago. The capitalist system is a system by which the vast majority of the population is robbed blind so a handful of billionaires can live like kings! We do not want to be “reasonable” we want to get rid of the capitalist system before it gets rid of us and our families! In Illinois we need a $25/hr minimum wage – and that minimum wage should be strictly indexed to inflation – and it should be automatically raised each and every year at least 1% above the rate of inflation! Workers should not be made to pay with their lives so that a handful of millionaires and billionaires can steal half of the wealth of the nation and use it to purchase total control of the political system of the nation! We need to make the billionaires pay for the suffering caused by their crumbling capitalist system which robs the poor and gives to the rich; which makes a handful of people obscenely rich and leaves a constantly growing number of millions of workers in poverty!
We’re the Independent Workers Party of Chicago and we say: Dump the Democrats and Build A Workers Party! Dump the Capitalist System before it dumps you! Build A Workers Party to fight for a revolutionary Trotskyist workers government! You can find us at iwpchi.wordpress.com and on Twitter @IWPCHI. Happy Labor Day Everyone!
Posted in Bruce Rauner, Capitalist Swindles, Cop Scandals, Democratic Party (US), Fight for $15, IL, Independent Workers Party, Republican Party (US), United States, USA, Working Class Political Parties
Tagged Bruce Rauner, Democrats, Fight for $15, Independent Workers Party of Chicago, IWPCHI, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Republicans, speak truth to power, Workers Party
“Speaking Truth To Power”: Why It Sucks as a Political Program
In this essay we will attempt to explain why the working class needs to have its own, independent, revolutionary socialist workers party, by comparing what we would have if we had our own workers party as opposed to what we have if we just “speak truth to power”.
We don’t like to “talk down” to people. We ourselves are not so “high up” that we could “talk down” to people even if we wanted to! But we have to face the reality that the US working class is by far the most backward working class in the industrialized world, politically. The US is the only major industrialized nation that does not have a mass “socialist” or “communist” party. This means that the US working class has never risen to the level of complete working-class-consciousness; it has been stuck at the “trade-union-consciousness” stage of development since the early 1900s. The main reason for this is that the workers of the USA have been brainwashed by the capitalist class and their bought-and-paid-for servants in the Democratic Party and in the trade unions to believe that “socialism is bad” and “capitalism is good” – and that the class interests of workers and capitalists are one and the same! This widely-held belief among US workers in the identity of interests of capitalists and workers would make workers in every other industrialized country – and many so-called “third world” countries – shake their heads in disbelief. This decades-long brainwashing of the working class has made it impossible for even intelligent people like Edward Snowden to simply tell the difference between a communist and a fascist!
Brilliant whistleblower Edward Snowden displays the typical crippled political consciousness of the working class in the USA.
If Edward Snowden can’t tell the difference between Mao – a lifelong member of the Communist Party – and Hitler – who was never a member of any socialist organization ever and who incinerated tens of thousands of communists and socialists in his death camps (and Snowden’s a relatively educated US worker) you get a good basic idea of just how ignorant US workers are when it comes to politics. This state of political ignorance among the US working class bore its most malignant fruit ever when the workers of the USA voted for a worker-hating billionaire for President – thinking that, somehow, a disgusting greedhead racist pig like Donald Trump would fight for the rights of workers! But that is getting off the track of our basic lesson plan on PoliSci101 as taught by a revolutionary worker! Our subject today is not Donald Trump but one of the big political swindles going on in the so-called workers movement of the US, namely the “need” to “speak truth to power”. What in hell does this political phrase “Speak Truth To Power” really mean? And if it seems to you like we are “talking down” to you maybe it only seems that way because you, worker of the USA, have a vastly exaggerated sense of your own political wisdom, which, in fact, you do not possess AT ALL! This is why you keep on voting this year for the Democrats and next year for the Republicans and still can’t understand why your lives aren’t getting better. So please read on and see if you learn something.
“Speaking Truth to Power!” Sounds good, doesn’t it? Or maybe it should be like this: “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” Even better, right? It’s like a demand now. Or how about: “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!”. Now THAT is a revolutionary slogan! But let’s go all out and say we are “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” Take THAT, “powers that be”!
No matter how you write it; no matter how you say it, it means just one thing: “we accept the status quo; we know that there is a power up there somewhere and it is often against us; but if we just let those rightful “powers that be” hear our demands, they will become afraid of us and will do what we demand of them.”
As revolutionary Trotskyists, we study political speech scientifically. Everyone knows that all words have specific meanings; and that political words have special political meanings. But what most workers are only dimly aware of is that when political words are combined into political phrases by the enemies of the working class, those meanings are distorted, falsified and turned into lies. A clever phrase like “speak truth to power” is made to sound militant and revolutionary when in fact it is servile and cowardly – anything but revolutionary. Yet so-called “revolutionaries” seem to *love* the phrase “speak truth to power”. This is just one of the signs that they are fake-revolutionaries.
When political words are combined into phrases their meanings become (usually) more complex. It is our job as Trotskyist political scientists to deconstruct these slippery phrases used by fake-revolutionaries and other defenders of the capitalist system and to clearly show to the working class how these clever phrases are used to rip the working class off. And today’s lesson will show that the seemingly radical and revolutionary phrase “speak truth to power” contains a complete reformist political program that completely disarms the working class politically and hands it over to its mortal enemy, the capitalist class, bound and gagged!
So let’s analyze this political formula: “speak” “truth” “to” “power”. Break it down into its component parts. “Speak”: means of course to address something to someone else. We speak to communicate ideas. That part is straightforward.
The next word describes what we should say: “truth”. The working class is basically honest; when it addresses individuals or groups of individuals we as workers like to have the truth on our side and we also like our leaders to speak the truth to us and to whomever we ask them to address on our behalf. “Speak truth”. Very nice, nothing to oppose there. So far this phrase seems to be OK. And so is “Speak truth to”. Obviously if we are going to speak truth we must speak it to… someone.
“Speak truth” to whom? To whom will we address our speech? To “power”. What is “power”? Obviously, if we are going to “speak truth to” power, then “power must be a thing, some kind of material entity. You do not “speak truth to” the dog or to the birds in the trees, or to the sky; you speak truth to a person or persons. So this word “power” must be a noun, correct? Who constitutes this “power” we wish to address?
The Merriam-Webster English dictionary defines the word “power” in this way:
1 power
noun, often attributive pow·er \ˈpau̇(-ə)r\
1. a : (1) ability to act or produce an effect (2) : ability to get extra-base hits (3) : capacity for being acted upon or undergoing an effect
b: legal or official authority, capacity, or right
2. a : possession of control, authority, or influence over others b : one having such power; specifically a sovereign state c : a controlling group; establishment —often used in the phrase the powers that be
d archaic: a force of armed men; e: chiefly dialectal; a large number or quantity
3. a : physical might b : mental or moral efficacy c : political control or influence
4. powers plural : an order of angels — see celestial hierarchy
5. a : the number of times as indicated by an exponent that a number occurs as a factor in a product 5 to the third power is 125; also : the product itself 8 is a power of 2 b : cardinal number 2
6. a : a source or means of supplying energy; especially : electricity b : motive power c : the time rate at which work is done or energy emitted or transferred
7 : magnification
9 : the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis in a statistical test when a particular alternative hypothesis happens to be true
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/power
Looking at this list of the many definitions of the word “power”, we see that we can immediately eliminate several of these: 1a; 2a and e; 3; and the mathematical and parametrical references of 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. That leaves us with these:
1. b: legal or official authority, capacity, or right
2. b : one having such power [over others – refers to definition 2a – IWPCHI]; specifically a sovereign state c : a controlling group; establishment —often used in the phrase the powers that be
d archaic: a force of armed men
Now in the case of “speaking truth to power” as it relates to the “archaic” definition of “a force of armed men”; it is interesting that in the dictionaries of the capitalist period this is considered to be no longer valid. But of course the “forces of armed men” are not the “power” we are addressing when we use the phrase “speaking truth to power”. Everyone knows that the police are the armed fist of “power” but not “power” itself. The police are merely the pawns of those “in power” and are ordered to do their dirty work by “power”.
That leaves us with “legal or official authority”; “one having such power over others”; a “controlling group or establishment”. This must be the “power” we are “speaking truth to”.
The first thing that strikes a revolutionary Trotskyist when analyzing this term “power” as it applies to the “establishment” that runs the city, state or nation is that it is a very vague term that does not correctly describe the true nature of this “power”. As revolutionary Marxists, we understand that the real “power” in any capitalist country like the United States is held in the hands of the “capitalist class”. So why, we ask, did the people who came up with the phrase “speak truth to power” deliberately choose the vague term “power” instead of the more scientifically precise and correct term “capitalist class”?
The reason is simple: they do not want to use the more precise and scientific term because if they did then they would be revealed to be revolutionary Marxists and not the simple reformists that they actually are. If you use the precise, scientific Marxist language, you will be labeled by the “powerful” capitalist class as a “commie”; and the reformists who created this wonderfully vague demand to “speak truth to power” DON’T WANT THEIR CAPITALIST MASTERS TO MISIDENTIFY THEM AS MARXIST REVOLUTIONARIES! At the same time these reformists wish to trick YOU the workers into believing that they are “radical” and adventurous by “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!”
Let’s look a bit closer at this tricky bit of verbal posturing encompassed by the seemingly innocuous phrase “speak truth to power”, designed to make the reformist mice look like LIONS to the uninitiated (though at the same time providing a wink and a nod to the “powerful” that says “don’t worry, we’re not going to go beyond merely “speaking truth to power!”).
Every revolutionary Trotskyist “speaks truth” to every worker she or he talks to; it is our tradition, it is our job, it is our promise to you and it has always been the #1 rule of revolutionary Marxism: to never lie to the working class. But to “power”? Well, there are certainly times when it is NOT wise to “speak truth to power”; like when you are organizing a union in a non-union shop; or when a capitalist asks you how you like working for his company.
Only cowering slaves take the position that they must always “speak truth to power”. They rat out their fellow workers in order to ingratiate themselves with the capitalists. They always tend to lie to their fellow workers and to tell the truth as they understand it to their masters.
So why do the reformists try to inculcate in the minds of the working class that they must always “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER”? Whose side are they on: the side of the workers or the side of the capitalists?
But isn’t it OK in a demonstration, say, in Washington, D.C. to come right out and make our demands, to honestly and openly address our grievances to “the powers that be”? Of course it is. BUT FOR REVOLUTIONARY TROTSKYISTS, “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER” IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF! We don’t just “speak truth to power” and then go home, grinning like idiots because “we really told them off this time, didn’t we”? IF ALL WE DO IS “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER” WE HAVEN’T DONE A DAMNED THING AT ALL! We are still “power”-less workers who have merely addressed our pitiful grievances to “the powers that be” (who, in the case of the vast majority of mass demonstrations in Washington, D.C. make certain to leave town well in advance of the Big Demo)! If all we do is “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!” … and then the “power” tells us to go fuck ourselves…? What do we do when this “power” answers our honest appeal with rubber bullets, tear gas and even live ammunition? Do we keep on crawling and begging the “legitimate powers that be” to accept our humble petitions like the peasants did in Tsarist Russia, crawling on their knees to the Tsar’s palaces to present their petitions, hats-in-hands – only to be shot down like dogs by the Tsarist military? Are we workers today more or less cowardly than our peasant ancestors?
As for the reformists like Cornel West and Bernie Sanders who love to look tough in front of the workers by “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” – that is all they intend to do! They “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!” morning, noon and night – and “power” ignores them and even laughs in their faces! Why can “power” do this? Because so long as the working class idiotically contents itself with merely “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” and does not go on to organize a revolutionary workers party that will lead the fight to actually “TAKE POWER OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE CAPITALIST CLASS AND PLACE IT IN THE HANDS OF THE WORKING CLASS THROUGH WORKERS SOCIALIST REVOLUTION”, the “power” will keep right on enjoying its rights and privileges and its massive wealth – stolen from us! – and will never lose even one night’s sleep! So long as the working class keep following the reformist cowards and political idiots who will NEVER go beyond “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” – nothing… absolutely NOTHING will change unless the “power”-ful capitalist class “feels” like it’s a good idea.
We just had a great example of this with the “Fight For $15” campaign in Illinois. These reformists – completely tied to the apron strings of the Democratic Party – adopted a slogan that is so lame that it is amazing and it proves that they are 100% in favor of the capitalist system. For the better part of two decades now, every scientific study of the minimum wage in Illinois has stated that in order for the workers in Chicago to live like human beings, they must make at least $25/hour. This has been studied for EVER! So why do these reformist cowards who organized the “Fight For $15” (there is a misuse of the word “fight” if we ever saw one!) crawl on their knees begging the “powers that be” for a mere $15 – ten dollars an hour LESS than what is necessary for workers to live decently in this Democratic Party-run death trap for the working class?
The answer is simple: these people who are running the “Fight for $15” are more interested in trying to look “reasonable” to the “powers that be” among the Illinois capitalist class than they are in honestly and courageously demanding that the working class of Illinois get PAID ENOUGH MONEY TO LIVE ON! These reformist cowards who run the misnamed “Fight For $15” (which should be called “Get Down On Your Knees And Beg For $15”) are trying to show how loyal and responsible they are as defenders of the capitalist system by not making the – to the capitalist class – unreasonable demand (!) that Illinois workers get paid enough money to actually barely keep their heads above water! By making their demand so low, they tried to “SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!” – but not so as to alarm anyone in the filthy rich capitalist class! The leaders of “Fight For $15” hope that if they behave themselves and can prove to the capitalist class that they can keep the “demands” of the workers well under what the capitalist class deems to be “reasonable” then they might some day be rewarded with a state senator’s job or a well-paid spot in the House of Representatives or Senate! They are interested in furthering their POLITICAL CAREERS AS LIBERAL DEMOCRATS – not in fighting for actual living wages for workers!
So they crawled through Chicago and crawled to Springfield and crawled back through Chicago again and even went to Washington D.C. and crawled there as well – always “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” but never backing that up by ORGANIZING A REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY!
So what did the “powers that be” do with the all-too-“reasonable” “demand” of the “Fight For $15”?
Billionaire Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner used their petition for toilet paper and he vetoed the legislation “demanding” the starvation minimum wage of $15/hour!
So NOW what will the apostles of “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” do? They “SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER!” – and “power” told them to go get fucked! Will the “Fight for $15” people now raise their demand to “Fight for $16” or to “Fight for $25” (which is the MINIMUM of what the minimum wage MUST BE in Illinois if we want workers to live like human beings and not from paycheck-to-paycheck)? Will they continue to hide under the skirts of the Democrats, who, when they ran the State House in Springfield worked overtime to keep their piddling minimum wage always well below the rate of inflation? Or will the reformist cowards who run “Fight For $15” finally stop their phony charade and just go work for the Democrats or go get real jobs?
Who cares what they do? A reformist is as a reformist does; and these dyed-in-the-wool reformist Democrats will never amount to anything! All they can do is lead workers into the dead-end of voting for the Democrats – that is their role in this life.
Lastly we ask you, young (or old) worker: when will YOU finally realize that merely “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!” has never and will never change anything and start to organize a revolutionary socialist party that seeks to get rid of a capitalist “power” that doesn’t care if you live or die and to replace that “power” with a revolutionary socialist workers government?
The working class does not need pro-capitalist intermediaries in the Democratic or Republican parties to represent us – FALSELY! – in the local, state and national governmental bodies! We need OUR OWN party 100% financed by, organized by and led by WORKERS that represents the political and economic interests of the WORKING CLASS only! Once we have such a party, we will be able to stop merely “SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER”; we will be on our way to WORKERS POWER IN A WORKERS GOVERNMENT where we the workers – who make up the vast majority of the population in EVERY country – will decide how the wealth WE CREATE gets distributed! We will no longer have to endlessly beg our wealthy capitalist masters for a few crumbs!
Workers of the World Unite! Dump the Republicrats and Build A Revolutionary Trotskyist Workers Party and Fight For A Workers’ Government!
Posted in Bruce Rauner, Democratic Party (US), Independent Workers Party, Political Science, pro-capitalist, Propaganda, Republican Party (US), Trotskyism 101, United States, War on the Working Class, Working Class Political Parties
Tagged Bernie Sanders, Build a workers party, Cornel West, Democrats, Independent Workers Party of Chicago, reformists, speak truth to power, Speaking truth to power, Trotskyism
Leon Trotsky: The Workers’ Militia And Its Opponents (1934)
As we’ve been going through the always inspiring and illuminating writings of Bolshevik revolutionary and founder of the Red Army Leon Trotsky searching for works that can illustrate the need for multiracial union-based workers defense squads to beat back the rising tide of fascism in the US, we have been learning and re-learning so much that it is amazing. So many of the 1930s-era arguments against the creation of a workers militia to smash fascism are being repeated almost word-for-word every day on Twitter! We know that in the USA, thanks to advertising and television and its inducement of short-attention-spans in way too many workers here, the idea that something written about political events of 70 years ago could remain relevant in 2017 seems absurd. You want “NEW!” and “IMPROVED!” political science, right? But just as the works of Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein are still considered to be among the finest examples of scientific writing on their subjects to date, so it goes with political science. And as it is absolutely necessary for a doctor or a physicist to study the history of developments in her field of expertise in order to more fully understand the modern approaches and discoveries, in political science we can obtain a wealth of vitally important information from the writings of the top revolutionaries of the past two centuries and apply that information directly to today’s political challenges. It may come as a surprise, but the fundamental class structure of a capitalist state hasn’t changed much in the past 175 years or so: we still have the working class majority, a smaller petit-bourgeoisie (middle class small business owners) and a relatively tiny capitalist class to whom the majority of the national wealth is funneled year after year. The actors change but the roles do not; petit-bourgeois politicians and businesspeople have the same complaints and roles in 2017 as they had in 1917 – with relatively minor differences in scenery and plot. It’s like seeing a modern production of a Mozart opera, in which the clothing of the 1700s is replaced by hip-hop fashion: it looks very different but the music and lyrics remain the same. And we are sure that our very perceptive readers will find themselves surprised to hear Trotsky, writing in 1934 (in this case) making incisive comments which, if the names of the old politicians were replaced with current US politicians, you would imagine the article was written last week.
In political science, the famous warning that “those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it” carries full force. We assure those of you who laugh at us for using the events of 1934 as a warning in 2017 that you ignore these works at your peril. The options for modern politicians – working class, petit-bourgeois and bourgeois – have NOT changed in the past century. If the working class does not overthrow capitalism in 2017, and the fascists are allowed to grow, the result will be largely the same as what occurred in Germany in 1933. The USA has a whole slew of would-be Hitlers jockeying to reprise his role in the 2017 production of “The Collapse of Bourgeois Democracy”. The working class has its own contingent of feckless, class-collaborationist fake-socialists and pro-capitalist trade union “leaders” eager to show what they can bring to the roles of Scheidemann and Noske. Today’s anarchists have their Bakunins, Berkmans, Makhnos and Goldmans; and the revolutionary socialists have their own up-and-coming Stalins, Kollontais, Lenins, Maos, Guevaras, and Trotskys. All of these actors will be vying for the hearts and minds of the masses of workers, without whom there will be no play.
“History repeats itself: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” We do not intend to fall into the same traps that our ancestors fell into; more than that – we do not intend to lead YOU into those same traps YOUR ancestors fell into! So that we do not do so, we must study the development of the various class forces in the past who were faced with essentially the same collapse of bourgeois democracy and essentially the same rise of fascism we are facing today around the capitalist world. In Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s the Communist Party refused to make a united front with the Social Democrats and form armed workers brigades capable of smashing Hitler’s gangs, paving the way for the rise of Nazi Germany. Fascism then rose in France as well, paving the political road to the wartime Nazi-collaborationist Vichy government. Why did bourgeois democracy fail throughout Europe in the 1930s? Was the rise of fascism inevitable? Is it inevitable now? By studying the historical record of the workers movement as it struggled to overcome the obstacles hurled into its path during the interwar period of 1918 -1939 we can answer these questions. These tragic errors of the 20th century need not – and must not be – repeated in the 21st century.
THE WORKERS’ MILITIA AND ITS OPPONENTS
From Whither France?, 1934
To struggle, it is necessary to conserve and strengthen the instrument and the means of struggle — organizations, the press, meetings, etc. Fascism [in France] threatens all of that directly and immediately. It is still too weak for the direct struggle for power, but it is strong enough to attempt to beat down the working-class organizations bit by bit, to temper its bands in its attacks, and to spread dismay and lack of confidence in their forces in the ranks of the workers.
Fascism finds unconscious helpers in all those who say that the “physical struggle” is impermissible or hopeless, and demand of Doumergue the disarmament of his fascist guard. Nothing is so dangerous for the proletariat, especially in the present situation, as the sugared poison of false hopes. Nothing increases the insolence of the fascists so much as “flabby pacificism” on the part of the workers’ organizations. Nothing so destroys the confidence of the middle classes in the working-class as temporizing, passivity, and the absence of the will to struggle.
Le Populaire [the Socialist Party paper] and especially l’Humanite [the Communist Party newspaper] write every day:
“The united front is a barrier against fascism”;
“the united front will not permit…”;
“the fascists will not dare”, etc.
These are phrases. It is necessary to say squarely to the workers, Socialists, and Communists: do not allow yourselves to be lulled by the phrases of superficial and irresponsible journalists and orators. It is a question of our heads and the future of socialism. It is not that we deny the importance of the united front. We demanded it when the leaders of both parties were against it. The united front opens up numerous possibilities, but nothing more. In itself, the united front decides nothing. Only the struggle of the masses decides. The united front will reveal its value when Communist detachments will come to the help of Socialist detachments and vice versa in the case of an attack by the fascist bands against Le Populaire or l’Humanite. But for that, proletarian combat detachments must exist and be educated, trained, and armed. And if there is not an organization of defense, i.e., a workers’ militia, Le Populaire or l’Humanite will be able to write as many articles as they like on the omnipotence of the united front, but the two papers will find themselves defenseless before the first well-prepared attack of the fascists.
We propose to make a critical study of the “arguments” and the “theories” of the opponents of the workers’ militia who are very numerous and influential in the two working-class parties.
“We need mass self-defense and not the militia,” we are often told.
But what is this “mass self-defense” without combat organizations, without specialized cadres, without arms? To give over the defense against fascism to unorganized and unprepared masses left to themselves would be to play a role incomparably lower than the role of Pontius Pilate. To deny the role of the militia is to deny the role of the vanguard. Then why a party? Without the support of the masses, the militia is nothing. But without organized combat detachments, the most heroic masses will be smashed bit by bit by the fascist gangs. It is nonsense to counterpose the militia to self-defense. The militia is an organ of self-defense.
“To call for the organization of a militia,” say some opponents who, to be sure, are the least serious and honest, “is to engage in provocation.”
This is not an argument but an insult. If the necessity for the defense of the workers’ organizations flows from the whole situation, how then can one not call for the creation of the militia? Perhaps they mean to say that the creation of a militia “provokes” fascist attacks and government repression. In that case, this is an absolutely reactionary argument. Liberalism has always said to the workers that by their class struggle they “provoke” the reaction.
The reformists repeated this accusation against the Marxists, the Mensheviks against the Bolsheviks. These accusations reduced themselves, in the final analysis, to the profound thought that if the oppressed do not balk, the oppressors will not be obliged to beat them. This is the philosophy of Tolstoy and Gandhi but never that of Marx and Lenin. If l’Humanite wants hereafter to develop the doctrine of “non-resistance to evil by violence”, it should take for its symbol not the hammer and sickle, emblem of the October Revolution, but the pious goat, which provides Gandhi with his milk.
“But the arming of the workers is only opportune in a revolutionary situation, which does not yet exist.”
This profound argument means that the workers must permit themselves to be slaughtered until the situation becomes revolutionary. Those who yesterday preached the “third period” do not want to see what is going on before their eyes. The question of arms itself has come forward only because the “peaceful”, “normal”, “democratic” situation has given way to a stormy, critical, and unstable situation which can transform itself into a revolutionary, as well as a counter-revolutionary, situation. This alternative depends above all on whether the advanced workers will allow themselves to be attacked with impunity and defeated bit by bit or will reply to every blow by two of their own, arousing the courage of the oppressed and uniting them around their banner. A revolutionary situation does not fall from the skies. It takes form with the active participation of the revolutionary class and its party.
The French Stalinists now argue that the militia did not safeguard the German proletariat from defeat. Only yesterday they completely denied any defeat in Germany and asserted that the policy of the German Stalinists was correct from beginning to end. Today, they see the entire evil in the German workers’ militia (Roter Frontkampferbund) [i.e., Red Front Fighters: Communist-led militia banned by the social- democratic government after the Berlin May Day riots of 1929]. Thus, from one error they fall into a diametrically opposite one, no less monstrous. The militia, in itself, does not settle the question. A correct policy is necessary. Meanwhile,the policy of Stalinism in Germany (“social fascism is the chief enemy”, the split in the trade unions, the flirtation with nationalism, putschism) fatally led to the isolation of the proletarian vanguard and to its shipwreck. With an utterly worthless strategy, no militia could have saved the situation.
