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 89
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 89
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.
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Meadow Farm Museum (Gabriel's Rebellion)
Meadow Farm is a plantation associated with the slave insurrection planned for August 30, 1800 by an enslaved blacksmith named Gabriel. On that day, Tom and Pharaoh, two enslaved men on the Meadow Farm, entered the office of their master, Mosby Sheppard, and told him of Gabriel's planned revolt. Gabriel believed he was ordained to lead his people out of bondage. His plan was to create a slave army to take Richmond, kill all whites, except the French, Quakers, and Methodists, and be crowned king of Virginia. Sheppard warned Governor James Monroe, who ordered guards around Richmond. Many of the blacks who knew of Gabriel's plan and aided him were captured and executed less than two weeks later. Gabriel was captured in Norfolk and executed on October 7, 1800. Tom and Pharaoh were purchased by the state of Virginia and given their freedom.
After the failed plot, blacks, both free and enslaved, came under increased scrutiny and were subjected to even harsher laws designed to keep them under strict control. The brutal reaction to Gabriel's revolt prompted northerners to sympathize with the plight of the enslaved, giving momentum to the Abolitionist movement.
Donated to Henrico County in 1975 by Elizabeth Adam Crump in memory of her husband, Meadow Farm had remained in the same family since 1713. Through the head right system, William Sheppard acquired the original tract, comprised of 400 acres. During the Civil War, Dr. John Sheppard lived at Meadow Farm with his wife, 10 children and 17 enslaved individuals, 13 of whom are identified in farm records.
Meadow Farm Museum is located on the grounds of General Sheppard Crump Memorial Park, a150-acre recreation area owned and operated by Henrico Recreation & Parks. The white frame farmhouse was constructed in sections. The Museum interprets the farm as of 1860; the interior furnishings reflect that period. The outbuildings include a barn, doctor's office, and smokehouse, all of which date to the 1860's.
3400 Mountain Road
Meadow Farm ~ Source: Courtesy Virginia Dept. Historic Resources
Virginia Humanities, “Meadow Farm Museum (Gabriel's Rebellion),” AfroVirginia, accessed January 20, 2020, http://afrovirginia.org/items/show/273.
Museum & Culture
Museum or Cultural Center
Henrico County Virginia: Meadow Farm Museum Meadow Farm on Flickr
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Hugh Jocelyn McGrath
Major, United States Army
Born at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on April 8, 1858, he entered the service at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving as Captain, 4th United States Cavalry at Calambam, Luzon, Philippines Islands on July 26, 1898 during the Insurrection there. The Medal was officially conferred on April 29, 1902.
His stone in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery reads: "Captain, 4th Cavalry, USA, Major and Engineer Officer, U.S. Volunteers. Wounded at Boveleta, Philippine Islands, October 8, 1899, and died at Manila, Philippine Islands, November 7, 1899.
Hugh Joslyn McGrath of Wisconsin
Appointed from Wisconsin, Cadet, United States Military Academy, 14 June 1876 Commissioned Second Lieutenant, 4th United States Calvary, 12 June 1880
First Lieutenant, 26 May 1886
Captain, 19 June 1897
Major, Engineers Office of Volunteers, 20 June 1898 to 12 May 1899
Awarded the Medal of Honor 7 February 1902 for most distinguished gallantry at
Calamba, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 26 July 1899 in swimming the San Juan River in the face of the enemy's fire and driving him from his entrenchment's
Died 7 November 1899 of wounds received 8 October 1899 in action at Noveleta
SKETCH OF CAPTAIN MCGRATH
Private and Military Career of Wisconsin Soldier
Who Distinguished Himself Near Manila
EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin – July 28, 1899 – Captain Hugh Jocelyn McGrath, whose gallantry in the recent engagement south of Manila has brought him into notice as one of the heroes of the war, was born in April 1856 at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and moved to Eau Claire with his parents in 1859. He was educated in the public schools of Eau Claire and the University of Wisconsin and graduated from the West Point Academy.
He was assigned to the Fourth Cavalry and began his service at Fort Reno. He served in New Mexico and Arizona and was engaged in campaigns against Geronimo and other Apache chiefs. He spent two years at the Leavenworth Cavalry and Infantry School and for three years was instructor in military science at Wisconsin University.
When the Spanish War began he was at Vancouver Barracks and asked for active duty, was made Major of Engineers in the Volunteers, service at Jacksonville and Savannah and later at Havana. When the Seventh Corps was disbanded he was ordered to Manila and reached there June 30 and was in a brush with insurgents soon after his arrival.
Captain McGrath marries Miss Mary Carson of Eau Claire at Savannah last October. She is the daughter of the late lumber manufacturer, William Carson. Captain McGrath’s first wife was a daughter of General Blain. One child, a son, was the offspring of their union.
MAJOR MCGRATH IS DEAD
Hero of Calamba Succumbs To Injuries At Manila
Wisconsin Man Who Was Captain In The Fourth Cavalry
Dies Of Wounds Received At The Battle of Novaleta
Burial Will Be At Eau Claire
Dean C. Worcester’s Tribute To The Bravery Of
The Soldier – His Military Record
Washington, D.C. – November 8, 1899 – A cable message from General Otis this afternoon says that Major Hugh J. McGrath (Captain, Fourth Cavalry) died at Manila yesterday from wounds received at the battle of Novaleta a month ago. Major McGrath was appointed to the Military Academy from Wisconsin.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin – November 8, 1899 – News of the death of Captain Hugh Jocelyn McGrath was received here this morning, together with the statement that the body will be shipped on the transport Zealandia on November 10. Burial will be in Eau Claire.
Captain McGrath, who had a record for bravery, was wounded during a movement to clear the country between Bacoor and Imus. A brass cannon loaded with scrap iron was discharged by the insurgents and an iron nut struck Captain McGrath in the thigh. Death is supposed to have been due from complications. He was taken after the battle to a hospital in Manila and cabled to his wife: “Wounded left thigh. Don’t worry.”
Captain McGrath was born on April 8, 1856 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and came with his parents to Do Eau Claire in 1859. The young man was educated in the public schools of Eau Claire and the University of Wisconsin. In 1876 he was admitted to the West Point Academy and was graduated in 1880. He joined his regiment, the Fourth Cavalry, the following September at Fort Reno and spent two years at the Infantry and Cavalry School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was an instructor in military science at Wisconsin University for three years.
