Dataset Preview
The full dataset viewer is not available (click to read why). Only showing a preview of the rows.
The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 31
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
return json_reader.read()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
self._parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
ValueError: Trailing data
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 31
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
pred_label
string | pred_label_prob
float64 | wiki_prob
float64 | text
string | source
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.696048
| 0.303952
|
Only Register an Account to
Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1)
e-book Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1)
Free download. Book file PDF easily for everyone and every device. You can download and read online Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1) file PDF Book only if you are registered here. And also you can download or read online all Book PDF file that related with Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1) book. Happy reading Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1) Bookeveryone. Download file Free Book PDF Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1) at Complete PDF Library. This Book have some digital formats such us :paperbook, ebook, kindle, epub, fb2 and another formats. Here is The CompletePDF Book Library. It's free to register here to get Book file PDF Fallen Is Babylon (Plague World Book 1) Pocket Guide.
This is conclusive proof that the fall and destruction of Babylon are not the same, and that Babylon itself is not a literal city; for its destruction causes results that the destruction of no city on the globe could cause. It is evident from what has been said, that the destruction of Babylon takes place in immediate connection with the second advent. As an instance, we will cite the Fugitive Slave Law, which during its existence had the sanction of many of the leading doctors of divinity.
Pride, love of the world, and departure from God too plainly identify the Babylon of the Apocalypse with St. Only two divisions of Babylon had fallen before this time. The Bible presents a testimony of the most solemn character concerning Babylon. This testimony comes from God, and is not dependent upon the will of man, and therefore no person should be offended when it is presented. If that which is said of Babylon is true of a particular denomination, then that people should receive the light with gratitude, and bring forth the fruits of repentance. But if any church is found to whom this testimony is not applicable, let them be grateful that they do not belong to this great city, and let them not complain that this most solemn message is preached for the benefit of the vast numbers for whom it is appropriate.
The servants of God are called to announce the principles of truth with faithfulness, and each one must apply them in his own case according to truth in the fear of God. Now, lest any should deny that the Greek and the Protestant churches are included in Babylon, we invite attention to the following facts: It is evident, from the terms of this prophecy, that Babylon is composed of people who profess to be Christians.
It is also evident that a great part of the true people of God are found in Babylon, even in the last days. But Babylon is a harlot because of her unlawful union with the kings of the earth; and as the result of this union she has corrupted the truth of God. Now we will prove that the Greek Church is one of the three grand divisions of Babylon. The Catholic Church became a harlot at an epoch at least as early as the time of Constantine. History records the acts of no other civil ruler who has wrought so great changes in the church as did Constantine. He gave a new form of government to the church, having for his model the government of the empire.
He created offices in the church unknown to the New Testament, and he corrupted the doctrines and practices of the church. This great church continued to corrupt itself more and more from century to century. Its history is full of examples of unlawful union with the kings of the earth. But in the eleventh century, as the result of the long quarrel between the bishop of Rome and the bishop of Constantinople concerning the supremacy, the Catholic Church was divided into two churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Greek Catholic Church.
After this separation, the Greek Catholic Church continued to be what the general Catholic Church had been before the division. The separation did not cause the Greek Church to renounce a single error of the great Catholic Church, nor to cease her unlawful connection with the kings of the earth. If the Catholic Church was Babylon before it was thus divided, then the Greek Church was, before that separation from Rome, a very considerable part of the great city of Babylon.
Pouring Out the Seven Last Plagues Begins
The principal difference between the Roman Church and the Greek Church since the separation is, that the Greek Church has simply retained the errors held by all in common before the separation, without making much addition to those errors, and without taking a very active part in persecuting others; while the Roman Church has added several other errors to her system of doctrine, particularly such as have respect to the power of the pope, and she has been very active in persecuting those who have not submitted to her authority.
The Greek Church is less guilty than the church of Rome; but to deny that she forms an important division of Babylon, would be to deny that Babylon existed before the great schism of the eleventh century. Five hundred years after the separation of the Greek and Roman churches bring us to the Reformation of the sixteenth century, which separated several great nations from the communion of the church of Rome. This is the second grand separation from Rome. Since that time, the religious world has existed in three grand divisions, the Greek Catholics, the Roman Catholics, and the Protestants.
The separation of the Greeks from Rome was not characterized by a reformation; it is therefore certain that the Greeks continued to be a part of Babylon. But the separation of the Protestants from Rome was characterized by the renunciation of several great errors. It is therefore worthy of our attention to determine carefully whether the Protestants made such a reform as would cause them to cease to be a part of Babylon.
They rejected the authority of the pope and of the church of Rome; they appealed to the Bible as the supreme rule of faith; they exposed many errors and sins of the church of Rome; and they taught justification by faith. But to leave Babylon it is not enough to separate from the communion of those who sustain her errors.
It is necessary to renounce these errors by receiving the truth of God, and it is necessary, also, to renounce the sins of Babylon by true repentance. If the Protestants returned to the purity and simplicity of the New Testament, then they ceased to be a part of Babylon; but if they retained a considerable number of the essential errors and sins of Babylon, and contented themselves to preserve their part of the old city, after a partial purification, instead of building anew after the divine model, then they have never ceased to be a part of Babylon.
The churches of the New Testament were composed of those only who repented of their sins, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were buried with him in baptism. But the churches which compose the Romish apostasy are organized on a plan essentially different from that of the apostles.
By means of infant baptism, the entire population is brought into the church; the church and the world are no longer distinct, and the church becomes an assembly of unconverted men. This confusion of the world and the church is one of the essential errors which made a Babylon of the Catholic church. Now it is a painful fact that the reformers did not see it necessary to commence at the foundation, and form churches of converted persons only; on the contrary, they positively refused to do this, but their first churches were simply Romish churches which had accepted the doctrines of the Reformation, but which were composed of persons admitted by infant baptism, the larger part of whom were unacquainted with Christian experience; and the churches afterward raised up by them were of a similar character, because formed on the same model.
Now we offer a second decisive proof that the Reformation was not sufficiently complete to deliver the Protestants from Babylon. The unlawful union of Church and State is the natural consequence of the prevalence of infant baptism; for that human ordinance made the terms church and world two names for one thing. This shows how appropriate is the term Babylon as the name for this city of confusion. But Babylon is called a prostitute because of her unlawful union with the kings of the earth. This criminal union is seen when by their royal authority they exercise their influence informing the doctrines of the church, in giving form to the service and worship of God, and in creating offices in the church, and filling them with their favorites; and when the church not only accepts all this, but even sanctions the criminal practices of kings, so that she may profit by their revenues, and that she may use this power to persecute those who do not accept her dogmas.
Did they imitate the apostles in organizing churches without the participation of the civil power? In all these countries the civil power has exercised a strong influence in the formation of the confessions of faith, and in deciding what should be the character and manner of the worship, in creating church offices and in selecting the persons to fill those offices, and even in determining who should be the ministers of the word of God.
The Plague Audiobooks by Albert Camus
These things are carried so far in England that the king or queen is recognized as the head of the church. This unlawful union of Church and State made Babylon a prostitute, and the reformers did not dissolve this union, but perpetuated it. The ordinances of the church have been corrupted in Babylon. To leave Babylon it is necessary to turn from these corruptions, and to receive the pure ordinances of the New Testament church.
Did the reformers see the necessity of doing this? They were satisfied with the baptism they had received in their infancy from the Catholic priests, and they perpetuated this corruption of the ordinance of baptism in the Protestant churches. They served in the work of the Christian ministry by virtue of their ordination as Catholic priests, and they never considered it important to be set apart to the holy ministry by converted men.
They were satisfied with that which they had received from Rome. Even the bishops and archbishops of the ancient Catholic Church of England have been perpetuated in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church of America, and these churches pretend to be the Catholic Church, or rather, grand divisions of that church, because they can trace their bishops back to the apostles through the long line of popes.
These things show that the Reformation formed the third grand division of Babylon, instead of establishing a church upon the model of the ancient apostolic church. This third division is much less soiled with error than are the other two divisions, but it is not clean in the sight of God. Since the Reformation, other Protestant churches have arisen, having less of papal errors than the first reformed churches. But a serious error which is at the foundation of the great Babylonian apostasy is found in nearly all the Protestant churches.
The action of the church of Rome with respect to the first of these commandments was considered by the reformers a just ground for separation from that church, and yet nearly all the Protestant churches have perpetuated the action of that great apostasy with respect to the fourth commandment.
They violate the fourth commandment, and teach men so; or rather, they make void the commandment of God to keep the tradition of the elders. They set aside the Sabbath of the Lord that they may keep the festival day of the sun; and in thus violating the fourth commandment, they actually violate the entire law of God. No church has a right to consider itself apostolic while it violates the commandments of God. So long as a church does this, the stain of apostasy is upon her, and in this respect she is Babylonian rather than apostolic. Though the account of the judgment upon Babylon in Revelation 18 speaks of Babylon as if she were one city, yet we learn from Revelation that Babylon will be divided into three parts before she receives her punishment.
This seems to indicate that these three parts are not alike guilty, and that God makes this division that he may punish each part according to the light which it has had, and the crimes which it has committed. It is therefore not unreasonable to conclude that Babylon is now composed of three grand sections, which are culpable in different degrees, and that God will judge each according to its deserts.
The Roman Catholic Church, having its seat at Rome, and having once had the jurisdiction of the entire ten kingdoms, and now of the greater part of them, is without doubt the central section of this great city; but we have convincing proof that there are also two other sections of Babylon, and that God will punish each as it deserves. And yet, most Premillennial Bible teachers and commentators on Revelation say that they're different.
I'm even out of sorts with my father [Lehman Strauss] on this! You know, that really hurts! I don't like to stand out from the crowd and be different. That makes me nervous. But here I stand. I cannot believe otherwise--at least today. Maybe you can convince me to the contrary. We are going to proceed today on the basis that the subject is still the fall of the apostate world church of the last days. It is another angel who makes the prophetic announcement to John that Babylon is fallen--a powerful angel who illuminates the earth with his glory.
He cries with a strong voice, saying literally, "It is fallen, it is fallen, Babylon the Great.
From Leather to Lace.
Anatomy of Failure: Philosophy and Political Action.
God's Kingdom rules!?
Com’era bello il mio Pci (Italian Edition);
The angel is speaking prophetically of a future event, but reports it as if it had already happened. The utter devastation of the great world church is that definite. Now, notice what happens to it as a result of its fall. Its remnants and ruins become the habitation of demons, and the hold or cage of every foul spirit and every unclean and hateful bird verse 2.
Birds are often used in Scripture to represent evil spirits. For instance, in our Lord's parable of the sower and the soils, the birds that snatched away the good seed of God's Word are descriptive of "the wicked one" according to Christ's own interpretation Matthew In the parable of the mustard seed a few verses later Matthew , we learn of the mammoth and rapid growth of Christendom in this age, but the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of it. Here is the beginning of this Satanic trend, evil spirits, fallen angels, coming to lodge in the branches of progressing Christendom.
And now that it is fallen in the last days, every foul spirit, all kinds of demons and fallen angels are caged in its ruins. The true church of Jesus Christ is declared to be the habitation of God through the Spirit in Ephesians But the false church of the last days is the habitation of demons. How important it is for us to stand true to the Word of God, and avoid identifying ourselves with those who deny it. The indictment against the great world church, which we saw in chapter 17, is repeated here in verse 3, but a new concept is added.
The nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. The kings of the earth and their subjects are guilty of embracing her false gods; they've worshipped her idols. And then we are introduced for the first time to the commercial activities of this great world church. Rather than prove that this is a different Babylon than chapter 17, this merely reinforces the vileness and apostasy of the great world church.
It will become such a political and commercial force, that the economy of the world will be largely influenced by it. In other words, instead of occupying itself with spiritual things, the great world church has occupied itself with commercial things. This is already happening before our very eyes. Organized religion is big business.
Fallen Is Babylon (Plague Worlds #1).
Bicycling for Fun and Fitness!
Krishna and the Ducks.
Merchants of the earth have already grown rich through the abundance of her delicacies. If all organized religion were to be destroyed today, the economy of the world would be visibly shaken. No one really knows the actual extent of the vast wealth of the Roman Catholic church.
Fallen Is Babylon (Plague Worlds #1)
Its business enterprises and investments reach into almost every facet of life. Its real estate holdings can hardly be matched by any other single organization. Put with that the assets of the major Protestant denominations, and you have unparalleled economic power. That is not why God instituted the church. He brought it into the world to rescue the lost from eternal condemnation, and to bring them into the fellowship of the body of Christ, where they can grow strong in God's grace and knowledge. So what it has become must be an abomination to Him. And some day He is going to destroy it.
Suddenly John hears another voice, this one from heaven. It is probably the voice of God Himself, and it is directed to His people. While the primary application of the plea is probably directed to Tribulation saints, I cannot help but believe this is God's Word to His people today who have come to discern the true character of the apostate world church which is forming already in our day. In many of the world's religions today, I'm convinced that there are true believers in Jesus Christ. The leadership and hierarchy of those groups has denied the doctrines of Scripture--the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Jesus Christ, His substitutionary death on Calvary's cross in our place for our sins, His bodily resurrection from the grave, salvation by God's grace received purely by faith.
Warring against the Saints of God
There are great religious systems today that deny those doctrines, and yet there are in those organizations or denominations, people who genuinely know Jesus Christ. They've come to know Him in a personal, saving relationship by faith in His shed blood. They love Him. They walk with Him. They want to serve Him. They have agony in their soul over the direction that their organizations are taking.
They're trying to stem the tide and stop a headlong plunge to disaster. They pray for their organizations. They want to work within the framework of an apostate religious organization and seek to change it. God bless them. My heart goes out to them. They are brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
But you know what God says to them? Right here in verse 4 He says it: "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. Now I don't talk about this very often. Frankly, I would far rather the growth of Emmanuel Faith Community Church come from the salvation of lost people who have been totally unchurched. We ought to be witnessing and bringing the lost to know the Savior--every one of us affiliated with this local church. But I would have to say to people who are affiliated with organizations that deny the great doctrines of Biblical Scripture: "Come out, come out of her, my people.
I believe that God reveals this to people at different stages of their spiritual growth. We do not go out of our way to get people out of other churches. I hope nobody in this church does. But there are teachers who deny these doctrinal truths and they're doing more harm than good, and God wants His people to come out. Apostate religious organizations cannot be reformed. God has predicated the direction they shall take. To remain associated with them is first of all, to be responsible for their unbiblical principles and practices, to be guilty of their sins.
And secondly, if we remain associated with them long enough, we will share in their punishment. Technically, the consequence could only be true of Tribulation saints. Only they could be present on earth when the destruction of the apostate world church occurs. Moroni foresaw pervasive pride, attention to fashion, envy, strife, malice, persecution, iniquity, and polluted churches, which are actual religious institutions and the philosophies of men, all of which are worshipped and followed devoutly. Sadly, Moroni reported, these conditions would exist among the Saints, whose fascination with Babylon would defile the holy church of God:.
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. As we recall, the word church, in Babylonian terms, means both a religious institution and a worshipped philosophy of man, anything that we worship other than God, whose leaders and teachers are those to whom we give our allegiance in place of God.
This is false doctrine. Why have ye transfigured [reinvented] the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Babylon is like a cancer: her presence is destructive to the system. She is an unwelcomed intruder that must be excised completely, or she will overwhelm and kill her host. Babylon can be neither converted nor saved.
abepivurev.tk: The Babylonian Exile of Israel by Robert I Bradshaw
Total annihilation is the only answer. Other prophets have weighed in on Babylon and its future. For example, Nephi foresaw the absolute demise of latter-day Babylon a. Babylon and Zion do not mix.