It is nonsense to say that, in itself, the organization of the militia leads to adventures, provokes the enemy, replaces the political struggle by physical struggle, etc. In all these phrases, there is nothing but political cowardice.
The militia, as the strong organization of the vanguard, is in fact the surest defense against adventures, against individual terrorism, against bloody spontaneous explosions.
The militia is at the same time the only serious way of reducing to a minimum the civil war that fascism imposes upon the proletariat. Let the workers, despite the absence of a “revolutionary situation”, occasionally correct the “papa’s son” patriots in their own way, and the recruitment of new fascist bands will become incomparably more difficult.
But here the strategists, tangled in their own reasoning, bring forward against us still more stupefying arguments. We quote textually:
“If we reply to the revolver shots of the fascists with other revolver shots,” writes l’Humanite of October 23 [1934], “we lose sight of the fact that fascism is the product of the capitalist regime and that in fighting against fascism it is the entire system which we face.”
It is difficult to accumulate in a few lines greater confusion or more errors. It is impossible to defend oneself against the fascists because they are — “a product of the capitalist regime”. That means, we have to renounce the whole struggle, for all contemporary social evils are “products of the capitalist system”.
When the fascists kill a revolutionist, or burn down the building of a proletarian newspaper, the workers are to sigh philosophically: “Alas! Murders and arson are products of the capitalist system”, and go home with easy consciences. Fatalist prostration is substituted for the militant theory of Marx, to the sole advantage of the class enemy. The ruin of the petty bourgeoisie is, of course, the product of capitalism. The growth of the fascist bands is, in turn, a product of the ruin of the petty bourgeoisie. But on the other hand, the increase in the misery and the revolt of the proletariat are also products of capitalism, and the militia, in its turn, is the product of the sharpening of the class struggle. Why, then, for the “Marxists” of l’Humanite, are the fascist bands the legitimate product of capitalism and the workers’ militia the illegitimate product of — the Trotskyists? It is impossible to make head or tail of this.
“We have to deal with the whole system,” we are told.
How? Over the heads of human beings? The fascists in the different countries began with their revolvers and ended by destroying the whole “system” of workers’ organizations. How else to check the armed offensive of the enemy if not by an armed defense in order, in our turn, to go over to the offensive.
L’Humanite now admits defense in words, but only in the form of “mass self-defense”. The militia is harmful because, you see, it divides the combat detachments from the masses. But why then are there independent armed detachments among the fascists who are not cut off from the reactionary masses but who, on the contrary, arouse the courage and embolden those masses by their well-organized attacks? Or perhaps the proletarian mass is inferior in combative quality to the declassed petty bourgeoisie?
Hopelessly tangled, l’Humanite finally begins to hesitate: it appears that mass self-defense requires the creation of special “self-defense groups”. In place of the rejected militia, special groups or detachments are proposed. It would seem at first sight that there is a difference only in the name. Certainly, the name proposed by l’Humanite means nothing. One can speak of “mass self-defense” but it is impossible to speak of “self-defense groups” since the purpose of the groups is not to defend themselves but the workers’ organizations. However, it is not, of course, a question of the name. The “self-defense groups”, according to l’Humanite , must renounce the use of arms in order not to fall into “putschism”. These sages treat the working-class like an infant who must not be allowed to hold a razor in his hands. Razors, moreover, are the monopoly, as we know, of the Camelots du Roi [French monarchists grouped around Charles Maurras’ newspaper, Action Francaise, which was violently anti-democratic], who are a legitimate “product of capitalism” and who, with the aid of razors, have overthrown the “system” of democracy. In any case, how are the “self-defense groups” going to defend themselves against the fascist revolvers? “Ideologically”, of course. In other words: they can hide themselves. Not having what they require in their hands, they will have to seek “self-defense” in their feet. And the fascists will in the meanwhile sack the workers’ organizations with impunity. But if the proletariat suffers a terrible defeat, it will at any rate not have been guilty of “putschism”. This fraudulent chatter, parading under the banner of “Bolshevism”, arouses only disgust and loathing.
[NOTE: “The Third Period”: According to the Stalinist schema, this was the “final period of capitalism”, the period of its immediately impending demise and replacement by soviets. The period is notable for the Communists’ ultra-left and adventurist tactics, notably the concept of social-fascism.]
During the “third period” of happy memory — when the strategists of l’Humanite were afflicted with barricade delirium, “conquered” the streets every day and stamped as “social fascist” everyone who did not share their extravagances — we predicted: “The moment these gentlemen burn the tips of their fingers, they will become the worst opportunists.” That prediction has now been completely confirmed. At a time when within the Socialist Party the movement in favor of the militia is growing and strengthening, the leaders of the so-called Communist Party run for the hose to cool down the desire of the advanced workers to organize themselves in fighting columns. Could one imagine a more demoralizing or more damning work than this?
In the ranks of the Socialist Party sometimes this objection is heard: “A militia must be formed but there is no need of shouting about it.”
One can only congratulate comrades who wish to protect the practical side of the business from inquisitive eyes and ears. But it would be much too naive to think that a militia could be created unseen and secretly within four walls. We need tens, and later hundreds, of thousands of fighters. They will come only if millions of men and women workers, and behind them the peasants, understand the necessity for the militia and create around the volunteers an atmosphere of ardent sympathy and active support. Conspiratorial care can and must envelop only the technical aspect of the matter. The political campaign must be openly developed, in meetings, factories, in the streets and on the public squares.
The fundamental cadres of the militia must be the factory workers grouped according to their place of work, known to each other and able to protect their combat detachments against the provocations of enemy agents far more easily and more surely than the most elevated bureaucrats. Conspirative general staffs without an open mobilization of the masses will at the moment of danger remain impotently suspended in midair. Every working-class organization has to plunge into the job. In this question, there can be no line of demarcation between the working-class parties and the trade unions. Hand in hand, they must mobilize the masses. The success of the workers’ militia will then be fully assured.
“But where are the workers going to get arms” object the sober “realists” — that is to say, frightened philistines — “the enemy has rifles, cannon, tanks, gas, and airplanes. The workers have a few hundred revolvers and pocket knives.”
In this objection, everything is piled up to frighten the workers. On the one hand, our sages identify the arms of the fascists with the armament of the state. On the other hand, they turn towards the state and demand that it disarm the fascists. Remarkable logic! In fact, their position is false in both cases. In France, the fascists are still far from controlling the state. On February 6, they entered in armed conflict with the state police. That is why it is false to speak of cannon and tanks when it is a matter of the immediate armed struggle against the fascists. The fascists, of course, are richer than we. It is easier for them to buy arms. But the workers are more numerous, more determined, more devoted, when they are conscious of a firm revolutionary leadership.
In addition to other sources, the workers can arm themselves at the expense of the fascists by systematically disarming them.
This is now one of the most serious forms of the struggle against fascism. When workers’ arsenals will begin to stock up at the expense of the fascist arms depots, the banks and trusts will be more prudent in financing the armament of their murderous guards. It would even be possible in this case — but in this case only — that the alarmed authorities would really begin to prevent the arming of the fascists in order not to provide an additional sources of arms for the workers. We have known for a long time that only a revolutionary tactic engenders, as a by-product, “reforms” or concessions from the government.
But how to disarm the fascists? Naturally, it is impossible to do so with newspaper articles alone. Fighting squads must be created. An intelligence service must be established. Thousands of informers and friendly helpers will volunteer from all sides when they realize that the business has been seriously undertaken by us. It requires a will to proletarian action.
But the arms of the fascists are, of course, not the only source. In France, there are more than one million organized workers. Generally speaking, this number is small. But it is entirely sufficient to make a beginning in the organization of a workers’ militia. If the parties and unions armed only a tenth of their members, that would already be a force of 100,000 men. There is no doubt whatever that the number of volunteers who would come forward on the morrow of a “united front” appeal for a workers’ militia would far exceed that number. The contributions of the parties and unions, collections and voluntary subscriptions, would within a month or two make it possible to assure the arming of 100,000 to 200,000 working-class fighters. The fascist rabble would immediately sink its tail between its legs. The whole perspective of development would become incomparably more favorable.
To invoke the absence of arms or other objective reasons to explain why no attempt has been made up to now to create a militia, is to fool oneself and others. The principle obstacle — one can say the only obstacle — has its roots in the conservative and passive character of the leaders of the workers’ organizations. The skeptics who are the leaders do not believe in the strength of the proletariat. They put their hope in all sorts of miracles from above instead of giving a revolutionary outlet to the energies pulsing below. The socialist workers must compel their leaders to pass over immediately to the creation of the workers’ militia or else give way to younger, fresher forces.
A strike is inconceivable without propaganda and without agitation. It is also inconceivable without pickets who, when they can, use persuasion, but when obliged, use force. The strike is the most elementary form of the class struggle which always combines, in varying proportions, “ideological” methods with physical methods. The struggle against fascism is basically a political struggle which needs a militia just as the strike needs pickets. Basically, the picket is the embryo of the workers’ militia. He who thinks of renouncing “physical” struggle must renounce all struggle, for the spirit does not live without flesh.
Following the splendid phrase of the great military theoretician Clausewitz, war is the continuation of politics by other means. This definition also fully applies to civil war. It is impermissable to oppose one to the other since it is impossible to check at will the political struggle when it transforms itself, by force of inner necessity, into a political struggle.
The duty of a revolutionary party is to foresee in time the inescapability of the transformation of politics into open armed conflict, and with all its forces to prepare for that moment just as the ruling classes are preparing.
The militia detachments for defense against fascism are the first step on the road to the arming of the proletariat, not the last. Our slogan is:
“Arm the proletariat and the revolutionary peasants!”
The workers’ militia must, in the final analysis, embrace all the toilers. To fulfill this program completely would be possible only in a workers’ state into whose hands would pass all the means of production and, consequently, also all the means of destruction — i.e., all the arms and the factories which produce them.
However, it is impossible to arrive at a workers’ state with empty hands. Only political invalids like Renaudel can speak of a peaceful, constitutional road to socialism. The constitutional road is cut by trenches held by the fascist bands. There are not a few trenches before us. The bourgeoisie will not hesitate to resort to a dozen coups d’etat aided by the police and the army, to prevent proletariat from coming to power.
[NOTE: Pierre Renaudel (1871-1935): Prior to WWI, socialist leader Jean Jaures’ righthand man and editor of l’Humanite. During the war, a right-wing social patriot. In the 1930s, he and Marcel Deat led revisionist “neo-socialist” tendency. Voted down at the July 1933 convention, this tendency split from the Socialist Party. After the fascist riots of February 6, 1934, most of the “neos” joined the Radical Party, the main party of French capitalism.]
A workers’ socialist state can be created only by a victorious revolution.
Every revolution is prepared by the march of economic and political development, but it is always decided by open armed conflicts between hostile classes. A revolutionary victory can become possible only as a result of long political agitation, a lengthy period of education and organization of the masses.
But the armed conflict itself must likewise be prepared long in advance.
The advanced workers must know that they will have to fight and win a struggle to the death. They must reach out for arms, as a guarantee of their emancipation.
[Source: https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1944/1944-fas.htm#p1 Corrected and emphasis added in bold type by IWPCHI]
Posted in Bolshevik Revolution, Europe, Europe, Fascist Scum, France, Germany, Independent Workers Party, Political Science, The March to World War Three, United States, USSR, War on the Working Class, Working Class Political Parties, WWII
Tagged 1930s, Communist Party, fascism, France, Germany, L'Humanite, Le Populaire, Leon Trotsky, Red Front, Roter Frontkampferbund, Socialist Party, workers militia, WWII
CIA’s Outsourcing of Torture: Mitchell, Jessen and Associates and the Murder of Gul Rahman
We present to our readers a selection of recently released CIA documents relating to the CIA’s outsourcing of torture to a private consulting firm, Mitchell, Jessen and Associates. The documents were apparently obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) through a Freedom of Information Act request to the CIA. The full set of 764 pages was uploaded to the “DocumentCloud” website by Charles Savage of the New York Times on 19 January 2017. This original full set of documents can be obtained from our own website here: cia-documents-from-aclu
Our selection featured here is
cias-outsourcing-of-torture_-mitchell-jessen-and-assoc_and-killing-of-gul-rahman_from-764pg-aclu-foia-docs
This 20-page document describes the CIA’s outsourcing of torture initially to a pair of US psychologists: James Elmer Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen. This dynamic duo later formed a partnership – the consulting firm of Mitchell, Jessen and Associates.
SERE training camp at Fort Bragg. Captain Michael Kearns, Psychologist Bruce Jessen (right). SOURCE: Michael Kearns, Truthout.org, via Wikipedia
According to the financial statements given by the CIA in the ACLU document trove, between 2001 and 2009, Mitchell and Jessen were paid $74,633,075.75 to teach “enhanced interrogation” methods to CIA operatives as well as, apparently guards and officers from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Mitchell and Associates had, at the time these documents were created, approximately 80 employees all “certified” to provide “expert” torture-enhanced interrogations as well as torture consulting services to the US military and the CIA.
Jessen was involved in the design and execution of the interrogation plan used against suspected Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin operative Gul Rahman. Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin is named after its leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a deranged Islamic fundamentalist once the darling of the US Government back when he was fighting the USSR-backed moderate Afghan Government in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Once the Stalinist misleaders of the USSR pulled out of Afghanistan in an attempt to placate an increasingly belligerent US capitalist class, Hekmatyar began to turn on his erstwhile allies in the US. The US policy of financing the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in order to use it as a battering ram against Soviet Central Asia and western China was a short-term solution that has turned into a long-term disaster for the US and especially for the women workers of the Near and Middle East. The chickens came home to roost on 9/11 as another darling of Reagan-era anti-Sovietism, Osama Bin Laden, launched the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Our party is inspired by the work of the International Communist League/Spartacist League whose brilliant analysis and defense of of the Soviet Union’s intervention in Afghanistan stands as one of the greatest political achievements of the Trotskyist movement in history. When the Sparts said “Hail Red Army in Afghanistan” in defense of the reformist pro-Soviet government that was trying to bring Afghanistan into the 20th century by fighting to end such horrors of Afghan tribal society as the buying and selling of brides and horrific enslavement of women, the entire reformist left howled in unison with the US and world imperialism, which backed the Afghan mullahs like Hekmatyar and Bin Laden. We urge our readers to check out these brilliant writings of the Spartacist League/ICL on Afghanistan from 1979-80:17 November 1978. Sparts demonstrate what Trotskyist leadership is all about with crystal-clear analysis of Iranian Islamic counter-revolution.
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/workersvanguard/1978/0219_17_11_1978.pdf
Trotskyists of Spartacist League/ICL’s principled internationalist defense of USSR and its intervention in Afghanistan, Winter 1979-80.
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/spartacist-us/1972-1980/0027-0028_Winter_1979-80.pdf
Though there have been calls from several quarters to have these “war on terror” criminals brought to justice, as of this writing they are walking the streets as free men, enjoying the fruits of their labor in the service of the US capitalist class. On 13 October 2015, the ACLU filed this lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Gul Rahman against Mitchell and Jessen: salim_v-_mitchell_-_complaint_10-13-15
With bipartisan support among Democrats and Republicans for the aims and methods of the US “War on Terror” (which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people) and a long-standing refusal of either party to bring anyone involved in the CIA torture program up on criminal charges, it seems to us highly unlikely that Mitchell or Jessen – or any of their many US government collaborators – will see the inside of a well-deserved prison cell anytime soon.
The only way that the war criminals in the service of the US capitalist class will ever see justice is if the US working class overthrows this bloodthirsty ruling class and takes power into the workers’ own hands. This will require a socialist revolution led by a Trotskyist vanguard party that creates an egalitarian socialist workers republic which will see to it that these criminals are brought face to face with a jury of their victims. Donald Trump – a full-fledged representative of the venal, greed-mad US capitalist class, has repeatedly announced to the world his fondness for torture – a sentiment that would have shocked the “Founding Fathers” of the United States, whose bourgeois-revolutionary founding documents officially denounced “cruel and unusual punishments” like torture as a hideous relic of medieval barbarism and sought to end its practice for all time. It is a sign of the depth of the degeneracy of the 21st-century heirs of Washington and Jefferson that the topmost representative of their class now threatens to “make torture great again”.
For decades the Trotskyists have warned the workers that if the working classes of the world do not organize themselves and overthrow the capitalist system, the result will be a descent into a barbarism even worse than that created by the world’s capitalist classes in World Wars I and II. The time for the working class to organize for this final struggle against the last class of exploiters is getting short. We must build revolutionary socialist workers parties NOW and put an end to the savagery of the capitalist system before it plunges the planet into a nuclear World War III in which the world – and for the first time the continental US – will see total destruction of its major cities and of hundreds of millions of workers. This does not have to happen!
Workers of the World Unite! Capitalism must die so that the working class may live!
Posted in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Censorship, CIA, Democratic Party (US), Donald Trump, Fascist Scum, FBI, History, Human rights violations, Independent Workers Party, Political Science, Republican Party (US), The March to World War Three, Torture, Torture, Trotskyism 101, Uncategorized, United States, United States, United States, US, US Government Scandals, US Military Scandals, US War Crimes, War On Terror, War on the Working Class, Women's Rights, Working Class Political Parties, World News
Tagged ACLU, Bruce Jessen, CIA, Gul Rahman, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hail Red Army in Afghanistan, Hezb-i-Islami, James Mitchell, Mitchell Jessen and Associates, Salim v Mitchell, Spartacist League, Stalinism, torture, USSR, war on terror, War on the Working Class
US “Intel” Report on “Putin-Ordered” “Hacking of US Election”: Same Lies, Shouted Louder This Time
Last week the badly misnamed United States “Intelligence Community”, whose repeated massive failures to do their “jobs” have resulted in (to name just the two most infamous) the attack on 9/11 and the monstrous war against Iraq, released a pathetic evidence-free 25-page report attempting once again to link the Russian government of Vladimir Putin directly to alleged attempts by his government to interfere and even to “hack” the US electoral process in the 2016 US Presidential election. Not surprisingly, once again they failed to produce even the slightest evidence to back their outrageous claims against Russia – an extremely dangerous attempt to essentially assert that an act of war has been committed by the Russian Government against the USA. In their mad determination to maintain their military and economic hegemony over the entire world, the US capitalist class and their government – who can’t even run a medium-sized city like Detroit without fucking it up – think that they have the “right” to run the entire planet as their very own combination slave plantation and personal piggy bank. Angered at their inability to add Syria to the long list of Middle Eastern nation-states they have turned into free-fire zones (thanks largely to Russia’s military support for the brutal Assad regime), the United States capitalist class seems to have given their bought-and-paid-for Senators and Congressmen and the lame-duck Obama Administration the green light to launch a propaganda war against Russia that seems intended to start WWIII! Fortunately for the world, Vladimir Putin’s government has not responded to the “lesser evil” Democrat Obama’s attacks in kind.
Having just had their asses handed to them in the recent US Presidential elections (in spite of their spending a couple of billion dollars to make their pet Hillary the first female President) the US capitalist class is in a rage. Rodham Clinton – the heavy favorite to win the latest phony presidential “election” in the USA – had her coronation rudely canceled, not by WikiLeaks, not by the “evil empire”of Putin, but by the Libertarian and Green Parties, who, by securing over 5% of the vote in key states handed Donald Trump the electoral votes he needed to win. But this reality can not be acknowledged by the US capitalist class because to admit that it was the poorly-funded third parties right here in the USA that annulled their supposedly magical money-power to elect whomever they choose to the highest office in the land means that they must admit that the days of dead-end two-party politics, controlled entirely by the wealthiest 10% of US citizens is OVER. So, to cover up the fact that the suposedly invincible US capitalist class is losing control over its own fake “democracy” in the US, they have promulgated the Big Lie that it was the evil Russian Putin who “stole the election” which the US greedhead class thought they had once again bought for themselves “fair and square”.
The Obama Administration and their Republican allies in Congress are shouting in unison that WikiLeaks and Putin conspired to “hack” the US electoral process. This ridiculous assertion falls on its face at the very first hurdle. There is not the tiniest bit of evidence that WikiLeaks has colluded with the Russians in any way, and the US “Intelligence Community” reports have not provided a shred of actual evidence proving this assertion. Likewise, they have not been able to find any kind of “smoking gun” evidence proving that the Russians did anything other than publicly avow their preference for a Trump victory over Clinton, for a vast number of very good reasons. Hillary Clinton’s brutal record of destabilizing the entire Middle East and their sinister support for the Nazi-ridden, anti-Russian government of the Ukraine while she was Secretary of State alone provide enough plainly justifyable reasons why the Russians would prefer Anyone But Clinton. But Trump’s wholly unsolicited public statements of admiration for the autocrat Putin gave the Russians plenty of reasons to prefer a Trump win. Politicians, governments and media pundits all over the world picked their favorite candidates and publicly stated their preferences. What makes Putin and his nation’s propagandists doing the same thing so special? When the United States wants to make its preferences known in foreign elections it finds many ways to do it – publicly and privately – and makes no bones about it, unless the US “Intelligence Community” decides an assassination or two are in order, of course.
Did the Russians hack Hillary Clinton’s illegal, secret and poorly defended email server and those of her campaign manager John Podesta and others and turn over the docs to WikiLeaks to use against Hillary Clinton as the US Government claims? According to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, the answer is an emphatic “no”.
(Watch the full interview below:)
During an interview with right-wing blowhard Sean Hannity broadcast on Hannity’s TV show last week, Assange repeatedly denied that WikiLeaks received the Podesta or Clinton emails “from any state party”. Hannity pounded away on this point, asking Assange several times from several different angles during the interview to deny that there was any Russian Government link to the WikiLeaks revelations that proved so damaging to Clinton’s Presidential cakewalk; and every time he did, Assange firmly stated that there was no Russian government involvement in the leaks.
So, who should we believe: the US Government or Julian Assange? Assange has a long record for telling the truth; the US Government “Intelligence” agencies have a much longer record of systematically lying to the public and even lying under oath during Congressional testimony! Not surprisingly, current polls show that in spite of years of a massive US Government-orchestrated propaganda campaign to discredit WikiLeaks as an organization and Assange personally, a large percentage of the US population trusts Assange and WikiLeaks more than they trust the US Government officialdom! This, too is another sign that the ability of the US capitalist class to fool the US working class with their endless pro-capitalist propaganda and lies is wearing thin. The Internet in general, and courageous hackers, whistleblowers and information outlets like WikiLeaks have made it very difficult for any government to successfully lie to its own citizens for any length of time. The exposes of their lies occur almost immediately as soon as the words trill off their lying tongues, entirely bypassing what has been for more than a century the carefully constructed and fraudulent “impartial” bourgeois press’ self-imposed pro-government censorship. The top bourgeois press mouthpieces of the US capitalist class – the New York Times and the Washington Post – have in recent weeks been repeatedly caught spreading lying pro-government propaganda within 24 hours of the attempt. The US capitalist class (less than 10% of the US’ ~4.5% of the world population) which thinks it can run the world in its own greedy self-interest – in the name of “Democracy”(TM), of course! – is rapidly losing control of its home wage-slave plantation. And so the capitalists, always living in mortal fear that their long-exploited worker-victims will finally wise up to their tricks are losing their minds, lashing out at the Russians in a desperate attempt to cover up the fact that the “all-powerful” US capitalist class can’t even rig their own domestic elections any more!
The new “Intelligence” report is based upon alleged “evidence” of Russian tampering with US elections developed by three US intelligence agencies: the US Government’s political police (the Federal Bureau of Investigation – FBI); the foreign intelligence, propaganda and assassinations branch of the US Government (the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency – CIA); and the communications spy agency known as the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). In spite of this the report is supposed to be evidence of openness and transparency in the US Government (try not to laugh). In fact, the only thing about it that is “open and transparent” is that it is an open and transparent attempt to lie once again to the world – and especially to the workers of the USA – that the Russians essentially made Donald Trump President of the United States! If you believe that whopper, we have a small herd of unicorns we’d like to sell you! (They lay golden eggs!)
