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__label__cc	0.657978	0.342022	You are here: Home / Soulful Living / Inner Wellness / The Gift: Living a Life of Purpose and Meaning The Gift: Living a Life of Purpose and Meaning November 14, 2012 By AskInYourFace.com 1 Comment Psychotherapist and yoga teacher Stephen Cope’s new book The Great Work of Your Life challenges us to find our true purpose in life, which he believes all of us can achieve. Here, he gives a taste of the struggle and payoff that comes with seeking to find and cultivate our unique gift. Here is a question I’d like you to ponder: Do you have a clear sense of your purpose in life? I’m asking all of my friends this question these days. I guess I’m preoccupied with this question because I’m going through a phase — at midlife — of wondering about my own life. I pose the question in a variety of ways. Perhaps I’ll ask: “What is it you are Up To — capital U, capital T?” Or, “Is your life driven by some intentionality — some deep meaning and purpose?” And then, of course, the all-important follow-up question: “Do you think this purpose is being fulfilled?” You’d be surprised at the answers I get. Many of us, it seems, are a little vague about what it is we are Up To. Or even utterly confused. Okay, I’m obsessed with finding the answer to this question. Perhaps this is because I am currently directing something called the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living (IEL). I mean, really: If I’m going to direct an institute with such a name, perhaps I should be living an extraordinary life. What if people found out that my life is as ordinary as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Can we look a little deeper? What, really, is an extraordinary life? And how does it differ from an ordinary one? After looking closely at these questions for a couple of years with my colleagues here at the IEL, I am more confused than ever. I’ve been struck by the ordinariness of most of the so-called extraordinary lives we’ve studied. And the closer we look at “ordinary lives,” well, the more extraordinary they appear. It’s tough being a human being — and I’m impressed by the courage I see in every single life I encounter. But I persist: What about extraordinary living? Full living? I think that the yoga tradition can help us understand the possibilities. There is one piece of yogic lore in particular that I find very helpful. Yogis believed that every human being is born with a special gift. This gift, for each of us, is the doorway to a fulfilled life. It is the doorway to our own particular path, our vocation, our calling — our sacred duty. Yogis called this vocation our dharma. All of life is seen as an opportunity to realize and manifest this unique calling — this unique dharma. Early yogis had a beautiful way of thinking about the importance of the gift. For these yogis, the whole world was seen as a vast net woven together in space and time — not unlike our notion of the quantum field. This was called Indra’s Net, and at the intersection of each warp strand and woof strand of this net is a jewel that represents an individual human soul. And it is that soul’s duty — sacred calling — to hold together its particular part of the web by being its own unique jewel-like self. In this way, the whole universe holds together as one great interlocking field, but only if each one of us plays our particular role, enacts our unique dharma. I like this image. It honors each individual soul’s idiosyncratic gift and relates it to the thriving of the whole. And it underscores an idea that is present in Jungian archetypal psychology — the idea that not only do we each have a gift but we each have a profound responsibility to that gift. Our task, says the great Jungian psychologist Carol Pearson, is to take ownership of our gift and to trust that its full manifestation is precisely what the world most needs from us. In the IEL, we work extensively with the perils and possibilities of the gift. We work with musicians, athletes, artists, corporate executives — and really with anybody who is interested in taking responsibility for the gift. Through our interactions with these inspiring people, we’ve discovered several very interesting — and often counterintuitive — truths about the gift: The gift requires practice. This sounds odd. It seems as though the gift should be free, that perhaps we should come out of the womb playing the violin brilliantly. But alas, no. The gift is only a possibility. A seed. In order to be fulfilled, it requires love, nurturing and systematic and intentional development. In order to be fulfilled, it may require that we lavish ridiculous amounts of time on it. And this dedication of time and energy will require faith. Our work with talented musicians sheds light on this: Two decades of research on so-called “greatness” shows that the greatest musicians are not the ones with the most facility — those talented kids who actually did play the violin at age 6 and put on concerts for their parents’ astonished friends — but those who practiced deliberately and skillfully and tenaciously over long periods of time. Here’s another way of saying this: Once you have an inkling of your gift, it is your responsibility to help create the conditions under which it can flourish. The gift is free. But its fulfillment is your responsibility. The gift is often paired with a wound. Strangely, we’ve noticed that our greatest strength (and greatest possibility) seems to be routinely paired with our greatest limitation — even our greatest wound. They are born together, like twins. This means that many of us must discover our gift in the very heart of our suffering, our difficulty, our struggle. The Eastern contemplative traditions have a poetic way of saying this: Our gift is like the lotus that is born out of the mud. Katherine, a 35-year-old highly-successful poet with whom we worked, found that her gift for poetry emerged out of the difficult circumstances of her life — her suffering as a child in an abusive family and the early death of her beloved mother, and then her apparent early failures as a poet. It was through her faithfulness to her gift for words that she found a way of turning her wound into immense light. She practices her gift relentlessly, and as part of her practice usually writes a poem every day. This practice, she believes, has gradually transformed her suffering into wisdom. It has allowed her to connect her own particular suffering with the suffering of the world — releasing her from her difficult isolation. For many of us, the gift delivers up such moments of self-transcendence that enable us to transmute the wound itself into a source of life. The full flowering of the gift is usually paired with a sacrifice. For most of us, fully choosing the gift will mean giving up something else. Maybe even giving up something that seems very important — maybe even something of apparent good in our lives. In order to be brought to maturity, we must decide not only for the gift but also against other things — and not just “bad” other things but also “good” other things. It is useful to remind ourselves that the word “decision” comes from the Latin “decidere,” which means to cut off. Full devotion to the gift may require us to cut off other paths — to focus our energy and passion in a most one-pointed way. Walt Whitman was in the final stages of revising and marketing his brilliant collection of poems Leaves of Grass when he experienced a call — an interior call — to nurse the wounded soldiers of the Civil War. The power of this call forced him to confront a difficult reality: In order to be faithful to his call to help the suffering, he would have to give up (at least for a time) his passion for the practice of poetry — and even let go of revisions to his acknowledged masterpiece. The times had called Whitman into a difficult choice between two apparent “goods.” As it turned out, Whitman poured out much of his life force in his nurturing of soldiers and was never again fully able to return to the poet’s life. His critical decisions in service of his dharma gave his actions great power, directionality, and certitude — and his sacrifice created a kind of bonfire of focus, intentionality and love. He was deeply connected with Civil War veterans for the rest of his life. Dharmas very often require us to go to any lengths — and we discover that when it comes to the full exercise of our gifts, half-measures will avail us nothing. Only the full sacrifice of our energies is enough. Like the yogis of old, our lives become a sacrifice to our gifts. And these gifts are offered up to the world. Like Whitman, we may be used up — burned in the fire of our own gift. And what about balance, you say? Shouldn’t we be striving to live more balanced lives? My exposure to so many individuals who are passionately living out their dharmas has forced me to look under the surface of the conventional wisdom about so-called balance. Actually, I’ve come to see that the ardency involved in living a passionate life creates an entirely new equation around balance. Ask anyone who is authentically and completely living out their dharma, and they will describe the sublime exhilaration that comes from such total living. But — some of you will ask — can’t the devotion to the gift, then, become selfish and self-centered? Our investigations at the IEL reveal just the opposite. It turns out that for each of us, the gift is our own unique doorway into a connection with the whole. The full enactment of our jewel-like dharma truly connects us to the whole of Indra’s Net — to the hearts and minds of all beings, to the entire quantum field of mind and matter. Indeed, it turns out that we can only connect with the Universal through the Particular — we can only connect with the whole through the precise circumstances of our individual lives. Consider Henry David Thoreau, who followed his idiosyncratic calling with great courage. It took him initially into a life of quiet retreat to Walden Pond — where he was widely considered a ne’er-do-well. But there by the pond, faithful to his gift, he wrote the great works that connected him with the universal strivings of humankind. He wrote Walden. He wrote his great essay, “On Civil Disobedience” — an essay that deeply influenced Gandhi and, later, Martin Luther King Jr. and contributed to the good of many people and nations. I return to my earlier query: What is your gift? Do you think — or fear — that perhaps you don’t have one? That somehow you’ve been left out of Indra’s Net? That perhaps you don’t have a jewel-like vocation or anything that even remotely resembles the call that motivated Katherine, Whitman or Thoreau? My challenge to you, then, is to look deeper. Take this one precious life seriously. In our work at IEL, we have never encountered a single person who was not able to find — often right under their noses — the power of the gift in their lives. And having made that discovery, to find the possibility of truly living as a soul awake in this lifetime. Courtesy of The Huffington Post. What's For Fitness? Tip #29 Show Up For Your Life - You Hold The Key To Happiness!! Tone Down the Negative, Enhance the Positive YOU Are the Greatest Gift to Give! Love this post? Buy us a coffee to celebrate! Filed Under: Inner Wellness Tagged With: challenge, gifts, Inner Wellness, life, purpose, the huffington post, walt whitman This is truly mindful and made me focus deeply when I read it, especially the closing; to be honest, I used to feel as though I had many gifts, but now, being faced with this question, I have no immediate answer.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line2
__label__cc	0.68003	0.31997	Q: How many people have died from AIDS? A: Over 25 million. That’s more than the combined populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta, San Diego, Columbus, Charlotte, Phoenix, Dallas and San Jose. Q: What does the future look like? A: Unless significant action is taken immediately, experts agree that by 2010 there will be 100 million people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. More than 40 million children will become orphaned by the disease. Q: What can I do? A: There’s a lot you can do to help save lives, and it doesn’t have to take much. You can participate in AIDS walks or events to raise awareness and money, deliver meals to home-bound people living with HIV/AIDS, or contact your local government officials about what you would like to see done. Click here for AIDS Organizations and Resources: » YOUTH AND MEDIA Radio Diaries, along with Artists for a New South Africa, has compiled an AIDS Action Toolkit. Full toolkit coming in 2007. – Up-to-date facts on the HIV/AIDS epidemic – Information about AIDS, what it does, and how to prevent it – Discussion questions for Thembi’s AIDS diary – In-class activities for educators – The Radio Diaries do-it-yourself handbook. Click here for detailed overview of the toolkit. [as .pdf] Please contact info@radiodiaries.org if you would like to be notified about the toolkit. Radio Diaries \| 169 Avenue A #13 \| NYC, NY 10009 \| 212-533-5247 \| info@radiodiaries.org Radio Diaries is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping people document their own lives.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line6
__label__wiki	0.815907	0.815907	February 2010 Series Mr. C in Heaven Directed by Andrew Piccone Tuesday, February 16, 7:30 pm Complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided Hors d'oeuvres courtesy of Bi-Rite Market $7 admission or free with Lab membership As Mr. C, impersonator of the great sportscaster Howard Cosell, Ernie Orozco is a gregarious man of the world: a jet-setter, friend of celebrities, emcee at $2,500-a-plate fundraisers, and a frequent guest on TV and radio talk shows. But when he takes off his wig and make-up, Orozco is a blue-collar, middle-aged dad, who must get up early every morning and return to his soul-withering day job of fixing radios in city buses. With humor and unexpected poignancy, “Mr. C in Heaven” captures Orozco’s attempts to launch Mr. C’s next big adventure, as he fights his own nagging doubts about his dream and whether he really is a "contender." Moderator - Celia Carey Celia Carey has directed and produced documentaries for PBS, BBC, National Geographic, and Ovation Television, including the PBS feature “The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend,” which aired nationwide, and “Mr. Dial Has Something to Say,” which was chosen as 1 of 4 films to represent PBS programming at INPUT in 2008. She is the recipient of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; a Golden Gate Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival; a Cine Golden Eagle Special Jury Award for best arts film nationwide; and nine regional Emmys. To attend, please RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before noon on Tuesday, February 16 Rough Cuts is a series of work-in-progress documentary screenings that are produced every other month at the Lab, a non-profit gallery/performance space in the Mission. For each evening, we screen one rough cut of a feature-length documentary and then moderate a conversation about the film. These post-screening discussions are designed to give the filmmaker a better, more objective sense of what is working and not working with his/her film, with particular attention paid to improving the film’s structure and narrative clarity. We hope that the series also provides a welcome space for local filmmakers, film professionals, and fans of documentary film to meet and talk. Read the August 28, 2009 article on Rough Cuts in View the November '09 Series here View the September '09 Series here View the June '09 Series here View the March ’09 Series here. View the Fall ’08 Series here. View the Spring Series ’08 here. For questions about Rough Cuts, email Chris Holbrook at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Sign up to be on the Rough Cuts mailing list Subscribe to: Rough Cuts [*] Fields marked with an asterisk are required.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line9
__label__cc	0.743305	0.256695	1979, New World Pictures, 93 min, Dir: Lewis Teague The "lady in red" of the title (Pamela Sue Martin) is thrust into a life on the run thanks to her relationship with notorious gangster John Dillinger (Robert Conrad) in this energetic Roger Corman production. A sharp screenplay by John Sayles, stylish direction by Lewis Teague, and a dynamite cast that includes Louise Fletcher, Christopher Lloyd and Corman stalwart Dick Miller (not to mention Robert Forster in an uncredited role) make this one of the best movies to come out of the "Roger Corman School of Filmmaking." 1974, Warner Brothers, 90 min, Dir: Peter Hyams Abby Reed (Pamela Sue Martin) is a student at Penfield, a finishing school for girls, who finds young love with Parker Stevenson in this lovely nostalgic tale set in 1955 New England. Betsy Slade and George O'Hanlon co-star in this early treasure from director Peter Hyams. Betsy Slade	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line17
__label__wiki	0.599151	0.599151	HOMEPAGE >> BLOG >> Japan continues to diversify its REE suppliers with imports from Kazakhstan Japan continues to diversify its REE suppliers with imports from Kazakhstan By Sandra Wirtz \| Posted: November 7, 2012 at 11:07 am Against the backdrop of mounting tensions in the territorial dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Japan has recently been stepping up its efforts to diversify the sources of its mineral resource supply. Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation will import Rare Earths from Kazakhstan, according to the website Finance GreenWatch. With the backing of the Japanese government, which will also provide financial support, the company has formed a joint venture called Summit Atom Rare Earth Company LLP (SARECO) with Kazakhstan’s National Atomic Company Kazatoprom. Established in May 2010, the joint venture completed construction and opened its first factory earlier this month. Sources expect that roughly 1,500 tons of REEs will enter Japan per year, which accounts for 7.5 percent of annual demand, which currently is about 20,000 tons. Heavily dependent on especially heavy REEs from China, the Japanese government started negotiations including Australia and India, after China temporarily suspended exports to the country in 2010. The flare-up of territorial tensions in the East China Sea has provided new impetus for Japan to “lessen the diplomatic pressure China is able to exert due to its possession of natural resources.” As the East China Sea, Africa, the Arctic, and other parts of the world increasingly turn into geopolitical battlefields of the global resource wars, the big question is: What (if any) is the United States’ mineral resource strategy? Hopefully the issue will be addressed and resolved after the dust of the Presidential elections has settled – our manufacturing base depends on it.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line18
__label__wiki	0.762187	0.762187	All things Honors at Ball State Stardust Falls at the Honors Formal By Tanner Prewitt The Student Center Ball was transformed last Friday as the Student Honors Council enchanted the evening. Honors College students were cordially invited to the Honors Formal, called The Stardust Ball. The evening was filled with music, dancing, and delicious hors d’oeuvres provided by the Cardinal Kitchen. Prom dresses were removed from their plastic sleeves and suits were dusted off as students filled the ballroom, ready to have a spectacular evening. “It was a really fun evening with friends,” Lydia Kotowski, a freshman political science and pre-med double-major, stated. “The food was also quite good.” Not only were Honors students invited to the formal, but friends not in the Honors College could attend as well. Eric Peters, a first-year student in the College of Architecture and Planning, brought a non-Honors friend with him. “It was a great evening to have fun with friends, especially ones that may not live on-campus or are in DeHority,” Peters said. The minimal decorations created an impressive space that managed to charm everyone whom attended the Stardust Ball. Twinkle lights, candle lights, moss and pebbles, tulle, and wooden platters created the whimsical forest, while glittery Mason jars and golden balloons enchanted the ballroom with magic. There was even a Snapchat filter created by an SHC member that attendees could use when they posted pictures. Kim Zinn, a freshman accounting and finance double-major, thoroughly enjoyed the evening. “The food, the music, and the decorations were wonderful! Everyone had a great time and danced the night away.” It’s safe to say the evening was spell-binding! Marching Was an Honor By Mary Cox Editor's Note: News & Notes and the Honors College do not necessarily share the views of the interviewees of this article. For these three students Honors means getting involved in the political process. In the first week of President Trump’s new administration, demonstrations and dissenters have been at the top of the headlines. Whether fans or foes of our nation’s new leadership, thousands across the country, and even more worldwide, have begun to mobilize. Perhaps the most notable was the global rally the day following Trump’s inauguration - The Women’s March on Washington held Saturday, Jan 21. From 30 people in Stanley, Id. (half the town’s population) to around half a million in Washington D.C., Sister Marches in over 600 U.S. cities saw an estimated attendance of 4.2 million people. This in addition to 300,000 people internationally.* At least three of those people were Ball State Honors students. Roommates Madeleine Robling and Margo Morton, both Honors College sophomores, were presented with tickets to the march in the capital through a friend’s mother and both eagerly jumped at the opportunity to attend. “I felt really comfortable attending after I found out the official platform. They made a point to make sure the official platform of the event was more intersectional and covered things like police brutality and criminal justice reform and different issues you might not instinctively put as a women’s issue,” Robling said. After a ten hour car ride the pair were excited to find themselves surrounded by an electric camaraderie and enthusiastic crowd. The prospect of sharing such an amazing experience was moving for the two young women. “Even before we got to the main part of the march, we were surrounded by people who were attending, and it was cool to see everyone so excited about it,” Morton said. “I think it was a really cool experience to be there with two of my best friends. It made me feel good to know that these important people in my life are also passionate about the things I feel strongly about.” Anna McAtee, another Honors college sophomore, also made the journey to Washington, D.C. She recalls being packed in the D.C. Metro station with hundreds of women, men, and children, many of whom she made quick friends with, chanting and singing together as one of the highlights of the day. “I wanted to make a voice for myself. Usually, I am very passive-aggressive and do not voice my opinion. The Women’s March on D.C. was a perfect way for me to have a positive voice in this country,” McAtee said on why she decided to attend. Like Morton and Robling, she described the crowd as electric, positive, and upbeat, once again emphasizing the magic of seeing so many people from so many different backgrounds coming together for a common cause. “I’ve never been around so much positive energy in my life. It was one big party of love.” McAtee said. The march started with a large cast of speakers: Congresswomen, celebrities, and movement leaders - such as the mothers of the Black Lives Matter movement. For Robling the most powerful was Kamala Harris, a senator from California. Senator Harris, who is the second black women and first ever Indian American to be elected to the United States senate, spoke on the diversity of issues that affect women. She discussed the fact that everything from education reform to the economy are women’s issues. “It’s not just reproductive justice, it goes so much beyond that,” Robling said . However, after nearly four hours of speakers, all three women noted that there was a tangible sense of restlessness throughout the crowd. Some ansty demonstrators in the area around Robling and Morton even began chanting “Let’s march now!” during a few of the less mainstream presenters, a disappointing moment that Robling described as callous and insensitive. “We were listening to speeches for hours on end and where we were standing, there wasn't even a speaker, so we could barely hear,” Morton said. “I understood why people were annoyed, but they started to ignore the people talking — and those people were spreading really important messages, and I thought that was what we were all there to support.” The march also received public backlash and negative coverage from some media outlets. Some of the criticisms cited, which came from Republicans and Democrats alike, included a singularity of issues with the right to choose being the sole focus, a lack of inclusivity—especially towards trans-women and the non-able bodied—and that the protestors were simply ‘whining’ about the results of the election. While Robling concedes that the crowd was predominantly white and there was a lot of work to be done to make the march more inclusive of other identities, she said that to boil it down to just pro-abortion and anti-Trump does the march and the momentum it created a huge disservice. Morton emphasized again the plurality of women’s issues and the importance of leveraging her privilege as white women, saying, “Even if someone feels that they face no issues of inequality here in America, they are just one person — and there are people in this country and all over the world who are facing problems we can barely imagine. When I was at that march, I was doing it for a lot of people, across a lot of social groups.” Robling agreed, saying, “Even though we might all be going through a slightly different form of oppression because of the new administration, we’re all there together to make sure no one was left behind.” McAtee stressed that this wasn’t a negative or hateful march, but rather a moment of unity and solidarity. “This was a peaceful march to show that women and men of all races still have a voice in this country,” McAtee said. “It was women and men coming together to say, ‘We are here. We welcome anyone. We care for anyone. You are not alone.’” Overall, all three women had an amazing experience and plan to attend more marches in the future. They all also plan to remain involved locally through various forms of activism, such as calling their congressional representatives and attending local town hall events. For example, Morton is hoping to keep up with the Women’s March “10 actions for the first 100 days” campaign, and Robling hopes to leverage her position as president of Ball State Democrats to organize students and educate others on how to continue being involved in the political process. “It’s important to understand that a march shouldn’t be your end goal,” Robling said. “I think part of the reason that the Democratic party has been struggling in years past is because a lot of people think that marches and protests and petitions are an end goal rather than a tools for organization.” Morton, Robling, and McAtee all encourage others to attend a march in the future if it’s something they’ve been considering. Morton’s advice would be to bring a friend, wear comfortable shoes, and do research to make sure the march and its organizers align with your goals. Robling suggests getting involved with a political organization on campus* so that you don’t have to do it all yourself; a group will keep you informed, help you become involved, and keep you accountable she says. Getting involved on campus is also a great way to make a difference right here in Muncie if you want to help up but can’t make it to a march. McAtee says that there are multiple opportunities to connect to the community through Ball State Voluntary Services. This is how the momentum of positive change these women brought home from the march will last through the next four years. * Crowd size statistics from Vox. Follow the hyper-link above for a more in-depth analysis. For more information about the march, including the mission statement and the “10 actions/100 days” plan visit the website here: https://www.womensmarch.com/ * Some political organizations on campus include Ball State Democrats, Ball State GOP, The Liberty Coalition, and The Progressive Student Alliance. From Unseen to Unified Dr. John Emert, Acting Dean of the Honors College, introduced the college’s brand new monthly lecture series as an opportunity to bring together students, faculty, and the larger community. The format of the series champions the Honors philosophy of raising and celebrating voices across academic disciplines and from various backgrounds and life stages. This description, perhaps, enhanced the poignancy of the short story about isolation and disjointment shared by the series’ inaugural speaker. Beth Dalton, a professor for both the English Department and Honors College, presented an excerpt from a piece titled “Invisible Woman” from her short story collection Women Walking Alone. The collection is one of two, along with a novel, that Dalton completed as part of her Master’s of Fine Arts residency program for creative writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. “Invisible Woman” tells the tale of a woman who has just turned 50 struggling to feel as though she belongs, or is even seen, at a business conference. As she goes through her day, Clara, the main character, has an elevator door closed in her faced, a tray of breakfast food dumped on her, and is snubbed by one of the speakers she attempts to introduce herself to. All are experiences that Dalton pulled from her real life, albeit, she admits, slightly embellished. “[A colleague] once said the me that once you reach a certain age, if you’re a woman, you disappear. I’ve found that to be very true,” Dalton said. Beyond Clara’s unfortunate encounters, though, it seemed to be the countless people who looked past her instead of at her that ultimately broke her. It was certainly the aspect of Clara’s story that struck a chord with me. While not everyone knows the invisibility of age, I think everyone can relate to feeling alone in a crowded a room (especially those of us who had an angsty punk rock stage in the eighth grade). Personally, as someone who has consistently struggled with my weight since 6-years-old, I can definitively say that there is a stark difference between being looked at and being noticed. To combat never being the thinnest person in a room, I always forced myself to be the smartest or the funniest or have the cutest shoes. But when people know you as “the funny girl,” that’s usually all they know about you. The part of me I forced them to notice to distract from the parts I didn’t want them to notice was all they cared to learn about. Maybe I am funny and smart, and maybe I am overweight, but good or bad none of those things are all that I am. Similarly, Clara could be the oldest person in the room, she could be the best at her craft, she could dress in bright colors and, sure, that could get her noticed, but none of those aspects of Clara are Clara - no one noticed her. That is, in part, why Dalton’s lecture was so compelling. A room full of people all came to listen to a woman who had previously felt invisible. To really, truly, fully learn about her journey. They came to notice. Editor's’ note: next month’s lecture will be about a project exploring the history of the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Honors House, presented by Dr. Bruce Geelhoed. Events, trends, and happenings in the Honors community and beyond. Air Jam DeHority Freshmen Reader SHC Events	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line21
__label__wiki	0.558743	0.558743	Britain in Bible Prophecy: Britain’s road to EU exit as required by the Bible 2nd Anniversary of the EU Referendum - Brexit negotiations and Bible prophecy June 22, 2018 - Audio, 6.19 MIN As we approach the 2nd anniversary of Britain’s historic decision to leave the European Union, and with the October deadline for a deal, set by Michel Barnier, now just months away, this week we look at what is to be expected from the Brexit process in light of Bible prophecy. Ezekiel 38 refers to a future invasion of Israel by a large confederacy of nations. These nations include Magog as well as “Gomer and all his bands”. By comparing references from Josephus and Herodotus we can find that Magog refers to eastern Europe, and in a similar way, by comparing Josephus with another Greek historian Diodorus Siculus we can find that Gomer refers to a large section of Western Europe, particularly France. From this we see that continental Europe is united in this military venture. Late last year we saw 23 EU countries, headed by France and Germany, agree to start the process of integrating their armies to create a European army which could mark the beginning of the assembly of the great confederacy written about by Ezekiel 2500 years ago. Russian President Vladimir Putin observing military exercises in the Black Sea region Ezekiel 38 also refers to “the merchants of Tarshish” and “the young lions thereof” along with Sheba and Dedan who oppose this confederacy. So, who might these opposing nations be? By comparing the mentions of Tarshish in the Bible with the accounts of historians (such as Herodotus) it seems clear that Tarshish is Britain. This is explained extensively in an article by John Carter from 1952, which was republished in October 2013’s Bible Magazine. This is also explained in April 2016’s issue of the Bible Magazine which was published a few months before the EU referendum. Matt Davies also believed that Tarshish referred to Britain and that this meant that Britain would be one of the nation’s opposing the invasion of Israel. He argued that Britain must therefore be separate from Europe at the time of the end, because Ezekiel 38 shows Britain not only outside the confederacy, but also in opposition of it. He wrote: “What this indicates to us is that the Tarshish power [ie Britain] is not aligned politically, economically or militarily with its European neighbours.” So, we see here that to fulfil these biblical prophecies Britain must not only be outside the European Union politically, but we should expect it to find itself in a situation where it opposes it internationally as well. Since the 2016 referendum many of the previously remain supporting MPs have been pushing for a so-called “soft Brexit” where Britain would remain part of the single market, customers union, European courts and even continue to allow free movement of people between the UK and the EU. This simply would not be the situation found in Ezekiel 38 as there would still be political and economic alignment between the UK and EU. Immediately after the referendum, this seemed a very possible outcome, but over the last two years the likelihood of this very close relationship has diminished. All significant amendments tabled to force the government to negotiate in this way have been ultimately rejected, and meanwhile in Brussels, negotiations are in grave difficulty with some questioning whether a deal between the two sides is still possible before the deadline in October. It is possible that Britain could end up leaving without a deal at all, resulting in a poor relationship between the two sides. In April, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator said that the issue of the Irish border had brought the talks to an impasse and that the negotiations were in danger of collapsing altogether. With Theresa May relying on the Northern Irish DUP to hold up her government her hands are tied making this a real difficultly While more recently Boris Johnson has been recorded secretly saying that he believed the Brexit talks were heading for a “meltdown”. Whether a deal can be reached by the October deadline or not, it has become more and more clear that the close relationship, hoped for by some, simply is not going to happen. Tim Farron, the then leader of the pro-EU Liberal Democrats said that the Prime Minister had chosen the “hardest form of Brexit”. Less and less people see a close and friendly partnership between the UK and EU as likely, and we can be sure that whatever the exact situation is when Britain does leave the EU, events in the world will prepare further for her role in Eze 38. In the pamphlet “Guardians of Israel & Arabia” published in September 1990, nearly 30 years ago, we can read: “The timing we do not know, but the author of this booklet believes that Bible prophecy requires Britain’s ultimate separation from Catholic Europe. On this basis, he has no hesitation in saying that Britain’s eventual exit from Europe is a certainty. As to questions concerning how it will happen, and when, we do not know because it has not been revealed in the Scripture. But when it does happen it will be yet another sign verifying the remarkable dependability of those prophecies in the Bible. Many politicians have been debating whether or not Brexit can still be stopped, but as we read in Proverbs 19: “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless, the counsel of Yahweh, that shall stand”. And in chapter 33: “Yahweh bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” The most high does indeed rule in the kingdom of men, and however God chooses to outwork his plan there is nothing that man can do to frustrate his will. So, let us have confidence in the truth of his word, that the time will come when God will go out to fight against those nations who come against his people and his son will be king over them. This has been Paul Barnes joining you for this week's Bible in the News.