Captain McGrath served in New Mexico and Arizona against Geronimo and the other Apache chiefs, and later was stationed at Walla Walla, Washington. He was a Vancouver Barracks when the Spanish War opened. He asked for active duty and was made Major in the Volunteer Engineers and sent to Jacksonville, Florida, where he served in the Seventh Corps, later going to Havana, where he remained until the Corps was disbanded.
Captain McGrath left San Francisco for Manila on May 25 to rejoin the Fourth Cavalry and arrived there about June 30.
Captain McGrath was married at Savannah, Georgia, on November of last year to Miss Mary Carson of Eau Claire. A son has been born to them.
Professor Dean Worcester, member of the Philippine Commission, in an interview on October 20 last, declared that Major (then Captain) McGrath was one of the greatest heroes in the Philippines.
“It was a Calamba,” said Professor Worcester,” and important town in Laguna de Bay, that was taken by Lawton. While the troops were in front of this town and in the face of a hot a furious fire from the Filipinos it was found necessary to cross a stream that was swelled with recent rains until it was most difficult to get over. There were neither boats nor rafts, but on the opposite side and directly under the rifles of the Filipinos were two canoes.
“At that juncture, the hero revealed himself in the person of Captain McGrath of the Fourth Cavalry. He did not wait for orders, nor did he call for volunteers. He stripped and plunged into the whirling stream and came back in half an hour with two canoes. There were some bullet holes in the canoes by the time he got across with them, but they were made to serve the purpose of transporting a storming party across the stream and the trench was taken.
“It was the most daring thing I ever witnessed, and I believe that most daring action that has come to my attention.”
McGRATH, HUGH J.
Rank and organization: Captain, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Calamba, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 26 July 1899. Entered service at: Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Birth: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Date of issue: 29 April 1902.
Swam the San Juan River in the face of the enemy's fire and drove him from his entrenchments.
MCGRATH, HUGH J
CAPT 4TH REGT US CAV
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
DATE OF INTERMENT: Unknown
BURIED AT: SECTION EAST SITE 315
Photo By: M. R. Patterson, July 2002
Photo By M. R. Patterson, October 2002
BURIED AT: SECTION 1 (EAST) SITE 315
Updated: 30 September 2000 Updated: 16 January 2002 Updated: 8 July 2002 Updated: 14 October 2002 Updated: 15 March 2003 Updated: 27 July 2003 Updated: 11 September 2004
Photo By M. R. Patterson, 28 June 2003
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FOREWORD BY THE DIRECTOR
The 1981 Biennial is the first exhibition to follow the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Whitney Museum of American Art. It reaffirms the dedication of the Museum to a tradition begun by its
founder, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, in 1932 of focusing on the
achievements of living American artists on a regular basis. The role the Whitney Museum plays in American art today is quite different from that conceived by its founder. Mrs. Whitney and Juliana Force, the first Director of the Museum, recognized a particular need that existed at the time of the founding of the Whitney Museum—to show the work of American artists and support them financially. The
interest in and awareness of American art on the part of art and
educational institutions and the public has broadened tremendously in the last fifty years. The Whitney Museum has played a vital role in this evolution, and today the Museum is an institution with a responsibility
both to the public and to artists. Even amidst a greater appreciation of American art, criticism invariably descends upon the Biennial Exhibitions. Many institutions have abandoned large surveys of contemporary art, but the Whitney Museum has maintained its commitment to
the Biennial as a statement about the art of our times.
It is extremely gratifying that this year a major grant from the American Can Company Foundation has assisted us in presenting the
Biennial Exhibition. This support from an American corporation for one of the most controversial endeavors the Museum undertakes is commendable and identifies the American Can Company with some of the most creative artists of our times. The National Endowment for the Arts continues to support the travel programs of the curators, who make a considerable effort to view the work of artists throughout the
This year, for the last time, the upper three floors of the Whitney Museum will be devoted to the Biennial Exhibition. Beginning in the
fall of 1981, a permanent installation of outstanding works from the
Permanent Collection will occupy the third floor, thereby removing it
from use for temporary exhibitions. This installation of the Permanent Collection will identify the Museum with particular works on a
continuing basis, and establish a selection of twentieth-century paint
ing and sculpture which can act as a counterpoint to the temporary
exhibition program. Even though considerable space will be devoted to the permanent installation, the commitment of the Whitney Museum to the Biennial and to the work of living artists remains at the center of
its accomplishments.
All 2,833 authors; All 9,293 articles
ABOUT | BY
Pixelating, Tearing Apart, and Regrouping Gu Qianfan (critique)
I. Spatial relationship has been a continuous thread in Han Bing’s painting practice. In works c. 2013, physical and architectural spaces bear the weight of the artist’s visual expression. In Bush (2013), an outdoor tree is inserted...
Foreword (critique)
The 1975 Biennial Exhibition: Contemporary American Art presents a survey view of current work by artists from throughout the United States who have not become known through one-person shows in New York City or participation in...
Video (critique)
During the past three decades, broadcast television has become a powertul economic, social, and cultural force and has provided the dominant, if not exclusive, definition of the television medium. The content and structure of network programming...
Introduction (critique)
The tendency in the sixties for both artists and critics to consider art in terms ot movements and theoretical alliances has diminished in the seventies as the activity of making art has become increasingly a matter...
Forty-five years ago, the Whitney Museum began a series of exhibitions to survey the current state of American art. Now presented biennially, these exhibitions retain the original intent that they should be invitational and selected by...
From Cleanness to Power Wang Minan (critique, 2019)
In 1979, Water-Sprinkling Festival-Extol Life, a mural painting by Chinese artist Yuan Yunsheng, was unveiled at the Beijing Capital International Airport. The well-known work proved to be a milestone in contemporary Chinese art, marking a beginning...
Foreword by the Curators (critique, 1979)
The 1979 Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum is an invitational survey of some of the most important and provocative American painting, drawing, sculpture, film, and video produced since 1977 by living artists. In formulating this...
Preface by the Director (critique, 1979)
In 1932 Juliana Force organized the first Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, presenting the work of 157 artists. Included in this exhibition were several paintings which have since become recognized masterworks of the period, among them...