The Intel report (link available at end of article) is supposed to be identical to the “top secret” report given to US Assassin-in-Chief Obama… but with all the actual alleged “evidence” stripped out of it. So, once again, the US working class and the entire world is supposed to “take the US Government’s word for it” that the evidence actually exists. The problem is that these scumbags have lied to the UN, their NATO allies, the entire world to justify their massive crimes against humanity, like the murderous and unprovoked war against Iraq which cost that nation the lives of well over a million of its citizens and reduced it to a state of barbarism – all so the US capitalist class and their British co-conspirators could stuff their pockets with profits stolen from the Iraqi oil fields. No one in their right mind would believe a thing the US Government says after the debacle over their fraudulent claims of Saddam Hussein’s alleged possession of “mobile bioweapon labs” and an arsenal of “weapons of mass destruction” that turned out to be entirely imaginary.
What the new. slightly less-censored report DOES demonstrate is that the one branch of the US’ so-called “intelligence community” that would have been able to obtain bona fide “smoking gun evidence” of Putin having ordered the hacking of the US elections – the US National Security Agency – HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO PRODUCE SUCH EVIDENCE! In fact, out of the three major US intel agencies whose assessments of the results of the entirety of their agencies’ collective massive spying operations being waged against Russia 24/7/365 led to the “overall” conclusion that the Russian Government was involved in “hacking the US elections”, it is the NSA that has the lowest level of confidence in the “evidence”!
It is typical in these types of validity assessments of “intelligence community” research on a subject that each agency report the level of confidence it has in its own assessment. There are huge internal fights over these characterizations of the validity of the ‘evidence” presented. In the run-up to the Iraq War, a significant number of CIA analysts fought to have their low opinion of the quality of the “evidence” for the existence of Saddam’s “WMD” arsenal and his attempts to obtain nuclear-weapons-grade materials brought to the attention of then-President Bush via the multi-intel-agency assessments of the Iraq WMD evidence. Their criticisms were censored out of the report given to President Bush at the insistence of their own agency heads and key Administration officials hell-bent on war. So any time we see, especially in a “declassified” document like this latest one an assertion from one of the key intel agencies that their level of confidence in the validity of the conclusions of the report differ from that of the other agencies, we take notice of that. In this latest report, it is the agency that would most likely be the one whose intrusive spying operations would produce such evidence (involving the precise type of hacking of government agencies and politicians emails that the US Government is hypocritically whining about the Russians having done to them!) asserts that in at least one key conclusion of the report, the NSA has only “moderate confidence” in the “evidence”!
NSA not convinced Russians conspired to help Trump win election via campaign of disinformation disparaging Clinton. Source: Office of Director of National Intelligence: “Intelligence Community Assessment – Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”, 6 January 2017, p. ii (Emphasis added by IWPCHI)
The report gives us a helpful graphic which shows how to interpret the meaning of what a SpySpeak “moderate level of confidence” actually means in common English:
ODNI report defines “levels of confidence” – Source: ODNI report, ibid., p 13.
So now we can see that a “moderate level of confidence” in the evidence – as asserted by the NSA’s analysts regarding one of the central claims of the report – means “even odds” that the information is either a) true or b) pure horseshit. The brain trust at NSA were unable to decide which.
So we know from this supposedly “unanimous” intel assessment that in at least one key aspect of the conclusions there was a significant difference of opinion so great that the less-confident section of the NSA analysts insisted that their lack of confidence be openly stated in the report. This was probably not something that was very easy to have included in a declassified report that was being used as propaganda to demonstrate complete confidence in the allegations against the Russians; and was almost certainly insisted upon as a condition of the NSA agreeing to put their stamp of approval of the US Intel collective’s “high confidence” in the assertions made in the report. The claim that all three agencies were “unanimous” in their “high confidence” of the assertions made based on the “evidence” of Russian tampering with US elections… was itself a lie!
Quel surprise!: the US Government continues to lie to the world and especially to the working class of the USA, who must be kept in a state of fear and confusion at all times regardless of how stupid it makes the population of the USA look to the rest of the world and how venal and ruthless it makes the US government look. What else is new?
The fact is that the US capitalist class and its “intelligence agencies” are engaged in funneling money to military leaders and politicians and buying journalists in every nation in the world 24/7/365. Everything the US is hypocritically whining about the Russians having done to them the US Government has done in every country in the world, from the Dominican Republic to Germany. The CIA doesn’t stop at merely disseminating pro-US propaganda to bolster the foreign dictators the US supports; hires thugs to beat up communist and socialist political party workers; it trains death squads to kill union leaders and political activists of the working class; and it does not to hesitate to ‘interfere” in foreign elections using every tool from slander to assassination to “eliminate” political leaders it does not like in a continuous effort to “defend American interests” (read: foreign investments by the US capitalist class) in every country on Earth. The revelation by Edward Snowden of the US’ massive spying operations being waged by the US Government against its own allies, which include hacking into the cell phones of leaders and even of collecting DNA specimens from UN representatives shows that all of this reckless anti-Russian propaganda is nothing but a case of “the pot calling the kettle ‘black'”. Only here in the USA, where the slavish US wage/debt/credit slaves keep themselves safely uninformed about what their own ruling class’ government is up to, does this thoroughly hypocritical campaign of lies carry any weight. The workers all over the rest of the world laugh out loud in the face of the US Government’s massive shedding of crocodile’s tears over “poor little USA” merely having its own elections tampered with by the preferred news media outlet of Russia, when what the United Styates routinely does to interfere in foreign elections is far worse – by several orders of magnitude! The wailing of US Government officials over “Russian tampering” in the 2016 US election is really too ridiculous for words!
The US “intel community” report also expresses the US capitalist class’ fury at the fact that it no longer can control the news being presented to the US working class via their wholly-owned-and-operated de facto government propaganda outlets of the domestic US bourgeois press. They are particularly furious that the Russians have created a TV station that is popular in the USA and which boldly dares to disseminate pro-Russian propaganda – just as the US and the UK capitalist class governments do via Radio Free Europe, the Voice of America, the BBC, CNN and a host of other propaganda outlets! It is quite amusing to hear the United States Government bleat about how “Russia Today”‘s US-focused “RT” network is spreading pernicious lies (actually mostly the truth) about the US Government to US workers when the US has been doing the opposite thing (spreading mostly lies) to the Russians since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917! It is hilarious to hear the Big Criminals of the US capitalist class crying about how the Little Criminals in the Russian Government have “stolen” what they have always believed to be the US’ proprietary propaganda methods and are now using them to undermine US workers’ alleged “confidence in the US Government” precisely the same way that the US propaganda outlets have done and continue to do to Russia, Syria, China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea and every other regime they do not like! Poor babies!
The fact is that the coronation of the US capitalist class candidate of choice the bought-and-paid-for shill of Wall St., Hillary Rodham Clinton was torpedoed not because too many US voters were brainwashed by watching (mostly truthful) RT exposes – based on the WikiLeaks and other revelations – of the undemocratic methods Hillary Rodham Clinton was using against the Bernie Sanders campaign to secure her nomination as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Hillary Rodham Clinton was defeated because enough voters were convinced of her corruption and venality, her bloodthirstiness, her unsuitability to hold the nation’s highest office that a couple million of them in key states voted for third-party candidates because they found her simply to be repulsive! Clinton had her candidacy torpedoed not by “Russian spies” or by Julian Assange but by the exposing of her coquettish courting of Wall St. speculators and bankers and other corporate criminals. The US citizens who are so fed up with the same old bullshit from the Democrats and the Republicans that enough of them voted for Libertarian and Green Party candidates to shoot Clinton’s Presidential hopes to tatters – hopefully once and for all time!
This election, we believe, signals the beginning of the end of the two-party system in the USA and the advent of the rise of third parties capable of winning enough votes from the thoroughly discredited twin parties owned and operated by the US capitalist class to throw every future US election up for grabs. This is the second time in 20 years that third parties garnered enough votes in key states to completely overthrow the carefully-laid-and-paid-for fraud of a US Presidential election. Finally, US citizens are starting to vote their conscience rather than just voting for whoever they think will win. But this passive strategy of voting for whatever half-bright third-party candidate shows up in an election who is not a Democrat or Republican will not magically produce candidates that truly represent the interests of the working class. The Libertarian Party, for example, is not a pro-working-class party but is in fact a right-wing pro-capitalist party whose ideological ancestry can be traced back to that idiot tool of the capitalist class Ayn Rand – a “philosophy” that seriously asserts that selfishness is among the greatest of all human virtues! Disgusting!
The Green Party, though espousing a reasonably rational environmental policy (its one “minor” flaw being that it is totally unrealizable under the capitalist system) is itself also a pro-capitalist political party, which means it defends the syatematic exploitation of the vast majority of the population by the numerically tiny capitalist class. What the working class needs is a REAL workers party, not a vaguely “progressive” party that makes a lot of timid “progressive” noises but which, in the final analysis, defends the capitalist system that ruthlessly robs the working class day-in and day-out. When the working class of the USA finally realizes that it must create a party of its own, completely independent of the US capitalist class, funded 100% by the working class, staffed by revolutionary Trotskyist workers and dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist system of racism, war, poverty and unemployment, the days of the rule of the exploiters over the exploited will finally come to its long-awaited end. We’re ready to get this party started when you are, sister and brother workers! Join us! If we work hard enough over the next three years we will be able to start replacing the bought-and-paid-for politicians representing the greedy 10%ers with real workers representatives who don’t just want to “speak truth to power” but who want to take power into the hands of the working class directly. The working class can not have its rights successfully fought for and defended by politicians who owe their political offices to bribes paid them by the capitalists to secure their election. We must have our own party, our own leaders, answerable only to you the workers and to you alone. We will take over all local, state and national offices and then we will finally get rid of the capitalist system that enslaves the workers of the entire capitalist world by overthrowing the capitalists’ rotten and corrupt government and replacing it with an egalitarian socialist workers republic. Only then can we have a government that guarantees our inalienable right to housing, food, clothing, education and health care once and for all time.
25-page ODNI Report: odni_-intel-community-assessment-assessing-russian-activities-and-intentions-in-recent-us-elections-6jan17
Posted in Assassination of US citizens, Capitalist Swindles, Capitalist/Bourgeois Press, Censorship, CIA, Corporate Scandals, Democratic Party (US), Donald Trump, Edward Snowden, FBI, Hillary Clinton, Independent Workers Party, NSA, Political Science, pro-capitalist, Propaganda, Republican Party (US), Trotskyism 101, Uncategorized, United States, US, US Government Scandals, War on the Working Class, Working Class Heroes, Working Class Political Parties
Tagged Democrats, Donald Trump, Edward Snowden, Electoral College, electoral votes, Green Party, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Independent Workers Party of Chicago, Julian Assange, Libertarian Party, Naional Security Agency, NSA, Obama Administration, ODNI, Putin, Republicans, RT, Russia Today, Russian hacking US elections, Third-party, Vladimir Putin, WikiLeaks
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$200 Billion in Transportation-Related Ballot Measures Approved on Election Day
Voters Pass 70 Percent of 280 Ballot Initiatives Nationwide
A total of 280 transportation-related measures were on November general election ballots in 22 states, and voters approved nearly 70 percent of those initiatives.
Voters in 22 states approved more than $200 billion in funding extensions and new revenue for state and local transportation projects through various ballot measures in the Nov. 8 general election.
Sixty-nine percent of 280 transportation-related initiatives passed in the general election, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).
California will garner the largest monetary gain, as voters approved 15 of 26 transportation measures worth $133 billion. This includes a one-cent sales tax in Los Angeles that will generate $120 billion over 40 years for road, bridge and transit improvements.
Illinois and New Jersey passed transportation tax "lockbox" initiatives to prohibit state lawmakers from diverting transportation user fee revenue for non-transportation uses.
Maine approved a statewide transportation bond issue for $100 million, while Rhode Island voters approved $70 million in bonds for port investment.
In the state of Washington, voters approved a 25-year, $54 billion revenue package to expand Sound Transit light rail and bus routes. The package included a bond issue and increases in property, sales and motor vehicle taxes.
Voters in Georgia approved local sales tax increases to raise nearly $4 billion for road and transit projects in the metropolitan Atlanta area. In primaries earlier this year, voters approved 76 of 81 transportation funding measures -- or 93 percent -- of initiatives on state ballots.
Overall, voters have approved 74 percent of transportation ballot initiatives in 2016, according to the ARTBA.
The complete report and an interactive map showing the state-by-state results can be found at www.transportationinvestment.org.
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ARTBA Identifies Structurally Deficient Bridges
GM Reinforces Commitment to Autonomous Vehicles
States Increase Funding for Transportation Projects
Urban Bike Infrastructure Celebrated
Six Western States Receive Top Honors for Projects
NACTO Releases Intersection Design Guide
USDOT Funds University Transportation Centers
ASLA-NY Awards Winners Announced
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<<<previous Acts - Section:
8:18:48:98:148:269:19:69:199:269:319:3610:110:910:1710:3410:4411:111:1911:2512:112:712:18
1. The First Persecution of the Christian Church at Jerusalem and the Believers’ Scattering throughout Samaria (Acts 8:1- 8)
1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
The listeners were filled with rage because of what they considered to be open blasphemy spoken by Stephen. They heard his intercessory prayer and became even more angered, for the blasphemer had not begged for grace or mercy. The indignant legalists raced to the quarters of the Hellenistic Jews, to those who had become Christians. Their intent was to destroy them, for they too, like Stephen, had started to lovingly, logically and orderly preach to the people of Jerusalem. The chief priests kindled further hatred among the people and the fire of vengeance spread out exceedingly. Great anger grew as a result of customs that were being broken. Old grudges and Jealousies were again arising because of perceived blessings. In those days many tears were being shed in Jerusalem. Parents were taken away from their children, men were separated from their wives, and young men taken from their widowed mothers.
Saul was zealous and a fanatic. He had been provided with an authoritative document from the Jewish high council to destroy the so-called Jesus’ heresy. Gamaliel’s advice had no more value of note. Every Jew who was not established in the law and the rites of worship was to be persecuted. Saul violently entered into houses, having a force attending him for that very purpose. He hauled off both men and women, committing them to prison to be tried, whipped, and put to death unless they renounced Christ. Paul was to later tearfully confess that he had persecuted the Christian church, and forced faithful believers to blaspheme against Him who had been raised from the dead. His holding to the law in a rigid, inflexible manner had made him blind and loveless. It was as if he was demon-possessed, not having realized that love is the fulfillment of the law. Instead, he served God with the sword, and was not aware that by so doing he had become a devil.
Most of the Christians fled to neighboring regions. They lived in caves, or ran away to distance villages, even to the despised Samaria, to take shelter from the deadly storm. People asked them: “Why are you running about confusedly, without food and dress?” They answered: “We love Christ, and we love our enemies, and that is why we are persecuted.” Thus they told the people the good news about Him who had been raised from the dead. Christ permitted His church in Jerusalem to dwindle, and allowed it to become broken. The wicked enemy swooped down like an eagle from the blue sky upon a flock of frightfully dispersed chickens. Thus the gospel was communicated in accordance with Christ’s demand, from Jerusalem to every Jewish village, and on to Samaria and other nations. Christ’s triumphal procession never stops. It continues its way to the end of the world, to every language and tribe, until Christ comes again.
Not all of the Christians fled Jerusalem, for the apostles who stayed there were prepared to die for their Savior. They remained with the aged and widows, comforted those that fell, and looked after the orphans and the destitute. The apostles appeared like faithful shepherds. They did not seek their own deliverance, but looked after their flock, particularly in the evil days. Probably the apostles hid themselves among the many friends who had experienced the blessing of healings by their hands. Possibly these apostles were not persecuted because they were faithful Jews who heeded the law and the rites, honored the temple by their continuous prayers, and were not like other liberated Christian brothers, such as Stephen.
Neither were all the people of Jerusalem indignant toward the Christians. It was not so, however, with the strict companions of the high council, who searched all the lanes and streets, aiming to wipe out the last trace of those who had the Holy Spirit in them. They were adamant to see the name of Jesus Christ no more kept in remembrance. In spite of this tumult, many devout Jews, who had not approved Stephen’s stoning, met together. They carried Stephen’s body forth to see it decently buried, mourning for him with loud cries. They did not want to see the wrath of God fall upon them and upon their city because of this great injustice. They had loved this humble servant of truth, the man of love who had served them as an angel of God on earth. These devout men were near to the spirit of the gospel, yet dared not join Christianity publicly.
Dear brother, are you prepared to suffer when the hour of persecution comes? Or would you prefer to flee? Listen carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who wants to guide you step by step. It is not necessary to glorify the Son by suffering martyrdom. Maybe He wants you to bear witness for Him somewhere else. So listen carefully to the voice of the Lord. Die to your selfishness, so that you may serve Christ and live for Him.
Prayer: O Lord, you are my Possessor. Help me that I may not live for myself, but serve You day and night. Teach me faithfulness, even to the point of death, not only in words, but also by translating Your love into good deeds. Have mercy on me, and bless all the enemies of Your love. Amen.
42. What was the most significant event during the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem?
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Louisianians For Energy
Opposition Antics Continue with Bayou Bridge
The Bayou Bridge Pipeline has been fully operational for more than three months – safely transporting crude oil 160 miles across the southern part of our state. In addition to helping meet the energy needs of Louisianians, the pipeline provides a strong economic boost with jobs and new streams of tax revenue.
Despite the pipeline’s completion and safe operation, environmental activists continue to do whatever it takes to undermine the project. Opponents’ vigilante tactics did not succeed in stopping the project’s completion, so they’ve moved on to the courts. In the latest legal action, activist group Atchafalaya Basinkeeper has called for the pipeline to be shut down, alleging the US Army Corps of Engineers did not perform a rigorous review before granting the necessary permits.
Similar to the previous claims – the latest allegations are rooted in ideological opposition rather than fact. The pipeline was thoroughly reviewed by local, state, and federal regulators before construction began. Activists have already had multiple opportunities to make their case – from the public comment period to a series of previous legal challenges that have proven futile.
It’s time to face the facts: pipelines are the safest and most environmentally-conscious method of transporting energy products. They quietly operate 365 days a year to ensure our energy needs are met. Bayou Bridge is no exception.
We support rigorous review of the facts and environmentally safe and sound transportation practices for all aspects of the oil and gas industry. But when all of the legal criteria has been met (and often exceeded), it’s time to let the project move forward. Lawsuits like these do nothing more than make money for a handful of lawyers (on all sides!) while costing every consumer in the state.
Louisiana’s LNG Industry Continuing to Make Great Strides
Tweets by LAforEnergy
© Copyright 2018 Petroleum Energizes Louisiana’s Economy
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Posted by chanders on January 4, 2013
I’ve had a little time over the break to get some drafts of the first pages of what I’m calling the “documents book” down on paper. I have no idea if this will stick, and indeed, I feel like I’ve written up more “first pages” of this project than I can count. Nevertheless, I last looked at it two days ago, and looked at it again this morning, and it seemed good enough to put out there.
Fragments of this project can be currently found: posted here in March 2011 as a little research manifesto, on my first post at the Culture Digitally blog, titled “The Materiality of Algorithms,” in a talk at the Mary Junck research colloquium at UNC this past spring, in this call for an ICA preconference on the “Objects of Journalism,” (coming to an ICA near you!), and scattered across some Nieman Lab blog posts (like this one on Wikileaks). I also think the new book will be deeply indebted to, and in dialog with, the forthcoming (and now untitled) volume on the intersection between science and technology studies & media studies, edited by Pablo Boczkowski, Kristen Foot, and Tarleton Gillespie.
I am hoping the new year will allow me to concentrate my energies on this a little more, and start to move this project forward in both theoretical and empirical directions.
Journalism is an epistemology with a particular, and highly unusual, embedded ontology. In slightly less portentous language, journalism is a method of assembling and analyzing evidence, a method with particular notions about what kinds of evidence are legitimate, and whose evidentiary analyses are affected by the larger social and technical systems in which these evidentiary forms are embedded. Or finally: journalism is a social system with a particular and peculiar relationship to things. In this sense, it is not reducible to organizational procedures, political and economic systems, or ideological power games. It is a particular culture (or rather, cultures) of truth building, a culture with both symbolic and material dimensions, a culture that both grapples with things themselves, as well as with its own internal beliefs what particular things matter, and why.
It is the contention of this book that the universe of evidentiary objects with with journalism interacts is now experiencing its own “big bang.” The relatively stable system of sources from which journalism had had to draw over the past five decades is, like all digitally grounded communicative forms, experiencing a massive influx of new participants: crowds, social media systems, dig data sets, algorithms, hyperlinks, user metrics, and countless others. In the pages that follow I want to historicize these contemporary developments by tracing the cultural history of three deeply interrelated journalistic objects: documents, data, and algorithmic processes. How have journalists thought about documentary evidence— literally, about paper— and what role have documents played in their reporting practices? In what ways do these documents become data, and how does the transmutation of documents to data affect the manner by which these paper forms are assessed? What role, finally, do emerging algorithmic processes play in the analysis of documents and data, and how does the very materiality of algorithmic evidence affect journalistic fact-building?
This book argues, in short, that we can only understand 21st century journalism by looking at the objects with which it interacts, that this interaction is necessarily both cultural and material, and that these shifting paradigms of interactivity must be analyzed as taking place within history, that is, over time. Theoretically, it tries to integrate several decades of research in science and technology studies with both the cultural history of journalistic reporting and the sociology of journalistic source procedures, and draws inspiration from the emerging field of paperwork studies. Methodologically it is both historical and ethnographic. The early chapters, dealing with journalistic work in and before the early 20th century, are necessarily based on archival research, while the later chapters draw on independently gathered oral histories and the ethnographic analysis of recent journalistic software projects, including Document Cloud and the Overview Project. Given this diverse range of methodologies and theoretical sources of inspiration, this project is necessarily, and appropriately, unified by its object– the journalistic document and the role it has played in the construction of reportorial truth.
In the remainder of this introductory chapter, I want to further elaborate some of the thoughts only telegraphically sketched above. Our entry into the subject begins by stepping through the portal of journalism studies, looking at the literature on both journalistic evidence and journalistic objects, particularly the holy trinity of sources, documents, and direct observations. I also briefly examine the literature on the sociology of journalistic sourcing, arguing that there is a gap between the more historical and cultural analyses of journalistic evidence and the more finely grained discussions of the procedures through which journalists establish a hierarchy, routinized pattern of sources. I argue in the second section that both science and technology studies (particularly the early, empirical work of Bruno Latour) and the emerging field of paperwork studies might help us fill this gap between history and sociology, and indeed, I propose such a procedure in this book. The introduction concludes with an outline of both the structure of the argument and the actual narrative breakdown of the empirical chapters that follow.
Posted in Personal Musings | 3 Comments »
Posted by chanders on January 27, 2012
Much like Dave Winer, I found myself getting tripped up by the 140-character limit when trying to discuss the obviously complicated issue of Twitter’s new “filtering” policy. So I decided to follow his lead and sketch my thoughts out a little more precisely.
1. I actually have no problem with what Twitter did. Indeed, given the constraints they were under, this is probably the best possible policy they could come up with (as Zeynep Tufekci argues well here). But, it’s foolish to imagine that this decision will not have particular (and possibly bad) consequences.
2. The biggest possible consequence will be that it is easier now for despotic regimes to view Twitter censorship decisions through the lens of Western values and U.S. foreign policy, and to argue to their populations that this is the case. Take this comment by Jillian C. York to get an idea of what I mean:
It seems that Twitter’s goal is to minimize censorship globally while adhering to local laws when necessary. In other words, I highly doubt they’ll start censoring tweets in Turkey, but given a court order from the UK, they might.
Well, why? I mean, what’s the difference? The only distinction I can see is if someone argues that either (a) the legal apparatus of Turkey is illegitimate, or (b) their culturally-laden speech-values do not align with ours. Ambiguity, in this case, allows repressive governments to treat Twitter like they’ve treated it all along: as an arm of Western imperialism. This time, though, they’re in a stronger position to make the argument.
3. While I don’t judge Twitter for their new policy, I do find their moralistic posturing irritating and hypocritical. I mean, come on; to announce, under a banner headline, that “tweets must still flow” and then go on to say that they won’t flow quite like they used to (one year and one day after the Egyptian uprising) is obnoxious. Its obvious that Twitter acumulated a great deal of cultural capital amongst Silicon Valley’s libertarian digerati for their stand throughout most of 2011, both in regard to the Wikileaks subpoenas and the Arab Spring uprisings. But: non-market values are, in the long run, incompatible with the logic of the market, and what Twitter is trying to do now is reconcile what it believes with what the market needs it to do. Bottom line: I don’t believe that companies has “values” in any meaningful sense, and this is where I disagree most with smart folks like Alex Howard.
4. And the @eff is just weak. As I noted earlier, what is the point of the EFF if they are just going to discuss this change in terms of “realpolitik” and “conformity to actually existing laws.” I mean, what’s the point of a transnational NGO if they don’t spend all of their time saying things like “laws be dammed! We have principles gosh darn it, and we are going to stand by them!!” Human Rights Watch does this sort of thing all the time, which is one of the things about them that is simultaneously so inspiring and annoying. I can go to the US State Department for realpolitik.