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line26
__label__cc	0.500977	0.499023	On school funding, first do no harm The following editorial was originally published in The Seattle Times on June 11, 2017. FIVE years after the state Supreme Court issued its ruling in the McCleary case, we face the 2018 deadline they established for ample school funding. In that decision, the court upheld all elements of the lower court’s ruling with one exception. The Superior Court ordered the Legislature to first determine the actual cost of basic education and then provide that funding. However, the Supreme Court didn’t feel more study was needed since the Basic Education Finance Task Force had conducted a thorough review leading in 2009 to a proposed new allocation model which was adopted by the Legislature. Given this looming deadline, one might assume this legislative session would be all about providing funding for the new allocation model, but significant changes are being considered. One major change proposed by the House and Senate is elimination of the “Salary Allocation Model” or SAM, which has worked well for decades. That system has two key elements: A salary schedule with the level of training on one axis with years of experience on the other. A staff-mix factor that represents a district’s average teacher placement on that grid. The state salary schedule includes two formats. One includes the salary for each cell in the grid, and the other provides a factor representing the numerical difference between each cell. A new teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience, for example, is assigned a factor of 1.000. An experienced teacher at the highest salary has a factor of 1.885. The state allocation system averages that factor for all teachers within a district to derive its staff-mix factor. The salary corresponding to that staff mix factor is multiplied by the number of allocated teachers to calculate the state’s salary payment to the district. Elimination of the current SAM is widely opposed by the state’s educational leaders. In the short term, the change would create statewide bargaining chaos since the state salary schedule is part of most district’s collective bargaining agreements. The change would create even more significant long-term impacts. With our current system, hiring decisions are based on selecting the best possible candidate. If the allocation is based on a state average salary, hiring will be more driven by budget considerations. In a May 28 Seattle Times’ news story [“In fight over Washington’s school funding, some want big change in who gets how much — but is it too late?”], staff reporter Neal Morton provided a great overview of the concerns that led to this proposed change, as well as the opposition to it. The primary criticism of the current model is a perception that it’s unfair to high poverty districts since they tend to receive a lower salary allocation than more affluent school districts. That difference reflects the recruitment and retention challenge in these districts resulting in staff lower on the salary scale. That’s an important problem for legislators to solve, but the solution shouldn’t be funded on the backs of other districts. That approach dismantles an important element of the current system that meets the court’s directive. A core principle of the McCleary decision is that the state must fund districts for the actual cost of providing basic education. One only need look at the first-year implications of this proposed change to see a violation of that principle. By replacing the current SAM with a state average salary allocation, half of the districts in the state would lose funding — and for many, it would be a significant loss. That takes them farther from the state funding their actual costs. As House and Senate negotiators work to iron out the differences in their plans, we encourage adherence to the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” After all, the only thing the court is requiring is for the state to amply fund our schools. Most of the other proposed changes represent a distraction from that prime directive, and in the case of salary allocation, they do considerable harm. Dealing Down on Washington’s Students The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. - Michelangelo The budget game in Olympia has become very predictable in recent years. The governor releases a budget that represents the high bar in terms of total budget capacity. The Senate Republicans stake out the low end of the continuum with their proposal, and the House Democrats come in somewhere in the middle. That pattern has repeated itself this year, but with the added pressure of meeting our State Supreme Court-ordered deadline for a McCleary funding plan. After the initial proposals are on the table, budget negotiators then work toward a compromise somewhere between the Senate and House proposals. The political process of negotiating toward the middle is part of what’s caused our current school funding crisis, so it doesn’t seem likely that it will address the Court’s ruling. That is due to the anti-tax sentiment that has been a primary driver for political decisions within our state for several decades. That anti-tax sentiment has likely been created, or at least exacerbated, by our state’s upside-down tax structure. According to the 2015 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington has the most regressive tax system in the nation. As a national average, the top 1% of wage earners paid 5.4% of their income in taxes, compared with 2.4% in Washington. At the other end of the income continuum, the national rate among the bottom fifth was 10.9% compared with 16.8% in Washington. Given this comparison with other states, the majority of Washington voters have a legitimate complaint about paying more than their fair share. But while that sentiment seems to be translated into a general anti-tax sentiment by many voters, the real problem is that our state’s affluent citizens pay much less than they would in most other states. This undercurrent of taxpayer frustration has resulted in countless initiatives and other steps to oppose new taxes, even taxes that would result in a fairer distribution of the tax burden in our state. This anti-tax sentiment has also undermined the state’s ability to respond to the Court’s 1978 ruling which stated that our constitution required the state to fully fund basic education. While that ruling didn’t prohibit the use of local levy revenue by our schools, such funding was supposed to be for enhancements such as extracurricular activities. Since our constitution and that ruling made Washington fairly unique regarding the state’s burden to fully fund education, one might assume we would be at the top in the share of education funding provided by the state. Yet, according to U.S. Census data, in 2014, 61% of our K-12 revenue was provided by the state. While that was enough for a 10th place position overall, its far short of the contribution provided by the states that contribute most. Vermont, the top state, provides 89% of school funding, and in number two, Hawaii contributes 87%. One might assume the gap between Washington and those states reflects a relative lack of capacity, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Washington ranked 12th in its 2015 per capita personal income, while Vermont was 19th and Hawaii 20th. Viewed through a different lens, according to the U.S. Census data, Vermont devotes $53 for every $1,000 of personal income to support its public schools, which is the highest rate in the nation. Hawaii is third, spending $37.71 per $1,000. Washington, the state with two court rulings directing it to fully fund K-12 education, comes in at 16th with $23.66 per $1,000 of income supporting our schools. It appears from these comparisons that our problem is one of will rather than capacity. Which brings us back to how Washington’s anti-tax sentiment has hamstrung efforts to comply with our Supreme Court rulings. That sentiment impacts every step of the budget development process. The governor’s proposal is tempered by a need to get re-elected, so even in setting the high budget bar s/he backs off from what ample school funding would require. The Republicans, who currently control the Senate, offer proposals that don’t violate their “no-new-taxes” ideology. The Democrats, who control the House, fear voter backlash that could jeopardize their majority and offer less than they know an ample system would require. So, the dealing down occurs with all three of the initial proposals. Once the negotiations begin, the process of compromise drives the Democratic proposal toward the Republicans, which represents further downward pressure on funding for Washington’s students. The trend caused by this dealing down is quite striking. Figure 1 is based on data provided in the 2015 Digest of Education Statistics. In the 1969-70 school year, a decade before to the Supreme Court’s first ruling on education funding, Washington was 8th in the nation in its average expenditure per student. In the decades following the Doran decision, Washington’s education spending rank plummeted to a low of 31st in 2009-10. That is the year the year Superior Court Judge John Erlick first ruled against the state in the McCleary case. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, the state’s funding trend has reversed since Washington’s courts involved themselves for a second time in this education funding issue. While it isn’t yet clear if the court pressure will result in an ample school funding system for our state, that step just represents the first phase of what will be a long process. Unless the pressure from anti-tax forces in our state are reversed after the Court relinquishes jurisdiction in the McCleary case, it’s doubtful that we will avoid the kind of decline in relative support the state experienced after Judge Doran first found our funding system unconstitutional. The only way to address that voter frustration seems to be the creation of a much more equitable tax system for Washington’s citizens. Unfortunately, one of our state’s political parties and many of the most wealthy and influential citizens have a vested interest in preventing such change from occurring.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line27
__label__cc	0.517957	0.482043	Birth Days Trending Twitter Users See Also: >> Famous People's Birthdays on 11 July, United States of America Famous People's Birthdays in July, United States of America Famous American football player's Birthdays on 11 July, United States of America Famous American football player's Birthdays in July, United States of America Andre Lamont Johnson (born July 11, 1981) is an American football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Texans third overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami. Johnson attended Miami Senior High School, where he graduated in 1999 and was rated as one of the top prospects in the country. As a senior Joh... Read more at Wikipedia Date of Birth: 11-Jul-1981 Place of Birth: Miami, Florida, United States of America Profession: American football player Copyright 2018 BornGlorious.com \| Contact \| Terms of Use	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line28
__label__cc	0.658208	0.341792	Jonathan Sokasits, piano concert Contact: CMFA Box Office · ticket@loyno.edu · 504-865-2074 Location: Roussel Performance Hall, 2nd Floor, Comm./Music Complex Jonathan Sokasits is Professor of Piano at Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska, where he teaches studio piano and class piano, piano literature, piano pedagogy, and chamber music. He has previously served as Assistant Professor of Piano at Ithaca College, and as Instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Sokasits holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a student of Howard Karp and three-time recipient of prestigious Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Graduate Fellowships. He holds the Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Applied Music from Ithaca College. Pianist Jonathan Sokasits is equally at home as solo recitalist, concerto soloist, accompanist, and chamber musician. He has performed hundreds of concerts in venues ranging from area high schools to state, regional, national, and international conventions and festivals to Carnegie Hall. He has performed across the country, and in Canada, Cyprus, and New Zealand. Sokasits appears on critically acclaimed CDs on the Mark and Albany labels. He has appeared in recital with the Chiara String Quartet, the Oakwood Chamber Players, the Petrella percussion and piano duo, the Nebraska Chamber Players, and numerous faculty colleagues and students. Free parking is available in the West Road garage located on West Road and accessible from St. Charles Avenue. Permalink: http://calendar.loyno.edu/event/37s2zrppvj	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line33
__label__wiki	0.633693	0.633693	Biography – BALFOUR, JAMES – Volume V (1801-1820) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography BALFOUR, JAMES, Church of England clergyman; b. 15 Aug. 1731 in the parish of Banchory-Ternan, Scotland; m. 13 Oct. 1766 Ann Emray in Trinity, Nfld, and they had four children; d. 1809 in Newfoundland. James Balfour was baptized in the Presbyterian Church and left Scotland in 1757 to seek employment in England. There he became a schoolmaster at Wadley (London) and joined the Church of England. Early in 1764 he applied to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to be appointed a missionary, and the SPG decided to send him to Trinity Bay in Newfoundland. He was ordained by the bishop of London and by the end of the year had settled in his mission at Trinity. Balfour’s first impressions were unfavourable. He was shocked to find that a frequent form of sexual union was common-law marriage with several temporary changes of partner. No one would offer him lodging lest his presence “should check some favourite Vice.” His congregation at Trinity itself consisted of only ten families, but they built him a house and by 1766 he was asserting that there was “the most agreeable Harmony & Contentment Subsisting between my People and Me.” Such euphoric comments soon ceased, and in the 11 years of his ministry in Trinity Bay he made frequent complaints to the SPG. The population of Trinity feuded, probably intercepted his letters, and, if Irish, were prone to “mob and housebreak.” The Sabbath was broken by music, dancing, and work. At Scilly Cove (Winterton) on the east side of Trinity Bay, a “barbarous lawless place,” the inhabitants paraded behind a piper every Sunday, while down the coast at New Perlican a state of civil war existed between Irish and English. Nor was Balfour himself immune from personal danger: in March 1769 he was attacked by a German surgeon and a merchant’s clerk for no apparent reason. “I received several blows,” he reported, “this I did not in the least resent, but bore patiently, as our Order must not be Strikers.” When Governor John Byron* visited Trinity that July Balfour recounted the incident and offered his forgiveness on a promise of future good behaviour. However, the governor insisted that his assailants apologize “very Submissively” and pay a small fine. Balfour had problems beyond the unruliness of the population. His congregation melted away in winter and, since it consisted of planters and servants, was too impoverished to afford the cost of repairs to the church. The rich of Trinity were Quakers, Presbyterians, or Roman Catholics and refused to help; as a result, the church was in “a ruinous condition.” Nevertheless, by 