Dissertation De Culture Générale : 30 Fiches Pour Réussir (ED ORGANISATION) (French Edition)
algableropri.ml/the-normalcy-bias.php
The Spirit Of 76: A Junior Novel Of The American Revolution
Tales From Grace Chapel Inn: Christmas Traditions At Grace Chapel Inn
More Radio Shows That Are Fiction
Snowflake Beanie Knitting Pattern - All Sizes Newborn Through Adult Male Included
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line1
|
__label__wiki
| 0.759464
| 0.759464
|
Honoring the Heritage
Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital (Nanjing Gulou Yi Yuan), the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, is one of the earliest western medical hospitals in China. The hospital was founded in 1892 by Dr. William Edward Macklin, M.D., Disciples (Canada) Mission to China, with the assistance of Prof. Frank Eugene Meigs, the Church of Christ (USA), and the local Nanjing community. The hospital was originally named Nanjing Christian Hospital, but was widely known as “Ma Lin Hospital,” after the Chinese name of the founder. The 1892 medical staff included Dr. Macklin and Dr. James Butchart,with Dr. Daisy Macklin joining the staff in 1896.
After 1902, with rising costs, and the urgent need for qualified medical staff members, the American Presbyterian Missions to China, and the American Methodist Missions to China, provided funding and staffing for the hospital, as well as for the University of Nanking. At that time, the hospital was renamed Drum Tower Hospital in honor of the adjacent 1382 A.D. Drum Tower (Gu Lou), heart of the Ming Dynasty’s first capital city, and the historical area were the hospital was founded.
The original, four-story 1892 hospital was fully renovated in 2006, and, on January 23, 2007 the historic building was formally re-dedicated as The 1892 Memorial Hall and Hospital Archives, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. The 1892 Memorial Hall includes a series of memorial galleries, a dedicated archives center, and a spacious conference hall.
Historically, Drum Tower Hospital maintained a formal association with the University of Nanking, which was originally founded by the Methodist Missions to China in 1888. In 1904, Dr. Randolph T. Shields, American Presbyterian Mission to China, was appointed Dean of the Medical Department of the (Union) University of Nanking. In 1907 Drum Tower Hospital was designated as the teaching hospital of the Medical Department, and in 1909, Drum Tower Hospital and the University of Nanking were formally chartered together in New York State (USA). Subsequently, in 1913, Drum Tower Hospital was formally united with the University of Nanking to form the University of Nanking Medical College, and the Hospital continued to serve as the teaching hospital of the University.
In 1952, the University of Nanking (est. 1888) and the National Nanjing University (est. 1902) formally merged to form Nanjing University. At that time, the hospital became an independent, municipal hospital of Nanjing. Later, in 1987, Drum Tower Hospital was formally designated as the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, and the hospital continues to serve as a major medical, academic and research center of China.
Copryrighted 2007 Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line6
|
__label__cc
| 0.506089
| 0.493911
|
HomeMusic NewsAMBERIAN DAWN Releases Cover of ABBA Hit “Lay All Your Love On Me”
AMBERIAN DAWN Releases Cover of ABBA Hit “Lay All Your Love On Me”
November 30, 2019 Michael Deinlein Music News, Music Videos, US Comments Off on AMBERIAN DAWN Releases Cover of ABBA Hit “Lay All Your Love On Me”
Melodic ABBA-Metal from Finland – A poetic sound rises with AMBERIAN DAWN
With their first single, “United”, already providing a hint of the musical direction their new album Looking For You is headed, AMBERIAN DAWN’s new version of ABBA’s hit track “Lay All Your Love On Me” leaves nothing left to be questioned. This song is the perfect statement and sound honoring the Swedish pop giants.
Following in the footsteps of ABBA, Tuomas recorded most of the keyboard parts directly in Benny Andersson’s legendary studio on the original equipment that ABBA used to create their worldwide hits! This popular sound is spiced up with exciting keyboard and guitar details. Capri Virkkunen’s outstanding, emotional voice and the riff-driven AMBERIAN DAWN attitude create a powerful rejuvenation of ABBA’s all-time pop classic.
“Lay All Your Love On Me” – pushing it to the next level.
Tuomas states:“This song is one of my ABBA-favorites. I really like the sound and feeling of it. Before recording this song with my band, I hadn’t ever done a cover version of any song. There’s so many good bands out there I’ve loved during all these years so it was hard to choose just one song for covering. But since my musical taste has been a little bit “lighter” lately, I decided to choose an ABBA song. It was even more obvious to me to choose this song after I got a chance to visit and record at Benny Andersson’s studio in Stockholm.“
Looking For You, out on January 31, 2020, proves that ABBA and metal do not mutually exclude each other. AMBERIAN DAWN is navigating into a new style, which is even more melodic, keyboard driven and not only a sophisticated symbiosis but yet their own style: “Melodic ABBA-Metal from Finland”. The new album is packed with well-polished and immaculate songwriting, full of catchy melodies and epic keyboard parts that immediately send shivers down your spine.
Pre-Order the new album Looking For You NOW!
The multi-faceted and emotional lyrics provide a suitable background for soaring guitars and elegant classical interludes: a highly addictive cocktail that is topped off by a cover version of ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love On Me”!
With their musical style changing from power metal to symphonic metal over the last few years, AMBERIAN DAWN are now navigating into yet another new style, which is even more melodic, keyboard-driven and influenced by the Swedish band ABBA. Therefore, they’ve been working closely with award-winning Finnish artist Kebu for over a month to create the ingenious keyboard sound that can be heard on the recording. Release Date: 31.01.2020
Looking For You will be available in the following formats:-1 CD Digipak-LP Gatefold – 12” Vinyl BLACK-Digital Album
AMBERIAN DAWN are: Vocals: “Capri” Virkkunen, Guitar: Emil Pohjalainen, Bass: Jukka Hoffren, Drums: Joonas Pykälä-aho, Keyboards: Tuomas Seppälä
"Lay All Your Love On Me"
BLACK HEART SAINTS Official Music Video For Cover of ROBERT PALMER’s “Addicted to Love”
SERENITY Releases New Single & Official Video, “Set The World On Fire”
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line8
|
__label__cc
| 0.560521
| 0.439479
|
Three Books...
Board index Current games WW1 : La Grande Guerre 14-18 WW1 History club / Discussions historiques sur la Grande Guerre
AGEod Veteran
As we approach the centenary of the Great War some excellent scholarship that may lead to reshaping the popular image of World War One is out there and worthy of some attention. Below are three deserving titles that deal with the start of the War and the July Crisis.
For one who was raised on all the conventional English language and Anglo-centric accounts by Barbara Tuchman, A.J.P. Taylor, John Keegan, John Terrane and so forth, the opening of the Russian and former DDR archives have been a great boon to historians and general histories like Cataclysm: The Great War as Political Catastrophe, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918 and The Pity of war: Understanding World War One, have all served to (in the popular catch phrase) re-image the War to a great extent. I still have a handful of the magazine articles and the like, acquired as a kid when the 50th anniversary rolled around and large library of the extensive works written by the named historians above. All are worthy of study and respect except perhaps, some of what was held as absolute historical fact may indeed be little more than comforting national mythologies that error in commission and omission.
In short, the conventional accounts are filled with inconsistencies, logical contradictions and outright propaganda (for lack of a better term) and some of the new scholarship addresses this with differing success and credibility. We should be grateful that the bureaucrats in the former Eastern Block were so diligent in preserving the archives of the regimes that they replaced so they could be handed down to those that replaced them.
At least three relatively recent works regarding the start of the Great War are worthy of attention:
Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914 by David Fromkin. The author may be familiar from his A Peace to End All Peace about the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Middle East. In Europe's Last Summer, he deals with the July Crisis almost exclusively and reaches some interesting conclusions.
The Russian Origins of the First World War by Sean McMeeken benefits greatly from access to both the Russian records and Turkish government archives and produces a rather surprising narrative that stands much of the conventional wisdom of the July Crisis on its head. Professor McMeeken's version of events is logically argued and quite well documented using sources not previously exploited to any extent in earlier English language histories.
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark is probably the deepest of the three as Professor Clark's reaches back to the Congress of Vienna in places in an attempt to objectively gather together every available thread in the chain of evidence. It is a very readable and compelling work of great depth that almost make the opening chapters of Tuchman's The Guns of August look like a supermarket tabloid account of events by comparison.
None of the above are in complete agreement with each other except that many use the same sources and the authors have used their differing perspectives and interpreted the data through their own particular lenses. However, they each have a solid internal consistency in the overall narrative and are complementary rather than contradictory. This is not a weakness but rather a great strength, the start of the Great War was such an incredibly decisive moment for the entire world and its effects trickle down to this day, a century on. Adding to our understanding, even with the fore-knowledge that we may never have absolute answers to fundamental questions is still a worthy pursuit.
What I have learned is that much of what I held as "Facts" and "Truth's" about the Great War for many years are really nothing of the kind and never were, in spite of being from the desks of trusted and competent historians.
It might be very interesting to see other Forum Member's reading recommendations.
Random wrote: As we approach the centenary of the Great War some excellent scholarship that may lead to reshaping the popular image of World War One is out there and worthy of some attention. Below are three deserving titles that deal with the start of the War and the July Crisis.
Very interesting and a good concise summation of the facts presented by 3 differing models and authors.
I have mostly read the old school- John Keegan, AJP Taylor, Fritz Fisher (Translation) and in recent- Hew Stratchan (far too concise and more interest to a beginner's/student's study material).
Neal Ferguson's short alternative was in some places dubious and other places informative.
Fischer and some German historians go back in time to even the 30-year war!!! time leap of 300 years to give background of the Nazi era due to the aftermath of the Great War; so Clark's going back to the "Age of Metternich" is interesting. READ LIST- Top.
P.S.: - Most Americans on this forum are going to hate me for this, but i found Barbara Tuchman far too biased and not so well informed. The arrogance, the openly bigoted view, the all assuming air was not to my liking. Writing off Hannibal(Acknowledged by past masters of War like Napoleon as the one of the Greatest Tacticians) in half a line, Schlieffen in a few lines and making Hoffman (in reality- a Genius level Staff Officer and the true Eagle of the Eastern front as a Gluttonous and cartoon type character wasn't very helpful) and Ludendorff as the archetypical stereotype.
But i guess it was to be expected, after reading the book did some background research-- Her GrandFather Morgenthau(German Jew Migrant like thousands of other successful Americans - and this was not a refugee wave of migration but a prosperity or relative prosperity wave of migration ) was the Ambassador to Ottoman Empire in the years just before the Great War and Her uncle was Morgenthau of Morgenthau Plan infamy. So it was expected; the psychological profile fit and the post WW2 angle slipped in too much.
P.P.S:- Spelling mistakes were edited by me once but i guess there are more
AJP Taylor's "The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918" is a superlative diplomatic history.
Taillebois wrote: AJP Taylor's "The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918" is a superlative diplomatic history.
AJP's a great author but his political leaning is leftist which creates a bias in many cases, esp. in his ww2 and Soviet related writings though his "Concert of Vienna to Great War is good".. Paul Kennedy's 500 years of European Mastery was more concise but an excellent summary.
WallysWorld
Here's my favorite books on World War One:
"The Eastern Front 1914 - 1917" by Norman Stone - the definitive account of the war in the east with especially the details on the Russian military decisions.
"A World Undone: The Story Of The Great War, 1914 To 1918" by G.J. Meyer - covers the entire war in good detail.
"World War I" - by P.H. Willmott - more like a coffee table book, but packed with lots of pictures and very interesting side stories about armament, the different armies, the home front and other topics.
Return to “WW1 History club / Discussions historiques sur la Grande Guerre”
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line15
|
__label__wiki
| 0.988557
| 0.988557
|
Beatles Interviews Database: Beatles Interview: London with Sandy Lesberg, 5/9/1965
ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW: On May 9th 1965, the Beatles spoke at length with Sandy Lesberg at the Dolphin Restaurant in London, following a full day of shooting for their second feature film, 'Help!' The group appears to have an unusually comfortable and fun rapport with Lesberg, as they chat humorously about film producer Walter Shenson, and candidly about American news journalist Walter Winchell. In later years, Lesberg would describe his interview with the group as "...more like a rap session. All four Beatles were completely at ease. I tell a joke and Paul McCartney says, ‘I don’t think that’s very funny.’ There’s a lot of banter... They were running roughshod all over me, quite frankly.” At the time, Sandy Lesberg was a program host on New York radio station WOR where he also was known as a reviewer for film, theatre and music.
In this interview, the Beatles discuss their plans to perform at Shea Stadium on their upcoming 1965 North American Tour. The name of Hedda Hopper is also mentioned more than once. Hopper was an American actress, turned gossip columnist. Both John and Paul mention her favorably. Hopper would pass away less than one year later, in February 1966.
The next day the Beatles would travel to Cliveden House, one hour west of London, to shoot their 'Buckingham Palace' scenes for the film.
- Jay Spangler, www.beatlesinterviews.org
Q: "Where were you in Austria? Near Salsburg, Vienna, where?"
PAUL: "A place called Obertown, near Salsburg, yeah.
JOHN: "Deutschland, Deutschland, Obertown, Obertown. That's where we were."
Q: "When are you going to be at Shea Stadium in New York?"
JOHN: "I don't know."
GEORGE: "Fifteenth of August, isn't it?"
RINGO: "Mr. Shenson is just getting his piece of paper out. He'll tell us."
Q: "You still call Mr. Shenson 'Mr. Shenson'?"
JOHN: "Either that or 'Soft Wally.' Depends how we're feeling."
Q: (laughs)
GEORGE: "Fifteenth of August-- Shea Stadium."
RINGO: "And this picture opens the first week of August in New York."
PAUL: "Are you gonna go to it?"
Q: "Oh yeah. Are you gonna be there? For the premiere?"
PAUL: "For the film? I don't think so. But anyway, are you gonna go to it?"
Q: "Yes, of course."
PAUL: "I want a promise off ya that you're gonna be there."
Q: "I'll have a picture taken in front of the door."
PAUL: "The thing is, you see, if you'll be there-- well, we know there'll be riots at the premiere then. I've heard about your following, you know."
Q: (laughs) Do you want to say something, Walter?"
WALTER SHENSON: "I think the boys ought to tell you-- I ought to tell you about the marvelous song they wrote called, Help... with an exclamation point."
Q: (jokingly) "That was Walter Shenson the producer of the picture, and that's enough now. What's this song that's..."
BEATLES: (laugh)
Q: "Oh Walter, I see you in New York all the time. Are you going to be there for the premiere of your picture?"
WALTER: "Definitely, yes!"
Q: "I'll say, then there'll be riots."
PAUL: "Yeah."
Q: "Are there riots where Walter goes?"
PAUL: "Yeah, with an exclamation point."
JOHN: (whispering) "By the way, there's seven songs in the film."
Q: "Is your voice changing, John?"
JOHN: "No, no."
PAUL: "It's not that we're trying to plug this film, but it's seven songs, and it's a rollicking, rollicking, happy, smash, uhh... What are the other words you say about films?"
Q: "Let's get back to weekends, no kidding for a minute. When you were up in Austria, did you get the weekends off then?"
JOHN AND PAUL: "No."
RINGO: "No, we didn't."
PAUL: "We worked. But you've got to realize..."
Q: "Even on Sundays?"
PAUL: "Even on a Sunday."
JOHN: "What do you mean EVEN on Sundays, ESPECIALLY Sunday."
Q: "Especially on Sundays, John?"
JOHN: "To finish off making the mov... Nothing!!" (laughs)
PAUL: (chuckles) "Making the film, I think he was gonna say."
Q: "Something like that, huh?"
PAUL: "Something... Either that, or it was satirical."
JOHN: "Satire is 'out,' Paul."
Q: "What's 'in,' John?"
JOHN: "I don't know. Rabber!! We're all very Rabber over in England these days."
PAUL: "Oh yeah. I think he's trying to start a new craze, or something or other."
JOHN: "Rabber. Rabber macs. Rabber boots."
PAUL: "Rabber Burnes."