So, to sum up:
Twitter is a company, so stop with the Hamlet-esque moralizing.
For better or worse, Twitter has made it easier for foreign governments to dismiss what it does, if, ineed, it does something that foreign government don’t like.
And hey, EFF: lame.
Posted by chanders on December 19, 2011
“What if Journalists Have Always Been Post-Human? The Non-Human Turn in the Social Sciences & the Analysis of News Practices.”
Abstract submitted to The Nonhuman Turn in 21st Century Studies (May 3-5. 2012. Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
C.W. Anderson
ABSTRACT: The most controversial– and thus perhaps the most useful– aspect of an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach to the study of science and technology is that ANT simultaneously acts as (1) a theory of knowledge, (2) a metaphysics, and (3) an empirical method. The central claim of theorists working in the ANT tradition, in other words, is that any analysis of the institutional production of knowledge requires certain ontological commitments and particular methodological approaches. While the underlying unity of this multi-dimensional argument is what renders ANT so powerful, it also opens it up to critique from those who disagree with any of these three central claims. It also invites derision from those social scientists who might prefer letting philosophers deal with metaphysical issues. That the ambitions of ANT now go far beyond the domain of science and technology studies should be obvious from its’ founders recent empirical work, including Latour’s analysis of religion and law, Callon’s studies of economics, and Law’s meta-theorization of research methods. All of these studies, in other words, examine the institutional production of socially ratified knowledge from an idiosyncratic perspective
In this paper I argue that the application of Actor-Network theory to journalism and news can not only provide new insights on journalism, but also sheds new light on the complexities of Actor-Network Theory itself. Unlike science, religion, economics, or even law, journalistic knowledge is a proudly mundane knowledge system, a knowledge produced rapidly, by poorly positioned professionals, often at the demand of a variety of economic and political interests. Journalism has been deeply affected by recent developments in digital economics and culture. Finally, few professionals have been as self-reflexive as journalists when it comes to openly talking about the manner in which their epistemological labor been has affected by emerging material practices. To the degree that ANT can help frame these developments, but also insofar as its’ epistemological, ontological, and methodological commitments must be adjusted in order to think about the production of journalistic knowledge, we can gain new insights into the non-human turn within the social sciences.
The paper proceeds in three parts. In the first part, I review some of the “post-science” scholarship produced by ANTs most prominent theorists: Latour’s The Making of the Law and Jubiler ou Les Tourments de la Parole Religieuse, Callon’s Laws of the Markets, and Law’s “Seeing Like a Survey.” In the second part, I apply these analyses of non-scientific knowledge objects to specifically journalistic objects (news interviews, documents, and reportorial observation, as well as to less-studied news objects like the hyperlink, the algorithm, and the public forum.) In the final part of the paper, I reflect on what an actor-network approach to journalism might teach us about the project of ANT itself.
Quick update: this timeline is more of a timeline of “characters in the book” than it is a definitive history of every event in Philly journalism in the last 20yrs. That might help explain the somewhat idiosyncratic inclusion or exclusion of events. In the end, the book is part history but also part ethnography, which means it is as much about access to people as it is “history.”
Just finished a basic timeline I’ll be using as I wrap up my edits on Networking the News, my book on local news in Philadelphia in the digital age. Please feel free to weigh in with corrections, additions, or general thoughts about things I got wrong / missed / got right.
News Events in Philadelphia
News Events Nationally
The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin closes, part of a wave of consolidation in the news industry. Philadelphia now has two daily newspapers owned by a single national chain, Knight-Ridder
The New York Times reports on threats to turn Philadelphia into a “one newspaper town” by closing the tabloid Philadelphia Daily News. Various iterations of this threat are repeated, under different circumstances, over the next fifteen years.
Phillylife.com – an entertainment only version of the Philadelphia newspapers—is launched. It is later renamed Philadelphiaonline.com.
The City Paper, a local alt-weekly, launches “City Paper City Net.” Modeled after Prodigy and AOL, the site supplies news, email, usenet, and BBS access
The website GrooveLingo is launched by a self-described “bored college student.” The website is designed to cover the Philadelphia music scene.
The New York Times goes online.
Philadelphiaonline.com launches “Blackhawk Down,” a massive experiment in collaborative, long-form, digital storytelling.
Philadelphiaonline.com is renamed Philly.com. It also begins using a content management system (CMS) for the first time, replacing its earlier flat file system.
In December, Karl Martino launches the “collaborative blog” Phillyfuture.com. Originally hosted at http://editthispage.com, the site invites Philadelphians to register as either editors or contributors.
Blogger is released by PyraLabs. The software is designed to make online self-publishing – later known as “blogging” easy and ubiquitous.
The first “Independent Media Center” opens its doors in Seattle. The IMC is founded to provide grassroots coverage of demonstrations against the World Trade Organization. It is one of the first digital media websites to emphasize participant-powered journalistic coverage of breaking news.
The Philadelphia Independent Media Center, a branch of the larger IMC network, opens in the summer to cover the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
Knight-Ridder centralizes control of its local newspaper properties through Knight Ridder Digital, which launches with 33 websites. As part of this change, operations and website management are consolidated.
Knight-Ridder also begins to rethink the role of its online local media properties, attempting to brand them as local “portals” which contain not only news, but are gateways to an entire geographical region.
The dot-com “bubble” bursts.
Philly.com redesigns its website, with a look and a CMS that is now part of a Knight-Ridder standard.
The small, personal blog Metecat is founded by a web developer who has dabbled in programming. The site is entitrely personal and covers topics like the best lobster rolls and craft beer.
A technology staffer with the Philadelphia Daily News travels to San Jose to hear a lecture by Dan Gilmor. He returns to Philadelphia and advocates that the papers should embrace “blogging.” Later that year, the first Daily News blog, “Barks Bytes” launches. It covers the Philadelphia Eagles, but is discontinued after the season ends.
Former full-time journalist and freelancer Amy Z. Quinn launches the blog “Tales of a Feminist Housewife.” In 2005 the blog is renamed “Citizen Mom” and becomes one of the more important blogs in Philadelphia.
Joey Sweeney, sometime music critic with local alternative weeklies The City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly launches Philebrity, a website designed to integrate an alt-weekly attitude with an interative digital presence.
A staffer with the Reading Eagles launches “Berks Phillies Fans,” a website chronicling the Philadelphia Phillies. The author originally sees it as a way to make group emails about the trails of the baseball team more public and permanent. The site is later renamed Beerleaguer.
The Philadelphia Daily News launches a special blog, “Campaign Extra,” which covers the 2004 Presidential Race. In 2005 the blog is renamed Attytood and is maintained by Will Bunch.
Karl Martino re-launches Philly Future, moving away from the idea of a “group blog” and towards a site which is powered by RSS feeds aggregating the best content of other local blogs.
Philly.com and the Philadelphia Daily News launch “The Next Mayor,” an attempt to combine public and networked journalism to report on the Mayors race online.
Knight-Ridder, owner of the Philadelphia newspapers, announces it is breaking up and selling its assets.
A variety of Philadelphia journalists gather for the first and only “NORGs” conference, to discuss building a networked news organization in the city.
The Pew Foundation discusses launching a website nicknamed “The Phly,” which would rely heavily on user-generated content and citizen journalism. The site is never launched.
The Philadelphia Inquirer begins to staff a “breaking news desk.”
The author begins his longest period of ethnographic fieldwork in Philadelphia.
Pew once again considers launching a journalism project in Philadelphia, under the informal moniker of “The Y-Factor.” The initiative would be large-scale: a staff of nearly 60 reporters, editorial desks, 6 or 7 verticals, an embrace of “citizen journalism,” and an initial cost of between $4 and $5 million dollars. Once again the site is never launched.
Newspapers, in part due to pressures from the solidifying digital information environment and in part due to the onset of the Great Recession, suffer one of their worst financial years on record.
Philaelphia Media Holdings files for bankruptcy.
Three young journalism entrepreneurs, graduates of Temple University, found Technically Philly, designed to actively chronicle Philadelphia’s start-up scene.
The Philadelphia newspapers are auctioned off as a part of bankruptcy proceedings. Attempts by the current owners to retain control of the properties fails, and the papers are now controlled by a consortium of banks and hedge funds.
The local public radio station WHYY launches Newsworks, a local news website combining original digital reporting, aggregation, and content from the radio news team.
The William Penn Foundation commissions a report on the Philadelphia Media Ecosystem, and draws up plans to create a “network news” hub online.
The Philadelphia Daily News begins staffing a breaking news desk.
The new CEO of the Philadelphia Media Network, which owns the local newspapers, announces a number of new initiatives including launching a startup incubator at the newspapers and placing some paper content behind a partial paywall
The Philadelphia newspapers begin to sell digital subscriptions as part of an all-inclusive tablet.
UPDATE: Apologies to Micah Sifry for my previous misspelling of his name. The perils of posts written in a hurry. The fact remains, however, that his previous post on Occupy Wall Street both gets the history totally wrong and bears little resemblance to any sort of on-the-ground reality.
Consider me now amongst the many protest-voyeurs who passed through Zuccotti Park for a few hours yesterday, looked around, and now feels inclined to wax speculative on What It All Means.
Yah. I’m That Guy now.
Some background: for about seven years, from 2001-2008, I devoted a substantial portion of my life to doing digital media work for various lefty causes, most of whom were affiliated with this weird intersection of anti-globalization movement / institutional NYC left / mass of anti-war-anti-Bush folks that existed between 2001 and 2005 or so. A lot of them are chronicled on this blog. Between 2001 and 2005, the energy was in the movement, the protests themselves; between 2005 and 2008 we worked mostly on digital media infrastructure building. One of the things we tried, just to name one example, was creating an “Indymedia blogwire” that would integrate local blogs into the NYC Indymedia website without totally eliminating the “post-to-the-site open newswire” concepts which we’d begun in 1999. There were a lot of things like this we tossed against the wall; some worked and some didn’t.
In 2008, for various reasons – graduating, finding a job, increasing “personality conflicts” with some of the Dudes who dominated the NYC Indymedia scene at the time (and still, it must be said, dominate a certain segment of that universe), and an increasing sense of my natural liberal-bourgeoisness– I largely left that kind of work behind. I wanted to focus more on taking what I’d learned in the previous seven years and using it to help journalists figure out how to reinvent their profession for the digital age. Rather than changing the world by building a “blog-wire,” I wanted to help my students figure out what the fuck was going on in this new world they’d been dropped into.
Still, the biggest reasons for moving onto other things was a general sense that whatever political stirrings had started in 1999 in Seattle were definitely dead. The movements that our media work was supposed to be supporting seemed to have shrunk down to the hardest of the hardcore; either process-obsessed anarchists or that type of New Yorker who, through a combination of rent-stabilized housing and family money manages to devote a life to “paid activism.”
Which all begs the question: why does what’s going on with Occupy Wall Street seem so exciting?
Not knowing, or not caring about, the history I just outlined can lead smart people to write all sorts of silly things in response to this question. One example of a particularly silly thing comes from Micah Sifry, who constructs and entire genealogy of the Occupy Wall Street movement that begins (of course) with the “netroots” in 2003. Writes Sifry:
In America we’re now entering into a third wave of movement politics (the first being the rise of the “netroots” within the Democratic party after its leadership collapse between 2000-2003; and the second being the rise of the Tea Party after the conservative losses of 2006 and 2008).
Anybody with half a sense of history knows this is pure and simple nonsense; the folks in Zuccotti Park have little to do with Howard Dean, or the movement he inspired. They are, if anything, the return of a “first wave” of digital-movement politics, one which flourished briefly between 1999 and 2001– but in general, it’s probably more honest to admit that dividing these things up into “waves” is just silly (the Indymedia folks, for instance, emerged in part out of the ‘zine / Punk Planet subculture, which had been around since at least the 1980s … and so on …)
Sifry’s genealogical purpose, it seems, is to find a way to wrap every social protest up into some sort of notion of a technological-political sublime:
America is about to experience the same youth-driven, hyper-networked wave of grassroots protests against economic inequality and political oligarchy that have been rocking countries as disparate as Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Greece and Spain. The occupation of the Wisconsin state legislature last winter was a harbinger, but now all kinds of previously disconnected individuals, loosely centered on a core of beautiful-style troublemakers and inspired by events and methods honed overseas, are linking up and showing up to occupy symbolically important centers…
But still, we haven’t answered the question: why does what’s going on with Occupy Wall Street seem so exciting?
The reason that I’m most interested in has to do with the structure of the media ecosystem. Not the fact that suddenly “here comes everybody” (this was true in 1999, or at least true in 2005); rather, technological tools that used to be confined to the activist ghetto have now become mainstream. Something like Twitter, after all, existed in 2004. But then it was called TXTMob, and the traditional media didn’t use it the way they use Twitter now. The media silos have opened up to a variety of inputs that simply didn’t exist in 2004. This, in turn, changes the dynamics of movement legitimation in all sorts of interesting ways.
Yes, this is half a thought. Or more like a fifth of a thought. Blogging- land of unfinished thoughts.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with whether or not the Occupy Wall Streeters will be as successful as, say, the Tea Party. Sociologist Doug McAdam might tell us– probably not, and I tend to think he’s right.
Then again, the folks in Zuccotti Park have already surprised me once. I’d love for them to surprise me again.
Moving from a Distributed Assignment Desk to a Mid-Range News Story (Thoughts About Andy Carvin’s Work)
Posted by chanders on May 1, 2011
I feel like the brilliant Andy Carvin (@acarvin) needs a helper. Or at least someone to take his distributed assignment desk aggregation and move them to what I might call a “mid-range” news story (not a finished, final product, but something in between tweet verification and the final story). Sometimes, the current process seems too fragmented for me to follow it easily when I’m not paying rapt attention.
As part of as yet unpublished academic paper (hey! any body have any journals I might send this too?) I have written about this very process a it was practiced by Indymedia in 2004. The following paragraphs may help flesh out what I mean by “mid-range news story):
Indymedia Journalism and the Aggregation of News Objects
For RNC-IMC organizers, assembling location-based infrastructures was clearly subordinate to the production of journalism. Spaces were built in order to make journalism possible. But what kind of journalism? How did the RNC-IMC coordinate its network of decentralized citizen reporters, both organizationally and with regard to the production of news content? What was the relationship between physical space and editorial practices? Following our discussion of the process by which the Indymedia newsroom was built with an analysis of the means by which the organization coordinated its network of citizen reporters and the production of news drives home the point that the assemblage of news is socio-material. Indymedia did not just build a newsroom– it built the news, every single hour, of every single day, during the Republican National Convention protests. It did so by coordinating both people and technologies. ‘Building the news,’ now takes on a double meaning: it refers to the process by which institutions build spaces, and also to the process by which they build news outputs within those spaces.
(the different parts of the IMC website in 2004. Note how the facts move across the site, from least to most verified)
During earlier periods of protest coverage, Indymedia’s citizen journalism methods were deceptively simple. ‘I’m pretty sure we distributed a high volume of paper cards [to would-be protesters], saying ‘call this phone number’’ If you have information about something that happened at the protest. ‘And so we had people sitting by the phone typing up reports that would come in over the phone,’ and entering them into our website’s breaking and open newswire (interview, 3/19/2010). Only in retrospect does this method seem intuitive; the near-instantaneous transmission of news online is a recent (though now ubiquitous) phenomenon ,never mind the collection and distribution of that news by volunteers and, in many case, by strangers.
Information provided by protester-journalists was materially inscribed[i] on the http://nyc.indymedia.org website in a fashion that allowed for the visual display of facts and stories in a hierarchy of both importance and verifiability. On the far right side of the website was column labeled ‘Open Newswire,’ which consisted of reverse chronological order news and opinion submissions from anyone who had a story or news item to share. At the top of the center of the website, in a red-bordered box labeled ‘Critical Mass Arrests and Other Updates’ were a series of time-stamped updates on the protests as they unfolded. While both the ‘open newswire’ and the ‘breaking newswire’ contained bits and pieces of news, they also differed in significant ways. The open newswire was ‘open, ‘ as the name implies, to anyone and everyone who had something to say, with content ranging from video, audio, and pictures of demonstrations to political rants to comments from ‘trolls. ‘ The breaking newswire, on the other hand, was directly controlled by editors affiliated with RNC IMC, usually located in a room at the convergence space called the dispatch center, which itself was equipped with a series of telephones and computers. Its updates were far terser than the content posted to the open newswire. These updates contained no multimedia, and directly related to the unfolding protests. Most importantly, perhaps, they drew directly on the user-generated content provided by citizen journalists, all the while subjecting this content to an initially ad-hoc (but eventually systemic) process of editorial fact checking and verification:
‘When we got information you can’t totally trust or is conflicting with other information then you make some calls. You call back people that called before and say, ‘Where are you now? What are you seeing now? This is something we’ve heard.’ ‘ … Part of it was verifying and part of it was asking ‘how important is this?’ and ‘is this news?’ It’s, like, this is a big news story, then you want to get it to all of your outlets as fast as possible. Obviously you want it verified, but if you’ve got verified information and it’s of journalistic importance, you want to tweet it because it gets on the website as fast as possible. What I just called Tweeting, we didn’t have that then, we used to call it breaking news or breaking updates. We’d put it in the center column in the breaking news box. (interview, 3/19/2010).
Moving news from the right-hand column to the breaking news box in the center column signaled an increase in that news item’s importance, veracity, or relevance, a hypothesis further confirmed by the existence of a third category of Indymedia content, called the ‘center column feature. ‘ (fieldwork, 2001-2008). The top feature in Fig. 4, located below the breaking news box, is an example of this particular piece of editorial content. Headlined ‘First Notes on the Critical Mass, ‘ and authored by ‘NYC IMC, ‘ the post went on to report: ‘the first wave of posts on tonight’s Critical Mass have come in. The ride was New York’s largest critical mass, with well over 5,000 bikes. Gathering at Union Square in the middle of Manhattan at 7 p.m. and departing at 7:30, oil-free transportation stretched across all horizons around Union Square… ‘ (NYC Indymedia, 2004) The center column feature obviously marked an editorial consolidation, overview, and summary of already reported news content located on the open and breaking newswires; in this case, information about a particular bicycle protest called ‘Critical Mass ‘. It also demonstrated an additional layer of verification on the part of editors, who were once again responsible for the decision to write and place an aggregated feature in the center column. The changing hierarchy of news objects within the Indymedia reporting infrastructure was thus inscribed directly on the RNC-IMC website itself. News reports and ‘journalistic objects ‘ moved from the scene of the protests, to a phone, to the web, to the breaking or open newswire, and, occasionally, to the editor-controlled center column, in a pyramiding system of increasing veracity.
While the process by which website editors and citizen journalists worked together to report news was somewhat formalized by the summer of 2004, an additional journalistic feature of the RNC IMC— reporting on the protests via the utilization of real-time radio updates—was new, and directly related to the previously analyzed infrastructure of the RNC convergence space. As one Indymedia volunteer recalled, the fact that the ‘breaking news team ‘ was physically located in a dispatch room directly across the hallway from the room in which the IMC was recording its live radio show allowed for online breaking news and radio programming to be fused in a new way (interview, 3/19/2010). During earlier protests, Indymedia radio programming was primarily confined to after the fact interviews with eyewitnesses and protest organizers (fieldwork, 2001-2002). During the actual protests themselves, on the scene reports were mostly confine to text updates on the website. At the Republican Convention, the architectural layout of the convergence space helped facilitate breaking radio updates in real time (fieldwork, 8/2004). As one volunteer remembered:
Indymedia had, as long as I had known, done an audio web stream. But, as far as I knew, there’s never been an integration of [the radio stream with breaking news on the website]. I don’t know when the moment was when we decided to do that, but I think it was the moment when we saw the physical setup of the space. It was like, ‘Well, radio is going to go in there and dispatch on the room right next to it. ‘ Oh, then I think it was also the Merlin phone system, which allowed us to rollover calls. I asked [another volunteer], ‘Wait. Does this mean we can take our phone and put somebody on hold here, then they can pick it up… ‘ You know, making it so our callers could get on the radio — people were like, ‘Well, wait, so we can take a call in dispatch, put them on hold and then they can pick a call over at radio? ‘ … So seeing the physical setup and having the phone capability and knowing enough about radio allowed us to really merge breaking news and the radio (interview, 3/19/2010).
Volunteers with the breaking news team could verify the newsworthiness of updates from the street and prepare callers who had important information to share for inclusion on the radio show. Because of their proximity to the radio room, they could easily communicate with members of the radio team to prepare them for incoming calls. And the utilization of the ‘Merlin ‘ phone system would allow for the rollover and transfer of calls from the dispatch room to the radio show, which would summarize and contextualize the situation for listeners. There was a relationship, in short, between the editorial processes of the RNC media center and the idiosyncratic infrastructures within which it was embedded.
Of course, analyzing the production of news during the 2004 Republican National Convention as the production of media frames is not excluded by the method of analysis utilized above. Indeed, one of the most useful aspects of a research focus on journalistic assemblage is the manner in which it can be used to compliment an analysis of media frames. What I hope the discussion above demonstrates, however, is that focusing on the socio-material processes by which the news is built is a distinctly different endeavor than focusing on the construction of media frames. It asks different questions and delivers different results. The next section will further elaborate this difference between framing, assemblage, and coordination.
[i] Here, I draw on Actor-Network Theory, particularly Latour and Woolgar’s notion of the inscription device. ‘Particular significance can be attached to the operation of an apparatus which provides some sort of written output … inscription devices transform pieces of matter into written documents. ‘ (B. Latour and Woolgar 1986)
The Things That Tell Us What’s True (a Little Research Manifesto)
Posted by chanders on March 11, 2011
In late February, I had the chance to present the results of nearly a decade’s worth of research on local news at Phiji, the Philadelphia Initiative for Journalistic Innovation, at Temple University. Of all the talks I’ve given, this was probably the one that was the most rewarding. Despite its national implications, the story I tell in Networking the News is ultimately a local story about a particular place, at a particular time. So there was nothing more gratifying than getting a chance to share what I found, with the folks who knew and cared about it the most.
I also feel like the talk at Phiji represented something of an ending, for me. During my time researching local journalism in the digital age, I’ve produced two published papers (with a third on the way), a stack of paper that is roughly book-shaped, and a bunch of more or less understandable blog posts. And I think that I’ve said more or less what I have to say about how local newswork is changing in the web era. Now, life isn’t quite that simple, of course. For one thing, there’s still that outstanding book manuscript that hopefully will grow up to be a book someday (and if you know anything about academic publishing, you know that the process takes a long time). So there will be revisions to make, and probably talks to give, on Networking the News. Plus, let’s face it, I know a lot about local news and a lot about Philadelphia, and I doubt I’ll ever completely be able to stop myself from babbling about this stuff when people ask me about it. Nor would I want to stop thinking about it completely, even if it was possible. There’s a chance I may get to write a future book on journalism and politics, which will certainly involve me going back and thinking about the ideas on Networking the News. And if I ever get the chance to do any funded research, I’m sure that I’ll be bringing a lot of the lessons I learned in Philadelphia back into the picture.
But, in the past year or so, I have felt my brain being drawn more and more to other research topics and areas, and I think it’s time to start making room in my head for them.
So what the heck might those topics and areas be, besides the stuff on politics and journalism discussed above?
The two big conclusions from my Philadelphia research have become increasingly easy to summarize as I’ve written and rewritten them over the past few years. They are not earth-shakingly profound, though I do think they have the advantage of both (a) being true and (b) being grounded in real empirical research.
I’ve concluded that journalism as an occupation has rested its institutional authority on:
The fact that it does “original reporting.”
The fact that it justifies this original reporting in the name of the unified public.
Obviously, both the act of reporting and the notion of the unitary public have changed significantly over the past decade. The web has deeply problematized the notion of the unitary public. Reporting not only faces an onslaught of business-model related economic pressures, but the methodological options for conducting original reporting have broadened significantly. Links are only one of many “uncertain objects of evidence” that journalists can either choose to use, or not use, or not use, as they craft their stories. And the notion of the news story itself is changing as well. Algorithms, massive datasets, variables, hyperlinks, and aggregators are only some of the “news objects” now affecting the core journalistic process of reporting.
So I think that when we ask “what’s the future of journalism?” what we’re really asking is this: reporting is a particular (and actually rather odd) form of empirical social investigation. So what is the relationship between news reporting and other forms of empirical social investigation, both historically and today? How are the relationships between different forms of empirical social investigation changing in the current era of digitization?