Monotony, Gloom, Practice, Progression, Concentration, Tools, Fabrication, Ideals, An Artistic Ensemble Zhang Yingying (critique, 2019)
Dedicated to the once radical, the now conventional and fashionable modernist manifesto. The relationship between the artist and the actual physical artwork today is different from the dynamic of last era in that artworks are more sentimentally...
Preface by the Curators (critique, 1981)
Since their inception in 1932, the Whitney Museum Biennial Exhibitions have been among the most important surveys ol contemporary American art. These exhibitions have continuously assessed the wide spectrum of currenl art; they were originally conceived,...
Foreword by the Director (critique, 1981)
The 1981 Biennial is the first exhibition to follow the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Whitney Museum of American Art. It reaffirms the dedication of the Museum to a tradition begun by its founder, Gertrude...
GOODBYE: ArrowFactory Ho Rania, Wang Wei, Yao Pauline J. (miscellaneous, 2019)
Dearest Artists, Supporters, and Friends: After a remarkable eleven and a half years of running our experimental storefront art space Arrow Factory will close its doors at the end of this month, September 2019. It has been...
Xia Qingyong: Fresh Paint Wang Chunchen (critique, 2019)
In the 5th issue of Art Observation this year, there was a discussion on the conceptual comparison between Chinese traditional painting and ink wash painting. The main goal of the discussion was to clarify the similarities...
Jean Baudrillaurd's Sayings on Exhibit (miscellaneous, 2019)
Excess of information kills information; excess of meaning killls meaning, etc. But it seems that too much stupidity does not kill stupidity. Stupidity may be said, then, to be the only exponential phenomenon — one whtch...
Whitney Biennial 2019 (critique, 2019)
Written by Mario Vasquez Note: This review was written before the 8 artists withdrew their works. Some works mentioned may no longer be on view. Upon exiting the elevator on the 5th floor of the Whitney Museum,...
2019 Whitney Biennial (critique, 2019)
By Alex Jen Curators Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta describe the 2019 Whitney Biennial as a “snapshot” of art making in the United States today. But “snapshot” carries particular meaning: not a posed portrait but something informal....
Initial Thoughts and Highlights from the 2019 Whitney Biennial (critique, 2019)
Zachary Small The 2019 Whitney Biennial is about the state of American culture and how contemporary artists are responding to the conditions of living in a country with increasingly inequitable social stratifications. Curators Jane Panetta and Rujeko Hockley...
A Whitney Biennial that speaks in urgent whispers (critique, 2019)
By Murray Whyte NEW YORK — The once-in-two-years art-world rite that is the Whitney Biennial never fails to disappoint at least someone. Whether too tame, too fractious, too political, too agnostic, too woke, too topical — really,...
The New Whitney Biennial Made Me See Art History in a New Way (critique, 2019)
By Jerry Saltz First, massive congratulations to the Whitney. Even with long, flat patches of overly well-behaved work, a strange visual monotony that makes this show predictable (the prior iteration was more optically alive), generally weak painting,...
7 Artists Not To Miss At the 2019 Whitney Biennial (critique, 2019)
From the subtly spectacular to the oddly elegant at the 79th exhibition. The next 79th Whitney Biennial opens on May 17, bringing together 75 artists for an exhibition that has—especially in recent years—inspired controversy. Of course, any...
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GRAND-PA’S 90TH BIRTHDAY (article first published : 2007-03-24)
The Grand-Pa Art Competition, celebrating the 90th birthday of Grand-Pa Headache Powders & Tablets, is underway on 13 University campuses nationwide. The competition encourages students to visually capture 90 years of fast pain relief. Over 1,000 keen entrants have registered via their SRC offices and online at www.studentvillage.co.za with each of them working feverishly to complete their works of art.
Following the phenomenal response, the organizers of the Grand-Pa Art Competition have decided to extend the submission deadline to March 27, 2007, to allow students time to ensure that their masterpieces are of the very highest quality.
After the closing date, selected art pieces will then be displayed at on-campus exhibitions at University of Johannesburg (WITS Tech), Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria Tech), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (PE Tech) and DUT (Durban University of Technology).
There are five R10,000 prizes up for grabs for the artwork which best illustrates Grand-Pa’s contribution to fast pain relief over the last 90 years. The entry categories are: Painting (watercolour or oil), Sculpture, Drawing (any medium), Motif (fabric print), Mosaic, Street Art, Collage, Wire Design (and beadwork) and Weaving, Knitting or Crochet.
Heribert Voss, General Manager & VP Consumer Healthcare Southern Africa, eagerly awaits submission of the final art pieces. “We’re really excited to see the quality of work which we’re sure will pour in over the next few weeks”, he says, “Grand-Pa is a brand with a long history in South Africa, and we are interested to see what kind of art will be produced to honour this legacy”.
HOD of Studio Arts at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, David Jones, is one of judges in the Grand-Pa 90th Birthday Art Competition. “This project partnership of Universities and Grand-Pa is an exciting opportunity for all students involved in the Creative Visual Arts. The prize money is attractive and the scope for expression is wide, he says, “I look forward to the exhibition to see a younger take on pain and its traditional South African cure”.
Visit www.studentvillage.co.za/grand-pa for regular updates on the progress of the competition, or mail grandpa@studentvillage.co.za for more information.
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Brand New Hope for Autism
As many of you know, I have a passion to fight Autism and help every parent and family member cope with this terrifying epidemic.
This following story give us all distinct hope. Please read it and forward it to everyone you know.
Amy O’Dell’s school may or may not transform the brains of autistic kids.
At the moment her techniques are more art and gut feel, than science. She works out of a house in a very woodsy area, just outside Atlanta. The upstairs kitchen doubles as an office and consultation room. Downstairs there’s a cabinet-like device with inflatable plastic sacks to simulate muscles and calm hyperactive children.
In other rooms and cubicles, O’Dell and her aides work with children forming sounds and matching colors. They are fighting the terrifying epidemic of Autism and having dramatic success, without drugs and doctors. The attached garage has also been turned into a workplace. At one end it sits O’Dell’s 14-year-old son, Jacob, who ten years ago doctors diagnosed with “pervasive developmental disorder.” Parents of kids like Jacob were told that their children could be institutionalized for life.