1771 Balfour was able to report steady progress, greater concern for divine worship, and a subscription to repair the church, and the following year he stated that he had nearly 40 communicants. Even so, lawlessness persisted, and he had to be careful at burials. On one occasion the marks on a corpse aroused his suspicions, a murder was discovered, and a criminal hanged. By October 1774 Balfour was complaining, “Believe me! these are Uncouth Regions here indeed, for a Man to spend his short Life in.” That year the SPG acceded to his request to be transferred to Harbour Grace, where he expected to find peace and more money. Balfour arrived in Harbour Grace on 6 Oct. 1775, but although he was well received by the people of the town his hopes were soon disappointed. The inhabitants of Carbonear had been influenced by the Methodist teachings of his predecessor Laurence Coughlan* and consequently wanted either a Methodist or a Presbyterian minister; moreover, they claimed the church was their property and refused him entrance. An order from Governor Richard Edwards* in 1780 enabled Balfour to use the Carbonear church, but in January 1784 he was bothered when a Methodist preacher intruded into the pulpit in the middle of a service. These difficulties foreshadowed the sectarian troubles of the 19th century. During the 1780s Balfour became increasingly dispirited and ill, claiming that he could get no money from the people in the dislocation of trade following the American revolution, complaining about the poor weather, and noting apprehensively that the congregation had expressed a wish for a younger man. The nadir came in 1791 when he quarrelled with the schoolmaster of Harbour Grace, William Lampen, who had a low opinion of him. Lampen appealed to the SPG, enclosing a petition from some of the inhabitants which complained that Balfour was frequently drunk and that he performed divine service only five or six times a year, and adding his own allegation that Communion had not been administered for a year and a half. After receiving some counter-petitions and after consulting with Judge John Reeves* and others, in March 1792 the SPG dismissed Lampen and discontinued Balfour as a missionary. An unhappy and harassed man, Balfour suffered a fate not uncommon to old and tired missionaries. In view of his age, infirmities, and length of service, he was allowed his salary of £70 as a pension, and he continued to hold it until his death in 1809. Frederick Jones Lambeth Palace Library (London), Fulham papers. USPG, B, 6; C/CAN/Nfl., 1; C/CAN/PRE; Journal of SPG, 16–26. [C. F. Pascoe], Classified digest of the records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892 (5th ed., London, 1895). Prowse, Hist. of Nfld. (1896). Religion – Church of England Europe – United Kingdom – Scotland North America – Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador – Newfoundland COUGHLAN, LAURENCE (Vol. 4)BYRON, JOHN (Vol. 4)EDWARDS, RICHARD (Vol. 4)REEVES, JOHN (Vol. 6) BYRON, JOHN COUGHLAN, LAURENCE EDWARDS, RICHARD Frederick Jones, “BALFOUR, JAMES,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 18, 2020, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/balfour_james_5E.html. Permalink: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/balfour_james_5E.html Author of Article: Frederick Jones Title of Article: BALFOUR, JAMES	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line38
__label__cc	0.697111	0.302889	internal taxes We start today’s journey through tax history the year after the war of 1812 with Great Britain. Congress doubled the tariff schedule to fundraise the war. But it turns out, trading across oceans is very difficult when your navy is just 18-years-old. Comparatively, the British fleet had the power of being the world’s most powerful seafaring nation. Photo by Dirk Spijkers on Unsplash It was able to effectively strangle commerce on the eastern seaboard, which made up the entirety of young America’s trade paths with other parts of the world. Due to the conflict and Congress’ need to raise revenue to continue to fund the war, it levied about $3 million in internal taxes on things like refined sugar, distilled spirits, and carriages. These were designed to be repealed after the war was over. To collect this tax, the federal government offered a 15% tax discount for those states that collected the taxes themselves, which caused many states to take advantage of the arrangement. With the conflict with the British and French behind them, Congress passed the Tariff Act of 1816, which levied 25% duties on items to encourage local manufacturing. This was the year of the Panic of 1819, which is the crisis sparked by a drop in world agriculture prices. This caused more protectionist policies to be pushed to keep cheap European agricultural interests from flooding the market. The house pushed a bill that would enact a 5 percent tariff on cotton, wool, clothing, iron, and hemp. The law was never enacted, but it set the stage for similar laws to be passed. The North was split on its opinions of the tariff, but the South was firmly against it. It was losing its voting power in Congress regionally as the population dropped slightly there and rose slightly above the Mason-Dixon line. Henry Clay served as speaker of the House this year and appointed John Tod, a die-hard protectionist, to head the Committee on Manufactures. He implemented a 35% tariff on imported iron, wool, cotton, and hemp. This caused American-produced goods to finally be cheaper than the British goods, which in turn stirred up support in states that had been against protectionist measures in the past. This year, the tariff on imported goods expanded to cover hemp, wool, fur, flax, liquor, and imported textiles. It was also raised to 50% of the value of the goods. This was good for the north and Ohio valley, but bad for the South. They didn’t get the benefits of manufacturing these products in their region. The reduction of cheap British goods isn’t a positive either, as the South relied on the British to buy their cotton in exchange for those cheap goods. That cotton was often sold back to the states as finished goods, so the tariffs significantly disrupted this system. In July, Congress reduced tariff rates slightly, but kept the high rates on products like iron and manufactured cloth. South Carolina passed a Nullification Convention, which declared the tariffs unconstitutional and ceased collecting them in the state. In response, Jackson passed the Compromise Tariff, which reduced tariffs automatically between 1833 and 1842. Simultaneously, he levied the Force Bill, which said that the president could use force and arms to collect tariffs. By 1837, an extended economic depression had settled in, driven by a financial panic from the reduction of British investment in the states. The depression lasted until 1843. This caused the Whig Party to gain national support for some of its economic development strategies (which included higher tariffs). In 1840, the Whigs won the presidential seat and implemented revenue tariffs that were to be partially distributed to the states to build roads and canals. The Compromise Tariff was abandoned due to the states’ need for revenue and many tariffs were returned to their prior rate or slightly lower than the prior rate. The Walker Tariff was passed, which slashed all duties to the minimum necessary for revenue. In Britain, Parliament repealed the Corn Laws, which levied tariffs on imported bread. Both measures set the stage for freer world trade. The custom and commerce programs were running so well that the American government was able to pay off the entirety of its debts in the Mexican War before the Civil War even started. Slavery was becoming a highly political issue and the Northern and Southern states were growing increasingly polarized. The economy was booming but the interests of the Northern and Southern states grew increasingly misaligned. Tariffs were lowered even further by the Democratic party, which plunged the nation into an economic panic. Government revenues plummeted 30%, which caused Republicans to demand tariffs be increased. Posted in Tax Reform \| Tagged Accounting, Business, Business Taxes, cotton, distilled spirits, education, finance, great britain, internal taxes, navy, sugar, tariff, tariff act pf 1816, Tax history, walker tariff, war of 1812, young america \| Leave a comment	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line47
__label__wiki	0.699383	0.699383	© Ajuntament de Palma palmainfo@a-palma.es www.palmademallorca.es Author unknown, ca. 1900. Forn des Teatre (Theatre Bakery) (Ajuntament de Palma) Modernisme in Palma de Mallorca has to be seen from a two-sided perspective. On the one hand, local architects developed a style that was similar to Art Nouveau by following the criteria of their clients, who wanted an architectural style that followed modern trends. But on the other hand, Mallorca has works of considerable importance by three of the most significant Catalan architects: Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí and Joan Rubió i Bellver. Palma de Mallorca was already a modern city by the beginning of the 20th century, having demolished its city walls and with a general enlargement project plan by the roads engineer Bernat Calvet i Girona that had been approved in 1901. A group of young architects in the city were already active and they produced works in a Modernista style that, according to the type of commission they had, alternated with other historical styles that they knew well, thanks to studies by Doctor Miquel Seguí. Gaspar Bennazar Moner, Francesc Roca Simó and Guillem Reynés i Font were the most important figures of this group and they left behind very significant works in the city centre, such as the Casa Casasayas, by Roca, with its daring façade forms. The Argentinean Lluís Forteza-Rey, who also designed original façades, can also be added to this group. In terms of Catalan architects, the most important was Domènech i Montaner, who received an important commission to design the Gran Hotel (1901-1903), a splendid mature work by the architect that had a great influence on local architects. Gaudí provided a very different contribution to Palma's Cathedral together with his main collaborator, Joan Rubió i Bellever. His work was related to the predominant role of the Mallorcan Church's leading members, who wanted to promote Catalan language and culture on the island. Bishop Pere Joan Campins and his vicar general, Fr. Antoni M. Alcover, had established links with religious groups in Catalonia, such as the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc and the Lliga Espiritual de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat, both of which Gaudí was a member. This led to him receiving the commission to remodel Palma's Cathedral, on which he worked between 1904 and 1912. Gaudí had a wide range of collaborators, amongst whom was Rubió i Bellver, who continued on as director of the works from 1912. But the contribution of these two architects to the Cathedral goes beyond that of a simple refurbishment job for liturgical aims; it is a milestone in terms of how it considers the construction possibilities of Gothic art. Something that Rubió would later develop in his studies on the Mediterranean Gothic style.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line52
__label__cc	0.554663	0.445337	All posts John Haynes Holmes as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, Museum District, January 5, 2020 Happy New Year! I was not supposed to be in the pulpit with you this morning. But plans change, people get sick, and I find myself with you today on the first Sunday of a new year and a new decade. It is good to be with you. It is good to be with even though the news at the opening of this, what will perhaps be the most important decade in human history, is bitter and harsh. It is good to be with you precisely because it is when the news of the world is bitter and harsh that we need religious community the most. The assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by a United States military drone strike on sovereign Iraqi soil has pushed the Middle East into crisis. Soleimani was killed alongside Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi military leader whose political party controls almost fifty seats in the Iraqi Parliament. These illegal acts of war violate both international law and the United States War Powers Act. They may lead to war between the United States and Iran. They have already led to further destabilization of the Middle East. Hundreds of people will almost certainly be killed because of the decision of the President of the United States to authorize Soleimani’s illegal political assassination. Thousands or tens of thousands or possibly even hundreds of thousands of people will die horrible violent deaths if this country goes to war with Iran. I cannot help but wonder about the timing of the President’s decision to have Soleimani killed. He will soon be on trial in the Senate. The House has passed two articles of impeachment and he could, theoretically, be removed from office. Of course, there is every sign that his allies in the Senate will prevent witnesses from being called or from a serious trial taking place. The Senate Majority Leader even claims that he is coordinating the trial with the White House in order to facilitate a speedy acquittal. The position of the President’s Senatorial allies is clearly concerning. In his year-end report Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., warned “we have come to take democracy for granted.” Roberts will oversee the trial in the Senate. It appears that the Senate Majority Leader’s position has him worried about his ability “to do our best to maintain the public’s trust that we are faithfully discharging our solemn obligation to equal justice under law.” Drawing the United States military into a conflict abroad will almost certainly make it more difficult to have an honest debate and trial on the House’s articles of impeachment. There will be calls for national unity. For the many, the President will be transformed from a divisive figure to a unifying head of state. It will be harder to criticize him. War dissenters and pacifists will be castigated for being unpatriotic. There might even be calls to delay the President’s trial. This country’s liberal democracy may move closer to a defining crisis. Over a hundred years ago, as the United States entered World War I, the writer Randolph Bourne warned that war is the health of the state. He wrote, “The moment war is declared... the mass of the people, through some spiritual alchemy... with the exception of a few malcontents, proceed to allow themselves to be regimented, coerced, deranged in all the environments of their lives, and turned into a solid manufactory of destruction toward whatever other people may have, in the appointed scheme of things, come within the range of the Government’s disapprobation. The citizen throws off his contempt and indifference to Government, identifies himself with its purposes, [and] revives all his military memories and symbols... Patriotism becomes the dominant feeling, and produces immediately that intense and hopeless confusion between the relations which the individual bears and should bear toward the society of which he is a part.” When war is the health of the state it is challenging to be a critic of either the President or the actions he directs the military to take. It is no wonder then that the current President is not the only one to authorize dramatic violent action during the impeachment process. President Clinton did the same thing in December of 1998 when he launched air strikes in Iraq as the House stood poised to impeach him. Over a hundred years ago the Unitarian minister, pacifist, and first friend in the United States of Mahatma Gandhi, John Haynes Holmes stood before his congregation in New York City and told them, in the idiom of early twentieth-century Unitarianism: “War is an open and utter violation of Christianity. If war is right, then Christianity is wrong, false, a lie. If Christianity is right, then war is wrong, false, a lie...” Today, I believe that the same thing can be said in twenty-first century words. Unitarian Universalism upholds the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Not some people. Not only citizens and residents of the United States. All people. Speaking only for myself, I can rephrase Holmes words: War with Iran is an open and violation of Unitarian Universalist values. If such a war is right, then Unitarian Universalism is wrong, false, a lie. If Unitarian Universalism is right, then such a war is wrong, false, a lie...” You may have other views. We affirm the right of conscience and the search for truth as central to our tradition. These are mine and they mean that I will never pray nor preach for victory through arms or pretend that the people of Iran are any less human, any less worthy of my love or the love of the divine, than any of you. And so, this morning, I find myself gravely concerned for the future of this country and this world. I find myself gravely concerned because not only do the President’s military actions represent a political crisis and a crisis in democracy, they are a distraction from what must be the central focus of the next decade: addressing the climate emergency. The next ten years or so will determine whether or not humanity chooses to address the climate crisis. What we do now will impact the lives of not only our children and our grandchildren but the lives of those thousands of years from now--if there are humans thousands of years from now. At such a moment in humanity history, I find myself often reflecting upon the words of James Baldwin in the closing passage of his magnificent essay “The Fire Next Time.” Baldwin’s essay was written during the civil rights movement, that historic movement to overturn Jim Crow and defeat white supremacy. He saw that movement for racial justice as something that would determine the future of country--whether it would be a liberal democracy or a white supremacist apartheid state. Baldwin wrote: “And here we are, at the center of the arc, trapped in the gaudiest, most valuable, and most improbable water wheel the world has ever seen. Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we--and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others--do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon: God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!” We are on the precipice of the fire next time. We are on the precipice because we, as a country, have been unable to overcome white supremacy. The current President is a white supremacist populist and many of his supporters have made it clear that their highest loyalty is to the maintenance of a white supremacist racial order and not liberal democracy. We are on the precipice of the fire next time. Literally and figuratively, while the world is distracted by the threat of war Australia is literally burning. Figuratively, because the racial conflagration that has raged since Europeans arrived on the shores of this continent is threatening, once again, to consume the country. The fire next time, in worship we have been focusing on the spiritual and religious tools that are necessary to live through such times of crisis. Today, and for the month of January, we will be focusing on what I believe is one of the most important of these tools: the cultivation of friendships. The philosopher Hannah Arendt observed that the cultivation of friendships was a crucial tool for those who survived the brutalities of totalitarianism. The creation and sustaining of friendship in such times is a sign that “a bit of humanness in a world become inhuman had been achieved.” And in such hours of crises as the ones we now face maintaining our own humanness and recognizing it in others is one of our crucial tasks. It is difficult to kill others whom we recognize as humans. Killing, especially on a mass scale, often requires the abstraction of human being into a categorical other: the human being who is a friend, a lover, a parent, a child, a sibling, or a neighbor becomes the Jew, the migrant, the black person, the indigenous person, the queer person, or the Iranian. And so, now let us turn to friendship and consider the alchemical power it provides to make us human to each other. The image of an elderly Emerson, perhaps resting in dusty sunlight on an overstuffed armchair, asking his wife, “What was the name of my best friend?” is moving. It suggests that Thoreau's name faded long before the feelings his memory evoked. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are not exactly the type of people I usually think of when I think of friends. Thoreau, the archetypical non-conformist, sought to live in the woods by Walden Pond to prove his independence. His classic text opens, “I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself... and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.” For Thoreau solitary life was permanent while life amongst his human fellows was but a sojourn, a temporary condition. Emerson was equally skeptical about the social dimensions of human nature. In his essay “Self-Reliance” he claimed, “Society everywhere is a conspiracy against... every one of its members.” He believed that self-discovery, awakening knowledge of the self, was primarily a task for the individual, not the community. When he was invited to join the utopian experiment Brook Farm, Emerson responded that he was unwilling to give the community 'the task of my emancipation which I ought to take on myself.'” Yet both of these men sought out the company of others. Emerson gathered around him a circle of poets, preachers, writers, and intellectuals whose friendships have become legendary. And whose friendships sustained them through the struggle for the abolition of slavery and their work for the liberation of women. That circle contains many of our Unitarian Universalist saints. I speak of the Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau, of course, but also the pioneering feminists Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Peabody, the fiery abolitionist Theodore Parker, and the utopian visionary George Ripely. What we see when look closely at Emerson and Thoreau is not two staunch individualists but rather two men caught in the tension between community and individuality, very conscious that one cannot exist without the other. Emerson wrote on friendship and in an essay declared, “I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frostwork, but the solidest thing we know.” Margaret Fuller drowned at sea at the age of forty. Her tragic death prompted Emerson to write, “I have lost my audience.” Emerson thought that Fuller was the one person who understood his philosophy most completely, even if they sometimes violently disagreed. Of her he wrote, “more variously gifted, wise, sportive, eloquent... magnificent, prophetic, reading my life at her will, and puzzling me with riddles...” Of him she wrote, “that from him I first learned what is meant by the inward life... That the mind is its own place was a dead phrase to me till he cast light upon my mind.” Perhaps Fuller's early death is why Emerson recalled Thoreau, and not her, in the fading moments of his life. But, no matter, a close study of their circle reveals an essential truth: we require others to become ourselves. The tension between the individual and the community apparent in the writings of our Transcendentalists leads to contradictory statements. Emerson himself placed little stock in consistency, penning words that I sometimes take as my own slogan, “...a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Let us consider Emerson the friend, rather than Emerson the individualist, this morning. If for no reason than when Emerson was falling into his final solitude he tried to steady himself with the memory of his great friend Thoreau. Emerson himself wrote, “Friendship demands a religious treatment.” Have you ever had a good friend? A great friend? Can you recall what it felt like to be in that person's presence? Perhaps your friend is in this sanctuary with you this morning. Maybe you are sitting next to them, aware of the warmth of their body. Maybe they are distant: hacking corn stalks with a machete, sipping coffee in a Paris cafe, caking paint on fresh stretched canvas, or hustling through mazing, cold, Boston streets. I invite you to invoke the presence of your friend. Give yourself to the quiet joy you feel when you are together. Friendship is an experience of connection. Friends remind us that we are not alone in the universe. We may be alone in the moment, seeking solitude or even isolated in pain, but we are always members of what William Ellery Channing called “the great family of all souls.” If we are wise we learn that lesson through our friends. Again, Emerson, “We walk alone in the world. Friends such as we desire are dreams and fables.” Such dreams and fables can become real, they can become, “the solidest thing we know.” Seeking such relationships is one of the reasons why people join religious communities like this one. When I started in the parish ministry it took me awhile to realize this. In my old congregation in Cleveland we had testimonials every Sunday. After the chalice was lit a member would get up and share why they had joined. Their stories were often similar and, for years, I was slightly disappointed with them. The service would start, the flame would rise up and someone would begin, “I come to this congregation because I love the community.” “That's it?,” my internal dialogue would run. “You come here because of the community? You don't come seeking spiritual depth or because of all of the wonderful justice work we do in the world? Can't you get community someplace else? If all you are looking for is community why don't you join a book club or find a sewing circle? We are a church! People are supposed to come here for more than just community! Uh! I must be a failure a minister if all that these people get out of this congregation is a sense of community!” Eventually, I realized that community is an essential part of the religious experience. The philosopher William James may have believed, “Religion... [is] the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude,” but he was wrong. Religion is found in the moments of connection when we discover that we are part of something larger than ourselves. Life together, life in community, is a reminder of that reality. People seek out that experience in a congregation because of the isolating nature of modern life. In this country we are more alone than ever before. A few years ago, Newsweek reported that in the previous twenty years the number of people who have no close friends had tripled. Today at least one out of every four people report having no one with whom they feel comfortable discussing an important matter. Congregations like this one offer the possibility of overcoming such a sense of isolation. When there are crises in the world, or crises in our lives, a religious community like this one can be a place to discover that are not alone in our struggles. We offer a place for people to celebrate life's passages and make meaning from those passages. Friendship requires a common center to blossom and meaning making, and breaking isolation, is are pretty powerful common centers. Aristotle understood that friendship was rooted in mutual love. That love was not necessarily the love of the friends for each other. It was love for a common object. This understanding led him to describe three kinds of friendship: those of utility, those of pleasure and those of virtue, which he also called complete friendship. Friendships of utility were the lowest, least valuable kind and friendships of virtue were the highest kind. Erotic friendship fell somewhere in between. Friendships of utility were easily dissolved. As soon as one friend stopped being useful to the other then the friendship dissipated. It took me until I was in my twenties to really understand the transitory nature of friendships of utility. I spent a handful of years between college and seminary working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. I worked for about a year at on-line bookstore. When a recession hit there were a round of lay-offs and, as the junior member of my department, I lost my job. Up until that point I spent a fair amount of social time with several of my colleagues. We would have lunch and go out for drinks after work. I enjoyed the company of one colleague in particular. I made the mistake of thinking that he was really my friend. He had a masters degree in classical literature. Our water cooler conversations sometimes revolved around favorite authors from antiquity, Homer and Sappho. “From his tongue flowed speech sweeter than honey,” said one. “Like a mountain whirlwind / punishing the oak trees, / love shattered my heart,” said the other. Alas, when I lost my job a common love of literature was not enough to sustain our relationship. My colleague was always busy whenever I suggested we get together. Have you ever had a similar experience? Such friends come and go throughout our working lives. Far rarer are what Aristotle calls friendships of virtue. These are the enduring friendships, they help us to become better people. Congregational life provides us with opportunities to build such friendships. The virtues might be understood as those qualities that we cultivate which are praiseworthy. They are qualities that shape a good and whole life. A partial list of Aristotle's virtues runs bravery, temperance, generosity, justice, prudence... Friendship offers us the opportunity to practice these virtues and, in doing so, helps us to become better, more religious, people. The virtues require a community in which to practice them. That is one reason why as we have been considering the spiritual and religious tools we need in this era of crisis we have speaking of the virtues in worship. Let us think about bravery for a moment. The brave, Aristotle believed, stand firm in front of what is frightening not with a foolhardy arrogance but, instead, knowing full well the consequences of their decisions. They face their fears because they know that by doing so they may achieve some greater good. Seeking a friend is an act of bravery. It always contains within it the possibility of rejection. Emerson observed, “The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.” I have often found, when I hoped for friends, that I need to initiate the relationship. I need to start the friendship. I am not naturally the most extroverted and outgoing person. Many days I am most content alone with the company of my books or wandering unescorted along the urban edges--scanning river banks for blue herons and scouring wrinkled aged tree trunks for traces of mushrooms. But other people contain within them possible universes that I cannot imagine. My human fellows pull me into a better self. And so, I find that I must be brave and initiate friendships, even when I find the act of reaching out uncomfortable or frightening. Rejection is always a possibility. I was rejected by my former colleague. Rejection often makes me question my own self-worth. When it comes I wonder perhaps if I am unworthy of friendship or of love. But by being brave, and trying again, I discover that I am. Bravery is not the only virtue that we find in friendship. Generosity is there too, for friendship is a giving of the self to another. Through that giving of the self we come to know ourselves a little better. We say, “I value this part of myself enough to want to share it with someone else.” We could create a list of virtues and then explore how friendship offers an opportunity to practice each of them. Such an exercise, I fear, would soon become tedious. So, instead, let me underscore that our friends provide us with the possibility of becoming better people. This can be true even on a trivial level. A friend visits. I take the opportunity to make a vanilla soufflé, something I have never done before but will certainly do again. We delight in its silky sweet eggy texture. It can also be true on a substantive level. A friend calls and inspires me in my commitment to work toward justice. He reminds me that we can only build the good society together. We can only do it by imaging the possibility of friendship between all the world’s peoples. How have your friends changed your life? Emerson and Thoreau certainly changed each other's lives. And I know that the two men, whatever their preferences for individualism, needed each other. I half suspect that Emerson's tattered memory of his friend, “What was the name of my best friend?” was actually an urgent cry. As Emerson disappeared into the dimming hollows of his mind Thoreau's light was a signal that could call him back into himself. I detect a similar urgency in Elizabeth Bishop's poem to Marianne Moore: “We can sit down and weep; we can go shopping, / or play at a game of constantly being wrong / with a priceless set of vocabularies, / or we can bravely deplore, but please / please come flying.” Whatever was going on in Bishop's life when she wrote her friend the most pressing matter, the strongest tug of reality, was that she see her friend. Surely it is an act of bravery to admit to such a need. Truly it is an act of generosity to wish to give one's self so fully. Let us then, be brave, and seek out friends. Such bravery can be a simple as saying, “Hello, I would like to get to know you.” Let us be generous, then, and give ourselves to our friends, saying, “I have my greatest gift to give you, my self.” Doing so will help us to lead better, more virtuous, lives and may draw us to unexpected places and into unexpected heights. Doing so will help us to recognize the possibility of friendship, the community humanity among, inherent in all peoples. Doing so will equip us to thrive in an era of crisis and remember the promise of our faith tradition: someday, somehow, we will remember that we are all members of the great family of all souls and, so united, we shall overcome war and hatred to build the beloved community. Let the congregation say Amen. CommentsCategories Climate Change Contemporary Politics Human Rights Ministry Sermon Tags First Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston New Years 2020 Qasem Soleimani Iran United States Military Middle East Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis Iraq Donald Trump War Powers Act Impeachment John Roberts Mitch McConnell Randolph Bourne Bill Clinton Mahatma Gandhi John Haynes Holmes World War I Unitarian Universalism James Baldwin Civil Rights Movement White Supremacy Australia Friendship Hannah Arendt Totalitarianism Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Walden Self-Reliance Brook Farm Margaret Fuller Transcendentalism Elizabeth Peabody Theodore Parker George Ripley William Ellery Channing Cleveland William James Aristotle Silicon Valley Dot Com Homer Sappho Virtue Virtue Ethics Bravery Courage Elizabeth Bishop Marianne Moore Sermon: A Modern Church for a Modern Age as preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, Museum District campus, June 2, 2019 Today is a very special Sunday. It is the Sunday of the annual meeting--a time when you will be making decisions about the future direction of this congregation. You will be electing leaders and voting on amendments to First Church’s Constitution. The importance of the annual meeting makes it the only time all year that First Church gathers together as one worshiping community. Usually, First Church is one church in two locations. Today, we are one church in one location. This Sunday we have members from the Thoreau present