Here’s what I mean. For the journalist, a stack of leaked documents carries a certain ontological weight. It is a particular socio-technical “assemblage” that, subject to proper verification, has become a conventional object of journalistic evidence. Why? How did leaked documents become accepted as a common currency of journalistic truth? What were the technological, social, cultural, professional, occupational, and political circumstances that created a universe of leaked documents in the first place, and why did journalists start to use them as the “particles” out of which they built their stories? And does a cache of digital documents (a la Wikileaks) mean something different than an analog file stored in a desk drawer somewhere? Why? Or perhaps even more interestingly, why not?
Here’s what I mean: why are interviewing, observing, and reading documents so easy for journalists, while linking is so “hard?”
So basically, I’m interested in the manner that different practices of empirical social investigation are illuminated (1) through an analysis of the shifting ontological status of journalistic objects, and (2) by comparing reporting to other empirical research practices in their historical, cultural, and technological contexts.
That’s a small topic, for sure (hah!). I figure this will take a while. But there are a lot of different ways to cut into a big idea like this. Here’s a running list of a few of them, and I’d love to hear other ideas you might have for how to approach the topic in the comments.
The historical divergence between muckraking, the “social survey movement,” and academic sociology in the early 20th century.
Sociology and the concept of “higher journalism,” as expressed through the divergent ideas and careers of two journalists-turned-sociologists: Robert Park and Franklin H. Giddings.
The history of the interview (there is actually a lot of research on this) and the relationship between “the interview,” “the document,” and “direct observation.”
Philip Meyer and the history of the variable within journalistic practice.
The genealogy of hacks and hackers.
Comparing two journalistic reform movements: public journalism and precision journalism.
The link as an uncertain object of journalistic evidence.
A sociology of algorithms.
A philosophy of digitization and quantification.
All this is a long way of saying that I’ll be giving 10 minute talk at NYU tomorrow about the 1907-08 Pittsburgh Survey and the original intersection between investigative journalism, sociology, and social reform. I’ve never spoken to historians before, I don’t have a presentation yet, and I am fairly worried I am going to make a fool of myself. Like my colleague Jay Rosen, who is down at South by Southwest, I too plan on starting my talk with a quote from the famous muckraker Lincoln Steffens. This is the quote I’ll be using:
“What reporters know and don’t report is news– not from the newspaper point of view, but from the sociologists and novelists.” (Lincoln Steffens, 1931)
Posted in Indypendent Journalism Workshop, Personal Musings | 2 Comments »
“Why J-School is Too Important to be Left to the Journalists.”
Among the many things that make Dave Cohn awesome is the fact that he decided to revive the long-beloved Carnival of Journalism. The topic for this round is: what is the role of the University / Journalism School in helping to sustain a healthy information ecosystem.
I knew I didn’t have a whole lot of time this month to participate, so I was just going to bow out … but then I stumbled across this little talk I gave in the Summer of 2009 about this very topic. I still pretty much agree with everything I’ve written here, so I figured, why not update this and submit it to this to this months carnival?
So I hope this is a useful contribution — Enjoy.
Media Literacy and the “New” Journalism Education
Or, “Why J-School is Too Important to be Left to the Journalists”
Every year, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism administers a “current affairs” test, which they say will test the “writing skill and general knowledge of current events.” It’s administered to every student applying to the school Why? Such a test seems trivial; it seems like giving a Jeopardy quiz to students who will be entering an Ivy League grad school.
My best guess is that this is test that determines whether you have an “ambient awareness” of the news. In other words, are you the kind of person who regularly consumes news content? Why might this matter? Just as you almost certainly can’t become a film director without watching film or a writer without reading literature, the most fundamental basic step to being a journalist is reading journalism. To be a good journalist, in short, being a news junkie helps.
In 2009, 2011 if I suddenly became god—if I were running the Columbia admissions program– what would I add to the current affairs test? I’d add something testing your “ambient awareness” of social media. Just as you could not be a journalist in 1989 without reading journalism, I’d argue that you can’t be a journalist in 2011 2009 without producing, or at least consuming, social media, understanding how it works, what it can and cant do, what the current debates are about it, etc.
I admit that I haven’t thought much about what the questions would be on a test like this, but they might include:
(1) compare and contrast the use of twitter to talk about Michael Jackson vs the use of twitter to talk about Iran.
(2) What are some of the implications of the new Google operating system for social media, if any?
(3) What are some hey differences between Facebook and Myspace?
I think a test like this would, in large degree, put the rather silly debate about teaching fundamentals vs teaching “new technologies” on the level it belongs. On a low level. “Ambient knowledge” and acculturation to new media would be required before you get in to J-School, not after. Obviously, this test shouldn’t make or break your j-school application. There are a lot of things that are actually more important … but this could be one component.
Posted in Personal Musings | 10 Comments »
From weak to strong news networks: Downie, Jarvis, & Technically Philly
… Having spent more than three years doing dissertation research on the changing journalistic ecosystem in Philadelphia, I was excited to see Technically Philly get a great write up last week. And having spent the past six months as a research assistant with the Downie-Schudson report on reconstructing American journalism, I see a connection between Technically Philly, CUNY’s New Business Models For News, and the report. The nub of the connection has to do with building stronger news networks and deciding on the network ties we allow ourselves to utilize when we build them… [Read More at the Nieman Lab]
Posted in Personal Musings | Leave a Comment »
Truth-seeking professionals and the public: Why is journalism unique?
Posted by chanders on September 30, 2009
… So an interesting way to approach the question of journalistic use of Twitter might be to consider: Why am I, a professor of journalism, encouraged to blog, tweet, and engage in public dialog about journalism, but still trusted to speak the “truth,” while journalists are not? Why am I not required to “relinquish some of the personal privileges of private citizens” in order to do my job well? Why am I allowed to get up in front of a classroom everyday and teach youngsters how to “do journalism,” while journalists themselves have to give up some of the personal privileges of private citizens? What is it about journalistic professionalism that demands the monk-like embrace of personal rectitude? … [Read More at the Nieman Lab]
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Aviation Regulation – History and Practice
FOREIGN AIR MAIL CONTRACTS
The airmail legislation described in Part One did not apply to air transportation of foreign mail. Eventually, with the U.S. government strongly supporting mail service between North and South America, the U.S. Congress passed the Foreign Air Mail Act of 1928 to regulate such international service. This, however, was preceded by the formation of Pan American Airways and its inauguration of international airline services between the U.S. and Cuba.
Pan American Airways, Inc. (PAA) was founded on 14 March 1927 by Air Force Majors “Hap” Arnold, Carl Spaatz and John H. Jouett, later joined by John K. Montgomery and Richard B. Bevier, as a counterbalance to German-owned carrier “SCADTA” (Colombo-German Aerial Transport Co) that had been operating in Colombia since 1920. SCADTA was viewed as a possible German aerial threat to the Panama Canal. Eventually Montgomery petitioned the US government to call for bids on an U.S. airmail contract between Key West and Havana (FAM 4) and won the contract. However, PAA lacked any aircraft to perform the job and did not have landing rights in Cuba. Under the terms of the contract, PAA had to be flying by 19 October 1927.
On 2 June 1927, Juan Trippe formed the Aviation Corporation of America (ACA) with financially powerful and politically well-connected backing, and raised $300,000. On 1 July Reed Chambers and financier Richard Hoyt formed Southeastern Airlines. On 8 July Trippe formed Southern Airlines and on 11 October Southeastern was reincorporated as Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean Airways. Trippe then proposed a merger between these three groups and in doing so played a trump card: He and John A. Hambleton, one of his backers, traveled to Cuba and persuaded the Cuban president to grant landing rights to the Aviation Corporation, making Montgomery’s mail contract useless as a bargaining chip. After much wrangling between the groups, including a meeting on Hoyt’s yacht during which Assistant Postmaster General Irving Grover threatened that if there was no deal he would not be awarding any contract to anyone, the Aviation Corporation of the Americas was formed, operating as Pan American Airways, headed by Juan Trippe. Later the corporation’s name was changed to Pan American Airways.
The deadline of 19 October still loomed, however. A Fokker F-VII aircraft was selected for the operation, but could not be used beca use Meacham’s Field in Key West was not completed and could not accommodate the aircraft. What transpired was an eleventh hour miracle. Pan American’s representative in Miami learned that a Fairchild FC-2 monoplane was in Key West, sitting out a hurricane threat. The aircraft was owned by West Indian Aerial Express (the Fairchild Group) and a deal was made to charter the aircraft. The pilot was offered $145.50 to carry mail to Havana that had just arrived on the Florida East Coast and Atlantic Coast Line railroads. The hurricane threat disappeared and the trip was made. The rest is history.
On 28 October 1927, the Fokker finally left Key West on Pan American’s inaugural international flight, carrying 772 lb. of mail.
Under the Act, Foreign Airmail contracts (FAMs) were put up for bidding and Pan American was able to win them, making it the only US-flagged carrier with authority from the U.S. government to carry mail to foreign countries on international routes. Operating authority to these countries, however, needed to be secured and at the time there was no framework within the US government to accomplish that. Pan American’s Juan Trippe was able to do it. He carried out then what the U.S. Departments of State and Transportation do today with respect to foreign routes.
Pan American established services first in the Caribbean, the whole of Latin America and eventually across the Pacific Ocean. Authority across the Pacific, however, was not Trippe’s original transoceanic ambition. It was the Atlantic. However the geopolitical situation coupled with technological limitations made that option impossible. The path to Europe was through Newfoundland. Unfortunately, negotiations between Trippe, Britain, Canada and Newfoundland in 1932 did not provide the access desired, although some understanding was achieved between Pan American and Britain’s Imperial Airways with regard to traffic rights. Because Newfoundland appeared to be in doubt, Trippe looked south. Unfortunately, the political situation in Portugal made it difficult for Pan American to negotiate for traffic rights there as well.
What is interesting here, with respect to the negotiations over Newfoundland, is that it was not the American government doing Pan American’s bidding. It was Juan Trippe. And it was Trippe who personally dealt with the governments of Britain, Canada and Newfoundland, following a pattern used when he negotiated traffic rights to countries in Latin America.
Any hope for trans-Atlantic operations, however, was dashed when, in April 1934, the British government demanded reciprocity with the United States over traffic rights. The British government spoke for Imperial and questioned why the U.S. government did not speak for Pan American, as both entities were instruments of national policy. Trippe had overestimated his diplomatic skills and his “go-it-alone diplomacy” was not working. He admitted that he did not see much future for Pan American in the North Atlantic. In addition the British, in 1934, had nothing like Pan American’s S-42, then the most advanced aircraft in the world. Until Imperial Airways had a similar aircraft that could cross the Atlantic to the United States, Pan American would find itself blocked from operating to Britain.
The focus thus switched to the Pacific. After a “great circle” trans-Pacific route through the north was ruled out due to issues between the United States and the Soviet Union, it was decided to take the route that represented the longest distance between the United States and the Orient: the mid-Pacific.
Here, the issue of traffic rights was not a problem for Pan American. The route involved stops at Honolulu, Midway, Wake and Guam, terminating in Manila, all of which were under U.S. jurisdiction. At Guam and the Philippines, the U.S. Navy had established bases on the pretext of potential confrontation with Japan. Midway was being used by the Navy for war games staged in the area. Wake, a tiny island, discovered by Trippe in the New York Public Library, was an uninhabited coral atoll, and a minor trophy of the Spanish-American War. It was a critical point for the trans-Pacific flight. Trippe eventually got permission to use the island as a base.
On 24 October 1935 the U.S. Post Office awarded Trippe the trans-Pacific FAM and on 22 November, the China Clipper inaugurated service from the mainland United States across the Pacific.
U.S. REGULATION OF AIR TRANSPORTATION
The first instance of United States regulation of aircraft and airmen was in the Air Commerce Act of 1926. It defined “Air Commerce” as carriage by aircraft of persons or property for hire, and the navigation of aircraft in the furtherance of or for the benefit of a business. It established federal regulations regarding aircraft, airmen, navigational facilities and air traffic, including the development and maintenance of airways and aircraft altitude separation. The Act required that aircraft were to be inspected for airworthiness and were required to have markings on the outside for identification. It also provided the requirement that airmen be tested for aeronautical knowledge and have a physical examination completed to insure their physical fitness.
The Act also promoted civil aviation to attract capital and provide a legal basis necessary for its development. The Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce was established by an amendment to the Act in 1929 and was responsible for overseeing and implementing the Act. The regulations promulgated would be known as Civil Air Regulations (CARs).
In 1935, the Federal Aviation Commission (FAC), a board created by Congress in 1934 to study airline regulation and recommend policy called for creation of a centralized and independent authority to regulate the airline industry. As a result Congress passed the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 that was signed into law by President Roosevelt. The Act established the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) and transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation to that new independent agency. The Act also gave the CAA quasi-judicial and legislative functions related to economic and safety regulation. This included regulation of fares and routes the air carriers would serve. The CAA was also responsible for aviation regulations, airways, navigational facilities and air traffic control.
The Act created a three-member Air Safety Board that investigated accidents and made recommendations to eliminate the causes of accidents and also provided for an Administrator, who performed executive functions related to the development, operation and administration of air navigations, as well as the promotion of aviation. Airmail contracts were replaced by “Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity”.
In 1940, President Roosevelt split the CAA into two agencies, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which went back to the Department of Commerce, and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The offshoot of the original CAA retained responsibility for ATC, airmen and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB responsibilities included safety rulemaking, accident investigation and economic regulation of the airlines. The latter included passenger fares, air mail rates, route entry and exit, mergers and acquisitions and inter-carrier agreements. The routes of the then existing airlines were “grandfathered” and these airlines became later known as “trunks”, a term borrowed from the trunk railroads of the day. These trunk airlines were certified to operate on medium and long-haul interstate routes under Section 401 of the enabling legislation and were sometimes referred to as “401 carriers”. In 1942, L. Welch Pogue, Esq., was appointed Chairman of the CAB and served until 1946.
EARLY EUROPEAN AVIATION
Initial Operations
In the United Kingdom, Aircraft Transport and Travel, a fixed-wing airline, operated the first international route in the world between Hounslow Heath outside London and Le Bourget near Paris. The airline also won the first British civil airmail contract between Hawkinge and Cologne. Handley Page, another airline, operated a London-Paris passenger service.
In France, Société Générale des Transports Aériens operated flights between Toussus, le Noble and Kenley (near Croydon, outside London), and Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes operated airmail and freight service between Le Bourget and Lille.
In Germany, Deutsche Luft Hansa was created in 1926 and became a major investor in airlines outside Europe, particularly in South America. The German manufactured Junkers, Dornier and Fokker aircraft were at the time the most advanced in the world.
In the Netherlands, KLM, the oldest continuously operating airline in the world made its first flight in 1920 between Croydon Airport, London and Amsterdam.
In Finland, Aero O/Y (now Finnair) started operations in 1924 between Helsinki and Tallinn, Estonia.
And in the Soviet Union, the Chief Administration of Civil Air Fleet was established in 1921. Later, a German-Russian joint venture was established to provide flights to the west from Russia. Domestic operations were begun in 1923 by Dobrolyot and from 1932, all operations were carried under the name “Aeroflot”.
European Airlines Recognized as Airmail Carriers
The period of 1920-1927 was a period of significant development for air transportation but the postal administrations and airlines were in the dark as to future possibilities for international airmail. By 1924, the idea of using aircraft for the transportation of mail began to gain momentum, and in September, 1927, at a conference called at the suggestion of the Air Transport Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce held at The Hague, an agreement was reached that established airlines as officially recognized carriers of the mail. The Conference also initiated rules and regulations concerning the acceptance and rapid delivery of airmail, a rate-making structure, the expeditious handling of airmail by countries without air services, and the basis of accounting procedures for international airmail. Another provision agreed was that the PAR AVION labels should have a blue color and, when the mail did not actually travel by air, such labels or annotations should be crossed out.
EUROPEAN CONSOLIDATION AND EXPANSION
In the United Kingdom, there was a movement toward consolidation to compete with the subsidized French and German airlines. In 1924, Imperial Airlines was formed through a merger of four airlines, and was able to compete with these French and German carriers. In addition the airline began survey flights to far-flung parts of the British Empire. The airline also ordered the Handley Page W8f City of Washington.
In France, Air Union was formed in January 1923 and later merged with four other airlines to become Air France in 1933.
After consolidation survey flights, Imperial Airlines extended its operations during the late 1920s and 1930s to the furthest reaches of the British Empire. Destinations included South Africa, Australia, British India, Rangoon, Singapore, Basra, Karachi, Hong Kong, etc. The aircraft, however, were small, with a capacity of fewer than 20 passengers, and the passengers consisted of the wealthy or British men doing colonial administration, business or research.
Air France’s operations depended on links to points in North Africa and Indochina.
KLM in the Netherlands also depended on links to its far flung colonies, including the East Indies.
Germany, however, lacked colonies but began expanding services with the airship Graf Zeppelin in regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and North and South America. Airship Hindenburg entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lake Hurst, New Jersey, in May 1937.
One point of interest here is that during this time the state-owned flag carriers of several European nations were establishing “foreign routes” to their own colonies in Asia, Africa and the Indian Sub-Continent, all without the need to obtain traffic rights. Privately owned Pan American did not have this luxury and was required to obtain traffic rights to operate not only to the European countries, but to their colonies as well.
The maps below illustrate the typical route systems of two key international airlines prior to and during World War II. The U.S. carrier, Pan American, obtained its authority through negotiating for landing rights at overseas destinations. The foreign carrier, Imperial of Great Britain offered overseas destinations through its colonies. As previously noted, Pan American’s initial transpacific authority came about by virtue of U.S. control of waypoints between San Francisco and Manila. The authority to Hong Kong came about after Pan American’s Juan Trippe used his previously obtained landing rights in Portuguese Macao to pressure the British to grant him landing rights in Hong Kong. At the time, the China National Aviation Corporation (C.N.A.C.) was yet another subsidiary of Pan American. Note the extent of operations in Latin America.
SITUATION AT THE EVE OF WORLD WAR II
By the late 1930s, Pan American had launched trans-Atlantic flights with the Boeing 314 flying boat. The British and French were operating trans-Atlantic flights as well, but only under mail contracts. Pan American was the only airline with the capacity to accommodate passenger traffic.
At the same time, U.S. domestic airlines (and Pan American) were looking at high-capacity-long range landplanes (DC-4 and Lockheed Constellation).
War Looms
War was looming in Europe and at the same time, Pan American began experiencing problems with its Boeing 314 operation due to bad weather in the winter months. Both these factors prompted a shift to a southern route that nearly doubled the flight time between the European continent and New York. The route departed Lisbon and stopped in Bolama (West Africa), Port of Spain and Bermuda before arriving in New York.
On the eve of World War II, Juan Trippe recognized that a shift from flying boats to landplanes on trans-Atlantic routes was inevitable. He was initially interested in acquiring the pressurized Lockheed Constellation and was “given permission” by Howard Hughes to acquire it. However, the war started and both DC-4 and Constellation production was shifted to the war effort.
For all intents and purposes, the world’s airlines shifted their operations to wartime, including Pan American and the U.S. domestic airlines. Other than the U.S. regulations that governed the U.S. carriers, international commercial aviation was governed by the provisions of the Paris Convention of 1919 and the Havana Convention of 1928. It would soon become obvious that both were obsolete.
END OF PART TWO
The next installment of this story, Part 3, will cover World War II, the Chicago Convention of 1944, ICAO, Air Services Agreements, the Freedoms of the Air, the concept of the “Chosen Instrument”, IATA and the Bermuda Agreement of 1946.
Filed under Airline History, Airlines, Aviation Law, Law, Pan Am, Travel Tagged with air commerce act of 1926, air safety board, auropean air mail, caa, cab, China Clipper, civil aeronautics act of 1938, civil aeronautics board, DC-4, european aviation, FAA, fairchild fc-2, fokker f-7, Foreign airmail, foreign airmail contracts, Juan Trippe, l. welch pogue, Lockheed Constellation, Pan American World Airways, S-42, welch pogue
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Home Musicians Ryan Upchurch – Biography, Net Worth, Wife and Other Interesting Facts
Ryan Upchurch – Biography, Net Worth, Wife and Other Interesting Facts
Ryan Upchurch is an American music artist best known for his comic styles and rap skills. He is one of the many young talents who used various social media platforms to explore their artistry. Often describing himself as “crazier than a soup sandwich,” and “funnier than a chili dog fart in a space suit,” Ryan is quite famous for his creative performance on his youtube channel; “Upchurch the Redneck.”
The country singer has released a number of albums including Cheatham County and Heart of America which has gone ahead to garner so many views on his channel. He even featured a fellow country singer Luke Combs on his song “Outlaw” and his RHEC has been sponsored by the dRedneck Nation. Ryan got into music through his most unfavorable moments. He was jilted by his lover and to ease himself from the pains, he found solace in music. Read on to find more details about the young singer’s personal life as well as his musical career.
Ryan Upchurch – Biography
Born on May 24, 1991, in Cheetham County, Tenessee, Ryan Edward Upchurch is an American citizen raised in a middle-class family with his brother named Austen. Unfortunately, nothing much has been revealed about the young artist’s family, his formative years as well as his educational qualifications.
However, it is said that Ryan initially had interest in various shades of automobiles which he often shares on his various social media platforms. He later created a Youtube channel named “Upchurch the Redneck,” with his friend, Shade Glover. Together, Ryan and Glover entertained their viewers with different videos of comedy gigs on the channel.
2014 was the year Ryan Upchurch picked up music as his professional career and like many young stars who first gained popularity on the various social media platform, Ryan began uploading some of his music contents alongside their homemade videos. In 2015, he expanded his content to also include series of recordings like rap, rock, and comedy.
Later in the same year, he released his first extended play, Cheatham County. The following year, he released his first full-length album Heart of America and surprisingly it peaked the Billboard Top 30 Country Albums, receive a huge number of views and sold over a thousand copies in the first week of its release.
In 2016, Ryan Upchurch released his second music album Chicken Willie, and like his first full-length album, it topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums and the Rap Albums charts, selling over two thousand copies in its first week. Some of his other songs include Summer Love, King of Dixie, Raise Hell & Eat Cornbread (RHEC), Supernatural and Son of the South. His next album, King of Dixie, which has about 19 tracks was aired for the first time on the 10th of November 2017. His latest album, River Rat was released in December 2018 and it was commercially successful.
Is He Married, Who is The Wife?
Ryan Upchurch with ex-fiance Brianna Vanvleet
Ryan Upchurch had a lady in his life named Brianna Vanvleet. She was his girlfriend for a long time and they had plans of settling down as a couple. Although it is not known when and how the two first met but their relationship was quite publicized in 2015. Ryan often takes to his Twitter page to express how much he loved his girlfriend and how he dreams of raising his kids with her as his wife.
However, things began to change in 2016 when rumors spread about the couple’s shocking separation. Ryan is yet to come public on what actually caused their separation, but some of his post on Twitter gives a hint that his relationship with his unknown lady has ended. On his status, the country singer/YouTuber says he is single and in love with music.
Ryan Upchurch’s Net Worth
YouTube is one of the fastest and easiest means of generating popularity and wealth and Ryan Upchurch used it to his advantage, merging his comic skills and music career. Through his YouTube channel, which has accumulated over 1.4 million subscribers, the comedian, rapper, and singer is believed to be earning a little above $1 million annually but his actual net worth is still under review.
See Also: Erick Brian Colon – Bio, Age, Height, Facts About The Singer
Other Interesting Facts about the Musician
1. Upchurch released his first rock album titled Creeker on February 12, 2018, and as expected, it had rock content mixed with a few raps. In 2018, Upchurch released a rap-full album Supernatural, which also had some element of country style.
2. The musician is a handsome young man with a height of about 6 feet and a nice athletic body that clearly shows he often hits the gym.
3. Ryan Upchurch grew up in Pegram, Tennessee but he currently resides in Ashland City, Tennessee which is also located within Cheatham County, Tennessee.
4. The music artist loves tattoos and he has quite a number of them on his body, including his hands and arms.
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Jeffrey J. Williams
The Interview Project
Critical University Studies
Johns Hopkins Series
Critical University Studies (Spring 2019)
People often call the university the ivory tower. But more than 80% of young Americans attend college and, alongside health care, it is the major social institution of our time. Moreover, depictions of the college run through contemporary fiction and film, so it is a major part of our cultural imagination. This course will examine the fiction, film, and other cultural portraits of higher education alongside its history and theory. In particular, it will explore a new field called critical university studies, that analyzes the current conditions of higher ed and advocates for better ways to fulfill its public mission. Fiction might include Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Stoner, and The Ask; films might include Nutty Professor, Revenge of the Nerds, and Accepted; and theory and history will range from Kant and Jefferson up to recent critiques by Christopher Newfield, Marc Bousquet, and Tressie McMillan Cottom.