Continue reading “Brand New Hope for Autism”
How Iodine Accelerates Weight Loss by Supporting the Thyroid
Iodine is the missing element – the miracle mineral that fuels the thyroid and massively deficient in today’s Standard American Diet (SAD).
If adjusting your diet and exercising more hasn’t helped you reach a healthy body weight, you may have hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid gland. In addition to weight gain, other symptoms of hypothyroidism include a bad complexion, fatigue, forgetfulness, loss of sex drive, impotence, irritability and unhealthy hair, nails and teeth.
The healthy functioning of the thyroid is essential to maintaining metabolism and preventing the accumulation of body fat, writes Burton Goldberg in Alternative Medicine.
An underactive thyroid gland slows your metabolism; you thus burn dramatically fewer calories and feel sluggish. In addition, in Asian Health Secrets, Letha Hadady explains that an underactive thyroid gland promotes excess weight and cellulite by causing water retention.
Source: NaturalNews.com
Continue reading “How Iodine Accelerates Weight Loss by Supporting the Thyroid”
Nearly 18 Million Will Have Macular Degeneration by 2050
But nutritional treatments could reduce related blindness by almost 35%, study suggests.
By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter
Although the rate of age-related macular degeneration is on the increase, newer treatments, using nutritional supplements could help reduce the most serious effects of the disease by about 35 percent, new estimates suggest.
In a study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers report that as many as 9.1 million people will have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2010, but that 17.8 million people will have the potentially blinding eye disease by 2050.
“What we found is that due to aging, the number of cases of early and advanced AMD will increase dramatically no matter what,” said study author David Rein, a senior research economist from RTI International in Research Triangle Park, N.C. “In 2050, we project there will be 1.57 million cases of blindness [caused by AMD] with no treatment. But, with vigorous treatment, that number’s just about 1 million.”
Continue reading “Nearly 18 Million Will Have Macular Degeneration by 2050”
The Alzheimer's Project
HBO, the cable network, in partnership with the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Health, launched a four-part documentary series along with 15 supplemental films this week called, The Alzheimer’s Project, aiming to bring new understanding to this dreadful disease.
Alzheimer’s is now the 2nd most-feared disease, right behind Cancer. A staggering 1 in 8 of our population over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s; that’s more than 5 million people – and the number is estimated to SOAR to over 11 million as baby boomers move through retirement.
Is there a solution to this terrifying problem? Yes, and it’s a resounding yes! Learn about it now before it’s too late.
Trial drugs 'reverse' Alzheimer's
US scientists say they have successfully reversed the effects of Alzheimer’s with experimental drugs.
The drugs target and boost the function of a newly pinpointed gene involved in the brain’s memory formation. In mice, the treatment helped restore long-term memory and improve learning for new tasks, BBC News reports.
The same drugs – HDAC inhibitors – are currently being tested to treat Huntington’s disease and are on the market to treat some cancers. They reshape the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain.
Continue reading “Trial drugs 'reverse' Alzheimer's”
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Native Americans and Colonization
The archaeological evidence of Native American life at Hobcaw Barony dates back more than ten thousand years, to the Paleoindian Period, when humans first began to settle the Americas by land and by sea, from the west and northwest.
They lived in small groups, moved around frequently, and hunted large migratory game. Materials from the latest archaeological surveys at Hobcaw are more recent, mainly from the Middle Woodland period, from 600 B.C. - 500 A.D.
Dr. Karen Smith is the lead archaeologist for a 2016 excavation conducted near Hobcaw House.
Bits and pieces of clay pottery, called sherds, are important clues for interpreting the story of Native American life. The land surrounding Hobcaw House, particularly on the south side, is full of these materials.
In the 2016 survey nearly every shovel test, as the archaeological excavations are known, has contained layers of valuable artifacts, with historic materials in the top fifteen or twenty centimeters and below that Native American items, mainly pottery sherds.
The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach the Carolina coast. In 1526, led by explorer and slaveowner Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, six ships carrying 500 people from the island of Hispaniola landed near Cape Fear, North Carolina. Seeking to establish a colony, they moved south along the coast of the Carolinas.
Somewhere, possibly in the vicinity of Hobcaw Barony, the lead ship, Capitana, struck a sandbar and sank, carrying with it most of the supplies. Traveling further south, the colonists finally found the dry, high ground they had been seeking and established the settlement they called San Miguel de Guadalpe.
But lack of supplies, disease and a slave insurrection doomed the colony. Ayllon and many others died and San Miguel de Guadalpe was abandoned after three months, the 150 survivors returning to the Caribbean. No material evidence of the colony has ever been found and its whereabouts are unknown.
This watercolor drawing of the Algonkian village of Pomeiooc is one of over 70 made by Englishman John White, an artist and cartographer, who spent about 13 months on Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina, in 1585. His drawings provided Europeans with their first glimpse of the inhabitants and environment of the New World, and they remain a rare visual record of Native American life in the sixteenth century, as seen through European eyes.
To survive in the unfamiliar, subtropical environment of the Lowcountry, European settlers traded, borrowed, and adapted from Native Americans. Writing home to France from the colony in 1683, Huguenot Louis Thibou - who was known to exaggerate - extolled the virtues of the Indians he encountered in the province of Carolina.
An Indian will provide a family of 30 with enough game and venison, as much as they can eat, all the year round for 4 crowns....We have 15 or 16 nations of Indians round us who are very friendly and the English get on well with them; the largest number is not more than 500 strong. They bring with them a great quantity of deerskins and furs.
Louis Thibou letter, 1683
Native Americans were enslaved in great numbers by Euro-Americans, and slavery played an essential role in the development and success of the plantation system in the South. Historian Alan Gallay estimates that by 1715, 30,000 to 50,000 Native Americans were captured directly by the British, or by Native Americans for sale to the British, and sold into slavery. Many of those Native Americans were exported for sale to the West Indies at Charles Town, the same port that Peter Wood referred to as the Ellis Island of the New World.
It [the Indian slave trade] created a swirl of activity that involved almost all, if not all, of the South’s many peoples. It forced migrations and realignments, bringing misery to thousands and wealth to others. It existed on such a vast scale that more Indians were exported from Charles Town than Africans were imported during this period (1700 - 1715).