PAUL: "You know Rabber Burnes, don't you? (sings) 'Only A Rose!' That's Rabber Burnes."
Q: "Would you like to do a little bit of that song that you wrote for the picture, Paul?"
PAUL: "Uhh... (laughs) I'll tell you what, though. What we'll do is we'll promise to send you a copy just before it's released. Right? So you've got the-- That's an exclusive. Isn't it? I mean, THAT'S a favor."
Q: "I'm not Hedda Hopper (columnist), I don't need..."
PAUL: (jokingly) "Right. You won't get it then. If you're gonna be like that..."
JOHN: "If we thought you were Hedda Hopper we wouldn't have let you in here... Hedda Hopper was coming in on her bike."
Q: (laughing) "Did she ever interview you?"
PAUL: "She was at a party with a big hat. She's great. Good. Good girl, yeah. In Hollywood."
GEORGE: "She hopped past us."
PAUL: "Hopped past, yeah. Who's that other fella, though, that we don't like? Who's that fella? Walter Winchell!!"
Q: "What about it? Did he interview you?"
PAUL: "Don't speak to me about him!"
JOHN: "He's stupid."
Q: "Why is he stupid, John?"
JOHN: "He's stupid because he just lies and writes alot of trash."
Q: "Have you ever met him, John?"
JOHN: "No, but he keeps writing things about Paul which are lies, and so he must be off his head."
PAUL: "I've said many a time that he's just a bit off his head. I think he's, uhh-- I don't know what's happened to him. Everyone said he used to be good. But he's-- I tell ya, it's just lies. He says I'm married, you see. And I'd like to say, Mister Winchell-- Walter sir, if you're listening-- I'm not! (jokingly) I told him, didn't I!"
Q: "Is that the lie he's been telling about you?"
PAUL: "Yeah! I mean you know, that's pushing it, isn't it."
JOHN: "But he goes on and on writing it, you know, as if he knows. He doesn't know anything, that old Winch."
Q: "Goodbye, Walter. (jokingly) I'm taking inventory of the people I've lost as friends on this show."
JOHN: "I like Hedda Hopper. She's nice."
PAUL: "Hedda's great, yeah. Everybody else is great! It's not that we've got anything against Walter-- is it, Walter! No, of course it isn't."
GEORGE: "Walter Wimpy."
Q: "Is that what he says about you? I mean, he doesn't say anything really, more than..."
PAUL: "No, it's not bad, you know. But it's just that it's... It's a lie, that's all there is, you know. Either that or he's just got the wrong information."
Q: "How long-- more-- do you have to do on the picture?"
RINGO: "Two days actual filming, but we have to do quite a bit of post-synch, which will take about two weeks I believe. So they tell me."
Q: "Do you believe 'em when they tell you something?"
RINGO: "Oh, I always believe them."
Q: (to Walter Shenson) "Are you telling these boys straight?"
PAUL: (jokingly) "We're all very Gulliver."
Q: "You're very gullible?"
PAUL: "We're very Gulliver, yeah."
Q: "And you travel alot, too."
PAUL: "Travel alot, yes, too. You got that one."
Q: (laughs) "Did you write the script, too, for this picture?"
PAUL: "No, we had a good try, but it was obscene. Had to be banned."
Q: (laughs) "Did you really write the score for this picture?"
PAUL: "Score? I don't know what you mean by 'score.' We wrote seven songs, you know. Uhh... If that's the score, well we wrote it."
Q: "Called 'Help'?"
PAUL: "'Help.' Yes, yes."
Q: "With an exclamation..."
PAUL: "With an exclamation mark."
Q: "Mark, yeah."
GEORGE: "You didn't say 'No' then, did you?"
PAUL: "You didn't nod your head then, did you? (announcer voice) I'm afraid you just lost the quiz! I'm afraid you just lost the major prize-- can you come back next week?"
Q: "I can, but tell me what it is I just lost." (laughs)
JOHN: "A life-size cardbord cut-out of Walter Winchell."
Q: "You mean, with darts coming out the back?"
RINGO: "No-- In the front."
Q: "What Ringo? Say it again."
RINGO: "Not me! I'm not saying anything bad... against anybody."
PAUL: "No, you've got it wrong. We like everyone."
Q: "Do you, really?"
PAUL: "Yeah, of course we do. We love 'em all!"
Q: "How long are you gonna be in the States when you do that tour? Do you know?"
JOHN: "Four weeks, isn't it?"
RINGO: "Two and a half weeks."
Q: "Stadiums mostly, huh?"
RINGO: "Shea Stadiums, mostly."
PAUL: "Yeah. We'll be doing a couple of rounds of baseball before we go on, just to limber-up, you know. Is that what you call it? 'Rounds' of baseball? Maybe not."
Q: "No. It's close enough. (laughs) If you can do a round of baseball then it will be very interesting."
RINGO: "A square of baseball."
JOHN: "A round of bread-- that's nice."
RINGO: "A round the corner's not bad, either."
PAUL: (jokingly, to Ringo) "Listen. What I want to know-- How'd your wife fall for you? ...can't understand it!"
Q: "When is the date when you first go to the States?"
GEORGE: "Shea Stadium."
JOHN: "When are we... Do you know... Does anybody know?"
WALTER SHENSON: "Thirteenth of August."
PAUL: "We're all a bit vague on dates and things. We always have been."
Q: "What are you gonna do after you get through with this picture? Are you gonna take a vacation?"
PAUL: "Probably, if we get a chance. Yeah."
JOHN: "We tour Europe. Before America we go around Europe and see if they're still alive."
Q: "Are they?"
JOHN: "Yeah, I hope so. They just got the Cup, didn't they."
RINGO: "Liverpool lost last night."
Q: "Liverpool lost, Milan won. That was really interesting. I think that's the one sport that could really make it in the States and could be the one universal sport. Soccer."
GEORGE: "They don't have it there?"
Q: "Very little. And if they have it, it's teams coming from over here, or they get the Irish League or something."
PAUL: (excitedly) "I saw some mad game on TV in America. Irish game. What was it? Hooking, or something."
RINGO: (jokingly) "Hookey."
PAUL: "No, it wasn't hockey I don't think. It was a MAD game that I'd never ever seen before."
JOHN: "And they were just smashing about with old shalalees. Hitting the ball with shalalees."
PAUL: "Yeah! Wild game, you know."
JOHN: "It was direct from Ireland onto American TV-- we were watching it."
GEORGE: (jokingly) "Bill Shalalee."
JOHN: (chuckling) "Bill Shalalee-- I get it, George. I get it. 'Rock around The Clock.' Got it."
Q: (laughing) "Bill Shalalee and his Comets. So anyway, do you wanna briefly give me, no kidding now, some sort of schedule of where you are... where you're gonna be in the states besides Shea Stadium?"
RINGO: "The only other place I know is Houston."
JOHN: "And California."
GEORGE: I think we're doing TED Sullivan's show."
Q: "Who?"
RINGO: "TED Sullivan's show."
JOHN: "And Los Angeles. We go there-- I know that. Yeah. Hollywood."
GEORGE: "Two shows in Chicago."
JOHN: "San Francisco, we go there."
Q: "How many are you going to do in Shea Stadium? Just one?"
RINGO: "I believe so. Just one."
PAUL: "Listen though. As I said before, we're dead vague about the things. And it would be better just to ask someone who knows about it."
RINGO AND PAUL: "Like Walter."
Q: "You mean Walter Winchell?"
PAUL: "No, Walter Shenson."
Q: "When you're not working on the picture, what do you do on weekends? Do you stay together on weekends? Do you split up?"
PAUL: "We either go out for the day if the weather's good, go out for a drive or go to the pictures."
Q: "Are there any places you can go where you don't get mobbed? I just came in out of twenty more girls out in front, climbing the walls. Is there any place that you can go in the UK?"
PAUL: "Millions of places where you don't get mobbed. Yeah."
RINGO: "Name one."
PAUL: "Name one? Tunipia!!"
JOHN: "But that's not part of the UK is it though, Paul, these days?"
PAUL: "Europe, though! Isn't it in Europe? No... Africa."
Q: "Close enough."
PAUL: "Well you damned fool, Paul."
RINGO: "You're vague about places."
PAUL: "I'm afraid I'm a fool... Listen, uhhh... Around the Mediteranian there's a couple. For instance-- Tunidia! Name one!"
Q: "Tunisia."
PAUL: "Pardon?"
PAUL: "Let's have a bit more of this play between, uhh... talk."
Q: (jokingly) "Is this interview too formal?"
PAUL: "Volley? What is it called-- that talking back-and-forth?"
Q: "Is there any place around London that you can get away without crowds, really?"
JOHN: "Buckingham Palace. When She's out it's quite quiet there."
PAUL: "There are places. I mean, we go to the... There's places where we can go in the UA, which is United Artists. When you're in the 'business' you get to call it UA."
Q: "Very hip, yeah."
PAUL: "Kinda informal, you know. They run films for ya."
Q: "Paul, Thank you."
PAUL: "Not at all."
Q: "Thank you, Ringo."
RINGO: "Thanks alot, Pal."
Q: (laughs) "Thanks George."
GEORGE: "Thank you, Walter Winchell."
Q: "Do you want to say anything to Hedda Hopper? (laughs) Thank you John very much."
JOHN: "It's been a pleasure. If you want to get ahead-a, get a Hopper."
Q: "Alright. The Beatles, in London. This is Sandy Lesberg... bedraggled."
Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of the interview
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line16
|
__label__wiki
| 0.530191
| 0.530191
|
Missouri AG refers 12 former clerics for prosecution
by mdavis · September 13, 2019
St. Louis, Mo., Sep 13, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt released Friday a report on his investigation into sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clerics in the state, and referred 12 former clerics for potential criminal prosecution.
“Since I took office, one of my top priorities has been conducting a thorough, exhaustive review of allegations of abuse by clergy members in the Roman Catholic Church. Today, as a result of that review, we are announcing that we will refer 12 cases of alleged abuse to local prosecutors for further investigation and possible prosecution – more referrals than any other state attorney general,” Schmitt, who is a Republican and a Catholic, said Sept. 13.
He added that his office will assist any local prosecutors who want to pursue charges.
“Additionally, we’ve provided concrete recommendations to the Catholic Church moving forward,” he added. He noted that his “suggestions for reform” are “aggressive and substantive.”
The attorney general’s office made five recommendations in its report, the first of which was that “the Church should assume greater responsibility and oversight over all religious order priests and priests visiting or relating from other dioceses to subject them to the same procedures and oversight with regard to youth protection and clergy abuse as if they were diocesan priests.”
The report said that dioceses have less oversight over religious priests than their secular counterparts, and stated: “this arrangement has prevented the AGO from conducting a complete review of religious order priests working in Missouri. The AGO has had to rely on the scant diocesan records provided to it regarding these priests, along with information gathered from victims presenting evidence relating thereto.”
“Before granting faculties to a religious order priest or a priest from another diocese, the IRB should complete a meaningful and thorough review of the prospective priest’s records, rather than simply accepting a simple attestation from another bishop or provincial,” the office said.
It also recommended that each diocese ensure its “Independent Review Board is composed entirely of lay people and its determinations of credibility and sanctions will be given authoritative weight with respect to the ability of an offending priest to minister in its diocese.”
The third recommendation was that dioceses review all claims of abuse from before the 2002 adoption of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, subjecting them to the Charter’s standards.
The office said that when the review boards have found credible allegations against priests, this “should be publicly disclosed without delay.” It stated that an offending priest’s age and health should not be considered a reason to forgo dismissal from the clerical state, and that dioceses “should advocate for reforms of the laicization process so that it may be completed within one year after the IRB makes its decision,” or that “discussions of reform within the church should include proposals for expediting the process of laicizing priests after the completion of a diocesan review of misconduct and the establishment of a complete corroborating factual record.”
Finally, the attorney general’s office recommended that “a robust program on notification and supervision of priests removed from public ministry or from the clerical state should be undertaken.”
The report said it recommendations would “strengthen oversight and protect victims from future abuse.”
The Archdiocese of St. Louis said that it is “taking the Attorney General’s recommendations to the Catholic Church into careful consideration and will continue to evaluate and enhance our safe environment programs for the safety of all of our families.”
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City commented that “it is my sincere hope the report assists the Catholic Church in Missouri in achieving our goals of accountability and transparency, while respecting the legal standards for privacy of all affected by the report.”
“I will take into consideration the recommendations from the report on how we can improve our efforts to keep our children safe and in healthy environments,” he added.
Schmitt’s investigation was begun last year by his predecessor, Josh Hawley.
His office reviewed the personnel records of priests serving in the state’s four dioceses dating back to 1945, and spoke to abuse victims or their families who contacted the office.
The investigation found credible allegations of 163 instances of sexual abuse or misconduct by diocesan clerics against minors. The offenses range from boundary violations, such as inappropriate discussion or correspondence, to forcible rape.
Of the credibly accused, 83 are dead. Of the remaining 80, 46 are past the statue of limitations for prosecution, 16 have already been referred for prosecution, 12 will be referred for prosecution, five have been or are being investigated by prosecutors, and one is still under investigation by the Church.
The instances of misconduct “overwhelmingly” occurred before 2002, the report notes, and since that year the dioceses in Missouri “have implemented a series of reforms that have improved their response to, and reporting of, abuse.”
It added, however, “that since 2002, the church has, on occasion, failed to meet even its own internal procedures on abuse reporting andreporting to law enforcement,” citing Bishop Robert Finn’s failure for five months to report possession of child pornography by one of his priests. Finn resigned from office in 2015.
The report said that since 2002 “the church has generally taken a much more pastoral approach to engaging with victims and has, in most instances, promptly reported suspected abuse.”
The attorney general’s office identified what it called “certain internal and systematic failures of the dioceses,” saying first that “there is no independent oversight of a bishop’s day-to-day implementation of church protocols. Bishops report to no one below the Pope in the hierarchy of the church and, while uncoordinated and sometimes overlapping networks of associations and working groups exist throughout the states, regions and country, there is simply no single source of outside oversight over each bishop and no means by which best practices are effectively implemented.”
It asserted that “the lack of independent oversight of the bishops’ implementation of protocols, as well as the lack of independent review of allegations against bishops themselves, remain significant impediments to reform and improved protections.”
Next story A bowl of soup, and a chance for compassion
Previous story Judgment reached in Knights of Columbus contract lawsuit
Dinners, deliveries and drives: how some Catholics serve up Thanksgiving for the poor
Austin bishop saddened by city's intention financially to support abortion
Archbishop Naumann: Know the pregnancy resources available in your community
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line26
|
__label__cc
| 0.559519
| 0.440481
|
Sunday Music Series, Exchange Street Records, and the Dean Brothers
First let me say, I need to write about three pages apiece to accurately convey to you even a general sense of each one of the three topics mentioned in the title of this blogpost. And, instead, I only have space for three paragraphs. As always, I will do what I can and hope for the best…
When Professor Louie & the Crowmatix first came to town many years ago now (and though space is limited I must pause here to thank Bob & Gilda Brower for introducing us to such fine musicians), Carey Eidel and I were hanging out with them in the dressing room before the show and one of the band members mentioned they were going on the next day to do a regular gig in Buffalo. Since it was a Saturday night, the next day was Sunday. Wow, a regular gig on a Sunday in Buffalo. Cool. I wanted to know more. Professor Louie explained that one of their favorite venues of all time was a bar that had hosted a weekly, 4:00pm Sunday concert and had been doing so for forty years or so. Whenever the band was near Buffalo, they played the gig. What a great time to have music, I thought. It’s late in the day so most Sunday obligations have been fulfilled and yet it’s early enough so that even if you wanted to hang out for a couple of hours, you would still get home way early on a school night. Carey, Janie McGlire and I talked about it and decided it would be a great slot to add to the Auburn Public Theater line up and modified it to be a twice a month event. The rest, as they say, is history.