20th and 21st Century American Fiction (Fall 2018)
This course examines American fiction from 1900 to the present. It covers the movement from modernism, through midcentury realism and postmodernism, to the contemporary. We look at scholarly definitions of those modes, as well as some of the cultural context that has informed American literature. Some of the authors will include modernists like Stein and Faulkner; midcentury writers and postmodernists like Ellison, McCarthy, and Pynchon; and contemporary writers like Diaz, Lahiri, and Franzen.
Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies (Fall 2018)
This course introduces students to important texts, traditions and intellectual concepts associated with literary and cultural studies in the 20th century. This course studies the history, main issues, and methods of cultural studies. We read some of the thinkers who have inspired it, from Matthew Arnold to the formation of British cultural studies, and the theoretical injection of French theory. We also look at the expansion of cultural studies, as it examined race, sexuality, and ecology. In addition, we try to think about the way cultural studies might provide alternative methods for doing criticism, and students write several papers and develop their own research project.
Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies
Office: Baker Hall 245 P
Email: jwill@andrew.cmu.edu
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← JOHN O’DONOGUE: On Compassion – even for people who are ‘different’
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RICHARD BUTLER. Obama and Nuclear Weapons
It is widely acknowledged by those who have had anything substantive to do with nuclear weapons that as long as they exist they will, one day, be used, either by accident or decision. Equally, it is acknowledged that any such use would be a catastrophe. Thus, the logical and human solution is to eliminate them.
Three months after he assumed his office, President Obama publicly joined those who accept these truths when, in Prague on April 9th, 2009, he said: “ I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”
Further, he said: “ as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act.”
He said the US could not succeed alone in seeking the objective of a secure world without nuclear weapons, but would lead the process and include all nuclear weapons states in it.
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee reacted to his Prague pledge by awarding him the 2009 Peace Prize. To some that seemed to represent a hasty judgment by the Committee, but the terms of Obama’s attitude towards the elimination of nuclear weapons seemed to constitute a major new policy commitment. In fact, there have been precedents.
In his farewell speech in January, 1961. President Eisenhower had warned against the influence over US policy of a “military industrial complex”, and stated, above all, that nuclear disarmament was essential. His warnings came to nought and at the height of the Cold War, in the 1980s, some 70,000 nuclear weapons had been made, over 90% of which were held by USA and USSR.
In October 1986, USSR President Michael Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan met at Rekjavick. They agreed, initially, to seek the elimination of all nuclear weapons because of their conviction that the danger they posed was unacceptable. Reagan had famously asserted that “nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”. Their initial agreement foundered however, on Reagan’s refusal to suspend his proposed missile defense shield. But, they did agree to eliminate their intermediate range nuclear weapons in Europe and the resultant INF Treaty became the first instance of the elimination of a whole class of nuclear weapons.
On May 27th, 2016, seven years after his speech at Prague, and eight months before he will take his farewell from office, President Obama visited Hiroshima becoming the first US President to do so, 71 years after that first use of a nuclear weapon.
In his remarks there he said: “among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them…persistent efforts can roll back the possibility of catastrophe. We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles.”
Somewhat characteristically, President Obama injected a philosophic reflection: “The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of the atom requires a moral revolution as well”, and, “ … what makes our species unique. We’re not bound by genetic code to repeat the mistakes of the past. We can learn. We can choose”.
Two key nuclear arms reduction treaties were negotiated between the US and Russia, after the Prague speech, the Start I and New Start Treaties and today, the number of deployed warheads allowed under those agreements is: 1780 and 2080 for Russia and the US, respectively and the same figures for “other” warheads are 5720 and 5180.
Overall, arms control agreements have led to a reduction by two thirds, in the number of nuclear weapons in existence, globally, from that figure of 70,000 of the 1980s.
Clearly, there has been progress in nuclear arms control, a step back from the profound insanity of the nuclear arms race, which was the hallmark of the Cold War.
But, there remains at least three Key problems, which have not been addressed, nothwithstanding Obama’s statements and commitments.
First, in order to secure consent by the US Senate to New Start and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Obama has authorized a $1 trillion 30 year upgrade of the US nuclear arsenal. It is impossible to reconcile this action with his stated posture of wishing to lead the way to a secure world without nuclear weapons, and the consent he sought on CTBT has not been given.
Russia has also embarked on an expansion of the size and quality of its nuclear arsenal. Nuclear analysts have suggested that, in fact, Obama’s legacy upon leaving office will be a “second nuclear age”. Whether that perspective will prove to have merit, the postures and actions of Russia, on one side and the US and NATO on the other supports the apprehension that a new Cold War is underway.
Secondly, there have been widely supported calls for the US and Russia, which together still hold at least 90% of nuclear weapons in existence, to take them off hair trigger alert. This would significantly reduce the possibility of accident or miscalculation, without eliminating their alleged utility in terms of deterrence.
Thirdly, while Obama has spoken of the need for action with respect to all nuclear weapon States, of which there are 6 others (and an active contender in North Korea), there has been inaction. He seems not to have exercised the leadership on this that he promised. And, apart from the issues with Russia, there is the reality of the frightful dangers posed by the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan, and by Israel’s nuclear weapons capability, in the miasma of Middle East politics.
The International Court of Justice, unsurprisingly has pointed out that any use of nuclear weapons would violate customary international law, and with virtual certainty would constitute a crime against humanity. It has called attention to the fact that the Nuclear Weapon States identified in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the Permanent Members of the Security Council) are obliged, under that Treaty to negotiate reductions in their weapons, without any further delay. And, some two thirds of the member States of the UN have called for the negotiation of a global Treaty banning nuclear weapons.
In recent times Australian coalition Governments have sided with the US in voting against this proposal. Its neighbors, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and New Zealand have supported it.
Where is the debate in Australia about the reality of the threat to our life, nation and environment caused by the continuing existence of nuclear weapons? Is it within our character and values to accept that the only way our survival, our life, is allegedly guaranteed is by the US being prepared to use, against others, weapons of mass destruction and radiation?
Some say that to ask this question is hysterical. They assert that, clearly the US would never use its weapons but only threaten to do so, as a matter of deterrence. The notion of deterrence is, at best, a chimera, the failure of which would be a more than academic experience.
President Obama resisted calls that he should apologize at Hiroshima, presumably because of the current dominance in the US of militant nationalism. But at Hiroshima, he did mention “mistakes”, and suggested that it is not necessarily in our human genus to be condemned to repeat them.
The part of his remarks and reflections on which Australian leaders should act are those in which he acknowledged the need for the US to lead in efforts to end the servitude of nuclear weapons. That’s where we could and should help, politically and diplomatically. This would, of course, require us to demonstrate the “courage to escape the logic of fear”, to stand on our own feet, with a principled, aware, and independent foreign policy.
Richard Butler AC, is former Ambassador to the United Nations and was appointed by PM Keating, in 1995, Convenor of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
This entry was posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics and tagged banning nuclear weapons, Obama and nuclear weapons, Richard Butler. Bookmark the permalink.
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Terra Tech Corp. Completes Sale of Western Avenue, Nevada Retail Dispensary for $6.25 million
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Tech Corp. (OTCQX: TRTC), (“Terra Tech” or the “Company”) a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company, has completed its previously announced sale of 100% of the assets of its cannabis dispensary located at 1921 Western Avenue in Las Vegas, to Exhale Brands Nevada, for a total consideration of $6,250,000. The Company plans to use the proceeds from the sale to further develop its retail dispensary capabilities in new locations that have better proximity to major tourist attractions in Las Vegas.
The Company already has a strong footprint in Nevada. It currently operates its Blüm, Desert Inn Road and Blüm, Decatur Boulevard dispensaries, both of which are located in Las Vegas, as well as its Blüm Reno dispensary, in Northwest Nevada. The Company also recently purchased a retail property in downtown Las Vegas, located at 121 North Fourth Street, which it plans to convert into a Blüm retail dispensary. As owners of medical and adult-use cannabis business licenses in Las Vegas associated with these dispensaries, Terra Tech has the ability to apply for additional licenses based on its grandfather status. The company has two pending applications for additional retail permits in Las Vegas.
Furthermore, Terra Tech operates a 30,000 square foot cultivation facility in Sparks, Nevada and a 15,000 square foot extraction lab in Reno, Nevada, both of which it owns 50% in conjunction with NuLeaf. These facilities are driving a ramp in production of the Company’s proprietary, premium quality, IVXX-branded wholesale cannabis for the medical and adult-use markets.
Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech, commented, “Completing this sale not only allows us to recognize significant gains from our investment in establishing and licensing the dispensary, it also provides us with capital that we plan to invest in more lucrative areas of the Las Vegas market. Nevada continues to be a dynamic cannabis market, with approximately $530 million of cannabis sales recorded by operators across the State in the first twelve months following adult-use legalization. Our grandfathered status in Nevada, due to our existing operations, positions us to take advantage of this significant market opportunity by applying for additional permits. We have therefore submitted two retail dispensary permit applications with the State of Nevada. This retail strategy, coupled with our ramp in cultivation and production operations, is expected to drive revenue growth in Nevada.”
For more information about Terra Tech Corp visit: http://www.terratechcorp.com/
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Reading Israel: In the Sands of Sinai by Dr. Itzhak Brook
Tags: History, family, People and Society, Books
By Heidi Krizer Daroff
There are several ways we can access history, we can read books, watch movies, and talk to people who lived through it. Early this past September, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Itzhak Brook, a battlefield physician in the Israel Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War and author of In the Sands of Sinai, A Physician’s Account of the Yom Kippur War.
Dr. Brook shared stories of his parents who emigrated to Israel pre-1948. Early in his father’s young adult life he was a professional soccer player. He traveled to Haifa to play on a team, established himself as one of the best players in the Middle East and decided to stay and make his home there. Later, his father was wounded during the 1939 Arab riots and was forced to give up his career as an athlete. His mother escaping Hitler’s reign of terror, went to the land of Israel in 1936 for purely Zionist reasons.
As a young boy, Brook believed the re-birth of Israel was a modern day miracle. As a child he had witnessed British soldiers on the streets, curfews imposed on the citizens, and house to house searches. He has vivid memories of listening to David Ben Gurion declaring Israel’s independence, the war that started immediately after as the neighboring Arab countries reacted to the news, and of the moment he saw Jewish soldiers, members of the Palmach, Israel’s first fighters. Even living far away from Israel, it imbued him with pride in what was possible for our Jewish People.
In 1959, Brook became an IDF soldier and his proudest day was when he finished Officer’s School. He was attending Hadassah medical school when the Six Day War began and served as a medic.
He reminisces that during those years Israelis were brought up with a feeling of self-sacrifice, a sense that you do whatever is needed for your friends and the country. From kindergarten through joining the military, Dr. Brook was with the same group of friends. For years the group has met every four years for a reunion, they still meet today at age seventy.
As a battlefield physician during the Yom Kippur War he experienced severe trauma with his fellow soldiers. He developed several helpful strategies and many years later published his book recounting his story and lessons learned. His commitment to Israel remains unwavered as he speaks around the United States and Israel, in the hope that others will learn as he did of the cost of war in human suffering and the ongoing struggle that Israel faces every day, not only in wartime.
The Israel Forever Foundation is proud to feature In the Sands of Sinai as a part of our Reading Israel Book Club and to host Dr. Brook in Washington, DC for a Lunch & Learn on October 22nd as we continue to make Israel personal. For those unable to attend, we look forward to your involvement in the book club discussion.
To learn more, or to invite Dr Brook to your community, please contact Heidi Krizer Daroff by clicking HERE.
More on In the Sands of Sinai:
DR. BROOK'S BLOG
Interested in Learning More About In the Sands of Sinai?
Check out In the Sands of Sinai by Dr. Itzhak Brook at Reading Israel Today!
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The Guess Who Return with Album Announcement and Music Video
Watch the video for “Playin On The Radio” here!
Classic rock band The Guess Who has returned with their first new music since 1995’s Lonely One.
The icons who gave us timeless classics such as “American Woman” and “These Eyes” have returned with their newest single, “Playin On The Radio.” The track balances preserving their sound with updating it, delivering a taste of what’s to come.
Watch the video for "Playin On The Radio" below:
Their upcoming album, The Future IS What It Used To Be, is due on September 14. Pre-orders of limited-edition vinyls and physical CDs are available here.
The Future IS What It Used To Be
Playin On The Radio
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Helping to shape the Global Driverless Revolution
In this article, we look at the road ahead for autonomous vehicles.
1. Our take-away points from attending the EU Commission’s first Connected and Automated Driving (CAD) Conference
Autonomous vehicles will (of course!) decrease emissions, reduce congestion, facilitate more leisure time, and increase independence (especially for the young, elderly and less able-bodied). They will also improve safety - an often forgotten fact is the number of deaths on European roads that occur, almost all of which are caused by human error. Did you know that there were over 25,000 deaths on European roads last year?
Signature by Member States of the Declaration of Amsterdam (see here) created a renewed focus for the EU to proactively shape the future of Autonomous Vehicles. The EU’s C-ITS strategy, supported by funding programmes such as CEF and EFSI, will enable vehicles to talk to each other across European transport infrastructure from 2019. The strategy seeks to use information sharing to avoid a fragmented internal market in C-ITS services.
The deployment of autonomous vehicles will happen sooner than people realise. One of the challenges is the ability for “old-fashioned” cars, autonomous vehicles, objects and people to occupy our roads in a coordinated and harmonious manner.
As with the industrial revolution, we must take care to create new jobs and skills as the demand for lower-skilled jobs (bus, truck and taxi drivers) decreases.
Last but not least, well-designed regulations and standards are needed, including in respect of traffic law, liability, vehicle certification and connectivity infrastructure. This needs deep collaboration and co-ordination. The EU and the UK need to provide a forward looking legal and regulatory framework, innovation-friendly conditions and more financial support to research projects and trials, including through Horizon 2020 and the GEAR 2030 high-level group.
2. Data is key
A single autonomous vehicle can produce 1GB of data every second. The future roll-out of 5G by telcos will have a pivotal role in the deployment of autonomous vehicles. Data is at the core of connected and automated driving – certain data has to be shared to make the deployment of autonomous vehicles viable. Volvo Cars believes governments and car makers should join hands in sharing traffic data in order to improve global traffic safety. Of course, rights of privacy need to be addressed and steps taken to address cyber security threats.
As is often the case, policy and law making are lagging behind (which is understandable given the complexity, new technology and trials required). That said, there is plenty for manufacturers and other suppliers to think about in the meantime to ensure compliance with forthcoming laws (such as privacy by design and GDPR).
3. What about the UK – are we ready?
As noted in Tech Predictions 2017, the UK is well placed for the development of driverless cars. The Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill has now passed through the Committee stage in the House of Commons. The Bill provides for a ‘single insurer’ model for autonomous vehicles, whereby liability for damage rests with a single insurer for an accident caused while the vehicle is driving itself. The exceptions to liability are where the insured person makes or knowingly allows unauthorised alterations to be made to a vehicle’s software or where the person fails to install software updates which are required under their policy.
The Government is taking a step by step approach to legislative and regulatory change with a focus on research, testing and gathering evidence to support future policy decisions. However, the House of Lords has (quite rightly) urged the Government to set up a Robotics and Autonomous System (RAS) Leadership Council as soon as possible to develop a strategy and lead the way in standards addressing ethical issues, data protection and cybersecurity.
4. It’s happening sooner than you think…
In 2016 the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab was launched in Greenwich, led by consultancy firm TRL with funding provided by the UK Government. The living lab provides a real-life testing ground for autonomous vehicles, rather than an artificial off-street facility. Tech developers, vehicle and original equipment manufacturers can use the lab for research and development of their products to see how they react to buses, pedestrians and cyclists.
The living lab is home to the GATEway project which is dedicated to testing different use cases for autonomous vehicles such as driverless shuttles and automated urban deliveries. Move-UK is another project, where a consortium including Bosch and JLR gather data from the testing environment. This data is then used to improve the safety of driverless systems and accelerate their deployment.
5. It’s not just cars...
In a recent report published by its Science and Technology Select Committee, the House of Lords astutely criticised the Government for being too focused on private driverless cars, rather than considering the full potential of autonomous vehicle technology in sectors such as agriculture, the military, the marine industry and public services, which could see fully-automated vehicles introduced before they are rolled out to private consumers.
Did you know that Rolls Royce is testing robotic ships? The company estimates that fully autonomous ships will be a routine sight on the world’s seas in just 10 to 15 years’ time, navigating independently and with no crew on board.
6. Platooning
Fleets of vehicles wirelessly connected which form a “road-train” could soon become a reality on Britain’s motorways. ‘Platooning’ involves a fleet of autonomous vehicles connected to one lead vehicle controlled by driver. It has already been trialled in the European Commission’s Sartre project as shown in this video. There will (of course) be safety issues to overcome, such as limiting the number of vehicles in the platoon to ensure pedestrians can cross the road. However, due to the constant communication of data between vehicles, platooning is likely, overall, to be safer and more efficient than human driving. This will, in my view, transform key aspects of the logistics industry.
Until now, platooning trials have focused on lorries for the transportation of freight, but private vehicles may also be able to connect up to road trains and tag along for the ride.
7. Cyber security and the dark side…
‘Robots taking over the world’ is a prominent theme in the sci-fi genre, but in the near future the greater risk comes from humans using technology for malevolent purposes.
Last year, it was revealed that the world’s biggest data breach was in fact the attack affecting one billion Yahoo accounts back in August 2013. Connected vehicles and the vast amount of data they process will provide a tempting new venture for cybercriminals. In September last year, a team of hackers apparently took control of a driverless vehicle from a distance of 12 miles away. The team was able to interfere with the car’s brakes, door locks and computer screen. The risk is not limited to hacks of individual vehicles, but also to the ‘vehicle-to-vehicle’ and ‘vehicle-to-infrastructure’ systems which allow vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other, and to the transport network itself. A large-scale hack of this nature could cause chaos. We are likely to see increasingly strict requirements on manufacturers and developers to embed multi-levelled cyber security protection into products including firewalls, encryption and detection of intrusions.
While autonomous vehicles present a plethora of practical and legal challenges, it remains a fact that some 90% of car accidents are caused by human error. According to Sweden’s Vision Zero initiative, every year almost 1.2 million people die on the roads, a truly shocking statistic. The introduction of technology that can reduce this figure is very welcome indeed. The journey is well underway and it’s a truly exciting one
Our second article in the series Helping to shape the Global Driverless Revolution: Autonomous vehicles and the built environment can be viewed here.
Autonomous Vehicles and the Built Environment
Self-driving cars are on their way. The trailblazers (Tesla, Google, Uber) are conducting increasingly sophisticated tests in real-world conditions. The traditional car makers (General Motors, BMW) are acquiring start-ups or partnering with established tech companies to boost their capabilities. Ford recently promoted the head of its smart mobility unit to chief executive and aims to have a mass market fully autonomous car by 2021.
James Gill
I lead Lewis Silkin’s Commercial and Technology Group.
james.gill@lewissilkin.com
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My new job - Lindsey Kuper [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
My new job [Mar. 19th, 2011|02:41 pm]
[ Tags | mozilla ]
A week ago today, I moved to Mountain View, California to start an internship at Mozilla with the team working on the Rust programming language. My colleague Tim and I both started this past Monday, and our mentor, Dave Herman, introduced us to the rest of the company at the weekly meeting. Since then, in addition to seeking out the answers to important research questions such as "Where's the bathroom?", I've been learning my way around the existing Rust implementations, getting myself set up to develop Rust, writing a little code, having lots of good conversations with the rest of the team, and deciding on short-term and long-term projects to tackle. There's a lot of excitement among people on the team right now (not to mention among people at the whole company, because of the impending Firefox 4 release!), and I'm learning new things every day.
The only really bad thing that's happened is that the first computer that I was given at work, a shiny new ThinkPad, turned out to be a lemon. By Tuesday morning, it was freezing up about every 20 or 30 minutes as I was trying to set up a Rust development environment and get LLVM and the self-hosted Rust compiler to build. We reimaged it and started over, but by Wednesday it was crashing before even getting to the Ubuntu login screen. It was at that point that Dave declared my computer to be a "conscientious objector" and arranged for me to get a replacement. In the meantime, I went and got my own laptop from home and established that with a few tweaks, the build could be made to work on OS X 10.5, which no one had tried previously (the other Mac folks on the team were all on 10.6). The rest of the silver lining is that by the time I received the replacement ThinkPad yesterday afternoon, it was the fourth time I'd had to set up a new machine for Rust development, so I more or less had it down to a shell script. Thankfully, I haven't had any problems with the new ThinkPad, so now I have Rust building on two platforms.
I could go on at length about all the ways in which I'm finding working at Mozilla to be great, but right now I'll just mention one. At all the better places I've worked -- IBCTV, GrammaTech, and now Mozilla -- people have used IRC to communicate with each other. Each time, I've been privileged to have hilarious, brilliant co-workers who are a joy to chat with on IRC, and I've often wished that I could share the brilliance and humor of those IRC conversations with my friends outside the company. At most places, that isn't allowed, but at Mozilla it is. Anyone can come join the #rust channel on irc.mozilla.org to see what the Rust team is talking about today. On my first day, complete strangers were welcoming me in #rust. People I've silently admired on the Internet for years were there. A lot of them don't even work at Mozilla -- they just like to hang out on our IRC server, and we like that they do. I was going to try to assert that there was something to be learned from this state of affairs, something about the essence of open source, but I'll leave the grandiose claims for another time; for now, I'll just say that this state of affairs is pretty cool, and I'd like to invite you to come hang out, too. (Of course, I can't guarantee that we'll actually be brilliant and humorous at any given time, but you're getting what you pay for.) We're usually around during something like business hours, Pacific time. In fact, if you're using Firefox and you have ChatZilla installed, you can just click right here to join us. And if you're interested in Mozilla stuff, but nascent programming languages aren't your thing -- and I certainly wouldn't blame you if that were the case -- there are lots of other channels on irc.mozilla.org that might interest you. Come say hello!
Oh, and also! I need your help. At my desk at work, there's a place to put a name tag of some sort; it will accommodate a rectangular sign about 3 inches tall and 7 inches wide, or something like that. I'm supposed to come up with a name tag to put there, but this kind of thing has never been my strong suit. Who wants to draw a badass name tag for me? Anything goes as long as my name is clearly visible. (I've been told that having a name tag will help prevent other people from absconding with my desk, which will become a very real concern in a couple of months when a bunch more interns arrive.)
All my SIGBOVIK paper ideas are of the title-says-it-all nature. Maybe someday I'll have something to submit.
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Phone hacking reporter says "more to come" (interview)
He broke the story that destroyed a 168-year-old newspaper, humiliated one of the world's most powerful media moguls and cast a spotlight on a phone hacking scandal that has embroiled politicians, police and journalists.
(AP) — He broke the story that destroyed a 168-year-old newspaper, humiliated one of the world's most powerful media moguls and cast a spotlight on a phone hacking scandal that has embroiled politicians, police and journalists.
And he says there is more to come.
Guardian journalist Nick Davies spent years investigating phone hacking claims in the face of police indifference and ridicule from rivals.
"It's a great story about the abuse of power," Davies stated. "That's what all journalists want to expose, isn't it? The abuse of power."
It all began in 2005, when the News of the World tabloid published a story about Prince William suffering a knee injury.
Royal household staff believed the paper, part of the Rupert Murdoch media empire, could only have known about the injury by listening to the prince's messages and asked police to investigate.
The inquiry led to two men working for the News of the World: Reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who were jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on messages left on the cell phones of royal aides, including some from Prince William and his brother Harry.
The tabloid's editor, Andy Coulson, said he knew nothing about the men's actions but still resigned. Soon after, then-opposition leader David Cameron hired Coulson as his communications chief and kept him on when he became prime minister in May 2010.
Although interest faded in the story, Davies stayed on the trail.
Suspecting the practice of phone hacking was more widespread, Davies turned to sources he had cultivated during some 30 years at The Guardian.
The Guardian ran his piece in 2009. It revealed that Rupert Murdoch's papers had paid out more than 1 million pounds to settle law suits involving allegations of hacking into phone messages, as well as illegally accessing tax records, social security files and bank statements of politicians, actors and sports stars.
Davies said police had evidence that thousands of people — from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sienna Miller to politicians including former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott — had been targeted by private investigators working for Murdoch papers.
He said court papers showed a suit brought against the News of the World by Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballer's Association, was settled in exchange for a gag order preventing Taylor from talking about the case.
It wasn't until last week, however, that the scandal exploded with Davis' revelation that the News of the World had hacked into the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim, Milly Dowler, and may have impeded a police investigation into her 2002 disappearance by deleting some messages.
Until then, the public believed the phone hacking scandal only affected celebrities, sports stars, politicians and the royal family — powerful people who needed no help in battling the British tabloids. But the idea of reporters listening in to messages left for a murdered schoolgirl proved too much.