Alan Gallay, The Indian Slave Trade, 7-8
The Waccamaw River defines the peninsula known as the Waccamaw Neck, home to Hobcaw Barony. The river and the land bear the name of the Waccamaw Indian People, whose current tribal grounds are in Aynor, South Carolina, about an hour northwest of Hobcaw. The land was purchased in 1813 by Native Americans John and Elizabeth Dimery, and by the mid-eighteenth century the Dimery settlement had grown to include four families: Dimery, Cook, Hatcher, and Turner.
Cultural identity has been a difficult, complex issue for Native Americans in South Carolina. Before 1870 the federal census did not use "Indian" as a category for non-reservation Indians, and the Horry County Census of 1820 identified native people, including John and Elizabeth Dimery, as "free persons of color." Other members of the tribe have been classified as white and mulatto. On February 17, 1995, the Waccamaw Indian People received formal recognition as a Native American tribe from the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, and today the tribe has about 400 members.
Early America was a cloth woven from many threads, but the Indian strands that ran through it have often been ignored, forgotten, and allowed to fade from the nation’s history… Denied center stage in American history except in moments of open conflict, they continued to make their own history. Marginalized by mainstream society, they continued to participate in American life. Expected to disappear amid the ruins of their former world, they repeatedly rebuilt their worlds, remade themselves, and continued to shape the national experience.
Ian Calloway, New Worlds for All
To return to the trail click NEXT STOP
To return to the Hobcaw House Back Lawn click
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Original URL: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/living/education/6887791.htm
Kindergarten requirements concern parents
By Joelle Tessler
SAN JOSE - To Joanne Specht's kindergartners, picking through the piles of shiny beads and buttons, seashells and "creepy crawly creatures" one recent morning was a game of exploration. For Specht, the exercise laid the groundwork for teaching the kids how to sort objects by color, shape and size, and then begin counting.
And these kids had better learn how to count. By the end of the year, they'll be expected to start doing simple math.
Six years into California's drive for tougher academic standards in its public schools, kindergarten has moved beyond just ABC's and 123's. Instead of building blocks and fingerpaints, the emphasis today is on learning to read and write, add and subtract.
"I feel like I'm teaching first grade," said Specht, a kindergarten teacher at Christopher School in San Jose.
Not surprisingly, as the reforms have filtered into classrooms in recent years, they have sparked much debate.
On one side, state lawmakers and policy makers insist that kindergartners are coming away with the solid foundation they need to succeed in school as they get older.
Yet many parents and teachers worry that the push to introduce academics in kindergarten is putting too much pressure on young children.
Evolving requirements
The one thing they all agree on: Kindergarten is a very different place than it was a generation ago.
Joan Howard remembers the days when kindergarten revolved around hula hoops and Play-Doh, nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
"It used to be a lot of exploratory activities," said Howard, who retired in June after 24 years of teaching kindergarten and first grade in the Oak Grove district in San Jose. "And we had more time for P.E., for running and sliding and swinging. But now we've had to let a lot of that go. Now kindergarten gets more academic every year."
Schantal Posada's class at River Glen, a Spanish-language immersion magnet school in San Jose, offers a picture of kindergarten today. Although Posada speaks to her students only in Spanish, her class sticks to the same curriculum standards as English-only kindergartens across California.
One recent morning, she had her students tallying the number of days they've been in school so far, picking vowels out of sentences, identifying the letters in their names and following along in their own books as she read from "Bono el Mono en la Escuela," the tale of a monkey who goes to school and learns to raise his hand and share his toys.
One of Posada's students, Julia Hamilton, said her favorite part of kindergarten is "sticker time," which comes at the end of the day when her teacher hands out stickers to the well-behaved kids. Julia, who is 5, also likes marking off the dates on the wall calendar and translating her teacher's Spanish into English for her classmates.
Challenges sought
Although the girl is still learning how to read, she is able to recite the tale of "El Puerco Raro" from what Posada calls a "pattern book." The book, about a pig who is blue and yellow and red, repeats the same sentence pattern over and over -- changing only one word (the color of the pig) on each page.
At this early point in the year, Posada explained, Julia is reciting the tale largely from memory. But she is starting to match the words she says aloud with the words on the page. And Posada is confident that Julia -- along with the rest of the class -- will be reading and writing simple sentences by June.
Kerry Mazzoni, California's secretary of education, believes academics need to begin in kindergarten if children are to become proficient readers by the end of third grade, which is critical to making the transition from "learning to read, to reading to learn."
Rosemarie Cortez, an early literacy specialist at the Santa Clara County Office of Education, noted that children not reading at grade level by the end of first grade are usually not on track to meet this target. "It's very hard for these kids to catch up," she said.
Many parents, too, want to see their children challenged in kindergarten. Debbie Tegan, a mother of three in San Jose, was pleased with the tougher curriculum in her son's kindergarten class at Taylor School last year because the boy already was reading after two years of preschool. "I wanted to make sure he would progress," Tegan said.
What concerns many teachers is that not all kindergartners have matured enough mentally or physically to begin academics. Many cannot even hold a pencil or a scissors properly, much less write their names, when they start school.
"You can't rush development," said Paula Eilers, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at Sedgwick School in Cupertino. "It will happen when it happens."
Compounding the problem, California is one of just a handful of states that allow children as young as 4 into kindergarten because any child who turns 5 by Dec. 2 can enroll in the fall. Many of the younger ones lag behind, teachers say, because they are still so young.
"Those are the ones who chitter chatter all the time and can't sit still on the carpet," Specht said. "They wiggle a lot and they talk about things that don't apply to the lesson because they can't focus."
Kim Atkinson, a mother of three in Mountain View, agrees that the state curriculum expects too much of some young children. Atkinson was a volunteer last year in her daughter's kindergarten class at Slater School. Although her daughter was one of the older kids in the class and was ready for the kindergarten program, Atkinson saw some of the younger ones struggle. Now she is keeping her 4-year-old son, who turns 5 in November, in preschool for another year.
"We shouldn't push kids before they're ready," Atkinson said. "There are windows of learning where their brains are able to handle certain information."