Exchange Street Records came into being after learning of the Weedsport music educator, Brian Franco, and the amazing, pioneering work he was doing with his students with the help of JamHub. Look it up. You will not be disappointed to learn about this revolutionary technology. Basically, we wanted to do what Brian was doing at school but in an Auburn Public Theater way – we wanted to help young people form bands and draw on band members from around the region, not just from their neighborhoods or school groups. We also wanted to provide music education to everyone, not just young people whose parents provided lessons, instruments and, most of all, garages and basements where new, young bands could practice. Brian Franco pioneered our program. His amazingly talented wife and music educator, Amanda Franco, joined him and now the program is being steadily managed and expanded by the One and Only Jim Van Arsdale. Talk about “If you build it, they will come”! It’s more like, “Carey figured out how to raise all the money we needed to buy all the necessary and really, really expensive equipment, Brian, Amanda and Jim showed up just when we needed them to, and now we have this amazing Exchange Street Records program at Auburn Public Theater which we are so proud of and excited about, we can barely watch the students perform without crying.” Seriously. That described the program to a T.
Now, as for the Dean Brothers and this tiny bit of space I have left, well, I’d like to share something with you I just read on the internet in preparation for writing this blog post. “A few years ago, Salimpoor and Zatorre performed another type of brain scanning experiment in which participants listened to music that gave them goosebumps or chills. The researchers then injected them with a radioactive tracer that binds to the receptors of dopamine, a chemical that’s involved in motivation and reward. With this technique, called positron emission tomography or PET, the researchers showed that 15 minutes after participants listened to their favorite song, their brains flooded with dopamine.” Ever heard of The Dean Brothers? If you have, then you know. If you haven’t and you are looking for a safe, chemical free and fun way to flood your brain with dopamine, look no further. See you tomorrow (Sunday, Dec 3) at Auburn Public Theater for our Sunday Music Series at 4:00pm featuring the Auburn Public Studio Exchange Street Record Band and our friends, The Dean Brothers.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line30
|
__label__wiki
| 0.518115
| 0.518115
|
Aasia Uuringute Koda Eestis
Eksperdid
Teadusuudised
What can Taiwan learn from Estonia
Yung Yung Chang and Kristina Piilik
Graduate School of Global Politics
Cover photo of the magazine “Business Weekly“ in Taiwan, June 2016
Estonia, a small country located far away from Asia, is rarely mentioned in Taiwanese press but this year a picture of Tallinn´s Old Town was used as the cover photo on one of the Taiwan´s most prestigious business magazines[1]. This draws a lot of attention indeed! The reason the magazine chose to dedicate the biggest part of its content to Estonia was an attempt to understand what this “Fairytale Country”, as the author calls it, has done differently than Taiwan in becoming the most advanced e-society in the world.
In fact, there are many examples from nations, where the support and will of national leaders helped the society to quickly reach the forefront of technological development. However, cases of Estonia and Taiwan are very interesting since sixteen years ago they were the only ones among 42 developing countries in McConell’s e-Readiness ranking[2], that achieved the highest score in all three categories. This means that both countries have not only enjoyed strong government support, but also have employees with high level of IT skills, a great availability of wireline and wireless communication services, and finally, strong laws against cybercrime and software piracy. Nevertheless, Estonia today has achieved a much bigger scale of digital development than Taiwan.
Taiwan and Estonia at a Glance
How is this possible, if we consider that after its reindependence in 1991 Estonia´s GDP per capita in real terms was around $600 and the country had very outdated technical equipment and services? Based on the article mentioned above, we would argue that there is one decisive factor that explains why Estonia has done differently than Taiwan. Namely, it is the tremendous degree of engagement of younger generations in the higher-level decision-making processes. The fact that the average age of the government officials is 43, in 1992 it used to be 35, makes Estonia a country with the youngest state authorities in the entire EU if not in the world. This does not differ greatly in the private sector where the majority of Estonian entrepreneurs are 25-44 years old. For example in 2012 the average age of entrepreneurs was only 38.5[3]. Most certainly the high rate of involvement of young professionals in the fastest changing fields like the IT- industry, where new developments are constantly taking place, has benefitted Estonia considerably in developing such a strong tech culture.
Contrary to Estonia, Taiwan is a typical example of many Asian countries that follow the idea that “seniors know better” as they are more experienced. The emphasis on valuing elder’s experiences and knowledge has its roots in the cultural background. It is relatively common belief in Asia, both in private lives and in professional ones, that elderly people should be respected and followed. Hence, when it comes to making decisions, the biggest and the most important policies must be approved by those seniors who have more experiences and maturity. Therefore, a right to participate or to have a greater say in the decision-making processes, depends largely on professional positions and experiences which usally come with age. In short, older people are given more chances to have the final word
The concept that seniors are more qualified goes hand in hand with the hierarchical structure that is present in the Asian context. Such a structure suggests that the decision-making process should take place via a top-down approach and follow the corporate hierarchy, where ideas from the bottom cannot reach the top directly, rapidly, and thus effectively. Through reporting tier upon tier, sectors embedded within this hierarchical structure are slower to move and thus, also slower to innovate. Hence, the hierarchical concept together with the cultural aspects can hinder the voice of younger generations. This voice is crucial in fast-growing and innovation-driven industries, where sticking to old conservative ways will do no good for development and the enhancement of competitiveness.
In comparison to Estonia, in Taiwan the average age of becoming the CEOs or another higher position manager is around 45-50. Often the first thing that a young new-comer to the company in his or her 20s needs to learn is to respect and accept the working morality and hierarchy. Noteworthy is the fact that there is a need to wait many years for a promotion and the possibility to have a right to implement ideas directly on the management level. Ironically, after the successful breakthrough and integration into the working culture, one easily tends to forget to listen those who just entered the company with big passion. That is to say, the solid hierarchical system and valuing seniors has the tendency to bury young people’s enthusiasms and even their creativeness.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute Taiwan ranks lower on “competition,” “startup skills,” “internationalization,” and “networking” than Estonia.
At the same time in the public sector, the current average age of Taiwan´s government cabinet is over 60. Accordingly, it is substantial to note that the new government officials grew up in very different circumstances than those who were born in 1980s or 1990s. This suggests a different way of thinking between government officials and younger generation in Taiwan, particularly taking the increasing rapid development of IT and E-world into consideration. While younger people depend a lot on the internet, 3C products, abd online social networks in their daily life, the older generation is inclined to live in the world without too much ‘invasion or disturbance’ from internet or smart phones. For instance, some of the officials in the cabinet claimed that they had very limited experiences in terms of on-line shopping; and another official claimed that he doesn’t use a cell-phone (a smart phone) at all because it distracts him from work[4]. Unfortunately, those are also the same officials that oversee the regulations of Internet E-commerce industry, the development of Third-party payment, and Peer-to-peer lending policy etc. Such examples prove the existence of a “generation gap” and that younger people might be more advantageous to fill the positions since the skills of the digital aspects are probably more crucial than age or professional ranking.
Notwithstanding, the intention of this reading is not to deny the importance of experiences and knowledge. Rather, it is crucial to consider that there are areas where young people without years of experience could offer alternative insights and expertise that are important in today´s fast expanding fields. It is also not aimed to argue that the younger generation is more qualified than the older generations. Instead, we try to provide the perspective that the larger extent of engagement from young specialists could be advantageous. The example of Estonia has proved this. Taiwan should consider to follow suit and as the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014 demonstrated, young people in Taiwan have their strength and determination to innovate and reform the country, which can further bring Taiwan into the same kind of digital success as has already happened in Estonia.
The authors Kristina Piilik and Yung-Yung Chang are PhD Candidates at the Graduate School of Global Politics, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. They can be contacted at kristina.piilik@fu-berlin.de and yychang@fu-berlin.de
[1] 商業週刊 (Business Weekly) June, 2016. http://bookshop.businessweekly.com.tw/product_mag.aspx?ProdNo=PROD000004936
[2] McConnell International Report (2000) Risk E-Business: Seizing the Opportunity of Global E-Readiness.
[3] Globaalne Ettevõtlusmonitooring 2012 Eesti Raport, Eesti Arengufond
[4] Tsai, North America Intellectual Property Newspaper (NAiP), No. 161. http://www.naipo.com/Portals/1/web_tw/Knowledge_Center/Editorial/IPNC_160615_1501.htm
info@auke.ee
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line31
|
__label__wiki
| 0.811431
| 0.811431
|
Search Moving Image Gateway for
Social StudiesRemove this criterion
New Search (Moving Image Gateway)
Category: -- All categories -- Arts and Humanities Bio-Medical Science and Technology Social Sciences
Subject: -- All subjects --
Advanced search | Help on searching
1-10 of 27 results | Page 1 of 3
‹ Prev123Next ›
Sort results by Date (newest first) Date (oldest first) Title Relevance -- Save results as -- Email XML (Dublin Core) Text CSV BibTeX JavaScript (JSON) Citation printer Atom
Working Class History Podcasts
https://workingclasshistory.com/category/podcast/
American Studies, History, Politics and Government, Social Studies, Women’s Studies
Radio/Sound
Podcasting, Streaming/Download, Web Links
Who makes History? This resource, launched in 2014, is dedicated to recording and popularising people’s history, that is, the history of ‘everyday women, men, people of colour, migrants, indigenous people, LGTB people, disabled people, workers, the unemployed, housewives and single mothers, as opposed to the history of rich and powerful individuals, kings, queens and politicians’. The collection of podcasts presented here tell the stories of past struggles which still resonate today. Each episode has a ‘Footnotes’ section, which offers links to relevant resources including short videos, articles written at the time, and websites. Events covered so far are: the Grunwick strike of East African and Asian women workers in London 1976-8; The Angry Brigade, Britain’s first urban guerrilla group; Anti-Nazi youth movements in World War II; Workmates: organising with agency workers on London Underground; Industrial Workers of the World in the US, 1905-1918 and 1918-1950s; The West Virginia mine Wars, 1902-1922; The Vietnam War strike wave; Spanish Civil War; The League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit; Women in the Miners strike; Peterloo massacre with Mike Leigh; Women in the early IWW (Industrial Workers of the World Union).
Other Record only
The New School: Public Programs Express
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWhTJDazgMDkZYOw91OyRKf7Zsia1a9Qu
Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences
Art, Economics, Social Studies
Streaming/Download
Founded in 1919, the New School university in New York City is a leading academic centre for the development of artists and designers. Amongst its notable alumni there are world-renowned names in the fields of literature, visual arts and performing arts including James Baldwin, Jack Kerouac, Mario Puzo, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Paul Dano, Ai Weiwei, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs. Via their you tube channel the New School offers the Public Programs Express, which is an ongoing series of interviews with prominent speakers such as Thomas Piketty, bell hooks, Naomi Klein, Ai Weiwei, Noam Chomsky, Yanis Varoufakis and Christina Greer. The interviews –so far some 61- are displayed as two-to-five minutes clips or highlights, but can be accessed in their entirety by clicking on the ‘show more’ and then the ‘bonus material’ links.
BFI Filmography
https://filmography.bfi.org.uk/
Film Studies, Social Studies
Who is the most prolific British female director? Which subjects feature in British horror films? Which countries have co-produced British feature films? These are the kinds of question we can now easily find answers for. After a few years in the making the BFI has finally published an online compilation of UK feature films released to cinemas from the beginning of film history until now. As well as presenting a broad overview of the UK film industry, the BFI have mapped other information onto each of the film titles (e.g. people and companies involved) to enrich and provide unique insights into UK film history. This information should be of interest to film buffs, journalists, researchers, or anyone with an interest in UK film and/or history. It is searchable with shareable data visualisations on a dedicated BFI Filmography web platform or record by record on via the Collections Search.
The Filmography is a dynamic resource, and the underlying data is constantly being reviewed and updated.
Teletext Art Research Lab
http://www.uniquecodeanddata.co.uk/teletext76/bbc1-19790720/
Arts and Humanities, Science and Technology
Computing, Media Studies, Social Studies, Technology
This site is dedicated to the preservation, celebration and analysis of Teletext, the television information service introduced to British television in 1974 and familiar to UK viewers as Ceefax on the BBC and Oracle on ITV. Featuring a podcast, articles, archived pages from the service, and even an application that allows you to create your own Teletext page, the site is a labour of love, the pinnacle of which is a teletext time machine: a fully interactive Ceefax service for the 20th July 1979.
Hay Player
https://www.hayfestival.com/archive/
History, Literature, Social Studies
Festivals, Streaming/Download
Online archive featuring audio recordings of talks, interviews and readings from the Hay Festival, going back as far as 1995. Much of the content is free, although some is behind a paywall. The site also features content from Hay’s international sister festivals in Beirut, Segovia, Nairobi, Arequipa, Dhaka and Cartagena, among others.
Rediscover Bloxwich
https://rediscoverbloxwich.org/
Music, Social Studies
This nicely designed website is the result of a participatory media project by sixth form students at Walsall Academy in Bloxwich, a small town in the West Midlands. Featuring interviews with local residents who recount their memories of growing up in the area, one of the interviewees is Noddy Holder of Slade, who talks about his childhood, as well as the links between the industry of the Black Country and the development of heavy metal music.
National Archives Media Player
https://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
History, Law, Politics and Government, Social Studies
Film/Video, Radio/Sound
Podcasting, Streaming/Download
Audio and video podcasts on a range of subjects, all based on collections held in the National Archives. The resources are arranged according to the following categories: Family History; Military History; Social History; Political History; Law and Order; Archivists and Archives and International.
London Metropolitan Archives (LMA)
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/images-film/Pages/default.aspx
Education, History, Social Studies
Archives/Museums, Organisations, Streaming/Download
The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) are the main archives for the Greater London area. Established in 1997, having previously been known as the Greater London Record Office, they are financed by the City of London Corporation. THE LMA is home to an extensive range of documents, images, maps, films and books about London. The online catalogue records over 1000 films and videotapes. The Images and Film pages of the site lead the user to the Mediatheque which screens material that has been digitised. A smaller selection of film and video titles are available on the YouTube channel.
https://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/
Blogs, Information Sources, Streaming/Download
London Sound Survey is a growing collection of creative commons-licensed sound recordings of people, places and events in the capital. Historical references are gathered to find out how London’s sounds have changed. Topics covered are eclectic including auctions, market traders, charity fundraising, fairgrounds and amusements, soapbox orators, calls to worship and beggars and hustlers. Contextual information includes date of recording, the name of the recorder, location, summary of content and technical details of the recording. A sound map enables users to identify the sounds of a particular area of London.
University of London, School of Advanced Study Videos and Podcasts
https://www.sas.ac.uk/videos-and-podcasts
Economics, History, Law, Literature, Media Studies, Music, Politics and Government, Social Studies
Selected public lectures, seminars, workshops and conferences hosted by the School and its institutes are recorded and can be viewed and downloaded from the web pages, iTunes and YouTube. The videos and podcasts are arranged in broad categories: Culture, Language and Literature; Digital; Economics; History; Law; Music; Philosophy; Politics, Development and Human Rights; Research Training; Sociology and Anthropology. Within the broad categories the titles are listed chronologically; going into individual entries gives a full summary of content.
You are currently searching in Moving Image Gateway. Search all the BUFVC's collections for 'Social Studies' in All fields.
Other: 27
Record only: 27 Remove
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line33
|
__label__cc
| 0.686314
| 0.313686
|
Benefits & Join
Membership Directory E-Book
Professional Women’s Chamber
Region At A Glance
The Springfield Regional Chamber drives the economic vitality of the business community and the region. Connect with us and we’ll connect you to the people, businesses and communities that make the Springfield region much more than just a place on the map.
We’re all about connecting people and we do that in various ways every day.
Membership offers you many ways to get visibility for your brand.
Members gain access to benefits, services, and cost-saving programs.
Public Policy & Legislation
We support businesses by diving deep into key issues and advocating on behalf of our members.
why choose springfield
Live & Work in Western Mass
The Greater Springfield region combines the best of a vibrant city on the move with the best of charming New England towns that have a more rural feel. We think that makes living and working here a smart decision.