Cameron, who had once defended Coulson, was forced to distance himself from him. Murdoch's U.K. company, News International, shut down News of the World, saying the paper had become too toxic to survive. Police officers, too, offered up a series of apologies for not investigating earlier.
And on Wednesday, Murdoch withdrew his bid for control of satellite broadcasting behemoth British Sky Broadcasting after Cameron joined opposition parties in opposing the takeover.
"When I wrote the story about Milly Dowler, I sent an email to (my) editor saying I think this is the most powerful story so far. But I did not foresee the extent of the emotional impact," Davies told the AP.
"It was almost unreal to watch ... The prime minister, who had been so close to Murdoch and keen to defend the BSkyB and defend Coulson suddenly flipped his position."
Davies has also clashed with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whom he persuaded to work with The Guardian in releasing Wikileaks material.
The two men later fell out after Davies reported that Swedish police were investigating allegations that Assange sexually assaulted two women. Some of Assange's supporters criticized The Guardian for running the story against such a key source, but Davies says that's how journalists become corrupt — by staying away from stories about people they are close to.
Davies says his latest reports about the hacking scandal are only the beginning.
"There are still ways this story can expand its scope," he said. "The story may expand to other newspapers and other techniques for getting information. And it could well expand to other countries."
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Solar Powered Metro Sets a Shining Example
Santiago, Chile, will soon roll out the world’s first public transportation system run primarily on solar powered energy. PR Newswire reports that electricity generated by a new solar power plant will fill up to 60 percent of Metro of Santiago’s energy demand starting sometime in 2017.
Who’s Making the Switch
Metro of Santiago, an underground railway network, serves Chile’s capital city. The system was once described by SantiagoTourist.com as “very clean, efficient and packed like sardines during rush hours.” The system currently carries 2.2 million passengers per day in a city with a population of more than five million.
The Power Behind the Project
The Metro will receive power generated from the El Pelicano Solar project, a 100-megawatt solar power plant going up near the cities of La Higuera and Vallenar. An agreement between Total and SunPower Corp. says the latter will purchase 300 gigawatt hours per year for “the supply of clean, solar energy” to Metro of Santiago. Oil and gas company, Total, is the world’s second ranked solar energy operator with SunPower.
Eduardo Medina is SunPower’s executive vice president of global power plants. He says, “Solar is an ideal energy source for Chile because of the country’s high solar resource and transparent energy policies.”
Bernard Clément, Total’s senior vice president, Business & Operations of the New Energies division, agrees. “We are proud to partner with Metro in developing a new way of powering public transportation systems through competitive, reliable and clean energy.”
Fast Tracking Solar Powered Transportation
If all goes according to plan, construction of the solar power plant to fuel the metro system will begin later this year and should be up and running by late next year. That puts Metro of Santiago on track to run on mostly solar energy by late 2017.
Explore Chile’s Metro of Santiago, or learn more about solar power plants and the benefits of solar energy.
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Céline Dion reschedules Manchester tour dates
Photo: Dave J Hogan / Getty Images
Following last month's devastating attack on Manchester, Manchester Arena has made every effort to reopen, but has announced it must remain closed until late September 2017 while it undergoes repairs on its main foyer.
Céline Dion was due to play at the Arena on Sunday 25 June and Tuesday 1 August, but will now play the First Direct Arena, Leeds on Sunday 25 June and Wednesday 2 August.
Current ticket holders will receive a refund and will be offered the chance to purchase tickets for the new shows at the First Direct Arena via unique links. They will be informed of when they will receive their refunds and when tickets will be available to them as soon as possible by the ticketing agents.
In a statement posted on the arena’s website:
"Following last month’s devastating attack on the city we are now working towards re-opening Manchester Arena in early September. Whilst it was always our intention to honour our existing summer events, the damage caused to the main public area of the arena has left us with no other option than to remain closed until September. We are currently working with the promoters of our June, July and August shows to find suitable solutions for events affected by this unprecedented closure."
Any tickets for the two new Leeds shows not purchased by the original ticket purchasers will go on sale to the general public on Thursday 22 June at 10AM. These will be available to purchase by calling 0844 248 1585 or by visiting firstdirectarena.com.
Tickets for all UK shows are available from AXS (08448 24 48 24 | axs.com) and Ticketmaster (0844 844 0444 | ticketmaster.co.uk)
Tagged: Celine Dion, Manchester, Leeds
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IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde visits Masdar City
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; February 11, 2019: Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), visited Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (‘Masdar’) yesterday to witness the progress of Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable urban community, Masdar City, and learn how investment in youth is helping the UAE to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She also toured Khalifa University of Science and Technology’s Masdar City Campus.
Lagarde was briefed on Masdar’s role as a global renewable energy leader and as a pioneer for sustainable real estate through its development of Masdar City, which is now home to thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses.
Masdar officials presented on the company’s diverse portfolio of renewable energy projects, as well as the city’s success in raising awareness of the commercial viability of low-carbon urban development.
Lagarde, who has led the IMF since 2011 and provides financial oversight for its 189 member countries, was briefed on this year’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) and how a number of its key initiatives including the Zayed Sustainability Prize, WiSER, Youth 4 Sustainability, and the Masdar Emerging Leaders Programme are empowering youth to become active sustainability leaders.
ADSW 2019 also hosted the inaugural Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum, at which 25 public and private sector organisations, including Masdar, committed to support the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration to jointly advocate sustainable finance and investment that fosters positive social, economic and environmental impacts.
Lagarde, on her visit to Masdar City, said: “It is inspiring to hear so many young people speak so passionately about their collective drive towards achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals. We rely on the next generation to continue to innovate and find solutions to address our global sustainability challenges.”
“We are delighted to receive Christine Lagarde at Masdar City, especially at a time when the nation is observing Innovation Month, so that she can see the investment the UAE is making in sustainable development, and the role we at Masdar and other stakeholders are playing in empowering youth through knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.
“Youth engagement is a core element of our commitment at Masdar to help the UAE achieve its sustainability goals. This opportunity to share insights on these initiatives with Ms Lagarde, and benefit from her vast experience, will help us encourage even more young UAE nationals to become involved in the sustainability sector, whether in research, entrepreneurship, or raising awareness.”
The visit included presentations from three innovative start-up companies supported by The Catalyst, a joint venture between Masdar and multinational energy company BP.
The startups were BonApp, a mobile application designed to reduce food waste by allowing consumers to purchase fresh but unsold food from restaurants at a discount; De L’Arta, a company specialising in sustainable soil regeneration techniques as well as natural skincare products extracted from UAE native plants; and The Febits, which utilises autonomous sea-surface cleaning robots to clear oil spills and pollutants.
Lagarde also met with young Emirati students and researchers of Khalifa University, who presented research projects on a range of topics including renewable-powered hydrogen production plants and sustainable water desalination technologies.
Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: “We welcome Christine Lagarde to Masdar Institute and her interest in advanced research projects in energy and water-related areas, which demonstrate our status as a top-ranked academic institution dedicated to encouraging sustainable initiatives among the youth.
“Khalifa University’s 16 research centres that drive intellectual capital creation are focused on the UAE’s strategically essential sectors such as clean energy, aerospace, nuclear engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology as well as oil & gas. We believe Lagarde’s visit will help highlight our scientific research in sustainability among the other United Nations organisations and the benefits they bring to the wider global community.”
To conclude the tour, Lagarde participated in a roundtable discussion led by Dr Lamya Fawwaz, Masdar’s Executive Director for Brand & Strategic Initiatives, and Director of the Zayed Sustainability Prize.
About Khalifa University of Science and Technology
The Khalifa University of Science and Technology merges the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research and the Petroleum Institute into one world-class, research-intensive institution, producing world leaders and critical thinkers in applied science and engineering. The Khalifa University of Science and Technology endeavors to be a catalyst to the growth of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s rapidly developing knowledge economy as an education destination of choice and a global leader among research intensive universities.
For more information, please visit: http://www.ku.ac.ae/
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Photo essay: Wildlife and culture on Grand Manan Island
in paid partnership with
William Drumm
For the last 2,500 years or so, Atlantic tides and the abundance of sealife they contain have formed the identity of New Brunswick maritime culture.
In 1784 the first settlement was established and then, like now, fishing was not only a means of sustenance and survival, but also a source of enjoyment. Weir fishing, an ancient technique that tricks shoals of sardines into permanent wooden nets, is still practiced in New Brunswick. These days few can make a living off weir fishing, as decades of overfishing have depleted the stock to a fraction of its traditional size. And it’s not only the sardines that have been overfished. In 1992, the Canadian government put a moratorium on North Atlantic cod fishing. The cod had been decimated by 500 years of people taking as much as they could catch. At the time, it was estimated that less than 1% of the original cod biomass in the Atlantic remained.
Despite the depletion, the diversity of wildlife has brought crowds of people — like me — camera in hand, hoping to glimpse the still-beautiful natural bounty of the Bay of Fundy…making tourism the other leading industry in the province. But just like the fishermen and the canneries, the lives of those working in this burgeoning sector are tied hand and foot to the health of the environment. The future of New Brunswick’s fragile ecosystems remains unclear. Will the tourism industry help protect, preserve, and replenish the great natural abundance that originally drew people to this place? I hope so.
Atlantic Puffin
An Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) basks in the sun on a warm day on Machias Seal Island, in the Bay of Fundy. These birds are pelagic, spending most of their lives at sea, and returning to land only to breed. Machias Seal Island is home to around 6,000 pairs of the birds, who lay only one egg per year, and often mate for life.
Bay of Fundy
A fishing weir on the coast of Grand Manan Island. Weir fishing is an ancient practice that relies on local knowledge of currents and tides. This type of fishing was once very common on the island, but now only a handful of operations exist.
Dark Harbour
An old lookout at Dark Harbour. The western shore of Grand Manan is mostly inaccessible except by boat. Dark Harbour is one of the few exceptions.
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The seaweed known as dulse dries in the sun at Roland's Sea Vegetables near Dark Harbour, on the west coast of Grand Manan Island. The seaweed is said to be some of the the best in the world (at least by Grand Manan locals), and is an export that is far more reliable than fish, although not as profitable.
Lighthouse and bluff
A short cliffside stroll near North Head will take you to the Swallowtail Lighthouse. 152 years after it was built, the lighthouse still stands as an icon of the island through the cold Bay of Fundy winters and bright summers. Large gray seals are often seen from these cliffs stealing fish from the fishing wiers near the shore. This could also be the best place to take in a sunrise on Grand Manan.
Lighthouse field
Another view of the Swallowtail Lighthouse. This structure greets all those arriving to Grand Manan by ferry. It opened on July 7, 1860, after a series of shipwrecks on the north coast of Grand Manan. In one wreck, the 1,009-ton Lord Ashburton sunk during a midnight gale, taking the lives of 21 crewmen.
Flowers and grasses thrive in the tidal wetlands of Castalia Marsh. This unique coastal ecosystem is in constant flux and has adapted to the salt- and freshwater flows.
Canadian National Railway train plows through the snow like nobody’s business
Morgane Croissant
Mussels are cooked with locally harvested dulse at McLaughin's Wharf Inn, on Grand Manan Island. Dulse is an edible seaweed that grows in abundance on the north side of the island.
Puffin and fish
An Atlantic Puffin prepares to feed its underground chicks a meal of fish on Machias Seal Island. The birds have special hooks that let them hold onto several fish at once, while hunting and catching yet more. Puffins feed almost exclusively on fish, making them as reliant on fish stocks as humans in the Bay of Fundy.
Seal Cove
The stillness of dawn reflects tidal piers in Seal Cove. The small town was once the sight of a large cannery operation, and now is home to the Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame.
The lower half of a dilapidated pier in Seal Cove is draped in seaweed and muck. Every day 20-30ft tidal exchanges sweep the coasts of the island, creating a line of demarcation between the dry and the frequently submerged.
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Two puffins
Atlantic Puffins form monogamous pairs and spread the burden of raising the tiny puffin babies between both parents.
I saw a mother and baby humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) surface in the Bay of Fundy while on a whale watching trip with Whales-n-Sails. The growing tourism industry on Grand Manan is fueled largely by whale watching. But as herring populations diminish, whale behavior is harder to predict.
This post is proudly produced in partnership with Destination Canada.
Canada: Explore Like a Local
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Russian documents reveal desire to sow racial discord and violence in the U.S.
NBC News Screenshot
They racist troll campaign is well underway with Donald Trump Jr.'s questioning Kamala Harris's 'American Blackness'
NBC News - May 2019
Russians who were linked to interference in the 2016 U.S. election discussed ambitious plans to stoke unrest and even violence inside the U.S. as recently as 2018, according to documents reviewed by NBC News.
The documents — communications between associates of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked oligarch indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for previous influence operations against the U.S. — laid out a new plot to manipulate and radicalize African Americans. The plans show that Prigozhin’s circle has sought to exploit racial tensions well beyond Russia’s social media and misinformation efforts tied to the 2016 election.
The documents were obtained through the Dossier Center, a London-based investigative project funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky. NBC News has not independently verified the materials, but forensic analysis by the Dossier Center appeared to substantiate the communications.
One document said that President Donald Trump’s election had “deepened conflicts in American society” and suggested that, if successful, the influence project would “undermine the country’s territorial integrity and military and economic potential.”
The revelations come as U.S. intelligence agencies have warned of probable Russian meddling in the 2020 election. ...
Read full story at NBC News
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mediaandsociety.org
Racial representation in Hollywood
March 12, 2019 0 By Thidarat Khwanchuen
Racial diversity and representation in Hollywood has always been at its lowest. From creating a blockbuster movie with all-white actors, casting people of another race to represent black or Asian people like the casting of Emma Stone as Captain Allison Ng, who was supposed to be an Asian character by in “Aloha, 2015” by Cameron Crowe, but it turns out to be white people again. Why does the Hollywood industry is so whitewashing in the past decades and suddenly it all changes when a movie like Black Panther made a debut in 2017. Although there are many perspectives that you can view the changing trends, with no real data that can confirm the new progress of Hollywood and its race representation, we might be able to look and discuss its history and some improvement it has shown in the past decades and recent year.
Emma Stone was cast to play a role of Captain Allison Ng, an Air Force pilot who is supposed to be half Chinese and Hawaiian in “Aloha.”
In the early 20th century, racial discrimination was one of the most serious topics of that period. Most white people distinct themselves from African-American, and racism can be found everywhere. In the 19th century, popular trend that is going on in the television is “ Blackface ” or makeup technique that would apply to an actors that are not Black. This way the movie producer can avoid casting black actors into their films. As you can see, Hollywood has a long story with race representation even before it was created in the early 20th century.
Since Hollywood would never present people of other races in leading roles back then, perhaps, another version of Hollywood might be their escape to a more relatable entertaining experience. This is when blaxploitation begins. Blaxploitation is a type of exploitation film emerged in the early 1970s. The word “Blaxploitation” comes from “Black” and “Exploitation”. The films feature mostly only black actors, which they would lead both the hero and the villain roles. Even the films become very popular among black audiences, they have received many critics on stereotyping their own race. The film tends to serve what black people cannot reach and it is also influenced by the Black Power Movement. Different colors would enjoy and prefer seeing a person with the same race or as them taking an important role in the film rather than white actors like most of the other Hollywood films. Eventually, after receiving a great welcome from the audience, later on, other movies began to step out from the norms and started to feature black characters in the main role more than the part.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song , the first American independent action thriller, was launched in 1971 and hit over $15 million in the Box office.
In recent years, 2017 and 2018 seem like a good year for the diversity race representation in Hollywood industry. Movies like The Green Book, Black Panther and many more have shown the world that people of different race other than “white-people” can play a significant leading role in Hollywood movies. Meanwhile, the representation of the minority actors in this industry has now become the voice of people of all colors that they can become more than just a supporting character.
The primary cast members of Black Panther.
Black Panther, which premiered in January 2018 has remained in the spotlight as the plot of the movie focuses on Black people and represent them as superheroes. It is the first Marvel-Comic movie, which the main character is black and the culture that was represented in the film is also based on the real African culture. Undeniably, the movie extremely succeeds, which apparently ended up receiving over $1.3 billion worldwide and has been claimed to be the 3rd most successful film in US ever – according to Forbes. Many people have responded to the film in very positive ways as it is encouraging people of all colors to realize that they can have important parts in the movie. Surely that Black Panther’s accomplishment will be the fundamental and role model for several movies which will include or represent Black people as the main character.
Green book(2018) directed by Peter Farrelly.
Another film representing the way black people were treated back then is “Green Book”. Green book(2018) was directed by Peter Farrelly. The movie is about the journey of Italian-American and African-American which both of them had to rely on each other as employee and employer. The movie was based on a true story and got 13 rewards approximately. The actual event happened in 1962 with the beginning of the friendship between Don Shirley and Tony Lip. Back then, Don was treated differently since he was black. He was once told by the white producer, Sol Hurok, that he should not chase his dream of being in a classical music career. The producer claimed that Don should be in Pop and Jazz music instead because the audiences do not want colored pianist. In the film, it shows that Tony was racism before he went on a trip with Don. Tony had assumed and judged people into classes as well as most people. During the trip, Tony faced with many cases of abuse and insult action by white people toward Don. Don was not allowed to eat and use the restroom where he performs. He also was hit by white people. Don was not allowed to stay at some hotels and asked by the police to pull over the car due to being outside after sunset. Thus, Tony had to read all term and conditions in Green Book, an annual guidebook for African-American road trippers, for being an assistant with Don. This is the reason for the title Green Book, The Negro Motorist Green Book which told what hotel, restaurant, or garage Black people be able to enter.
The friendship between Don Shirley and Tony Lip are strengthened throughout the long journey.
Tony Lip and Don Shirley, comparing between in the movie and real life.
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Even there was a stereotype and the usage of black people as a media representation back then, there were people who wanted to challenge the old belief and call for justice. Spike Lee is one of them. Shelton Jackson as known as Spike Lee is an American actor, writer, producer, and director who was born in 1957. He mostly direct films in the way to interpret stereotype, racism, politics, criminal in town, or poverty. There were two of his most famous films. The first is ‘do the right thing’. This comedy-drama film was established in 1989 and also selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry. Do the right thing mostly focus on racial tension causing a riot in Brooklyn’ s Neighborhood.
Another interesting one is ‘Bamboozled’. This is the satirical comedy-drama film establishing in 2000. It shows a blackface makeup actors in the scene. Spike Lee wants to do two things from directing the ‘Bamboozled’. He wants to both entertain and educate the audiences about the history of African-American been represented in popular culture. The Bamboozled provided huge discrimination in history and also the title means being cheated.
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Another actress that has made a debut to both big screen Hollywood films, Gemma Chan. After her spectacular performance in Crazy Rich Asian last year, the film has become very popular and successful. Many people are still surprised by how the Hollywood industry decided to choose a best-selling novel that is based on Asian family. This is so unusual for Hollywood because a white Caucasian family was always their option when it comes to a comedy movie. Anyway, the most importantly is that they are no color-blind casting in this case.
Gemma Chan on Crazy Rich Asian.
Currently, Chan appears on the big screen in ‘Captain Marvel, 2019’ directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It seems like the portrayal of Minn Erva by she had destroyed the barriers of race and ethnicity in Hollywood movie so far. Watch the full interview of Chan with avclub.com
Gemma Chan portrays as a Minn Erva in Captain Marvel, 2019.
From Buzzfeed article, Chan emphasized “There are three stages. Stage one is the parts you’re being offered are very stereotypical that is based on your ethnicity. Stage two is yes, your ethnicity is a factor, but it’s a part that challenges those stereotypes in any way. And then stage three, the holy grail, is your race doesn’t come into it, you’re just cast because they think you’re the best actor for the part”.
“I’m hopefully somewhere between two and three,” she added with a laugh.Click here to read the full interview.
The questions still circle around whether is it stereotyping? Yes, we see improvement in racial representation in the film and also other industry, that is a good thing. But, does that mean those people really represent themselves as they really are or is it stereotype again. Although we have seen that there are a rising number of different racial casts for the main character in big screen movies recently, the statistic from UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report 2018 shown the there are only 1.4 of 10 lead actors in the film that are people of color. Will we see more “progress” or “zero-progress” in Hollywood? That is the question that we have been looking forward to. The year of 2019 should tell us more about their improvements, but even how people try to avoid sensitive topic, sometimes, the issues have been unintentionally emphasized more chaotic than it was expected. It can be implied that representation in each group of the society might lead to complicated and chronic issues if it is not carefully considered.
“Any time a person of color makes a movie, it’s an act of revisionism and reversal because Hollywood was absolutely forged in stereotypes.”
nofilmschool
Smith, N. M. (2015, July 17). Emma Stone says Aloha casting taught her about whitewashing in Hollywood [Web log post]. Retrieved March 09, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/17/emma-stone-admits-her-casting-in-aloha-was-misguided
Well, V. (2018, January 25). The History Of Blaxploitation Cinema [Web log post]. Retrieved March 09, 2019, from https://www.viddy-well.com/articles/the-history-of-blaxploitation-cinema
Gemma Chan on Captain Marvel, Crazy Rich Asians, and how Hollywood is changing [Web log interview]. (2019, March 08). Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://film.avclub.com/gemma-chan-on-captain-marvel-crazy-rich-asians-and-ho-1833154117
With “Captain Marvel,” Gemma Chan Is Demolishing Hollywood’s Aversion To Color-Blind Casting [Web log interview]. (2019, March 8). Retrieved March 09, 2019, from https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adambvary/captain-marvel-gemma-chan-crazy-rich-asians?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeedvideo&ref=bffbbuzzfeedvideo
Thiruchelvam |, S. (2015, December 15). revisiting bamboozled, spike lee’s satire on race and representation [Web log post]. Retrieved March 09, 2019, from https://i-d.vice.com/en_au/article/8xgedb/revisiting-bamboozled-spike-lees-satire-on-race-and-representation
Lang, Kevin. “Green Book Movie vs. the True Story of Tony Lip and Don Shirley.” HistoryvsHollywood.com, History vs. Hollywood, 8 Mar. 2019, www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/green-book/.
Watkins, G. (2019, February 19). Diversity in Hollywood 2019: By the numbers [Web log post]. Retrieved March 11, 2019, from https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/diversity-hollywood-2019-numbers-155349332.html
Harvey, S. (2017, October 04). Why Racial Representation in Film Goes Way Beyond Casting [Web log post]. Retrieved March 09, 2019, from https://nofilmschool.com/2017/10/racial-representation-film-nyff
CategoryMediaAndSociety
Tagsfilm Hollywood Media & Society
Effects of Postmodernism on Thai society
Gender Discriminations
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Jozef Van Wissem
Jozef Van Wissem is a Dutch lutenist and post-minimalist composer who has been adapting via tablature and improvising on music written for his instrument circa 1600 A.D. His work has been commissioned by London’s National Gallery to accompany Hans Hoberlien’s painting The Ambassadors, and he has written the music to the video game The Sims Medieval. He won a Soundtrack Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his score to Jim Jarmusch’s 2013 film Only Lovers Left Alive. He is also a prolific recording artist who has released many solo albums since 2000 as well as collaborating with artists James Blackshaw, Gary Lucas, Jim Jarmusch, and Tetuzi Akiyama, in addition to issuing albums on a variety of labels including his own Incunabulum. He tours nearly incessantly.
Van Wissem’s first instrument was the guitar. He studied classical music throughout his teens while being aware and a fan of emergent rock & roll sounds emanating from punk. In the 1980s he was guitarist and frontman for the post-punk/new wave act Desert Corbusier and a bar owner. Eventually tiring of the rock & roll lifestyle, he sought quieter, more focused music. Remembering the transposition of the lute repertoire for guitar, he decided to learn the instrument. He sold his bar, moved to New York, and studied the instrument formally with Patrick O’Brien, developing his own style of mirroring, via tablature, the canon for the instrument from the Middle Ages — beginning at the bottom left and finishing at the top right, inserting improvisation, new sections, and interludes along the way.
Van Wissem’s debut album, Retrograde Renaissance Lute: A Classical Deconstruction, appeared on Persephone in 2000. It startled listeners in Europe and the United States and won a surprisingly large number of press reviews. He followed it with Narcissus Drowning in 2002. In 2003, Van Wissem recorded Diplopia, his first collaborative album with Lucas. It was the first of six for Willem Breuker’s BVHaast label that also included Simulacrum: Mirror Images for Solo Lute and Electronics, issued the same year, The Universe of Absence with Lucas and Proletarian Drift with Akiyama in 2004, the solo Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear in 2005, and A Rose by Any Other Name: Anonymous Lute Solos of the Golden Age, which was the debut from Incunabulum in conjunction with BVHaast in 2006. A further collaboration with Akiyama was released by Van Wissem’s label in 2007 entitled Hymn for a Fallen Angel; the solo Stations of the Cross appeared as well. In 2008, Van Wissem and Blackshaw recorded the first of two albums as Brethren of the Free Spirit, The Wolf Shall Also Dwell with the Lamb (via Important) and All Things Are from Him, Through Him and in Him (through audioMER). He also released his solo album A Priori via Incunabulum.