in the pews, both of First Church’s ministers on the same campus, and Thoreau’s staff musician Teru as our pianist. Since I have you all together, and since you are making decisions about the future of First Church, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk with you about the future of the church. Not this church, specifically, but the future of Unitarian Universalism. I take this subject because as your interim minister, one of my tasks is to help you evaluate yourselves. Since at least the sixteenth century, it has been an aspiration of our Unitarian Universalist tradition to be a religion that is relevant to contemporary life. Instead of believing that religious truth has been permanently codified in ancient scripture or perfectly expressed in the life of a single individual, we claim, “revelation is not sealed.” The universe is constantly unfolding its marvels. The starscapes overhead, fragmenting atoms, luminescent corals, the causes of cancer... human knowledge, and with it technology, is ever increasing. In such a situation, the claim that the sum of religious knowledge remains static for all time seems absurd. The challenge for Unitarian Universalist congregations is to build “a modern church for a modern age.” “A modern church for a modern age,” these words come from Ethelred Brown, a Unitarian minister who was active in the opening decades of the twentieth century. I have spoken with you about Brown before. For many of the years that he served the Harlem Unitarian Church, he was the only member of the African diaspora who ministered a Unitarian congregation. Today, there are hundreds of Unitarian Universalist religious professionals who are people of color--our slow shift to being a multiracial movement being but one way in which Unitarian Universalism is changing. Brown was part of a larger movement within the Unitarianism of his day called the community church movement. It was organized by the Unitarian minister John Haynes Holmes in Manhattan and the Universalist minister Clarence Skinner in Boston to build religious communities capable of confronting the crises of the early twentieth century. Inside the walls of their congregations, they sought to create “the new church which shall be the institutional embodiment of our new religion of democracy.” Both men preached the need to substitute “for the individual the social group, as an object of salvation.” This experience of social salvation was available on Sunday morning when “peoples of every nationality and race, of every color, creed and class” became “alike in worship and in work.” In such moments the church instantiated the “‘Kingdom of God’--the commonwealth of” all before it was present in the secular world. This was more than empty metaphor. Under Holmes’s leadership, the Community Church of New York was one of the earliest Unitarian congregations to meaningful racially integrate. As early as 1910, the congregation was multiracial. And its members, including Holmes himself, played important roles in founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union. They were active in creating these institutions because the crisis of their day were about racial justice and civil liberties. They understood that a democratic society rests on the freedoms of speech, belief, and assembly. These were not secular ideas for them. They were religious inspired realities based on the that proposition in order for religion to be meaningful it had to offer clarity, inspire compassion, and prompt action on the crisis of the hour. Inward piety, the deep of religious feeling of connection between each and all, was understood as best expressed as, in Holmes’s words, “a passion for righteousness.” What are the crises of our hour? We must seek clarity about them. As a human species and as a country, we are in the midst of series of severe and interlinked catastrophes. There is the climate emergency. Scientists now tell us that we have, at most, twelve years to reduce carbon emissions by half and keep global heating to a non-catastrophic level. If our human habits do not change we risk the lives of hundreds of millions of people and the possibility of driving as many as a million species to extinction. As a country, we are in the midst of crisis in democracy. We have a President whose party has consistently and persistently undermined liberal democratic norms. The President refuses to cooperate with Congress when the House requests his financial records or subpoenas members of the executive branch. The President celebrates autocrats and dictators while maligning liberal political regimes. Meanwhile, the President’s party plots to gerrymander legislative districts by fixing the census and suppressing the vote. Meanwhile, even those members of his party who claim to have the conscience of a conservative vote in favor of his agenda, and for his judicial nominees, over and over again. Across the globe, and in the United States, white supremacist violence, white supremacist populism, and anti-democratic or illiberal regimes are on the rise. White men—and it always seems to be white men--have walked into mosques and synagogues and killed people as they gathered for worship. Antisemitism is increasing and, in this country, the police continue to kill and jail people of color at far higher rates than they do white folks. In this country, the rise in white supremacist violence is mirrored by an overall increase in gun violence and mass shootings. Specters of carnage like Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach are regular occurrences. Instead of moving towards action, politicians have reduced their responses to repetitive public ritual: thoughts and prayers are offered, a debate on the causes of the tragedy is truncated, and nothing happens. The situation is reminiscent of the opening lines of William Butler Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming.” Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worse Are full of passionate intensity. Yeats penned these words almost exactly one hundred years ago. He wrote them during the same period of crisis in which the community church movement was created. The First World War had just ended--taking with it the lives of millions. Europe lay in ruins. And Yeat’s own Ireland was in the Irish War for Independence--a war that would result in the loss of thousands of lives and would gain the Republic of Ireland political independence. Yeats cast his poem in religious terms. The image of the falcon who cannot hear the falconer is suggestive of a humanity that has grown deaf to God. The falcon turns ever wider, moving ever further from the divine. And yet, even as humans move away from divinity Yeats finds himself believing: “Surely some revelation is at hand; / Surely the Second Coming is at hand.” It is just when all hope is lost, Yeats hints, that profound change comes. Yeats’s poem is helpful to our sermon because it suggests, as I believe, that the root of all of these intertwined crisis might be understood as a religious crisis. Religion comes from the Latin word religar which means “to bind.” In its earliest English form, it was understood as what binds a community to God and what binds us together. It precisely this sense of collective ties--whether to the greater natural reality or to the larger human community--that is fraying today. Human society has become global. Our species evolved living in small bands of, at most, a few hundred. It difficult for many of us to find our places in an interconnected world of billions. Our ancestors often had clear roles in the world. You were born into a social position with specific obligations and you stayed there for all of your life. Your parents were farmers, so you became a farmer. Your family owned a blacksmith’s shop, so you worked in a blacksmith’s shop. Today, such social determination is far less common. Instead of telling children what they must be when they grow-up we hand them texts like Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the Places You’ll Go” and suggest that what they make of themselves is their own doing. This change in human life can easily lead to loss of sense of meaning. If you do not find the right role, the right job, the right partner, or the right community, it can easily feel like you are missing something in your life. People go looking for that missing something. One explanation of the rise of right-wing populism is that such movements offer the people who join them a sense of meaning. They can place themselves into the larger narrative of race, political order, or apocalyptic religion and discover that their life has meaning beyond their own individual struggles. Our Unitarian Universalist tradition can also provide a sense of connection and of meaning. In an essay on the future of Unitarian Universalism, retired minister Marilyn Sewell writes, “The void at the heart of American culture is a spiritual one.” For many of us, we have become unbound, unfettered, disconnected. People come to this church so often seeking connection in moments of crisis. These crises are personal as well as social. First time visitors often tell me that they have come to us because of some tragedy in their own lives--the death of a spouse, the loss of a child, divorce, illness... Attendance often peaks in moments of social crisis: there are more people here on those Sundays when the great crises of the hour are unavoidable--when there is another mass shooting or political diaster--than when the news of the world is less dramatic. I hope you will indulge me for a moment while I offer a bit of testimony about how this dynamic has played out in my own life. I ended up a Unitarian Universalist minister for much the same reason that people seek out our congregations and join our communities. It is true that I was raised Unitarian Universalist. My journey to the ministry was not all that meandering. But like a lot people raised Unitarian Universalist I almost walked away from our tradition. When I was in middle school I began to drift away from the church. Some of my friends from elementary school stopped participating in religious education. And I started to feel disconnected from the community. At the same time, I was being ruthlessly bullied at school. School did not seem like a safe space and Unitarian Universalism seemed irrelevant to my life--though I doubt at the age of twelve or thirteen I would have articulated myself in just that fashion. I did not feel like I had a community to which I belonged. Sunday mornings I generally fought with my parents about coming to church. One Sunday after church I told one of my older friends that I was planning to stop coming to Sunday School. My parents felt that I had reached an age where I could start to make my own decisions about my religious life. And if the church did not feel like it meant something to me then I did not need to participate in it anymore. I was just starting my freshman year of high school. My friend told me to hold off on quitting. She invited me to a weekend long event put on by an organization called Young Religious Unitarian Universalists or YRUU. YRUU was a youth organization that believed in youth empowerment. Its principal activity was to organize what we, in the North, called conferences and what here, in the South, are called rallies. At these events, the youth led and developed the majority of the program. We created worship services. We organized small groups for fellowship and discussion where we shared about the difficulties and possibilities in our lives. We invited outside speakers to offer workshops on art and social action. My first conference was a liberating experience. Suburban Michigan in the early nineties was not a socially progressive place. Yet the Friday evening I walked into my first conference, I saw a community devoted to making a space for people to be themselves. You could attend a conference and be openly queer, or be, as I was then, a science fiction geek, and no one would reject you. I made friends with young men who wore dresses all weekend and young women who wore combat boots and shaved their heads. I made friends with people who refused to reside in any gender category whatsoever. I got to discuss the fantasy novels I loved with others who loved them. I was encouraged to ask critical questions about religion: What is God? How is the each connected to the all? How might I deal with the pain in my young life? I experienced worship, for the first time, as communion. Singing together some hundred strong the youth at the conference felt united. I felt a sense of belonging and connection. I felt like a certain void in my life, a void I could not articulate, had been filled. And working to fill that void, collectively, with others, is one thing that led me to become a minister. What about you? Have you ever had such an experience? If you are new here, is such an experience what you are seeking? If you have been here for years, is it why you continue to come? To build a modern church for a modern age is to create such possibilities for connection and meaning making. It is recognize, as Marilyn Sewell argues, that people “are coming to a church because their souls need feeding” and then work, together, to feed those souls by offering meaningful opportunities for connection. We must do more than just feed souls. We must confront the crises of the hour. Texas poet Natalie Scenters-Zapico captures a bit of the current crisis in her poem “Buen Esqueleto.” Life is short & I tell this to mis hijas. Life is short & I show them how to talk to police without opening the door, how to leave the social security number blank on the exam, I tell this to mis hijas. This world tells them I hate you every day Building a modern church for a modern age does not just mean creating a religious community for people of relative affluence and comfort such as myself. It means proclaiming that no one should be hated by the world. It means creating a community that is capable of including everyone who suffers from the weight of the world. It means working to dismantle--even if the task seems hopeless--the great structures of oppression in the world. In her same essay, Sewell asks, “Travel ahead twenty, or say fifty years into the future. What will our children and grandchildren say of us? Will they say, where was the church when the world came crashing down? How will history picture us…?” And here, perhaps paradoxically, I return to my experience in YRUU. Why? As I mentioned, YRUU was organized around the premise of youth empowerment. It was largely youth run. We elected the people who organized the conferences. And those people had to then decide how to, democratically, create the events. This might seem like a small statement but it actually pushed us to gain a large number of skills. At the age of fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, we had to run meetings, design budgets, speak in public, and lead songs. This gave me and my cohort a set of skills necessary for democratic life. They were skills that, for the most part, we were not gaining in other parts of our lives. Unitarian Universalist congregations, like YRUU, are self-governing entities. It is you, the members, who decide on the direction you want to take your congregation. It is you, the members, who decide how best to confront the crises of the hour. And in this act of self-governance, you gain the skills necessary for democratic life. These skills are often not developed within our working lives. But you can gain them here. Participating in a congregational meeting, you have the opportunity to experience direct democracy--each member gets a vote on important matters before the church. Joining the stewardship team, you can learn about fundraising. Joining the welcome team, you can develop important interpersonal skills. Joining the Board, you can learn how to guide a mid-sized non-profit with a budget of close to a million dollars. These may seem like little skills. Across time they can have a big impact. I have spent more than twenty-five years intimately involved in struggles for social justice. And almost everywhere I have gone--be it to a union meeting, a center for GLBT youth, a session on the climate emergency, or an antiracist collective--I have met Unitarian Universalists actively, and skillfully, participating and leading movements. So often, they seem to be using skills they gained in congregational life to do so. A modern church for a modern age, for me, it means creating a community where people can find connections and gain the skills necessary for democratic life. It means living out the religion of democracy, welcoming people of all races, classes, cultures, languages, and genders, into our religious community. What might it mean for you? I have offered a sketch of my own picture. But as your interim, I want to close with a question: What is your vision for this congregation? What kind of church do you want First Church to be? Where would you like First Church to be in ten years? In twenty years? In fifty years? What will your children or grandchildren say? How will they answer the question: Where was the church when the world came crashing down? In the hopes that you will answer them wisely, I invite the congregation to say, Amen. CommentsCategories Ministry Sermon Tags First Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston Museum District Annual Meeting Unitarian Universalism Ethelred Brown Clarence Skinner John Haynes Holmes Community Church of New York Community Church of Boston Kingdom of God NAACP ACLU Climate Crisis Donald Trump White Supremacy William Butler Yeats Dr. Seuss Marilyn Sewell YRUU Natalie Scenters-Zapico	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line54
__label__wiki	0.977558	0.977558	Track Listing Revealed For Cadillac Records Soundtrack Cadillac Records, the new movie on the rise of Chicago's Chess Records and it's associated artists, is set to premier on December 5. The soundtrack album will hit stores on December 2 via Music World/Columbia as either a 1-CD, 2-CD or Vinyl LP set. The movie stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess and includes a wide array of modern artists playing the greats of the Chess stable, including Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Beyonce as Etta James, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Columbus Short as Little Walter, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters and Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf. While the majority of the album is made up of new recordings of the classic Chess songs, a few originals are included by artists like Little Walter, Buddy Guy and Elvis Presley. The track list: I'm a Man - Jeffrey Wright At Last - Beyoncé No Particular Place to Go - Mos Def I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Jeffrey Wright Once in a Lifetime - Beyoncé Let's Take a Walk - Raphael Saadiq 6 O'Clock Blues - Solange Knowles Nadine - Mos Def The Sound - Mary Mary Last Night - Little Walter I'd Rather Go Blind - Beyoncé My Babe - Coco Short Bridging the Gap - Nas Maybellene - Mos Def Forty Days and Forty Nights - Buddy Guy Trust in Me - Beyoncé Juke - SOUL7 Smokestack Lightnin' - Eamonn Walker Promised Land - Mos Def All I Could Do Was Cry - Beyoncé Surfin' U.S.A. - Will Lee Voices My Babe - Elvis Presley I Can't Be Satisfied - Jeffrey Wright Come On - Mos Def Country Blues - Bill Sims Evolution of a Man - Al Kapone Music News and Notes The Prodigy are set to release a new record in 2009 The Prodigy are set to release a new record in 2009. Invaders Must Die is the upcoming, fifth studio album by the electronic act The Prodigy. It will be released on March 2, 2009 on the band’s new label, “Take Me to the Hospital” and distributed by Cooking Vinyl. It will be the first studio album released by the band since 2004’s Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned and is the first Prodigy album since 1997’s The Fat of the Land to feature Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Maxim. The album will be released as a CD, CD/DVD, Double Vinyl, Luxury 7 inch Vinyl box set and Digital Download. No tracklist is available at this time and we will post more details soon. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are just about done, done, done. The Brooklyn indie-rock trio's nearly finished with a year-long writing and recording process to deliver the follow-up to last year's Is Is EP (review) (Interscope). While the band isn't ready to give the set a title, it's pretty adamant that the new album won't sound much like any previous records. "Will it sound kind of like Show Your Bones (review)? No, been there done that," the band said in a blog post. "What about Is Is? Is that more of the direction it's going in? Absolutely not, it sounds very different from last year's EP. Did we go back to our roots and write something closer to Fever to Tell (review)? No looking back now silly, just full speed ahead." Ultravox's Classic Lineup Reunites The best known lineup of synth-pop act Ultravox is getting back together for a tour. The reunion tour, which runs through much of April in the United Kingdom, places singer/guitarist Midge Ure at the front of the band. Ure's responsible for the best-known in the States recordings by Ultravox, particularly 1982's Quartet. He split with Ultravox in 1985, and the act folded shortly thereafter. MASTODON vinyl box set A collector's edition MASTODON vinyl box set will be released on November 18 via Relapse Records. This box set will be a one-time pressing strictly limited to 1,000 copies and include nine 180-gram LPs encapsulating the legendary band's entire history of recordings. The box set will be cased in a heavy duty, foil stamped black box and include the following: * The vinyl pressing of MASTODON's 2006 Reprise debut, "Blood Mountain", on expanded double LP. * The band's critically acclaimed 2004 release "Leviathan", expanded to double LP. * MASTODON's covers of "The Bit" (MELVINS), "Emerald" (THIN LIZZY) and "Orion" (METALLICA). * A live record documenting the band's performance at the Relapse Contamination Festival in 2003. This LP is, and will remain, exclusive to this box set. * The band's reissue of early recordings, "Call Of The Mastodon". * The final vinyl pressing of the original "Lifesblood" recording. The box set will also include an embroidered logo patch, a vinyl sticker set, as well as a custom MASTODON turntable mat. All of these items will be exclusive to this box set, never to appear outside of it. SOURCE: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net M83 Albums on Vinyl Mute Records will release all five M83 albums on vinyl for the first time on Novemeber 25th. Each release will include a bonus CD and all are double LPs (save for Digital Shades Vol. 1 - which was previously a digital only release and just came out on CD October 28th). M83's music, primarily Anthony Gonzalez (original member Nicolas Fromageau left after the tour for Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts) is at once cinematic in scope as well as emotionally stirring. M83 has confirmed a headlining US tour throughout November. The tour kicks off in Atlanta, GA, on November 11th and wraps up in Los Angeles, CA, on November 29th. Following those dates, M83 will head across the pond to the UK to open for Kings of Leon (?!). These dates are all in support of M83's fifth record, Saturdays = Youth, which has been heaped with praise on this site: "(M83) makes something majestic, grand and sweeping, but never anything less than heartfelt and personal." Morgan Kibby, M83's keyboardist on this tour, is contributing a tour blog from the European jaunt to Kevin Bronson's new website, BuzzBands. The five M83 albums to be released on vinyl on November 25th are: -Saturdays=Youth – originally released 2008 -Digital Shades Vol. 1 – originally released 2007 on digital format only -Before the Dawn Heals Us - originally released 2005 -Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts – originally released 2004 -M83 – originally released 2002 SOURCE: http://rockandrollghost.blogspot.com McCauley's War Elephant reminiscent of Hank Williams Sr. New album is actually a re-release. By Tom Carbone It all began one cold winter in 2004 - John McCauley, aka Deer Tick, locked himself into his bedroom in Providence, R.I., with a full bottle of brandy and Hank Williams Sr.'s Gold Collection. In this bedroom, an epiphany occurred for McCauley, and a few short months later he found himself touring around the country. A lifestyle like this is quite hectic, especially for someone as young as McCauley. At the ripe young age of 18, he began to tour in support of the songs he was howling in his bedroom. With two full years of touring under his belt, the then 20-year-old released War Elephant in late 2007, but is now re-issuing the record on Partisan Records. The new release features a limited edition double vinyl and CD coupled with its new album artwork. McCauley's uniquely pinched croon is spine-tingling - his voice cannot be overlooked. On the opening track "Ashamed," McCauley claims, "I am the boy your mother wanted you to meet." "Ashamed" is a folksy acoustic piece that really sets a precedent for the rest of the record. His gritty-yet-fluid voice seems to be fully developed on this song, despite his young age. The lyrics, however, are a tad juvenile. This could be intentional, but it could also just be a result of his youth. There is no reason to complain about the lyrics, though, as they put across messages and ideas in ways that fully trained poets and musicians sometimes cannot do. The Hank Williams in McCauley starts to shine with the second track, "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)." A seemingly depressed McCauley states, "I gotta get drunk now/I gotta forget about some things." As he yells, a string section begins, and the song continues. The song is beautiful, despite its lyrical content. Ol' Hank has taught him well, but hopefully McCauley doesn't end up like him. McCauley's pattern of drunken rambles and experiences changes with "Spend The Night," a poppy, upbeat tune about love that again can be directly compared to Hank Williams when he was performing more pop-influenced tunes. "Spend the night in my arms/I'll keep you tight, I'll keep you warm," McCauley promises. Even if you don't have McCauley in person to do this, the record will suffice; He's that talented. Despite playing all of the instruments on War Elephant himself, he has now recruited two other full-time members to the band he tours and records with. This doesn't change the live show at all, but it remains to be seen what this will do to studio recordings. Granted, if you've never listened to John McCauley before, don't expect to be in love with him after the first spin. These songs and his voice will grow on you much like Joanna Newsom's did. Or even Conor Oberst's. His voice isn't bad, but it's certainly unconventional. SOURCE: http://www.themaneater.com Killers, Ludacris, Kanye albums move up a day NEW YORK (Billboard) – New albums by the Killers, Ludacris and Kanye West will be released a day earlier than planned, on Monday November 24, to capitalize on the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, their Island Def Jam label said. Each project has already spawned a hit. The Killers' "Human," drawn from the album "Day & Age," is No. 6 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. Ludacris' "One More Drink" co-starring T-Pain is No. 34 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; it comes from "Theater of the Mind." West's "Love Lockdown," from "808s & Heartbreak," has already peaked at No. 3 on the flagship Hot 100 single chart. Reuters/Billboard The Beach Boys - Live on Ready Steady Go! 1964 Let's look at #42 on the Gigwise.com top 50 most sexy and dirtiest album covers (as put together by their staff): 42. Morrissey: 'Your Arsenal' Wow, using a microphone as a phalic symbol, how original and creative. Your Arsenal is a 1992 album by British singer Morrissey. The album was regarded by many fans and critics as his strongest and heaviest effort yet upon its release. Morrissey had been rehearsing with a new band prior to the release of Your Arsenal, which was the first official album of this new line up, whose core has remained stable to date: ever since this record was released, his music has been chiefly composed by either Alain Whyte or Boz Boorer, two musicians originally coming from the rockabilly scene. Commencing with the blistering "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side", the album represents a clear change in direction for Morrissey from pop to modern rock. It also features some elements of rockabilly. Some tracks from the album were lyrically controversial, although much of the controversy was stirred up by the New Musical Express, who had turned against Morrissey by this time. "Glamorous Glue", though a personally conflicted and ambivalent song, was accused of anti-Americanism, while the similarly ambiguous "We'll Let You Know" was accused of defending football hooliganism. "The National Front Disco", meanwhile, was accused by some of glorifying the British National Front, a far-right group, and the ambiguity of lyrics such as "England for the English" was criticised. While the album represents a consistent collection of songs, there was no standout hit single. The first song released from the album, "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful", peaked at number 17 in the United Kingdom. It also hit number two on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. While this was an improvement from the singles from Kill Uncle, it didn't match the success of his earlier singles. Despite this, a great number of singles were released from the album. The UK saw the release of "You're The One For Me, Fatty" (#19) and "Certain People I Know" (#35). In the United States, "Glamorous Glue" and "Tomorrow" reached #13 and #1 on the Modern Rock chart, respectively. Morrissey performed a version of "Glamorous Glue" on Saturday Night Live after the album's release. David Bowie covered the track "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" on his album Black Tie White Noise. Reel Big Fish covered the track "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" on their 2005 album "We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy". The album earned a Grammy nomination for best alternative rock album. The song "Glamorous Glue" was used in the skate video Baker 3 for Kevin "Spanky" Long's part. This Date In Music History-November 11 Birthday wishes to Vanilla Fudge guitarist Vince Martell. Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja was born in Surbiton, England in 1945. Jesse Colin Young of the Youngbloods ("Get Together") turns 64. Jim Peterik of the Ides of March ("Vehicle") and Survivor ("Eye Of The Tiger") is 58. Happy birthday to Paul Cowsill of the Cowsills ("Hair"). Power pop purveyor Marshall Crenshaw was born in Detroit in 1953. In 1963, in Birmingham, England, the Beatles dressed up as policemen in order to escape a crowd of fans. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters recorded the original version of "The Twist" in 1958. It was issued as the B side of the Gospel style ballad "Teardrops On Your Letter" and although it reached #16 on the R&B chart, Ballard's version of "The Twist" wouldn't appear on the Billboard Pop chart until just after Chubby Checker's version took off two years later. In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono released their "Two Virgins" album with a nude picture of themselves on the cover. In 1972, Allman Brother Berry Oakley was killed after his motorcycle plowed into a bus in Macon, Ga. The fatal accident occurred only three blocks from where Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident just over a year ago. No. 1 on the soul chart today in 1978 was Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman." No. 1 on the pop chart was Donna Summer's epic take on "MacArthur Park,” which stayed at #1 for three weeks. Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio in 1938. In 1965, the Velvet Underground made its performance debut at a high school dance in Summit, NJ. Billboard Magazine published the results of its annual disc jockey poll in 1955. The most played R&B single was Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", the most promising artist was Chuck Berry, the favorite R&B artist was Fats Domino and Elvis Presley was voted the most promising Country & Western artist. Billboard also introduced "The Top 100" format in 1955, which would combine record sales with radio and jukebox play to arrive at the standings. The Four Aces "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" had the distinction of being the first number one record using the new calculation method. Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" was released in the US in 1957, where it rose to #3 and stayed on the chart for sixteen weeks. In 1964, 24-year-old Tom Jones recorded "It's Not Unusual" for Britain's Decca Records. The song, originally offered to-but turned down by Sandie Shaw, would become Jones' breakthrough hit, reaching #1 in the UK and #10 in the US. Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" became his 13th and final #1 hit on the Billboard R&B chart in 1982. The song reached #3 on the Pop chart and #4 in the UK early the next year. The late LaVern Baker was born in 1929. Her biggest hit was "I Cried a Tear" (#6 in 1958). More trouble for Jim: In 1969, the Doors' Jim Morrison was arrested for allegedly attacking a stewardess during a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix. He was charged with public drunkenness and interfering with the flight of an aircraft. The stewardess later withdrew her evidence and the charges were dropped. Track Listing Revealed For Cadillac Records Soundt...	