The Knowledge Corridor, in the region of Springfield and Hartford, CT, is named for the area’s second-largest concentration of colleges and universities in the country. These institutions attract and educate a talented and diverse workforce.
One of our key initiatives is to champion business growth. As drivers of the region’s economic vitality, our mission is to help small businesses start, grow and expand.
Travel, Tourism & Entertainment
From the new MGM Resort and Casino, the Dr. Seuss Museum, Bright Nights and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Springfield—to outdoor adventure, arts and culture, shopping, and restaurants throughout the area, you’ll want to stay and play awhile.
Call for PWC Woman of the Year Nominations
The Professional Women’s Chamber (PWC) has announced its call for nominations for its Woman of the Year award. The award is presented annually to a woman in the western Massachusetts area who exemplifies outstanding leadership, professional accomplishment and service to the community.…
New STEM Center at STCC offers a range of support, services for students
Springfield Technical Community College has opened a STEM Center that features resources and services to assist students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students who visit the facility can use a computer lab, study lounge and take advantage of other…
TD Bank Awards Baystate Health $1 Million Ready Challenge Grant
Baystate Health has received a $1 million⃰ grant from TD Bank to further the health system’s commitment to the communities it serves by funding an innovative new mobile preventive health clinic called the TD Bank-Baystate Health Bus. Baystate Health is one…
See More Updates
Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter for updates on local businesses, events, and announcements. Stay in touch with the community!
© Copyright 2019, Springfield Chamber of Commerce, All Rights Reserved.
Designed and developed by DIF Design.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line34
|
__label__cc
| 0.699931
| 0.300069
|
Archaeological Find: The Wall from Nehemiah
By BK - November 29, 2007
Another day, another Biblical archaeological discovery that appears to confirm the Bible . . . .
According to an article from the Associated Press entitled Israeli Says Elusive Biblical Wall Found, a wall described in the Book of Nehemiah is believed to have been discovered through archaeological digs. As with virtually every discovery of this sort, "many scholars argued that the wall did not exist."
A biblical wall that has eluded archaeologists for years has finally been found, according to an Israeli scholar. A team of archaeologists in Jerusalem has uncovered what they believe to be part of a wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah.
The discovery, made in Jerusalem's ancient City of David, came as a result of a rescue attempt on a tower which was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.
Artifacts including pottery shards and a…
How Should I Be A Sceptic -- preliminary clarifications
By Jason Pratt - November 28, 2007
A sceptic, in perhaps the broadest sense, is a person who does not immediately accept a proposition, but questions it. In this sense, I can see (and so believe) that any good thinker, including any good Christian, ought to be a ‘sceptic’; so long as the questioning is intended for understanding, and not for the sake of throwing as much fog as possible.
In perhaps the most limited sense, there is a philosophical (or, rather, sophistic) position known as ‘scepticism’, where the intent is to call everything into inextricable question (even “intents” themselves). I will be discussing variations of this position later.
Usually, though, I use ‘sceptic’ in a more moderately broad (though not the broadest) sense, to refer to people who do not already agree with me on many important (even “crucial”) details. This seems more polite than calling such people ‘unbelievers’ (for many people who disagree with me may in fact believe in God, even as I believe in God, in some fashion); or ‘infidels’ (whi…
The Cult-like Culture of Atheism, Part II
In a post I wrote entitled The Cult-like Culture of Atheism I wrote the following:
There is, indeed, something cult-like about some atheists (note that I said "some" -- it is certainly not true of all atheists, and this article is not intended to accuse each and every atheist of acting cult-like). That, however, is not surprising since atheism -- whether atheists will ever accept the truth of this or not -- is a religion, and every religion develops cults.
Atheism has its beliefs about God (i.e, there is no god or gods) and its beliefs that are part of the core understanding of the world. It has a grand metaphysical story which many of the true believers of atheists defend with all of the ardour of the most firm believer of any faith. Some atheists try to differentiate between religion and atheism on the basis that atheism lacks some of the ritual that religions have. For example, some argue that atheists don't worship anything so it can't be a religion, but that is …
"Why Defend Christianity?"
By C. David Ragland, Jr. - November 24, 2007
The title of this essay asks a good question. Does Christianity need to be defended? If Christianity is so readily believable, as Christians maintain, why defend it? As we will establish, it is not for our sakes or even for Christianity's sake that we defend our faith in Christ. The ministry of apologetics is a service to the unbeliever and not an actual defence of that which truly needs no defense. See also, If Christianity is true, why does it need so much defending? at Christian-Thinktank.com. This same site also provides a good essay giving eight reasons for apologetics. And a really good essay about the Church's failure to realize the importance of apologetics can be found here at Tektonics.org.
First, what is apologetics?
The short answer is: It's the branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. A much more detailed answer is here at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry ; a very fine site.
Do we need t…
Continental Congress Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1777
The roots of Christianity go deep in America's history. Reading the writings of the founders overwhelmingly confirmed that the people who founded America and who fought for Independence against Great Britain were heavily influenced by the Bible and a love of God. In honor of Thanksgiving, I offer the following Thanksgiving Proclamation of the Continental Congress in 1777:
FORASMUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, t…
Saying Grace
“Would you say grace?” someone in my family will ask, to an elder before a family meal--a meal such as Thanksgiving, for instance.
Of course what they mean is, “Would you give thanks?” But the phrase in English could be more accurately translated, “Would you say ‘grace’?” In our language, ‘grace’ derives from the same Latin root as Spanish ‘gracias’ or Italian ‘grazie’. Strictly speaking our English word traces back to a Middle English translation of an Old French translation of the Latin {gra_tia} (the long ‘a’ being represented by an underscore here): favor, gratitude, agreeableness. The attitude expressed is one of actively receiving love, in fair-togetherness.
In New Testament Greek, however, the word that is typically Englished as ‘grace’ does not have this meaning. Nor does the Hebrew/Aramaic which the New Testament authors were translating or thinking about (typically following the Septuagint). The meaning there is not different in content, exactly, but different in direction: th…
In Praise of C.S. Lewis
John Piper, author of Experiencing God, has an excellent resource available on-line entitled Don't Waste Your Life which seeks to remind Christians that there are many things that we can do during this life to occupy our lives, but most of these are ultimately wastes of our time. He encourages us, one and all, to not waste our lives, but rather to live in the way that God created us to live.
In the first chapter of his book, I came across a short passage on the importance of C.S. Lewis in Piper's life. I thought it was quite possibly the best tribute I had ever seen to Lewis, so I wanted to set it forth here.
Someone introduced me to Lewis my freshman year with the book, Mere Christianity. For the next five or six years I was almost never without a Lewis book near at hand. I think that without his influence I would not have lived my life with as much joy or usefulness as I have. There are reasons for this.
He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he showed me tha…
Christians: The Family I Never Wanted
By Anonymous - November 18, 2007
The leaves are falling gracefully, a slow sonnet that paradoxically represents a grim death with splendid beauty, marking the change in seasons and a hope for rebirth. The winds dance to the music, scattering the leaves as notes on a barren page, messaging to the living that the symphony is nearing its denouement. The living gather to rest, trying to forget the melody that haunts their spirits, awaiting the loving embrace of leaves of green and rays of light from the sun’s face. They all come together to speak of the past and the future, but more importantly, they come for each other. In the end, the warmth of human hearts replaces the chilling cold of nature and the seasons become but images of the same reality.
Thanksgiving is upon us; the time to be venerated as one where people come together in peace and love to cherish the truly valuable gifts of life, but most importantly the gift of family. In this essay I wish to talk about my own family; a family that I do not consider one b…
Consent of the Governed: A Reponse to Austin Cline
In a comment I posted on the Christian CADRE Comments blog page, I made the following statement:
The consent of the governed is noted in the Declaration of Independence quoted above--and numerous other of our founding documents--as the basis for any government's legitimate claim to power. If the judges depart from that to which the people agreed in promoting their own political agenda, then they are undercutting the very foundation that they rely upon to add legitimacy to their decisions.
Thus, when judges use the language of the Constitution (such as the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment) to grant equal rights to homosexuals on a par with heterosexuals--a position that would have been unthinkable to most people in the 1860s and 1870s when the 14th Amendment was adopted--contrary to what the polls suggest is contrary to the vast public opinion even today, the decision is being made without the consent of the governed, and the edifice is built without a firm foundation.
Soteriological Drama: My Answer to Loftus
By Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) - November 15, 2007
If Loftus is still true to his Past position then he is going to try to move into a position that says problem of evil disproves the existence of God. To do this he's going to trade upon the work of Adrea Weisberger who says that atheist arguments always have presumption and theists always have the burden of proof. Weisberger teaches philosophy at Vanderbilt and has contributed to quite a bit of the atheistic wing of the academy with such colleagues as Quintin Smith. So apparently he's going to try and leverage a position for himself where he has presumption and I have the burden of proof even before any God arguments are made.
I can see from the comments he's made in the comment section that this is what he is probably up to.
A.M. Weisberger argues effectively that Augustine's and Process Theology's positions are concessionary solutions because they accept the conclusion of the argument from evil as stated. They do in fact deny the premises of the argument. Being co…
How Should I Be A Sceptic -- preliminary clarifica...
Continental Congress Thanksgiving Proclamation of ...
Consent of the Governed: A Reponse to Austin Cline...
America Come of Age
A Better Documentary on the So-Called Jesus Tomb
Islam Teaching: How to Beat Women
The Cult-like Culture of Atheism
Another Atheist Gunman Kills Nine, Wounds More tha...
An Archetypal Naturalistic Ontology Argument (pres...
What is the Deal with Anthony Flew's Conversion to...
Gary Habermas Reviews Antony Flew's New Book
Archaeological Confirmation of Acts 18:2
Ethics and the Third Person--a final summary (of s...
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line38
|
__label__wiki
| 0.514333
| 0.514333
|
CA Central Coast
Balboa Park Museums
The San Diego Museum of Man
The San Diego Museum of Man occupies what is probably the most recognized of Balboa Park Museums. The California State Building and Quadrangle.
The California Quadrangle marks the entrance into the Exposition from the West Gate.
It has a Greek-cross plan, with a rotunda and dome at the crossing and minor domes and half-domes at the side.
The San Diego Museum of Man is a museum of anthropology.
Exhibits portray the chapters in the story of mankind and display some of the Museum of Man’s collection of artifacts, folklore, and physical remains. The museum is also a place to learn about ancient Egypt and native cultures of the Western Americas.
Live demonstrators make tortillas in the traditional Mexican manner and a Oaxacan weaver demonstrates spinning and floor loom Wednesdays through Sunday.
Old Globe Theatre
California’s oldest professional theater organization occupies the refurbished Old Globe Theatre building north of the California State Building and Quadrangle. Originally constructed for the 1915 Exposition for the presentation of Shakespeare Plays the building went through several remodels and was destroyed by fire March 8, 1978. The new Old Globe was dedicated on January 5, 1982.
Mingei International Museum
Mingei International Museum is dedicated to furthering the understanding of world folk art. Mingei is a word coined by the late Dr. Soetsu Yanagi by combining the Japanese words for all people (min) and art (gei). It’s increasingly used throughout the world for “arts of the people.” The structure the Mingei International Museum resides in was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and like several other buildings constructed in Balboa Park at that time has been used for various purposes and gone by many names. In 1935, the Building was renamed the House of Charm by which it is generally recognized today.
Japanese Friendship Garden
The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park began with a Japanese Tea House built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition.
San Diego’s Sister City relationship with Yokohama in 1950 contributed to the desire for a Japanese Garden in Balboa Park which was finally realized in 1990. The 1.5-acre garden includes an entry plaza with tea stand and outdoor seating, a fountain and koi pond, trellised bonsai garden, learning center for children and 100 cherry trees. Entrance to the Japanese Friendship Garden is included with the Go San Diego card.
Spreckels Organ Pavilion
Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses one of the world’s largest outdoor pipe organs. The organ—designed by Ernest M. Skinner—was donated to the City of San Diego by John D. and Adolph Spreckels in 1914 for the Panama-California Exposition and contains over 4,500 pipes. Seating for 2,400, with wheelchair access is available.
John D. Spreckels—a dedicated musician and pipe organist who added an enormous 41-rank Aeolian Pipe Organ to his home on Glorietta Bay—had been instrumental in planning and promoting the event subscribing $100,000 to the San Diego exposition.
Spreckels owned the San Diego Street Railway System which he wanted to extend through Balboa Park to hasten development on the other side. He was also aware that a boost to the San Diego economy provided by the Exposition would benefit his many other investments in the area. Spreckels funded daily concerts on the outdoor organ until his death in 1926.
Balboa Park Club
The Balboa Park Club was built for the 1915-16 Exposition as the New Mexico Building. It’s an example of early mission architecture of the Rio Grande Valley and is said to be a replica of the State Museum of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Club became the Palace of Education for the 1935-36 Exposition when a dance floor was added. Another extensive renovation of the building, including a new ballroom floor and kitchen was completed in 1995.
By Christian| 2017-11-17T00:51:55+00:00 October 30th, 2017|San Diego, SD Neighborhoods|0 Comments
Top 10 Best Brunch Spots in San Francisco
Union Square Area Map
Bart Map
Fisherman’s Wharf Map
San Francisco Cable Car Map
Copyright 2018 CitySightseeingTours | All Rights Reserved |
CitySightseeingTours.com Address: Pier 39 Concourse Building A San Francisco, CA 94133 Tel: +1 415 214 4493
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line41
|
__label__cc
| 0.725449
| 0.274551
|
GLOBAL EMERGENCY NOW: Latest climate models project prolonged WORLDWIDE DROUGHTS by 2030s
Here’s what the threat of increasing, widespread, prolonged droughts on a global scale means / leads to / why it matters:
Hard to grow food; fresh water scarcity; would cost trillions in losses; hard for economies to thrive, let alone subsist / not collapse; mass job losses, hardship, poverty, unrest, hunger, disease, desperation, dissent, oppression; human and animal rights abuses and injustices; resource wars; mass migrations; biodiversity loss; mass extinctions; multiple threats to security, quality of life, duration of life, ability to survive.
The percentage of Earth’s land area stricken by serious drought has more than doubled from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Thousands of species and millions of people are already suffering — and often dying(!) — from these kinds of impacts RIGHT NOW.
Read this brief excerpt from an article about the study, Drought could hit world’s populous areas, Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters:
Increasing drought has long been forecast as a consequence of climate change, but a new study from the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research projects serious impact by the 2030s. Impacts by century’s end could go beyond anything in the historical record, the study suggests.
To get an idea of how severe the drought might get, scientists use a measure called the Palmer Drought Severity Index, or PDSI. A positive score is wet, a negative score is dry and a score of zero is neither overly wet nor dry.
As an example, the most severe drought in recent history, in the Sahel region of western Africa in the 1970s, had a PDSI of -3 or -4. By contrast, the new study indicates some areas with high populations could see drought in the -15 or -20 range by the end of the century.
…”Decadal mean values of PDSI have not reached -15 to -20 levels in the past in any records over the world.”
Read the excerpts below from Climate change: Drought may threaten much of globe within decades, a press release summary of an essential study by UCAR (University Center for Atmospheric Research), Drough Under Global Warming: A Review.
The United States and many other heavily populated countries face a growing threat of severe and prolonged drought in coming decades, according to a new study by National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) scientist Aiguo Dai. The detailed analysis concludes that warming temperatures associated with climate change will likely create increasingly dry conditions across much of the globe in the next 30 years, possibly reaching a scale in some regions by the end of the century that has rarely, if ever, been observed in modern times.
…the paper finds most of the Western Hemisphere, along with large parts of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia, may be at threat of extreme drought this century.