Van Wissem’s reputation was spreading far and wide. He was regularly reviewed not only by the independent music press, but his international live appearances were reviewed by television and radio and in print. Between 2009 and 2011, he released three more albums with Important: It Is All That Is Made, Ex Patris, and The Joy That Never Ends. Van Wissem began recording collaboratively in 2011. Suite the Hen’s Teeth with Smegma and Downland with United Bible Studies both appeared. His recorded collaborations with film director and musician Jarmusch began in earnest with 2012’s Apokatastasis, which was followed quickly by Concerning the Entrance into Eternity and The Mystery of Heaven. Each release was on a different label. That year also saw the release of Movement in Marble/Stone with electro-acoustic composer Gregg Kowalsky.
In 2013, Van Wissem issued the solo album Nihil Obstat on Important, and with it the title track to the score for Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, in collaboration with the director’s band SQÜRL. The full soundtrack, which also featured Yasmine Hamdan, Zola Jesus, and Madeline Follin (Cults), was released in 2014, after the score won the Cannes Award. In December, Van Wissem issued the solo album It Is Time for You to Return on Crammed Discs. That album featured Fo¨llakzoid’s Domingo Garcia-Huidobro, who directed the dreamlike 2012 film Partir to Live; Van Wissem also collaborated on the score, which was released in 2015 by Sacred Bones.
01 If There's Nothing Left Where Will You Go
02 Love Destroys All Evil
03 Once More With Feeling
04 Confinement
05 Wherever You Will Live I Will Live
06 You Can't Take It With You
07 Temple Dance Of The Soul
08 After We Leave
09 Invocation Of The Spirit Spell
It Is Time For You To Return
Released: December 2, 2014
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Joshua Fineberg
Joshua Fineberg is an Associate Professor of Music, Composition and Theory at Boston University. He has won various prizes, fellowships, and scholarships, including ASCAP; Ars Electronica; Boris and Edna Rapoport Prize; Arnold Salop Prize; yearly ASCAP Awards; and the Randolph S. Rothschild Award. Commissions from major international institutions and performers, including Fromm Foundation, Robert Levin, French Ministry of Culture, l'IRCAM, Marianne Gythfeldt, Radio France, American Pianists Association, Ensemble Court-Circuit, Ensemble l"Itineraire, CCMIX, Dominique My, and Ensemble FA. His "imagined opera" Lolita for actor, dancers, video, ensemble and electronics was premiered in Europe in 2008 and in the United States in 2009 in a version staged by Jim Clayburgh and Johanne Saunier's Joji company. Besides his compositional and pedagogical activities, Joshua Fineberg actively collaborates with computer scientists and music psychologists, and he has been involved in performing ensembles and as artistic director for recordings. Joshua Fineberg was also the issue editor for two issues of The Contemporary Music Review on "Spectral Music" and for a double issue featuring the collected writings of Tristan Murail in English. He also served as the US Editor for The Contemporary Music Review from 2003-2009. His book Classical Music, Why Bother? was released in June 2006. Former faculty member at Columbia University and Harvard University. Music published by Editions Max Eschig and Gerard Billaudot Editeur. Recordings of his work released by Accord/Universal, Harmonia Mundi, and Mode Records. Present position, 2007Bio courtesy of his faculty page.
Sculpting sound. An introduction to the spectral movement: Its ideas, techniques and music
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Pure Science: An Old Name with Some New Ways of Thinking
Shreyas Vissapragada
Shreyas Vissapragada (CC ’17) is majoring in Astrophysics with a concentration in either Computer Science or Chemistry. He is originally from Aurora, Illinois, and is very active with Columbia University Quiz Bowl. Additionally, Shreyas is a member of the Undergraduate Recruitment Committee and he is interested in academic research on campus. In the future, he hopes to become a professor, a science writer, or a NASA researcher.
“Shall our country be contented to stand by, while other countries lead in the race?”
-H.A. Rowland, “A Plea For Pure Science” (1883)
Over a hundred years ago, in the second-ever issue of Science, H.A. Rowland made an impassioned plea on behalf of his field. But he did not define his field with specificity, as scientists usually do—he did not identify as an astronomer, or a chemist, or a physicist. Instead, he identified himself with “pure science”: a science, he argued, that was done purely for the sake of learning about the world in which we live (Rowland 242). In its formative stages, pure science was met with heavy opposition. In the 1850s, the influential Senator Stephen A. Douglass, for instance, heavily promoted research into agricultural technology over electromagnetism and optics (Trigilio). So, in the face of arguments for the practical, for the realistic, for the applied, Rowland published a poignant defense of the quixotic. Incredibly, Rowland’s hundred-year-old rhetoric echoes across generations—political speeches still rally around getting America “back to the top” of Rowland’s implied race of scientific education and research.
Modern as Rowland’s ideas may sound, they are outdated, and so too is the status quo understanding of scientific research in the United States today. The idea of science research as a “race” has been a myth for quite some time; scientists have worked together across borders for years and years to learn more about the world. South Korea might always be a step ahead of America in whatever science ranking system the media chooses to publicize, but the reality of science research is that South Koreans and Americans work together in labs and groups quite frequently. And just as this collaboration spans physical space, it spans time as well. As Neil deGrasse Tyson, the popular astrophysicist, put it in COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey, “Science is a cooperative enterprise, spanning the generations. It’s the passing of a torch from teacher to student to teacher, a community of minds reaching back to antiquity and forward to the stars” (Tyson). The nature of science has changed: it isn’t competitive; it’s collaborative.
The nature of pure science embodies this distinction. Whereas applied scientists must deal with patents, copyrights, and the business of the products they eventually create, all of which inevitably introduces some competition, pure science is almost totally collaborative. And while the method by which pure science researchers obtain money to perform their work—the dreaded grant application process—can be competitive at times, the science itself is not done to push one group of people ahead of the other. It’s done to learn more about the world. Pure science as a research field was born against strong opposition, with very few people like Rowland to defend it; yet it grew into a collaborative field across nations that has produced the most brilliant minds of our time and the most novel ways in which we consider our universe.
But this glorious bastion of knowledge and understanding is in danger of being lost—not only in America, but also across the world. The existence of pure science has been under threat from politicians and businessmen almost since its disengagement from engineering and applied science, but never before have these threats warranted extinction. And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening: new attitudes towards pure science, motivated by politics and economics, have driven pure science to the boundary of a bleak future. And to understand the extent of this dystopian fate, one need only look to the northern border.
Many Canadian politicians believe that the era of pure science has come to a close, with Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, even going so far as to state that “the day is past when a researcher could hit a home run simply by publishing a paper on some new discovery” (qtd. in Semeniuk). Ironically, announcements about the Higgs boson, the Planck satellite, and cosmic inflation, announcements which began just as papers on new discoveries, have been all over the news in the past two years alone. Clearly, the day is not past.
But unfortunately, Canadian politicians seem to pay no heed to science news. Their government has shifted its focus on science research, only providing funding to specific applied science areas and effectively leaving pure science for dead. The current situation in Canada has painted an austere future for pure science. The new mindset of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is perhaps best explained by one of the foremost advocates for science within the Canadian Parliament, Kennedy Stewart: “They see [pure science] as a kind of cash cow which is taking up a lot of money in Canada, and it’s not really generating short-term economic benefit, so they think it has to be radically restructured. […] It’s an ill-conceived move” (qtd. in Mancini).
To the Canadian government, “short-term economic benefits” are the only gains to be made from science—nothing more. Indeed, Canada’s newfound focus on “research in areas that are in the national interest from a social and economic perspective” shows exactly what they think science should be: a financial asset (qtd. in Mancini). And this mindset is not at all limited to the Canadian government. When I, a first-year student studying chemistry and astrophysics at Columbia, return from my sheltered world of New York City academia to my decidedly non-academic household, I am quickly reminded that “You want to be a…researcher…why not an engineer?” is a question I can expect once a week. At a large research university, no one seriously questions the motivations behind pure research, and certainly no one pushes for someone to radically rethink their field of study solely because it is pure. The motivations behind the question I must answer back home and behind Canada’s new science policy are largely the same: they stem from the assumption that pure science does not contribute as much as applied science—or at all, for that matter. This status quo mindset is what threatens the continued study of pure science today.
To conserve something that is threatened by societal preconception, we must radically rethink the status quo. So goes the argument made by William Cronon in his environmentalist masterpiece, “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In it, he argues that the public perception of wilderness is so flawed that it prevents environmentalism from achieving its goal of conservation. Rather than defining ourselves as separate from the wilderness, he claims, we must define ourselves with the wilderness. Rather than conserving some “other” entity, we must conserve something with which we coexist. A similar rationale can be used to understand how societal perceptions must change to conserve pure science. As with Cronon’s “wilderness,” the current perception of pure science is that of an “other”—specifically, that it is something non-human that we use to earn human profit or to benefit human society in some way. This conception of pure science is very much akin to the idea of wilderness as a “pristine sanctuary” that exists only to give humanity access to the untainted (Cronon 7).
But wilderness, as Cronon argues, is not a pristine sanctuary; “instead, it is a product of that civilization” which we fear will “taint” it (Cronon 7). In the same way, to rethink pure science, we must recognize that pure science is not simply an asset or a liability that exists for our gain. It is a collection of fields that captivate the imaginations of the least curious of children and the most brilliant of researchers. It is a mode of thinking that continues to motivate applied science today. And it is done independent of the pockets of corporations; it is done for the sake of learning about the world, of explaining and comprehending the beauty of the universe. Pure science, like Cronon’s wilderness, is not distinct from us—it is us. Our discovery of subatomic structure was not made with economics in mind; it was made to explain the particles that make us. When pure science is misunderstood as a financial liability, it holds no importance to Harper and his business-minded model for Canadian growth. But pure science is not about business. It is science done for the sake of understanding our world and ourselves, and the worth in that understanding is incompatible with the scales of economic success so often used to judge how much things matter.
At the same time, incredibly, pure science does more than just fostering this understanding. It contributes to the financial growth of a nation just as much as it contributes to the intellectual growth. In his testimony presented to the U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Tyson poignantly made this argument in a defense of the pure science of a national space program:
Epic space adventures plant seeds of economic growth, because doing what’s never been done before is intellectually seductive (whether deemed practical or not), and innovation follows, just as day follows night. When you innovate, you lead the world, you keep your jobs, and concerns over tariffs and trade imbalances evaporate. The call for this adventure would echo loudly across society and down the educational pipeline. (Tyson)
Pure science not only promotes long-term economic growth (which is something that Canada will surely lack if it continues to eschew pure science in its entirety), but does so by inspiring the populace to grow together as an intellectual community—as a community of “innovators,” in Tyson’s words.
Tyson’s comments on the worth of pure science are not merely the philosophical musings of an emotional astrophysicist; rather, they are empirical, backed up by the history of the Space Race. One of the most well-studied figures in the history of pure science was the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, Joseph Henry. Henry frequently went head-to-head with the previously mentioned Stephen A. Douglass regarding the worth of pure sciences like electromagnetism and optics (Trigilio). While Douglass championed the seemingly more utilitarian agricultural engineering, Henry was able to convince one of his most important followers to learn all that he could about electromagnetism and pure science—and that follower, Alexander Graham Bell, went on to create the first telephone. The science and technology of electromagnetics would go on to become a hugely important part of intellectual revolutions in America; now, it’s impossible to find products that aren’t built around the functionality of a computer, which, at the core of its hardware, is based on electromagnetic systems. Even the agricultural technology championed by Douglass has come to depend on computerized processes to optimize output.
My aim is not to dismiss engineering—which was indeed necessary to build new technologies like the telephone and computer, and is still necessary today—but to exalt the pure science that created the intellectual space from which all that success derived. The historical anecdote highlights the immensely important role that pure science has played in the growth of American society—intellectually and, in the long run, financially. History does not side with Harper’s model of a future without pure science.
In the United States, a new understanding of pure science is of the utmost importance. America is at a crossroads when it comes to science. Historically, America has left her mark on the most pivotal pure science developments of the last few centuries—from the theorization of new systems of kinetics governing chemical reactions to the theorization (and discovery) of new subatomic particles. These discoveries have come from a variety of locations: private universities across the country, national laboratories such as Fermilab and Brookhaven, even private research firms. Regardless of the location, the United States has been intimately involved in funding and perpetuating pure science research. No research—whether through a private or public organization—could sustain itself without the funding of the National Science Foundation. But recent developments in American science policy and public perception have threatened the country’s involvement in pure science to an extent almost rivaling Canada. This is not dangerous because it puts us at the bottom of some hypothetical “science race” between countries; it is dangerous because it removes a crucial collaborator in the global conversation that pure science has become. To understand the extent to which America is being pulled out of the global scientific conversation, we must consider perhaps the most threatened scientific agency that our government has to offer: NASA.
Space science is decidedly pure: it does not seek to offer immediate economic benefit (though it has done so many times—a fact that will be addressed later), and it is done primarily to understand more about the universe. NASA, then, is certainly an organization of pure science—but it’s a dying one. NASA has been on a steady decline for years, its fate championed by Michael Gough, author of the 1997 Cato Institute white paper “Don’t Lavish Funds on NASA.” In the article, Gough urges the government to cut funding to NASA, citing the increasing privatization of science and the high risks without reward of a manned space program as two main reasons to do so (Gough). It’s worth noting that the Cato Institute is decidedly Libertarian, and thus holds the view that the government shouldn’t really play a role in anything. But it’s also worth noting that its calls to action have effectively been realized. Calls for the privatization of science funding have only gotten stronger, and NASA’s budget has fallen to about half of what it was in 1997.
But what else has happened since 1997? For one, NASA’s output has lessened significantly. And why wouldn’t it? As funding decreases, so too should output. This basic consequence is something that Gough understood, but his predicted solution, privatization, has not occurred. Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, the frontrunner in the private space industry, has grown over the last decade to the point that it is now valued at over a billion dollars (Wells), yet its research has not amounted to a fundamentally new understanding of rocket science. Furthermore, much of the private space industry (including SpaceX) operates on governmental contracts provided by NASA itself (Stenovec). The private space sector heralded by Gough as the solution to the space science funding problem hasn’t amounted to much, and, furthermore, is still inextricably linked to NASA. If NASA, the central cog that drives both governmental and private innovation, loses funding and fails, the American presence in astronomical research will fade into nothingness.
And yet, much of the public still supports Gough’s views. Debate.org recently asked the public, “Should America continue spending money on NASA?”, and the rationales given for the many “No” votes are telling. Importantly, lurking behind the “No” answers is most often the statement that we cannot afford NASA, or that it doesn’t produce tangible benefits to society. First, this statement is guilty of misinformation: NASA, in fact, only takes up a negligible 0.5% of the national budget (Tyson). But more than misinformation, this argument reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of NASA and the benefits that it provides. To conserve NASA’s funding, as with the Crononian conservation of pure wilderness, this perception must change.
Changing this perception requires a fundamental understanding of the facts, and the facts are simple. NASA is certainly a microcosm of pure science in America—it is an organization based first and foremost on the principle of research for the sake of understanding and learning—but it has had an incredible amount of side impacts, from the education of the American public to spinoff products that have bolstered the American economy. NASA not only hosts many different space exploration and research projects, ranging from theoretical astrophysics research on pulsars to the practicalities of actually sending humans into space, but also plays a pivotal role in both inspiring America’s youth and granting them access to tools that will help fulfill that inspiration. And while NASA does all of these things with the genuine purpose of helping the world learn more about the universe in which we live, one of the nicer side effects is that technological spinoffs of NASA’s research can—according to one conservative estimate in Nature—multiply the money put into the program by a factor of at least two: every dollar put into NASA has historically returned, on average, around two dollars and ten cents (Bezdek and Wendling 106). While the short-term economic benefits of NASA are admittedly small, the long-term benefits are verifiably enormous.
The critique is that we cannot afford NASA, but the reality is that no one can put a price tag on that kind of research, that kind of education, that kind of intellectual inspiration that drives innovation for generations to come. Just as pure science has worth both in the understanding that research brings and in the long-term financial stability that comes with it, NASA drives American society toward a greater state of knowing while simultaneously paving a road to a more educated, economically secure future.
This trend of pure science uncovering knowledge while providing economic and intellectual security is the reason why, fifty or a hundred years down the line, Canada will not be able to realize the long-term economic benefits of pure science while any other country currently invested in that research will; instead, it will realize the folly of Harper’s business-minded science regime so many years before. The trend is exemplified by how nineteenth century research into electromagnetism produced incredible new markets and technologies and economies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. And it’s a trend that American lawmakers must understand both for the sake of the continued existence of pure science and for the sake of the economic vitality of our nation.
Science and society have always been at odds with each other; as John F. Kennedy once said, “Scientists alone can establish the objectives of their research, but society, in extending support to science, must take account of its own needs” (Kennedy). But when we redefine pure science as an intellectual restoration of the creativity and vitality of the human spirit as well as a serendipitous economic investment with a guaranteed payoff, we bridge the gap between science and society. We solve the age-old question of why we should choose to fund this endeavor at all. Policymakers must understand and accept a refined definition of pure science in the context of society to ensure the intellectual progress of our society as a whole. When we recognize that we perform pure science to understand our surroundings and ourselves, that fiscal gain is not an end goal but a fortunate consequence of this important field of research, we can transform our nation—as Tyson so eloquently put it in his Congressional address—“from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow.”
Bezdek, Roger H., and Robert M. Wendling. “Sharing Out NASA’s Spoils.” Nature 355 (1992): 105–106. Print.
Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness: Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” Environmental History 1.1 (1996): 7–28. Print.
Gough, Michael. “Don’t Lavish Funds on NASA.” Cato Institute. Text. N. p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Greenberg, Daniel S. The Politics of Pure Science. New York: New American Library, 1968. Print.
Kennedy, John F. “Address at the Anniversary Convocation of the National Academy of Sciences.” October 22, 1963. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9488. 11 Nov. 2014.
Mancini, Melissa. “Science Cuts: Ottawa Views Pure Science As ‘Cash Cow,’ Critics Say.” The Huffington Post Canada. N. p., 7 May 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
Rowland, H. A. “A Plea for Pure Science.” Science 2.29 (1883): 242–250. Print.
Semeniuk, Barrie. “Research Council’s Makeover Leaves Canadian Industry Setting the Agenda.” The Globe and Mail. News. N. p., 7 May 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
“Should America Continue Spending Money on NASA?” Debate.org. N. p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Stenovec, Timothy. “NASA Awards Boeing, SpaceX & Sierra Nevada Corp. With Contracts For Space Shuttle Replacements.” Huffington Post. N. p., 3 Aug. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Trigilio, Merri Lisa. “A Smithsonian Dilemma: Pure Scientific Research, ‘A Thousand Applications,’ or Both? – O Say Can You See?” N. p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Tyson, Neil deGrasse. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. FOX Network, 9 Mar. 2014. Television. r. 2014.
—— “Past, Present, and Future of NASA – U. S. Senate Testimony.” (Date 3/7/2012). HaydenPlanetarium.com. N.p. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
Wells, Jane. “Elon Musk on Why SpaceX Has the Right Stuff to Win the Space Race.” CNBC.com. N. p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2012.
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Free Community Day at MOSTHistory features The Big Squeeze and Pass the Pages
by Pamela Morales | Apr 18, 2019 | Admissions, Collections, News, Programs & Special Events
How long has it been since you visited the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg? If you can’t remember, or even if you made a visit last week, make plans to attend MOSTHistory’s “Free Community Day,” a free admission event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27.
Starting at 10 a.m., the museum’s Collections Staff will host “Preservation Week: Pass the Pages,” a book swap event. Instead of throwing away old books, exchange them or share them with participating organizations which include The South Texas Literacy Coalition, McAllen Public Library, Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library, UTRGV Book Buzz and UTRGV special collections. To celebrate Preservation Week, MOSTHistory is hosting these organizations that will have books available to exchange and will also be accepting donations of previously owned books. This event will be ongoing until 3 p.m. in the Grand Lobby. It is recommended to bring a bag to carry your books.
Preservation Week is an annual event founded by several national organizations including the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. The goal of Preservation Week is to connect communities through events, activities and resources that highlight ways to preserve our personal and shared collections.
During lunch time, you can enjoy a snack such as an elote en vaso (corn in a cup) prepared by E&B Elotes and a variety of beverages by the Girl Scout Troop #391. Please bring cash to purchase any of these delicious refreshments.
From noon to 3 p.m., The Big Squeeze statewide conjunto semi-finals will take place in the Gran Paseo, just outside the museum’s front entrance. Accordion players from across the state of Texas and the Rio Grande Valley will battle for spots in the final competition to be held in Austin, Texas. This is the first time that Texas Folklife will host the event at the Museum of South Texas History. The community is encouraged to join others at the museum to support students competing at this cultural event.
The Big Squeeze is presented by Texas Folklife as part of its mission to preserve and present Texas’ diverse cultural heritage. Since 2007, Texas Folklife has promoted Texas accordion music genres through the Big Squeeze program. More than 300 young, talented players from dozens of Texas communities have participated in the program, which supports these vital community-based accordion music traditions. The three musical genre categories of the Big Squeeze are Polka, zydeco & Cajun, and conjunto, with the largest amount of entries usually coming from the conjunto tradition.
The 2019 Big Squeeze is supported by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division, H-E-B, Music Water, Texas Music Office, Southeast Texas Arts Council, the City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, and Rancho Alegre Radio. Additional support is provided by regional partners including Full Gallop, Ennis Czech Music Festival, Museum of the Gulf Coast, Cajun Sounds Internet Radio, Latino Cultural Center Dallas, zydecoevents.com, Texas Polka News, Multicultural Engagement & Counseling through the Arts (MECA), La Joya Independent School District, Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District, Roma Independent School District, Museum of South Texas History, Conjunto Heritage Taller, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Bullock Texas State History Museum, and more!
These events are free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please contact the museum at 956-383-6911 or visit mosthistory.org/events for the latest updates.
About Museum of South Texas History
The Museum of South Texas History is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is located in downtown Edinburg at 200 N. Closner Blvd. on the Hidalgo County Courthouse square. Hours of operation are from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. Founded in 1967 as the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in the 1910 Hidalgo County Jail, the museum has grown over the decades through a series of expansions to occupy a full city block. In 2003, following the completion of a 22,500 square foot expansion, the museum was renamed the Museum of South Texas History to better reflect its regional scope. Today, the museum preserves and presents the borderland heritage of South Texas and Northeastern Mexico through its permanent collection and the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives and exhibits spanning prehistory through the 20th century. For more information about MOSTHistory, including becoming a FRIEND, visit MOSTHistory.org, like us on Facebook, follow on Twitter, find on Google+ or call +1-956-383-6911.
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The Mummy Rebirth – USA, 2019
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Between the Buried and Me Unveil Eargasmic Track ‘Condemned to the Gallows’
Graham Hartmann
Yep, the new Between the Buried and Me double album is going to be a trip. The prog metal giants have just released “Condemned to the Gallows,” the opening track from Automata I.
Just two days ago, BTBAM thrilled fans by announcing they’d be releasing not one, but two albums in 2018. Automata I is set for a March 9 release, while Automata II is expected to come this summer. The conceptual journey will be a long one, but epics like Colors and The Parallax II have turned BTBAM’s fan base into rabid composition fiends, so the band’s most ambitious project to date isn’t under any restraints.
“Condemned to the Gallows” is right in the pocket for Between the Buried and Me. The slow buildup, euphoric atmosphere and constant stylistic changes of “Condemned to the Gallows” mirror the dynamics of the North Carolinians’ most celebrated works while remaining fresh and exhilarating. Paul Waggoner’s guitar work is pure bliss once he breaks free at the 3:45 mark and his tone is warmer than Brian May’s Red Special wrapped in a space blanket.
“We never want to repeat ourselves. We’re always trying to do something different, and this album fell right into that sort of pattern,” Waggoner says. “We push ourselves into new places, while retaining our basic sound. Musically, we go somewhere that’s fun and challenging. We never know how it’s going to turn out. These are uncharted waters for us. We’ve never written an entire piece and presented it in separate parts like this."
Watch the new music video for “Condemned to the Gallows” above and get excited for Automata I coming on March 9.
The Best Metal Album of Each Year Since 1970
Source: Between the Buried and Me Unveil Eargasmic Track ‘Condemned to the Gallows’
Filed Under: Between the Buried and Me
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Subsets and Splits
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