It is not just the younger kids who are at a disadvantage. With its sizable immigrant population, California also has many children who start school behind because they do not speak English.
At the same time, many low-income children come to kindergarten having never been to preschool. But today, some of the basics once taught in kindergarten -- how to line up, how to sit at a desk, how to recite the alphabet -- are left to preschool. So these kids, too, start out behind.
Preschool as a solution
In the current budget crisis, however, there is little funding for universal preschool. Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who is sponsoring a bill that would phase in voluntary preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds in California over a 10-year period, estimates that universal preschool would cost the state upward of $2 billion a year.
Complicating all of this is the reality of half-day kindergarten. Because many kindergarten classes in California last just three and a half hours, the focus on academics leaves little time for art, music, games or even playtime. Yet kindergarten teachers insist that these parts of the curriculum -- particularly playtime -- are critical for social and academic development.
Both Specht and Posada feel fortunate that they teach in kindergartens with longer days. Specht is able to set aside the last 20 minutes of class each day for "choosing time" -- allowing her students to pick from among the Lincoln Logs, Fisher-Price villages and plastic dinosaurs and trucks. It is a chance for the kids to develop vocabulary, use their imaginations and learn to play well with others.
But not all kindergarten classes have time for such luxuries. And that leaves some wondering whether California has forgotten that kindergartners are, well, just kids.
"It seems like we are trying so hard to get kids ready for college that we overshoot the mark," said Atkinson, the mother in Mountain View. "They don't have time to be kids anymore. It's like they have to get all their playing done by age 5."
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1. A cheeky paradox
2. What’s the argument?
3. A better reading
4. Origin of the paradox
5. The birthday party
6. The one-day case
7. The two-day case
8. Faulty logic?
9. The heap
10. Sorensen’s objection
This was written in 2009. I explain in this essay why I think the surprise exam paradox is just a subtle version of the paradox of the heap. This was not easy to figure out at all because this is one of the most confusing paradoxes on the planet.
Paradox Lost (1971), by Ian Stewart.
jaworski.co.uk
The student claimed that the five-day announcement was just a more sophisticated form of the one-day announcement, but a blindspot all the same. A simple piece of induction now seems to bear out his claim.
As we just saw, if the n-day announcement is a blindspot for the class, then so is the (n+1)-day one, for any positive integer n. But the one-day announcement is unquestionably a blindspot for the class. So the announcement appears to be a blindspot for the class for any value of n, in particular n = 5.
This argument is pleasingly simple and plausibly regarded as the essence of the student’s reasoning. It appears to confirm that the five-day announcement is a blindspot for the class, but, worse, if the relevant period was (say) 365 days, then the same conclusion would hold. Thus, should the teacher announce that a surprise exam will occur some time during the year, the class would still be unable to accept her words. They would be unable to take her seriously!
Needless to say, this seems intolerable. Indeed, calling the five-day announcement a blindspot seems bad enough. But how should we respond?
We could resist the argument by rejecting one of its two premises:
The one-day announcement is a blindspot.
If the n-day announcement is a blindspot, then so is the (n+1)-day announcement.
But the first premise is indisputable and I have also explained why I think the second must be granted. In my opinion, there is nothing for it but to conclude that this is just an instance of the paradox of the heap!
The paradox of the heap is that, from these two truisms:
One grain of sand is not a heap of sand.
If n grains of sand is not a heap of sand, then neither is n+1 grains.
it follows that any number of grains is not a heap of sand, i.e., there is no such thing as a heap of sand. Naturally, this is absurd, but the first claim is obviously true, while the second, though occasionally contested, is equally hard to dispute. (How can one grain of sand separate a non-heap from a heap?)
There is no consensus on how to resolve this paradox and we need not try to address it here. The point is only that our paradox has exactly the same form. So the question is whether the resemblance to the heap is just a coincidence. It’s hard to know how to decide this question but I can’t see any reason to resist the assimiliation!
If the surprise exam is indeed a version of the heap, then it’s a fairly interesting one, because the statements that generate the paradox are not obviously true in the way they normally are for the heap. Thus, it is relatively obvious that the two claims above for the grains of sand are true, but it is not likewise obvious that the corresponding two claims concerning blindspots are true – we have had to spell everything out. Of course, nothing in the heap requires that these things be obvious so long as they are true. In our case, it just means that the paradox is not obvious, but it is there all the same. Indeed, its unobviousness is what makes it an interesting case of the heap.
Apart from this, we would also have a relatively short heap.
Thus, it would normally take many iterations of the inductive claim to yield a noticeable absurdity, e.g., thousands, for the grains of sand. But, in our case, just five iterations seem to yield the requisite absurdity, assuming it absurd that the five-day announcement should be a blindspot.
But short heaps are possible as the following example shows.
No two adjacent squares are distinguishable to the naked eye in point of hue, so if you will call the first one cherry red, you are forced to say the same of the next, and eventually of the last one too.
But it seems clear that, while the first one is cherry red, the last one is not. So short heaps do exist and the shortness of ours need not be a concern.
Finally, a feature deemed essential for generating such a paradox is the presence of a vague expression like ‘heap’ or ‘red,’ which admits of grey (or borderline) cases where its application is indeterminate, even when all the relevant facts are known. Typically, we need a range of such cases, involving a gradual indeterminacy of application, as with the red squares. Other expressions which generate the paradox are ‘bald,’ ‘tall’ and ‘child.’ The paradox does not arise with relatively precise terms like ‘legally married’ or ‘right angle.’ In our case, the culprit vague expression is doubtless ‘blindspot’ or (at bottom) ‘know,’ ‘accept’ or ‘believe.’
Consider ‘know’ for example, which was used to introduce ‘blindspot.’ Some people mistakenly think of knowing as a black-or-white matter that admits of no grey cases. But, in the ordinary use of the term, there certainly are grey cases where it is indeterminate whether someone knows something, even when all the facts are plain.
For example, if you find yourself gradually dominating the field in a marathon race and end up winning by a mile, at which point did you know that you were going to win? There may be no specific moment marking the transition. “It dawned upon me,” you might say, using a well-known metaphor whose literal subject is often itself used to illustrate the paradox of the heap. Phrases like “don’t really know,” “sort of know,” and “know for sure” also abound in our language and the same is true of ‘accept’ and ‘believe.’