In contrast, higher-latitude regions from Alaska to Scandinavia are likely to become more moist…
…”We are facing the possibility of widespread drought in the coming decades, but this has yet to be fully recognized by both the public and the climate change research community,” Dai says. “If the projections in this study come even close to being realized, the consequences for society worldwide will be enormous.”
While regional climate projections are less certain than those for the globe as a whole, Dai’s study indicates that most of the western two-thirds of the United States will be significantly drier by the 2030s. Large parts of the nation may face an increasing risk of extreme drought during the century.
Other countries and continents that could face significant drying include:
* Much of Latin America, including large sections of Mexico and Brazil
* Regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea, which could become especially dry
* Large parts of Southwest Asia
* Most of Africa and Australia, with particularly dry conditions in regions of Africa
* Southeast Asia, including parts of China and neighboring countries
The study also finds that drought risk can be expected to decrease this century across much of Northern Europe, Russia, Canada, and Alaska, as well as some areas in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the globe’s land areas should be drier overall.
“The increased wetness over the northern, sparsely populated high latitudes can’t match the drying over the more densely populated temperate and tropical areas,” Dai says.
A climate change expert not associated with the study, Richard Seager of Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, adds:
“As Dai emphasizes here, vast swaths of the subtropics and the midlatitude continents face a future with drier soils and less surface water as a result of reducing rainfall and increasing evaporation driven by a warming atmosphere. The term ‘global warming’ does not do justice to the climatic changes the world will experience in coming decades. Some of the worst disruptions we face will involve water, not just temperature.”
…In addition, previous studies by Dai have indicated that climate change may already be having a drying effect on parts of the world. In a much-cited 2004 study, he and colleagues found that the percentage of Earth’s land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled from the 1970s to the early 2000s…
…By the 2030s, the results indicated that some regions in the United States and overseas could experience particularly severe conditions, with average decadal readings potentially dropping to -4 to -6 in much of the central and western United States as well as several regions overseas, and -8 or lower in parts of the Mediterranean. By the end of the century, many populated areas, including parts of the United States, could face readings in the range of -8 to -10, and much of the Mediterranean could fall to -15 to -20. Such readings would be almost unprecedented.
Future drought. These four maps illustrate the potential for future drought worldwide over the decades indicated, based on current projections of future greenhouse gas emissions. These maps are not intended as forecasts, since the actual course of projected greenhouse gas emissions as well as natural climate variations could alter the drought patterns.
The maps use a common measure, the Palmer Drought Severity Index, which assigns positive numbers when conditions are unusually wet for a particular region, and negative numbers when conditions are unusually dry. A reading of -4 or below is considered extreme drought. Regions that are blue or green will likely be at lower risk of drought, while those in the red and purple spectrum could face more unusually extreme drought conditions. (Courtesy Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews, redrawn by UCAR)
More: The study
Report summary – Drought may threaten much of globe within decades, UCAR
Blog – Risk of multiple, devastating global droughts, Climate Progress
Article – Drought could hit world’s populous areas, Reuters
Article – Much of planet could see extreme drought in 30 years, AFP
Website – University Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Blog – Ponzi Redux: Could food shortages bring down civilization? CP
Article – Could food shortages bring down civilization? Lester Brown, SA
Podcast – Lester Brown on rising temperatures & rising food prices, CP
Article – Only months, not years, to save civilization from climate change, Brown
Book – Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Lester Brown
climateye’s most essential info
Age of economic growth: Over!
GLOBAL EMERGENCY NOW: Mass base life die-off threatens survival of most life on Earth — Seriously!
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line43
|
__label__wiki
| 0.528583
| 0.528583
|
Trafficking in Children Across the U.S.-Mexico Border
by Manolo Guillén
Email: mguillen (nospam) sdycs.org 29 May 2006
The trafficking of children across the U.S.-Mexico border runs rampant. The United Nations lists Mexico as the number one exporter of exploited children into North America.
For thousands of adults, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border every day means nothing more than a safe passage to go to work or visit family. But for thousands of children annually, crossing into the U.S. means an induction into an unimaginable nightmare. It is no secret that the San Diego-Tijuana border is the busiest international border in the world. Amidst all of its day-to-day traffic, the trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation runs rampant on both sides.
In 2001, the University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Work, released a study called the “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).” The three-year study involved twenty-eight major cities in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. According to the report, approximately 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. Some organizations have estimated this number is as high as 800,000 based on a Congressional Testimony in 2005. The CSEC study names America’s Finest as a focus group city in which exploited children were found.
Additionally, the United Nations has listed Mexico as the number one exporter of exploited children into North America. Experts believe that like guns and drugs are trafficked through the San Diego-Tijuana border, so are children. San Diego’s proximity to the Mexican border, its coastal, touristy appeal as well as its military bases are believed to be some reasons for the high incidence of CSEC.
Child Exploitation is not new in San Diego. In the early 1990s, hundreds of trans-border boys from Mexico and Central America, some as young as ten, crossed through the San Diego-Tijuana border to be lured by local gangs into child prostitution in Balboa Park and downtown San Diego. Some children reported that they engaged in “survival sex” just to have a warm meal or a place to sleep for the night. Other boys reported that wealthy pedophiles, which the kids called “chenchos” or “uncles,” would “adopt” them and promise to take care of them in exchange for sexual favors. San Diego Youth & Community Services’ Storefront Youth Shelter staff often confirmed these stories.
Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified San Diego as a “High Intensity Child Prostitution Area (HICPA).” At any given time, girls as young as 13 can be seen walking down the City of San Diego’s El Cajon Boulevard or listed on websites like “My Space” or “Craig’s List.” Cases like the People v. Cory Smith and the People v. Dante Dears, confirm that local street gangs like “Pimping Hoes Daily (PHD)” coerce children into prostitution on the Internet and on the streets. The San Diego County Probation Department reported that up to 166 female juveniles have been detained for prostitution between fiscal years 2005-2006. Local authorities have also uncovered “reverse trafficking” cases where U.S. street gangs like the 18 Street have transported American girls to Tijuana’s red-light district to exploit them.
The exploitation of children is also pervasive on Mexico’s side of the border. According to children’s rights groups, thousands of Americans travel to Mexico every year to pay for sex with children. Organized child sex tourism is prevalent in Mexico, especially in highly dense populated areas or in regions with high concentrations of tourism according to ECPAT, which stands for “End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for sexual purposes.”
In response to a growing pandemic of Americans traveling to Mexico and other countries to sexually exploit children, President Bush signed into law the PROTECT Act (2003). Among other protections for children in the U.S., this law makes it illegal for a U.S. citizen or resident to travel abroad to have sex with a minor. The new law eliminates the need to prove that the alleged perpetrator traveled abroad with the intent to sexually abuse children.
The PROTECT Act, which stands for Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act, increases penalties for perpetrators to up to thirty years in prison if convicted. It also eliminates the statutes of limitations regarding sex crimes committed against children domestically and abroad.
Human trafficking is also a global phenomenon that transcends other international borders. The U.S. State Department estimates that each year 600,000 to 800,000 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked across world borders. Approximately 17,500 of these victims are brought into the U.S. through our borders every year. Victims are lured through promises of a better life and are forced or coerced to work in slave-like conditions in commercial sex, domestic servitude or other forms of labor or service.
Only a couple of years ago, the profits generated by human trafficking ranked third place compared to the illegal sale of drugs, which currently ranks first, and the illegal sale of arms, which ranks second. Human trafficking is now tied with the sale of illegal arms and is the fastest growing form of organized crime in the world according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Some anti-trafficking experts predict that based on the rapid growth of this epidemic, within ten years, the profits generated from human trafficking will have surpassed even those generated by the sale of illegal drugs.
Around the world, human trafficking is becoming more appealing to traffickers because many countries either have no laws against trafficking or fail to enforce their existing laws. In the U.S., sex trafficking is especially appealing to organized criminal syndicates because there is a large, lucrative sex industry fueled by a strong demand for paid sex.
While Mexico is primarily a country of transit, the U.S. is mainly a country of destination that receives victims from over forty-nine countries around the world. Domestically, cases have been investigated in at least forty-eight states.
Trafficking has also become appealing to organized criminal syndicates because they have discovered that a child who is forced to work at a brothel can be used as a commodity that generates profits over and over making it relatively easy for a brothel to earn tens of thousands of dollars a year with only a few child prostitutes. Compared to the sale of drugs or weapons, which after consumption or a point of sale leaves no opportunity for further profit—the bottom line is clear.
Experts often characterize this egregious crime that threatens freedom and violates the core of human rights as a new form of slavery. “Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It is slavery in the 21st Century,” said Austin Fitzpatrick, an analyst with Free the Slaves, an internationally recognized human rights organization based in Washington D.C. that aims to abolish slavery around the world. “Trafficking into slavery is a profound violation of the dignity and basic rights of a fellow human being,” said Dr. Russell Dehnel, Executive Director of Heartland Human Relations, and co-founder of the San Diego Human Trafficking Trainers Bureau.
To combat trafficking, the Victims of Trafficking law was passed virtually unanimously by both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28th, 2000. “Victims are protected under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000,” said Lu de Baca, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. “The new trafficking law is the first comprehensive piece of U.S. legislation to address trafficking in persons. This law is groundbreaking because it decriminalizes victims. It allows law enforcement to view them as victims and not as criminals—even though they may be in the U.S. illegally or may engage in illegal activity such as prostitution,” said de Baca. The new law seeks to go after the real perpetrator, which is the trafficker and not the illegal immigrant according to de Baca.
Before the trafficking law was passed, prosecutors did not have the necessary tools to crack down on trafficking rings. Plus victims did not receive the proper care that they needed to recover from their trauma. “The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 was passed in response to the need of prosecutors to have more tools against criminals and for the protection of victims,” said Christopher Tenorio, Assistant U.S. Attorney and Civil Rights Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego. “The Act made it easier to prove some trafficking offenses involving juvenile victims and gave us access to funds and more assistance to victims,” Tenorio said. “Because many of our victims are in the U.S. illegally, and afraid to come to federal authorities for help, we can now provide legal avenues to allow them to stay and receive the assistance they need.”
The trafficking law also provides potential immigration relief to victims through mechanisms such as continued presence or the T-Visa, a special non-immigrant visa for victims of trafficking.
However, unless victims are minors under 18, they are required to cooperate with the Department of Justice in order to qualify for the T-Visa or continued presence. The T-Visa is good for up to three years. Victims can adjust their status to permanent legal status after three years in accordance to immigration laws and regulations. Once adult victims apply for a bona-fide T-Visa or are granted continued presence by the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), they become certifiable.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the U.S. Attorney General, is authorized to certify victims of trafficking. Once certified as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, which is the technical legal term, a victim is eligible for social benefits to the same extent as a refugee. Children do not need to cooperate with law enforcement to be eligible for social benefits or immigration relief. Elements such as force, fraud or coercion are not necessary to trigger the effects of the trafficking law when a crime involves a minor under 18 who has been induced to commit a commercial sex act.
Rick Castro, a deputy with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and chair of the newly funded San Diego Region Task Force on Human Trafficking, has been responsible for dozens of raids in North County San Diego since 1996. His boss gave him a clear mandate: “end the stench of prostitution in the city of Vista!” Since then Castro has raided dozens of brothels and migrant “sex camps” in northern San Diego County. He has literally interviewed hundreds of women as a result of these arrests.
However, the same theme commonly stood out as Castro conducted these interviews. “None of the detained women showed signs that they were being held against their will, said Castro.” The women would not disclose any type of force, fraud or coercion. Castro, who thought that he was doing a service to his community by putting these women behind bars and eventually turning them over to the former INS for deportation, never imagined that any of them were being forced into prostitution. “I let hundreds of women slip through my radar. I’m the first to admit that I was completely ignorant about human trafficking.”
Castro told the story of a sixteen-year-old girl who was nearly beaten to death by Tomas Salazar-Juarez, one of the brothers running the prostitution ring in Vista. “She was brutally beaten for attempting to escape a life of forced prostitution,” said Castro.
The sixteen-year-old told the deputies that Salazar forced her into a room and duct-taped her hands and feet. Salazar then grabbed a wire clothes hanger from a closet, wrapped it tightly around his hand and forced the other young girls to watch him beat her for two hours. “She was bruised so bad that it looked like she had been cut with a filet knife. He then told the rest of the girls ‘this is what will happen to anyone else that tries to escape,’” said Castro.
Neighbors called the police thinking that it was a domestic violence situation. Unfortunately, Salazar got away before the deputies arrived at the crime scene. The deputies took a report and pictures of the sixteen-year-old girl. This report was a major milestone for the Sheriff’s Office because it was the first time that any of the so-called prostitutes alleged abuse from their pimps. “This girl’s testimony later inspired other young women to come forward,” said Castro.
However, Castro still didn’t understand what he was up against. He still believed that he was helping to rid the city of prostitution. “I remember arriving at the station one morning. A deputy responded to what he believed was a domestic violence call the night before. He asked me to take a look at his report.” Castro read that it involved a fifteen-year-old Hispanic girl that was being housed at the Polinsky Children’s Center. He then rushed to Polinsky. “The young girl told me everything that happened to her. She was a victim of something that I knew was ugly—I just didn’t know what to call it,” said Castro. This fifteen-year-old girl, whose baby was kidnapped prior to crossing the border, and used as security to force her to sell her body to up to thirty men per day for nearly six months, helped him realize that the same tragedy that was forced upon her, was being forced upon the rest of the women too. “This young girl, Reina, helped me connect the dots,” said Castro. “She helped me put all of the missing pieces together. After that interview, I knew that we were looking at some form of sex slavery.”
Reina is just one out of the tens of thousands of girls around the world that are trafficked. Although difficult to fathom, Reina is actually one of the fortunate ones since she was able to escape the terror of her captors. After nearly six months of continual rapes and beatings, she gathered the courage to run for her life. Realizing that she may never see her baby again, she fled from her captors the minute she saw a window of opportunity. She stood half-naked and crying at the doorsteps of nearby neighbors. The neighbors called the police and the deputies transported her to Polinsky where Castro reached out to her.
To help Reina, Castro teamed up with a social service provider with the Escondido Youth Empowerment (EYE). Reina was assigned a legal attorney that worked closely with the Mexican Consulate. After six months of residing in an undisclosed shelter, Reina was referred to San Diego Youth and Community Services (SDYCS).
SDYCS, in coordination with other service providers, helped Reina with crisis intervention, emergency shelter, interpretation services, mental health counseling, medical services, case management, independent living skills training, advocacy and transportation and referrals to other services. It took a coalition of nearly seventeen agencies from Mexico and the U.S. to help one survivor of trafficking.
Reina was relieved to have escaped her prison, but her baby was still in the merciless hands of the traffickers. She last saw her baby when he was four months old. She was depressed and angry with herself for believing in the man that “romanced” and deceived her into releasing her baby to him. “I know that he’s crying. I can hear him crying. These men are ruthless, they could care less if he’s hungry or if he has a diaper rash.”
I had the distinct honor of meeting with Reina many times. Once she arrived at SDYCS, I became her assigned case manager. This was my first encounter with a survivor of human trafficking and the experience changed my life forever. I would sometimes spend hours with Reina while she grieved over her baby. I remember hearing her say how she regretted allowing for this so-called boyfriend of hers to legally register her son under his name. She learned the hard way that this man also had legal rights to her baby even though he wasn’t the biological father. He had these rights in Mexico because he manipulated her into registering her baby under his name too. I knew that she was hurting and I could feel that the pain she experienced was severe as she exhausted herself in tears in my office many nights. Her pain became so unbearable that she ran away from the shelter one day, got drunk and left the country. She ended up in Tijuana and called Lilia Velasquez, her attorney.
Reina’s case had touched the very core of our beings – all of us – that formed a coalition of seventeen agencies working together to help her. Velasquez was working closely with the Mexican Consulate to try and recover Reina’s baby. Miraculously, we got word that the kidnappers delivered Reina’s baby to DIF, the social services department in Mexico. The kidnappers apparently feared life in prison if they were caught.