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line55
__label__wiki	0.923053	0.923053	This Date In Music History - September 2 Bobby Purify (1939) Sam Gooden - Impressions (1939) Jimmy Clanton (1940) Rosalind Ashford - Martha & The Vandellas, Ashford and Simpson (1943) Joe Simon (1943) Marty Greb - Buckinghams (1946) Mik Kaminski - Electric Light Orchestra (1951) Steve Porcaro - Toto (1957) Fritz McIntyre - Simply Red (1958) Jerry Augustyniak - 10,000 Maniacs (1958) Paul Deakin - Mavericks (1959) Cedric Hailey (K-Ci) - Jodeci (1969) Tony Thompson - Hi-Five (1975) Sam Rivers - Limp Bizkit (1977) Spencer James Smith - Panic at the Disco (1987) They Are Missed: Born on this day in 1925, Hugo Montenegro, composer, died Feb 6, 1981, (1968 UK #1 & US #2 single "The Good The Bad And The Ugly," from the soundtrack to the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western film). In 2001, American saxophonist Jay Migliori died of cancer (age 70). As a session musician he recorded with The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa and was the founding member of Supersax, a tribute band to Charlie Parker. Guy Babylon, keyboard player with the Elton John Band died of a heart attack in 2009 while swimming in his pool at his home in Los Angeles, California. Sophie Tucker recorded her song "Some of These Days" in 1927. The radio show "15 Minutes with Bing Crosby" debuted on CBS in 1931. In 1935, George Gershwin completed the orchestral score for the opera Porgy and Bess. Johnny Cash appeared at the Buck Lane Ranch, Angola, Indiana in 1962. On tour in the USA in 1964, the Beatles appeared at The Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Days before the concert, Philadelphia had experienced race-riots, The Beatles, who were Civil Rights supporters, were shocked to see that their audience of 13,000 was completely white. The Rolling Stones recorded their version of the Willie Dixon song "Little Red Rooster" at Regent Sound Studios in London, England in 1964. In 1965, the Doors recorded their first demo’s at World Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles, California, where they cut six Jim Morrison songs. The Beatles released the epic cut "Yesterday" in 1965. Also in 1965, the Rolling Stones appeared on the British TV show "Ready Steady Go!" Mick Jagger and Andrew Loog Oldham performed a parody of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe." In 1968, the Doors performed their Amsterdam show as a trio after lead singer Jim Morrison passed out. Organist Ray Manzarek handled the vocals. In 1970, an ad was run in "Melody Maker" by Genesis. Phil Collins answered the ad and eventually joined the group. Grateful Dead's former manager was arrested in 1971 after disappearing with over $70,000 of the bands money. In 1972, The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival was held over three days on Bull Island, near Griffin, Indiana. The promoters expected over 50,000 music fans, however, over 200,000 attended the festival. Many bands pulled out as the festival drifted steadily into anarchy. Bands that did appear included Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, Black Oak Arkansas, Cheech and Chong, Foghat, Albert King, Brownsville Station, Canned Heat, Flash, Ravi Shankar, Rory Gallagher, Lee Michaels and Frosty, The Eagles, The Amboy Dukes, and Gentle Giant. Three concert goers drowned in the Wabash River and as the festival ended, the remnants of the crowd burned down the music stand. Nice.... The Hollies’ “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) peaked at #2 on the US charts in 1972. The Great American Music Fair in Syracuse in 1975 featuring, Jefferson Starship, and the Doobie Brothers ended with 60 arrests as fans try to crash the gates. Real nice.... The first issue of Musician magazine was published in 1976. The "Animal House" soundtrack was released in 1978. The single "Controversy" was released by Prince in 1981. In 1988, The Human Rights Now!' world tour kicked off at Wembley Stadium London with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman and Youssu n'Dour. Taking in five continents and claiming to be the most ambitious rock tour in history. In 1989, Ozzy Osbourne was charged with threatening to kill his wife Sharon. Ozzy was released on the condition that he immediately went into detox, the case was later dropped when the couple decide to reconcile. Thank God or we wouldn't have had the Osbourne TV show! Paula Abdul scored her third US #1 single of the year (1989) with "Cold Hearted." Richard Marx went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1989 with "Repeat Offender." Pearl Jam appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards in L.A. in 1993. After performing “Animal” they are joined by Neil Young for “Rockin’ In The Free World.” Pearl Jam also wins big with “Jeremy." Best Video of the Year, Best Group Video and Best Hard Rock Video are among the trophies. Hootie & The Blowfish made their national TV debut on Late Night With David Letterman in 1994. The group was booked after Letterman heard them on a New York radio station. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland, Ohio in 1995. The Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland marked the Hall's opening. Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis perform. Soul Asylum backs Iggy Pop (on "Back Door Man") and Lou Reed (for "Sweet Jane"). Jerry Lee (with help from Springsteen & The E Street Band) sings "Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On" and "Great Balls of Fire." Michael Jackson went to #1 on the US singles chart in 1995 with a song written by R. Kelly "You Are Not Alone." It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37 year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at Number 1. J.Lo was at #1 on the US singles chart in 2001 with "I'm Real." In 2002, thieves broke into the London home of Icelandic singer Bjork and stole valuable recording equipment. The 36-year-old singer was asleep in the flat at the time of the incident. In 2005, Mariah Carey became only the fifth act ever to hold the top two positions in the US Hot 100 singles chart. The singer's "We Belong Together" notched a 10th consecutive week at number one on the Billboard chart while "Shake It Off" jumped two places to second place. The feat puts Carey in a select group of acts to hold the top two with Nelly, OutKast, The Bee Gees and The Beatles. "We Belong Together" was Carey's 16th number one, giving her the third highest number of chart-toppers in the US behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Also in 2005, Kanye West criticised President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina during a televised benefit concert in New York. The show, which was raising funds for relief efforts, featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Gere, Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr and Wynton Marsalis. Appearing alongside comedian Mike Myers for a 90-second segment West told the audience: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." The comment went out live on the US east coast, but was cut from a taped version seen on the west coast. In 2006, lead singer of the Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley was sentenced to three years in a US prison for multiple counts of tax fraud. The 64-year-old, was also ordered to pay more than $3.1m (£1.62m) to the US tax service for "pathological" evasion. The court heard he cashed royalty cheques belonging to his brother O'Kelly, who died in 1996 and also spent millions of dollars made from undeclared performances on a yacht and two homes. Christina Aguilera was at #1 on the US album chart in 2006 with ‘Back to Basics’ the album was also #1 in 12 other countries. 17 year-old Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston went to #1 on the US singles chart with "Beautiful Girls." The song samples the bassline from Ben E. King's classic "Stand by Me." Prevented by state troopers from taking the stage for a "surprise" show in protest of the nearby Republican National Convention in St. Paul in 2008, Rage Against The Machine sing a cappella versions of "Bulls On Parade" and "Killing In The Name" on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol. Led Zeppelin received the Outstanding Achievement award at the U.K. edition of GQ magazine's annual Men of the Year Awards in London in 2008. Singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page attend. The honor is presented by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. "When the temples get grey, the (awards) start coming in thick and fast," says Plant. In 2008, Great White offered $1 million to victims and survivors of the ’03 club fire at The Station in Rhode Island. 100 people perished in one of the nation’s worst nightclub fires. The group does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The blaze started when Great White’s tour manager lit pyrotechnics that ignited the club’s soundproofing. In 2008, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum pay $92,500 for the original Rolling Stones’ "lips" logo. Created by then-art student John Pasche in ’70, the logo was modeled after Mick Jagger’s lips. Posted by SoundStageDirect at 11:57 AM 2 comments: Links to this post John Lennon 'Gimme Some Truth' FULL TRACKLISTS AND COVER ART UNVEILED FOR EIGHT ALBUMS REMASTERED FROM LENNON'S ORIGINAL MIXES AND SEVERAL NEW COLLECTIONS TO BE RELEASED ON 4TH OCTOBER Sweeping Catalogue Initiative Overseen by Yoko Ono and EMI Music Commemorates Lennon's 70th Birthday LONDON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- EMI Music unveils today the complete tracklists and cover art for a broad selection of remastered John Lennon albums and new collections to be released on CD and digitally on 4 October (5 October in North America). Announced last month, EMI Music's global John Lennon 'Gimme Some Truth' catalogue campaign is being overseen by Yoko Ono and commemorates the music legend's 70th birthday on 9 October, 2010. Featured in the sweeping initiative are eight remastered John Lennon solo albums and new titles including Double Fantasy Stripped Down, Power To The People: The Hits, Gimme Some Truth, and the John Lennon Signature Box. For the first time, Lennon's classic solo albums and other standout recordings have been digitally remastered from his original mixes. Double Fantasy, 1980's GRAMMY Award winner for Album of the Year, will be presented with a newly remixed 'Stripped Down' version produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, Lennon's original co-producers for the album. Some Time In New York City has been restored to include the six 'Live Jam' recordings featured on the original album. The deluxe 11CD and digital John Lennon Signature Box includes 13 previously unreleased home recordings, and Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, and Julian Lennon have each written personal essays for the lavish collection. The cover art for the new titles includes original drawings by Sean Lennon for Double Fantasy Stripped Down, while the cover of 1974's Walls and Bridges is restored to its original artwork. John Lennon's life and music will be specially feted this fall with a variety of commemorative releases and events around the world. Please visit www.johnlennon.com for official announcements and updates. Click Here to view all of the John Lennon cover art images. POWER TO THE PEOPLE: THE HITS [CD; Digital] 1. Power To The People 2. Gimme Some Truth 3. Woman 4. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) 5. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night 6. Cold Turkey 7. Jealous Guy 8. #9 Dream 9. (Just Like) Starting Over 11. Watching The Wheels 12. Stand By Me 13. Imagine 14. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 15. Give Peace A Chance POWER TO THE PEOPLE: THE HITS (EXPERIENCE EDITION) [CD/DVD] (tracklist same as above) GIMME SOME TRUTH [4CD; Digital] 1. Working Class Hero 4. God 5. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die 7. Sunday Bloody Sunday 8. Steel And Glass 9. Meat City 10. I Don't Wanna Face It 12. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World 13. I Found out 14. Isolation 18. Only People 1. Mother 2. Hold On 3. You Are Here 4. Well Well Well 5. Oh My Love 6. Oh Yoko! 7. Grow Old With Me 8. Love 10. Woman 11. Out The Blue 13. Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out) 14. My Mummy's Dead 15. I'm Losing You 16. (Just Like) Starting Over 17. #9 Dream 18. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) 1. Mind Games 2. Nobody Told Me 3. Cleanup Time 4. Crippled Inside 5. How Do You Sleep? 6. How? 7. Intuition 8. I'm Stepping Out 10. Old Dirt Road 11. Scared 12. What You Got 13. Cold Turkey 14. New York City 15. Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox) 16. Borrowed Time 17. Look At Me 1. Be-Bop-A-Lula 2. You Can't Catch Me 3. Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy 4. Tight A$ 5. Ain't That a Shame 6. Sweet Little Sixteen 7. Do You Wanna Dance 8. Slippin' and Slidin' 9. Peggy Sue 10. Medley: Bring It On Home/Send Me Some Lovin' 11. Yer Blues (Live) 12. Just Because 13. Boney Moronie 14. Beef Jerky 15. Ya Ya 16. Hound Dog (Live) 18. Here We Go Again JOHN LENNON SIGNATURE BOX [11CD; Digital] Original Albums [digitally remastered] - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Imagine - Some Time In New York City - Mind Games - Walls and Bridges - Rock 'n' Roll - Double Fantasy - Milk and Honey 4. I Found Out 6. Honey Don't 7. One Of The Boys 8. India, India 9. Serve Yourself 13. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die 2. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 5. Move Over Ms. L 6. Give Peace a Chance ORIGINAL ALBUMS (REMASTERED) [CD; Digital] John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) 5. Isolation 9. Look At Me 10. God Imagine (1971) 1. Imagine 4. It's So Hard 10. Oh Yoko! Some Time In New York City (1972) 1. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World 2. Sisters, O Sisters 3. Attica State 4. Born In a Prison 5. New York City 7. The Luck Of The Irish 8. John Sinclair 9. Angela 10. We're All Water 1. Cold Turkey (live) 2. Don't Worry Kyoko (live) 3. Well (Baby Please Don't Go) (live) 4. Jamrag (live) 5. Scumbag (live) 6. Au (live) Mind Games (1973) 3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) 4. One Day (At A Time) 5. Bring On The Lucie (Freda Peeple) 6. Nutopian International Anthem 8. Out The Blue 9. Only People 10. I Know (I Know) 11. You Are Here 12. Meat City Walls and Bridges (1974) 1. Going Down On Love 3. Old Dirt Road 4. What You Got 5. Bless You 6. Scared 8. Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox) Rock 'n' Roll (1975) 2. Stand By Me 10. Medley: Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some Lovin' 11. Bony Moronie Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980) Stripped Down - Original Album, Remastered 2. Kiss Kiss Kiss 4. Give Me Something 5. I'm Losing You 6. I'm Moving On 7. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) 8. Watching The Wheels 9. Yes, I'm Your Angel 11. Beautiful Boys 12. Dear Yoko 13. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him 14. Hard Times Are Over Milk and Honey (1984) 2. Sleepless Night 3. I Don't Wanna Face It 4. Don't Be Scared 6. O'Sanity 7. Borrowed Time 8. Your Hands 9. (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess 10. Let Me Count The Ways 12. You're The One SOURCE EMI Music & http://www.johnlennon.com/ Ereb Altor To Release "By Honour" And "The End" Albums On Vinyl Sweden's Ereb Altor have recently announced that both of their full-length albums will soon see a vinyl release on No Remorse Records. However, no specific date for the vinyl albums "By Honour" and "The End" have been announced. Watch here for additional details on these reissued vinyl albums as to when they are made available. UNRULY CHILD: New Album After disbanding more than sixteen years ago, all the original members of the legendary melodic hard-rock quintet UNRULY CHILD have reunited to produce a brand new album called "Worlds Collide," which is due for release on October 15 in Europe and October 26 in the USA via Frontiers Records. UNRULY CHILD is: Marcie Michelle Free: Vocals Bruce Gowdy: Guitars Guy Allison: Keyboards Larry Antonino: Bass Jay Schellen: Drums THE WRETCHED END: Debut Album Artwork THE WRETCHED END, the new Norway-based band featuring guitarist Samoth (EMPEROR, ZYKLON) and bassist Cosmo (MINDGRINDER) alongside Swedish drummer Nils Fjellström (DARK FUNERAL, IN BATTLE, AEON), is set to release their debut album, "Ominous," on October 25 through Samoth's own imprint label, Nocturnal Art Productions, and marketed and distributed worldwide by Candlelight Records. According to a press release, THE WRETCHED END's music "can best be described as 'deathrash,' taking elements from both death metal and thrash metal. Many of the songs are quite groove-orientated, and also offer a melodic side. Influences range from the flavors of old-school as well as a more modern death/thrash metal sound." Viking Skull's "Heavy Metal Thunder" To Be Released October 26 Restricted Release has confirmed October 26 as the North American release date for "Heavy Metal Thunder," a special reissue package from England's Viking Skull. Remastered and featuring all new artwork, "Heavy Metal Thunder" combines the band's popular debut album, "Born In Hell," and the "Chapter One" EP, both previously unavailable through proper American and Canadian retail outlets. The album also includes five bonus songs and will precede a new, still untitled EP planned for release in early 2011. Viking Skull, featuring vocalist/guitarist Roddy Stone, guitarists Dom Wallace and Frank Regan, bassist Kevin Waldie, with sole-American drummer Jess Margera (CKY, The Company Band), found initial American interest when the song "Skull Heaven" appeared on volume one of Bam Margera's Viva La Bands compilation series in 2005. A second song, "Blackened Sunrise" would follow on volume two in 2007. Green Day To Release New Live Album Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has recently revealed that they are working on a new live album. The group are recording performances on their current US tour for the as-yet-untitled album. “We're recording a live f*cking album right now," Armstrong told fans at a gig in Denver on Saturday (August 28). "So check it out, we're gonna play a brand-new song. ... It ain't that brand-new. This song is called 'Cigarettes and Valentines'." Originally recorded in 2003, the 'Cigarettes and Valentines' has never been officially released. The live album will be the follow-up to Green Day's first live LP, 'Bullet In A Bible', which was released in 2005. The band's last studio album '21st Century Breakdown' came out in 2009. Ozzy Osbourne Re-Release "Scream" As Two Disc Set Just four months after the release of his stellar 2010 album "Scream," heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne has announced plans to re-release the record as a two disc set. The re-issue set includes a bonus disc featuring b-side tracks from the "Scream" sessions and four live tracks, including a cover of the Black Sabbath tune "Fairies Wear Boots." "Scream: Tour Edition" is set for release on October 5th, 2010 through Epic Records. The re-release will also be availble in a 2LP Vinyl package. "Scream: Tour Edition" tracklisting: Disc One - "Scream" 1. Let It Die 2. Let Me Hear You Scream 3. Soul Sucker 4. Life Won’t Wait 5. Diggin’ Me Down 6. Crucify 9. I Want It More 10. Latimer’s Mercy 11. I Love You All Disc Two - "B-Sides" 1. Hand of the Enemy 2. One More Time 3. Jump The Moon 4. Bark At The Moon (Live) 5. Let Me Hear You Scream (Live) 6. No More Tears (Live) 7. Fairies Wear Boots (Live) [Black Sabbath cover]	cc/2020-05/en_head_0006.json.gz/line56

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