So, at various points, the question arises of whether the class knows this, or whether they know that, and the idea is that a determinate answer is not always needed, since it may be correct to think in terms of a slippery slope. Thus, the more days the teacher has at her disposal, the easier it is for her to surprise the class as intended, and the more absurd it would be to deny that they can know that she will succeed. The talk is in degrees and it can make sense to leave it like that.
Likewise, we should not deny that the one-day announcement is unknowable to the class. But we might demur at the thought of drawing a sharp line at that point that would allow the two-day announcement (onwards) to be knowable without ado. Our analysis has also not borne this out. In contrast, we might sensibly expect the n-day announcement to “ease out” of being a blindspot as the value of n increases. As with the grains of sand, the exact point of transition will simply be indeterminate.
Such a “knowledge leak” is easy to grasp and we can also see this from the point of view of the class. A one-day announcement would certainly befuddle them, whereas a two-day announcement, while still befuddling, would perhaps befuddle them a little less. A three-day announcement, in contrast, is not so much of a blindspot and a four-day announcement even less of one. And so on, until one has clearly eased out of a blindspot on the fifth day (say). The slippery slope approach does sit well with this paradox.
So the recommendation is to concede that the one-day announcement is a blindspot for the class, while accepting the student’s contention that if the n-day announcement is a blindspot for the class, then so is the (n+1)-day announcement, for any value of n. At the same time, we may insist that the five-day announcement is not a blindspot for the class, siding with common sense.
As for how we can blithely subscribe to three jointly inconsistent claims like that, that is of course the paradox of the heap! So while we have not solved the surprise exam paradox, we have at least managed to reduce it to another paradox and this seems like a good place to stop.
The American philosopher Roy Sorensen is one of the few people who has carefully examined whether the surprise exam may be reduced to the heap in any such way. His considered answer is no. I will end by explaining why I think he’s wrong.
Next → 10. Sorensen’s objection
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EAGL
Engaging America’s Global Leadership
Partners for SDGs: How Private Sector Initiatives Are Helping Clean Ocean Plastic Waste
The environment took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this year. Global leaders from around the world — from international organizations, governments, civil society, and the private sector — convened in New York City to discuss solutions to pressing environmental challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Amidst the broad discussions about the need for all parties – citizens, governments, civil society and the private sector – to do their part, the private sector is leading, taking real actions to drive measurable process on environmentally-focused SDGs, including the fight against marine plastic litter. This is a pressing challenge, caused by unmanaged plastic waste in our oceans, that speaks directly to two key SDGs: SDG 12 and SDG 14. SDG 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns to reduce waste, and SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources to protect aquatic life.
Plastics have helped improve living standards, hygiene and nutrition around the world, especially in developing countries. Yet used plastics – particularly unmanaged plastic waste flowing into the world’s oceans – have become a global environmental challenge. The bad news? At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year.
The good news? We know how to tackle the challenge.
Today, just ten rivers, located primarily in southeast Asia, transport 88-95 percent of global plastic waste into the sea. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the biggest obstacle to stopping plastic waste from ending up in our oceans is poor waste management infrastructure, especially in developing nations. If we are serious about addressing plastic waste in the environment, stakeholders from across the spectrum must put their heads together and take real action. No one country, company, or community can solve this on their own, and there is no single answer to the issue. The private sector is – and must be – a fundamental ally and partner in driving effective solutions to these challenges, promoting waste management infrastructure, education and engagement, technology, and clean-up efforts. In fact, the private sector is already spearheading initiatives to address this. Here are a few examples of how businesses have committed themselves to eradicating marine litter:
Global Companies Pledged $1.5 Billion To Address Plastic Waste: An alliance of global companies from the plastics and consumer goods value chain launched the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to advance solutions to eliminate plastic waste in the environment, especially in the ocean. The cross value chain Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), currently made up of nearly thirty member companies, has committed over $1.0 billion with the goal of investing $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment. The Alliance will develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste and promote solutions for used plastics by helping to enable a circular economy. The Alliance membership represents global companies located throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
European Companies Launched An Initiative To Raise Awareness Of Marine Litter: Established in 2014 and with over 60 organizations, including major retailers and conservation groups, the Marine Litter Action Network works to raise awareness of marine litter, share best practices, and build upon existing marine conservation campaigns. So far, it has focused on issues such as removing plastic microbeads from personal care products, researching sources of marine litter, preventing sewage related debris from reaching the marine environment, and transforming ocean plastics into new products. MLAN has brought together 1.7 million individuals, 38,000 volunteers, and more than 11,000 companies, groups, and organizations.
Singaporean Companies Joined A World Wildlife Fund Pledge To Curb Plastic Waste: In early 2019, a diverse group of companies in Singapore voluntarily pledged to reduce plastic use and production by 2030 as part of PACT (Plastic ACTion), an initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) supported by Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA). As part of the commitment, businesses will ensure minimal use of plastics and try to recycle more plastics than they typically produce. Moreover, many will look into product and packaging redesign to reduce plastic usage. Large companies that have pledged plastic reduction include AccorHotels Group, Hilton Singapore, Conrad Centennial Singapore, Kraftwich, Pastamania, Udders, Capella Singapore, Regent Singapore, Ramada and Days Hotels by Wyndham Singapore at Zhongshan Park, SaladStop!, and Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
Kaneka Created A Biodegradable Polymer To Help Curb Plastic Waste: An international chemical manufacturing company based in Osaka has an ongoing commitment to resolve micro-plastic and waste management issues, in addition to fostering a more sustainable living environment. Recognizing growing social demand, the company worked for years to create a biodegradable polymer that is 100% plant-derived and more durable than other biodegradable plastics, which tend to be more fragile than traditional plastics. The technology is now used in plastic bags, and Kaneka plans to scale up production to meet a growing demand for sustainable solutions for the environment.
Solving the plastic waste issue is not just an environmental and moral imperative – it’s an economic one too. Capturing plastic waste before it reaches the ocean would cut environmental costs by over $2.1 billion.
The private sector is already leading the way with innovative partnerships to stop plastic waste from entering our oceans. If we are to successfully curb marine litter and achieve SDG 12 and 14, international leaders must recognize the central role the private sector can play. Leveraging the strengths and expertise of the private sector will be the key to success.