However, Reina had left the country and it was going to take another miracle to bring her back. Velasquez had to move heaven and earth to make arrangements with the immigration authorities and the Department of Justice to parole Reina back into the U.S. so that she could be reunited with her baby. Velasquez called me and asked me if I could go to Tijuana to try to find Reina. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I was to go to La Zona Norte, Tijuana’s red-light district, where we suspected that she might be and convince her to come back to the U.S.
Walking down the sordid street of Avenida Constitucion in La Zona Norte was an eye opening experience that I won’t soon forget. Bar owners auctioned young girls as if they were live stock saying “Check it out, fresh meat inside…thirteen and fourteen-year-old girls.” It sent a chill up my spine. They shouted this as though the men walked by a buffet food line. These opportunistic bar owners saw these girls as mere body parts for sale—human commodities.
In high heels and flamboyant, skimpy clothes, hundreds of girls lined themselves across several blocks of what appeared to be a fast food chain of exploited children. They hid their child-like faces behind red lipstick and cheap make-up to give the illusion that they were mature women. The locals call them las paraditas (the girls that stand) because they stand in front of the street bars and hotel buildings for long hours waiting for business. They threw flirtatious kisses and pulled on the shirts of would-be customers. “Vamos al cuarto,” which means, “Let’s go to the room,” is what they said to dozens of men that shopped for sex.
It was heart wrenching to see how young some of the girls at la Zona were. A local police office was stationed at the center of Avenida Constitución and Callejón Cuahuíla, two main streets in the seedy red-light district. I was taken aback to see girls that looked like they were no more than twelve years old yet selling themselves across the street from the police station. Police officers walked by as though these girls were invisible. An entire community turned a blind eye to their exploitation because of the lucrative profits generated by the sex tourism industry.
I especially looked for Reina at La Zona Norte’s two main bars: the Chicago and the Adelita. According to the taxistas, these are the two “best” bars in Tijuana for prostitution. “The Chicago and the Adelita is where you can get the most beautiful girls. They’ll let you do anything you want to them for sixty dollars plus eleven for the room,” said one taxi driver with a heavy Mexican accent.
While I walked up the grimy Avenida Constitución, on the outskirts of the red-light district, I heard a female voice shout “Manolo!” It was a former client of mine. She was one of the “Balboa Park kids” that prostituted herself during the early nineties. Now she was selling her body at La Zona Norte—as have other American kids—a trend that is becoming more obvious at La Zona according to border liaison, Detective James Dickinson from the San Diego Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Unit.
I was shocked to see our former client selling herself at La Zona. I asked her if she was working on her own. Although she was always particularly independent, she admitted to me that she had a pimp. She told me that most young girls that are at La Zona have pimps or “padrotes.” I asked her if she knew of girls that were recruited and forced to work in prostitution at the red-light district. “You hear about that all the time,” she said, “but you just choose to ignore it. Most of the girls are here not because they want to but because they need money to pay the bills.”
I asked her if she knew about any incidents where girls have tried to leave prostitution and ended up harmed or threatened. “A few weeks ago I heard that a young girl, she was thirteen or fourteen, what do I know, she was beaten to death. We were told that it was a john that killed her,” she said, “Sometimes you do hear of girls that are forced to work here. But those are only the young and naïve girls. They’re the ones that always get preyed on.”
Ironically, our conversation was interrupted because she didn’t want her pimp to see her talking to me too long. Her statement only confirmed what I and other trafficking specialists believe—that force, fraud and coercion, especially with young girls, does happen at the red- light district—and too often underneath the noses of an indifferent community.
Aside from what local street pimps do to coerce young girls into prostitution at La Zona, it seems naïve to believe that organized criminal networks are not involved in organized child sex tourism. Organized child sex tourism is, for example, the systematic recruitment of children to work in pornography, bars, massage parlors, strip clubs and the streets of La Zona Norte—not to mention the escort agencies that exist across Tijuana and can easily be accessed by the click of a mouse.
The fact that there are websites and American adult magazines that blatantly advertise sex tours to Tijuana is appalling. In these tours sex customers can go on line and purchase a 4,000 dollar, 12-day sex package and can enjoy “all the sex you can have,” including a limousine ride from the San Diego airport to Rosarito or Ensenada. Although many of these businesses advertise that they do not supply children, it is a known fact that child exploitation happens in many of these establishments when the price is right.
Every year, thousands of vulnerable, young girls are lured and transported to places like La Zona to prostitute themselves according to Stolen Childhood, a recent child exploitation study conducted in several major cities in Mexico. The report confirmed that each year, an estimated 16,000 Mexican children fall prey to organized child sex tourism. Most of them are recruited from poor, rural cities such as Tenancingo, which is where Reina was recruited. Tenancingo is located in Tlaxcala, Mexico where according to federal Mexican authorities exists a breeding ground for the trafficking of young girls into prostitution.
According to Mexican Journalist Karen Trejo, of La Opinion Digital, since 1980, women and children have been victims of a Mexican criminal organization called Los Romanes. This ruthless sex trafficking ring was named after their leader, Roman.
In November 28th, 2005, Trejo reported that locals from Tlaxcala claimed that Los Romanes were a huge trafficking ring and a true mafia. They maintained that they knew at least thirty sex traffickers that had deceived and lured 150 young females to Tijuana, Mexico as well as into cities in the U.S. like New York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
These types of reports concur with what the locals from Tijuana are saying. “You want me to be honest with you,” said one taxi driver, “it’s ‘Los Lenones’ [sex traffickers] that are bringing in all the young girls to La Zona.” I asked him if Los Lenones lured girls through false promises of a better life and he said, “of course they do… that’s what they do and they are good at it.” Lenones is the actual title used in Mexico for those who traffic in humans.
According to a local barber that once worked a few blocks from La Zona, some young Lenones hang out at a pool hall on Avenida Sexta at downtown Tijuana. This former, local barber claims that these young “Lenones” often bragged to him about how they would get paid to go into rural Mexico and romance young girls through the promise of work or marriage and then sell them to the sex industry for hundreds of dollars.
Of those named to hang out at the pool hall was the notorious Alfonso Zapian, AKA, “El Chivero,” who prior to being arrested by Mexican authorities, was on the U.S. Border Patrol’s 8th Most Wanted List. Zapian was also the coyote who was paid to smuggle Reina across the border and hand her over to the sex trafficking ring.
Although smuggling networks and sex trafficking rings operate independently from each other, they have been known to work together. Sex traffickers also work closely with owners and operators of the sex industry, which are the ones that place the orders of what they call “fresh meat.”
The owners and operators of the sex industry know that their customers have an affinity for young girls and that they are willing to pay hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars when children are especially young. It does not take rocket science to figure out that not only are many of these girls actually minors but many of them are not prostituting out their own free will. These girls are being recruited, tricked and forced into prostitution by sex trafficking networks.
In this evil game of deceit, many violent methods and schemes are used to lure children into exploitation and keep them disconnected from their friends, family and their communities.
According to a Mexican cab driver, strip club and bar owners customarily sign month-to-month contracts with girls to keep them in a constant transition mode. “These girls are often trafficked to different destinations,” said one taxi driver. Tijuana is not only a city of destination but a transit city as well. There are some reports that Tijuana has been used as a springboard before crossing children into the U.S. For example, in Reina’s case, she was raped and forced into prostitution at La Zona prior to crossing the border. She was told that she needed to work to pay for her smuggling fee.
But why is it that sex traffickers resort to such levels of violence and trickery to recruit young children? With thousands of poor children across Mexico, would not the average person conclude that poverty and other societal factors are enough to compel these children to prostitute themselves simply because they need to survive? Sadly, there has not been a national public outcry in Mexico because of organized child sex tourism. So why would sex traffickers risk incurring the wrath of public opinion by employing methods of violence to subdue their victims if there are allegedly scores of children and women that would engage in prostitution because of extreme poverty?
Beside the obvious reasons like customers pay large sums of money for children, one explanation is that children, especially young children, and no matter how poor they are, never wake up and say “I want to be a child prostitute.” They are usually propositioned and coerced into prostitution by an adult or another child that’s used by an adult. Recruitment often happens by someone the children trust or someone more powerful than they are. Sex traffickers understand that poverty alone does not produce thousands of children into the sex trade each year. They, more than anyone, understand the basic laws of supply and demand.
Accordingly, due to a seemingly endless number of sex customers, the sex industry is challenged with meeting the high demand for fresh, young and new faces. Since the demand is ever growing, the need for sex traffickers to effectively supply the sex industry with children is critical. In short, the supply cannot keep up with the demand. If there is a shortage of supply the whole industry suffers.
Because the stakes for the sex traffickers are exceedingly high they then resort to extreme violence and trickery to ensure a consistent and steady stream of young children into the sex industry, while at the same time establishing themselves as leading competitors in an incredibly lucrative business. In all of this the ones that suffer are the defenseless children whose innocence has been taken from them forever. As one national campaign against organized child sex tourism rightly stated to perpetrators that travel to Mexico to pay for sex with children, “you pay for a night, they pay with their lives.”
Without doubt, the frequency in travel and migration of vulnerable, Mexican children and in such large numbers is virtually impossible without a relatively organized system to finance their recruitment and transportation. The sad truth is that child trafficking and organized child sex tourism are so linked to corruption in Mexico that forged documents are readily obtained and government support or at least apathy is easily bought by business owners in Tijuana’s sex industry. Plus, now that adult prostitution in Tijuana is legal, the corridors of human trafficking are wide open.
After one long day of searching for Reina through most of the bars, I found her in the least expected place. She was standing in front of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Catholic Cathedral, on the corner of Niños Heroes and Calle Segunda de Benito Juarez, just a couple of blocks from the Tijuana red-light district. It seemed as though she knew I’d somehow find her. She looked like she hadn’t slept for days. She was strung out. “I know that I messed up. I know I let you all down,” she said while we sat at a restaurant across the street corner from the Cathedral.
I was able to bring Reina back across the border the next day. She was paroled into my custody by the immigration authorities. The U.S. document read: “for humanitarian purposes.” When we got back to the shelter, I looked at Reina and firmly told her that she almost lost the only hope she had of recovering her baby. “We had to move heaven and earth to get you back into the U.S. Do you even realize that you almost blew it? You were this close to never seeing your baby again.”
I told Reina that we had done everything possible for her. The rest was up to her. I thought to myself that my words might sound too harsh to a fifteen-year-old child survivor of human trafficking. But I had to be firm with her. I knew that she needed to change her attitude in order to convince the judge in Mexico that she was a responsible mother and capable of caring for her baby. Her days of self-pity needed to end. It was time for her to grow up and fast. It was time for Reina to think about her baby and take full charge of her life.
Fortunately, the thought of seeing her baby again encouraged Reina. With a little time she transformed into a new person. Being just a child herself, this new Reina realized that she would need to mature in order to help us win an international, unprecedented custody battle over her baby.
After long months of what seemed like endless waiting, we heard that there was a Mexican judge with a sympathetic ear to Reina’s case. She flew out to Mexico immediately accompanied by Adrian Martinez, an attorney with the Mexican Consulate, to attempt to recover her baby. Within a matter of hours we got word from Mexico. The judge granted Reina with full custody of her baby son. We waited anxiously for her to arrive at the U.S. port of entry in San Ysidro. Camera crews lined themselves desperately trying to get a shot of the reunification between a mother and baby that were almost permanently lost to child commercial sexual exploitation.
The sight of Reina covered with tears and embracing her long-lost baby was overwhelming and by far the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had. It made me realize that it was all worth- while. All of the up-hill battles, the tears, and the long nights when she thought that she might never see her son again had finally paid off for Reina. The fifteen-year-old child that survived the horror of human trafficking, after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, was now sixteen and finally safe and re-united with her child.
Manolo Guillén
http://www.sdycs.org
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved.
Re: Trafficking in Children Across the U.S.-Mexico Border
by 13 year old whore
(No verified email address) 29 May 2006
What if I have no parents to take care of me because they were killed by border guards or by members of the racist militia units? What if I consent to exchange sexual favors for money because that's the only way for me to survive on the rough streets in this fucked-up world?
FLIPSIDE would love to talk with you, 13 year old whore
by I'm sure he would...
Wouldn't you, FLIPSIDE?
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line44
|
__label__wiki
| 0.681059
| 0.681059
|
The original story can be found at http://bpnews.net/14820/pretribulation-posttribulation-seminary-panel-debates-end-times
Pretribulation? Posttribulation? Seminary panel debates end times
by Michael Foust, posted Tuesday, December 10, 2002 (17 years ago)
Professors Chad Brand, right, and Hal Ostrander, second from right, talk to students following an end-times theology forum at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in November. by David Merrifield
by David Merrifield
Southern Seminary professor Daniel Akin makes a point during an end-times theology forum at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in November. by David Merrifield
More than 200 students attended an end-times theology forum at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in November. by David Merrifield
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Tribulation. Second Coming. Millennium.
They're certainly biblical beliefs, but -- thanks in large part to the "Left Behind" book and movie series -- even some non-believers can talk adeptly about various end-times scenarios.
However, do Christians know what they believe? Can Christians make a clear biblical argument in defense of their position? And can they make that argument while acting in a gracious and gentle manner to those who may disagree?
Three Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professors did just that recently, presenting different positions on what theologians call eschatological doctrine (or end-times theology). More than 200 students attended the function in November, which was part of Boyce College's Berea Forum -- a periodical gathering in which faculty members tackle tough issues. Boyce College is Southern Seminary's undergraduate school.
Daniel Akin presented a progressive dispensational (pretribulation, premillennial) position. Chad Brand defended a posttribulation, premillennial position, and Hal Ostrander presented an amillennial position.
And they didn't argue.
"It's a good thing to make a decision," said New Testament professor Thomas Schreiner, who moderated the event. "Yet, at the same time, it's a good thing to love one another where we disagree and have some differences on this matter."
Akin pointed out that the panel agreed on the essentials of the Christian faith laid forth in the Southern Baptist Convention's 2000 Baptist Faith and Message as well as in the seminary's statement of belief, the Abstract of Principles. Each seminary professor must agree to teach within the framework of both documents -- each of which upholds a future judgment of the world and a physical, bodily return of Christ.
"I knew that their particular eschatological position was not identical to mine, and yet I also knew that we were of one mind on those things that are absolutely essential and non-negotiable," Akin said.
The positions of the three professors centered on various viewpoints of two terms -- the tribulation and the millennium.
According to evangelical doctrine, the tribulation is a period of time (some say it's seven years) in which the world will undergo massive suffering and chaos. Some Christians believe that an antichrist will rise up during these days. A person holding to a pretribulation position -- such as Akin -- believes that Christians will be taken up (or "raptured") by Christ just before the tribulation (thus, the person is pretribulational). A posttribulationist (Brand and Ostrander) believes that Christians will live through the tribulation before they are taken up by Christ.
The same logic also applies to the millennium -- a term which describes a thousand-year reign of Christ and is derived mainly from Revelation 20:1-8. In premillennialism (Akin's and Brand's position), Christ returns to earth prior to his thousand-year reign, then reigns alongside his saints in a peaceful kingdom. At the end of the thousand years he crushes Satan forever.
In amillennialism (Ostrander's position), the millennium does not refer to a literal thousand years. Instead, the millennium began with Christ's first appearance on earth and will end at his second coming. In this position, Christ is currently reigning both in heaven and on the earth (within the hearts of believers).
A third position, postmillennialism, asserts that Christ's second coming will take place following a time of great spiritual and moral influence by Christians. Conversions will dramatically increase and evil will diminish. None of the three men held this position.
Akin began by explaining the differences between his position -- progressive dispensationalism -- and one known as classic dispensationalism. In the later viewpoint, God works in unique ways (or dispensations) throughout human history and has different plans for Israel and the church. Akin's viewpoint is a departure from the classical system.
"Unlike classic dispensationalists, progressives believe there is a genuine joining of Israel and the church as the one people of God who fully share together in the covenant promises," he said, adding that both Old Testament and New Testament believers make up the church.
Akin asserted that his position of premillennialism is derived from "the natural reading and chronology of Revelation 19 and 20." He also said that, according to Matthew 19:28, "Jesus was a premillennialist." He said the majority of the early church fathers -- including Polycarp, Tertullian and Justin Martyr -- were premillennialists.
"I do believe that the second coming of Christ will take place before a literal, visible, historical millennial kingdom that will be realized on this earth with Jesus Christ ruling from Jerusalem as the king and lord of the entire universe," Akin said.
Brand said the thousand years could be either a literal or figurative number.
"The idea is that there will be a period in which the will of God is actually done on the earth," he said. "This is one of the fundamental ideas of premillennialism."
Ostrander, professor of Christian theology, contended that it is unclear to what Revelation 20 is referring. He said passages such as Daniel 12:2, John 5:28-29 and Acts 24:15 are more clear in their teaching.
"My hermeneutical conscience won't allow me to use Revelation 20 to find support for an earthly millennial reign," Ostrander said. "I find it odd that Jesus never mentions this, that he's to preside over such a time [and] such a kingdom. Paul doesn't mention it directly, but he does mention it indirectly with respect to the lack of a millennial reign.
"The millennial reign of Christ is therefore now -- both in heaven and on earth. Jesus himself declared before Pontius Pilate, 'My kingdom is not of this world.' So he reigns presently in the hearts of his new covenant people here on earth," Ostrander said. "... He also reigns in heaven now over a host of the redeemed and over the angels. That is not of this world."
The men also debated their positions on the tribulation.
Akin pointed to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 as verses supporting a pretribulation rapture. He added that 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says that God has not destined Christians to wrath. Akin went on to contend that Paul, in Titus 2:13, tells believers to be on the outlook for "the appearing of the glory" of Christ.
"The New Testament clearly emphasizes the imminent return of Christ," he said. "... If the tribulation must take place before that can happen, then Paul should not have admonished us to look for the glorious appearing of Christ. He should have admonished us to look for signs that the end of the age has dawned upon us."
Brand, a posttribulationist, said he jokingly tells pretribulationists, "I think I'm right but I hope you're right." Brand asserted that the second coming and the rapture are not separate events.
He disagreed with Akin's interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and said that God will protect Christians during the tribulation -- much like he protected the Israelites during the Egyptian plagues.
"God is able to protect his own people from the recipients of his wrath," said Brand, professor of Christian theology. "I believe that the people of God will be the recipients of the wrath of [the] antichrist but not the recipients of the wrath of God."
Brand also said Scripture presents no clear passage outlining a pretribulation position.
"I find a lack of any clear specific teaching in the New Testament that there is a rapture of the church which occurs at the beginning of the tribulation which takes the church out from the tribulation period," he said.
Ostrander, also a posttribulationist, agreed. He said Matthew 24:29-31 "seems to indicate that such an event occurs immediately after the tribulation."
Brand pointed out that although the panel disagreed about the specifics of eschatology, they agreed on the basics -- including Jesus' literal, bodily return to earth.
"What do we do now?" Brand asked. "... We go out and win people to Jesus. We get people ready for the second coming. We do everything we can to make sure that our churches talk about this. You need to preach about the second coming. You need to preach about heaven. You need to preach about hell."
(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo titles: PROFS AIR END-TIMES VIEWS, AKIN ON ESCHATOLOGY and FORUM DRAWS A CROWD.
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line45
|
__label__wiki
| 0.759389
| 0.759389
|
WWF Legend Charged With 1983 Murder
Updated Apr. 14, 2017 9:39AM ET / Published Sep. 01, 2015 3:08PM ET
Former WWF wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka has been charged with murdering his girlfriend in 1983. Snuka, 72, was taken into custody in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on charges of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. The Morning Call reports that records show Snuka's 23-year-old girlfriend Nancy Argentino was gasping for air and had yellow fluid coming out of her nose and mouth when Snuka returned from a WWF taping to the hotel they were staying in. She died of traumatic brain injuries, and her body had than two dozen cuts and bruises. Snuka told people earlier in the day, including a police officer, that he had shoved her, causing Argentino to hit her head after a fall. Later though, he said people misunderstood him. Snuka's bail was set at $100,000.
Read it at The Morning Call
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line47
|
__label__wiki
| 0.630871
| 0.630871
|
MARKETING REFLECTS CHANGING DEMAND OF NAPA VALLEY WINE
More than a year into the economic downturn, Napa Valley vintners are looking toward the future. “I think that we’re already starting to see a little bit of a turnaround as far as wine sales go,” St. Helena winery owner Kent Rasmussen said. Wine drinkers are buying more readily than they did a few months ago, he said, and retailers and restaurateurs are finally stocking up again. During the second quarter of 2009 — the last quarter for which information on sales tax revenue is available — winery sales in Napa County actually rose 3.9 percent over the second quarter of 2008. Spring 2008 was about the time that wine sales in Napa County first started to slip. Now, vintners are waiting on the holidays, when the bulk of their wine is sold, to see if there’s reason to be optimistic. “The fourth quarter is when the thing really crashed last year, so you better see a darn good increase this year, because a good portion of our production is sold during the holidays,” said Jack Cakebread, owner of Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford. “This is sort of the crunch time,” Napa Valley Vintners spokesman Terry Hall said, “because the fourth quarter really is the most active sales period for wine.”
The new ‘normal’
Regardless of how things go this winter, some say the Napa Valley wine industry may have changed forever. “I don’t think it can go back to normal,” Calistoga winery owner Laura Zahtila said. “I think we’ll have a new normal.” New Jersey wine merchant Gary Fisch agrees. “It will never be like it was,” he said, “and boy, did I like what it was.” Deborah Steinthal, founder of Napa-based Scion Advisors, predicts that $75 wines will move down permanently to $50, and Napa Valley wineries will be forced to reconsider their luxury-only portfolios. “I think we’ve got about three to five years to redefine our position in the world of wine,” she said, “and that means not just in terms of proving we can sell as much wine in the categories we’ve been selling in the past.” Ultra-premium wine producers could have an especially hard time if wine buyers permanently tighten their belts. “I think there’s going to be a lot less cult cab out there,” Zahtila said. “I think that wineries need to get realistic about what people should be and are willing to pay for their wine.” Bill Harlan, whose Harlan Estates wines go for up to $500 a bottle online, said he expects a shakeout in the next three to five years among cult wine producers, but he adds that those who survive will come out even stronger.
“I feel that if we stay the course and continue to work on producing better and better wines and build relationships one-by-one, then things will come back,” he said. Relationships may be the key to success, according to industry officials. As people change the way they buy wine, and as distributors change the way they sell it, wineries are beginning to focus more on selling directly to consumers than relying on other retail channels. “National distribution makes sense for some wineries, but direct is more critical to survival and growth,” Steinthal said. This may mean a new approach to marketing, one that emphasizes personal relationships with consumers. “If we just keep doing things as we have done in the past and hope things will eventually come around to the way they were 10 or 20 years ago, I think many businesses will be sadly surprised at the outcome,” said Ed Matovcik, vice president of Foster’s Wine Estates, and one of a group of wine industry representatives lobbying for fewer restrictions on local winery marketing events. Winemaker Mike Grgich said he believes that Napa Valley is entering “a new chapter of the wine industry.” “We can learn from this,” he said, “(but) we have to work hard and smart and learn new ways of marketing.” Some vintners say this means more than just changing their marketing techniques, it means changing to whom they market.
The younger generation.
Especially as Baby Boomers retire and cut back on their wine purchases, some wineries are starting to focus marketing efforts on the younger generation of wine buyers, including those born approximately from 1980 to 2000, known as the “millennials.” “The millennial category is really stepping up,” Steinthal said, “and wineries are learning how to market to millennials. Folks are really thinking through how to leverage the next generation of their family with a new category of customers, a new generation of customers.” Ceja Vineyards, for example, is one of the few wineries in Napa County that is actually expanding right now, and winery president Amelia Ceja attributes its success in large part to her children. “I have three children in their early 20s and they’re big on all the new technology and on the Internet,” Ceja said, “so that has been extremely helpful. We don’t do a lot of advertising, but our presence on online social sites has helped. We do a lot of videos and marketing on Facebook and Twitter.” Ceja said she and her children spend about an hour a day using Web 2.0 tools and social networking sites to market their wines. “It’s knowing what the customer wants and how to capture that customer’s attention,” she said, “and people are attracted to the millennials.” Ultimately, those who are quick to adapt may actually come out stronger than they were before the economic downturn. “In any kind of downtime, the industry gets stronger,” Steinthal said. “The innovators really show up, and so unfortunately, it means some folks drop out, but for the long-term health of the industry, the strong get stronger. Fisch agrees. “We’re entering a new economic age, and the people that can change and adjust will thrive,” he said. “The people that stick their head in the sand and say, ‘This is the way we’ve always done it and this is the way it will continue,’ I think will have challenges.”
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
BSC Dissertation
Tweets by @Vilafonte
Vilafonte wines about to hit Google Wave... watch ...
Vintners Hall of Fame 2010 class announced today b...
MARKETING REFLECTS CHANGING DEMAND OF NAPA VALLEY ...
Ken Forrester at the WOSA USA conference
WOSA USA WINE MARKETING WORKSHOP
ROOTSTOCK: IS THE GRASS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE?...
World Cup Wine
Emile Joubert Wine Goggle
CherryFlava
The Cru
Vilafonte Winery Map
Vilafonte Website
Vilafonte winery on 'Google Earth'
Jamie Goode's Wine Anorak
JP Rossouw's wine blog
Minette Willard Winefly
Vilafonte on 'My Space'
Warwick Wine Estate Website
Open publication - Free publishing - More zelma
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line48
|
__label__cc
| 0.692926
| 0.307074
|
Pill testing as harm reduction – a return to pragmatism in Australian drug policy
A recent article in Harm Reduction Journal explores the history of Australian drug policy, and argues that pill testing may have a role to play. In this blog, author Andrew Groves discusses further this important issue.
Andrew Groves 10 Apr 2018
Wikipedia user Portbarcares / CC BY-SA 3.0
There is growing evidence in Australia and around the world that hard-line, zero tolerance approaches to illicit drug use are not effective and, in fact, may be contributing to (or even causing) a range of equally severe harms for drug users and the community.
So are we asking the right questions and taking the right approach, in building programs, networks and legislative action under the National Drug Strategy? The short answer is “not quite…”
This is an important discussion for not only government policy-makers and law enforcement agencies, but also medical experts, the media and everyday citizens, given the recurrence of drug-related harms experienced by individuals, their families and the wider community. An all-too-clear example was observed in Melbourne in January this year, where nine young party-goers were “lucky they didn’t die on the spot” (ABC News, 2018), with this near-miss nonetheless having serious implications for the users affected, as well as their friends and families.
Australia’s Drug Policies: Pragmatic and Successful?
Australia’s National Drug Strategy (NDS) is grounded by the principle of harm minimization and comprises three pillars targeting supply, demand and harm reduction. It seeks to prevent the manufacture or importation and sale of drugs through seizure, arrest and other law enforcement practices (e.g. raids, customs checks, etc.), reduce the need for drugs by educating and informing the community, and limiting the harms for the community by providing drug diversion, treatment and rehabilitation programs/services.
The NDS is a longstanding, national framework that since 1985 has shaped several important initiatives in response to the use of drugs (illicit, as well as misuse of alcohol and medications), as well as led to the development of strong networks between drug and alcohol clinicians, policy-makers, police, academic researchers and treatment/support services.
Talking about drug use and how the community should best respond to this phenomena is not new. For example, the introduction of Needle Syringe Exchange Programs in 1986 and the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in 2001, both in Sydney, Australia, represent pragmatic responses to concerns surrounding heroin and drug-injection practices that have been widely successful and continue today.
Getting Tough
…it is clear that current punitive, zero tolerance policies are not working to limit drug use or the impact of its harms.
However, such is the dynamic, shifting and politicized nature of the drug landscape, that the effectiveness of legal and policy responses can be limited or forgotten, particularly when constrained by media-driven community attitudes and populist policy-making. Despite an overall focus on harm reduction, often the drug debate is framed as a ‘problem’ of deviance, criminality and, in particular, youth. This is because, in reality, much of the effort, resources and political action has focused on ‘get tough’ policies and policing young drug users, which has served to criminalize and expose them to stigma, shame and community condemnation, often pushing them away from protective welfare and treatment services and social networks.
This is the situation we now face in Australia where, as further evidence of the failed war on drugs, it is clear that current punitive, zero tolerance policies are not working to limit drug use or the impact of its harms.
If we look to current trends and patterns of use, recent reports reveal young people at dance parties and music festivals continue to use drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamines, often in more potent forms (i.e. ‘MDMA’ and ‘ice’), exposing themselves (and others) to the dangers related to consumption of high-purity, adulterated or poor quality substances.
A Return to Pragmatism?
Pill testing then offers a return to pragmatic and evidence-informed policy, as a complement to existing harm reduction strategies, as a way of strengthening Australia’s response to drugs by increasing what we ‘know’. Pill testing involves party and festival-goers having a sample of their drugs tested on-site by scientists, who can then provide information to the user about what they are taking so they can make a more informed decision.
As found in several international studies in countries such as The Netherlands, Portugal and Austria, when harmful or unexpected substances were identified through testing, most users chose not to consume their drugs and would share this warning with their friends. In addition, in these contexts pill testing encouraged positive help-seeking behavior (i.e. rehabilitation or counseling), monitoring of drug markets and interaction between users and healthcare services, as well as increased overall awareness about drug-related risks and levels of support from both formal and informal social networks. Pill testing can, and does, work if used as part of a larger harm reduction strategy.
By no means is pill testing intended to be a stand-alone “solution”, nor does it condone the use of illicit drugs. Instead, the argument is that we need to change the language of drug use from deviance and criminal justice labels to pragmatic notions of harm and public health, where any policies or programs implemented seek to reduce the harms associated with drug use.
There are examples of such pragmatism in policy and practice in Europe and even in our own history, which we must learn from and apply in Australia if we are to implement better drug policy. Put simply, it is about building knowledge to ensure prevention, education and cultural values of social inclusion so that we can reduce the harms associated with party-drug use and save lives. Pill testing is a part of this process, so it is definitely worth the test.
‘Worth the test?’ Pragmatism, pill testing and drug policy in Australia
drug policyHarm reductionHarm Reduction Journalhealth policy
Rural and urban differences in Tuberculosis epidemiology and treatment
Is it the menopause or is it stress?
View the latest posts on the On Health homepage
Jagdeep Kaur 15th May 2018 17:49
I deeply appreciate your thoughts. Trust often facilitates successful treatment outcomes.
Dr Andrew Groves is a lecturer/researcher in Criminology at Deakin University, Melbourne. Andrew specialises in research on alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and its relationship with drug policy, with a focus on methamphetamines and the experiences of young people. He has published in leading journals in this area and is also currently examining the emergence of ‘ice’ in rural and regional areas of Australia, as well as the challenges and risks to the community posed by the (ab)use of alcohol.
Latest posts by Andrew Groves (see all)
Pill testing as harm reduction – a return to pragmatism in Australian drug policy - 10th April 2018
Popular On Health tags
What difference does a law make?
Cannabis conversations: the role of the health care professional
Controlling epidemics using mobile phone data
Implementing new technologies in national healthcare systems: the introduction of NGS testing in cancer
Investing in Breastmilk
Health systems and gender: what do we need to know and why does it matter?
Geospatial artificial intelligence: the technology standing on the shoulders of giants
|
cc/2020-05/en_head_0010.json.gz/line49
|
End of preview.
No dataset card yet
- Downloads last month
- 7