October 3, 2019 EAGL Team Blogs
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The Friends of Moggs Creek works in partnership with the Surf Coast Shire, is supported by ANGAIR Inc. and is auspiced by the Friends of Eastern Otways (Great Otway National Park) Inc. It is a small but very dedicated group, which meets as required. The group is working to eradicate environmental weeds in the Moggs Creek area, replanting indigenous species where appropriate. It is hoped to restore Moggs Creek as near as possible to its original condition.
The group has worked with the Surf Coast Shire to obtain a footbridge across the Creek at the eastern end of Robyn Road, and to upgrade the entrance to the settlement at Old Coach Road. The group has also worked with GORCC and Coast Care/Coast Action to protect the estuary and to revegetate the area with indigenous flora.
On a number of occasions the group has been involved with the organisation of a large task force (up to 50 people) to clear the area of Coast Tea Tree which has invaded the settlement since the 1983 fires.
John Dangerfield
PO Box 43, Aireys Inlet 3231
Newsletter: As required
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AntiDepAware
Promoting awareness of the dangers of antidepressants
INQUEST REPORTS
INQUESTS 2003-2007
INQUESTS 2020
News File: 2013
In the Court of the Coroner
Posted on April 10, 2016 by Brian — No Comments ↓
Last week in Reading, Berkshire, the inquest of Elena Levchenko took place. 38-year-old Elena was born in Russia, and was also known as Helen Bedford while she was married to her ex-husband Garry.
In 2005, Elena achieved the top score in the world for a particular marketing exam, and was presented with an award (right) for her efforts. Elena also held four different university degrees in subjects such as finance and accounting.
She was a member of the prestigious Chartered Institute for Marketing (CIM), working as a marketing executive and frequently travelling to East Asia as well as across Europe for her work.
Last October, Elena was found dead at her home. She had no history of depression. Her mother Galina, who lived with her and her 12-year-old daughter, told the inquest: “She had at no time tried to harm herself in the past. A week before her death she was worried because she had sent off for a new passport and it had still not arrived. Because of this she had lost her appetite and had trouble sleeping. Elena was so worried because she needed to travel abroad for work and she didn’t know how she could explain it if she could not get the passport.”
Ex-husband Garry said: “There were obvious issues related to work. A whole load of work had been dumped on her from another colleague who had left. She was travelling to the Far East and Europe. This was as well as the care of our daughter.”
Elena went to see her GP and was prescribed what one newspaper referred to as “medication to treat some mental health issues”, but which was, in fact, the SSRI antidepressant Citalopram.
On the day before her death, Galina said: “She didn’t go to work because she said she didn’t feel well.” In the evening she went out and, unknown at the time to her mother, bought the rope that she would later use to kill herself.
The next morning, Galina realised that Elena had not slept in her room. She went into the garage to find that Elena had hanged herself.
At the inquest, senior coroner for Berkshire Peter Bedford (left) gave his verdict: “I will conclude that she intended to take her own life, while suffering from depression.”
It is surprising that the coroner decided that Elena was “suffering from depression”. There does not appear to be any evidence for this judgement, whereas testimony from her husband and mother suggested that Elena was actually treated for work-based stress and anxiety, a condition which does not meet the threshold laid down in NICE Guideline CG90 for the prescribing of antidepressants, because of the risk of suicide.
Moreover, there is an even more worrying aspect of Mr Bedford’s handling of this inquest. When Garry questioned whether drugs prescribed to Elena could have caused the psychotic behaviour that influenced her death, Mr Bedford replied that that as the pills had only been prescribed two days before her death it was unlikely to have changed her behaviour at all.
This statement is an absolute fallacy. As experts such as Dr David Healy (right) can confirm, an adverse reaction to SSRIs, such as suicidal ideation, can occur in a matter of hours rather than days.
If Mr Bedford genuinely believed that his statement was true, it would be interesting to know the source from where he acquired that information. Or could it have been an “off the cuff” comment designed to exonerate Citalopram which, incidentally, has been linked to more self-inflicted deaths in the UK than any other antidepressant?
Mr Bedford’s statement can be compared to the testimony given by the doctor at the head of the team responsible for prescribing Prozac (Fluoxetine) to 14-year-old Tom Boomer (left) 11 days before his death in March 2014. The doctor stated that the “medical consensus” was that Prozac could “increase anxiety and the risk of self-harm or suicide among young people within the first two or three days of use.” She also claimed that “Tom’s mood had picked up” as a result of treatment. This flawed testimony went unchallenged by Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter.
The doctor’s statement contradicted that of Mr Bedford, but was just as inaccurate. But whereas the doctor’s motivation could be seen as an attempt to defend her own mis-prescribing, it is unclear why Mr Bedford should want to avoid the probability that Elena’s death was caused not by depression but by Citalopram.
This is not the first time that Mr Bedford has defended the role of psychiatric medication in a self-inflicted death. Six months ago, he presided over the inquest of 18-year-old Jessica Monks (right), who was struck by a train in January 2015.
Before the inquest, the series of events that led to Jessica’s tragic death had already been revealed in detail by her MP Steve Baker in a parliamentary debate on epilepsy. Jessica, who was already on Zonisamide and Oxcarbazepine, was prescribed an antidepressant less than two weeks before her death.
Mr Baker (left) told his fellow MPs: “At the psychiatric appointment on 22 January, Jessica was diagnosed as suffering from a psychotic episode and was instructed to stop taking the anti-depressants immediately. The psychiatrist was concerned that the drug Jessica was taking was causing this psychotic side effect – which is, by the way, well known – and said she would speak to the neurologist that evening to discuss whether Jessica should cease taking the epilepsy drug Zonisamide.
“On Saturday 24 January, Jessica died when she stepped in front of an oncoming train.”
After contributions from other MPs, Mr Baker continued:
“Jessica’s death was apparently avoidable. We need to know why it was not avoided. …Put simply, it seems that the epilepsy medication, which was necessary, caused psychotic side effects, which were exacerbated by anti-depressants that were prescribed with the best intentions. Jessica therefore spiralled into the situation that tragically led to her death.”
Recording a narrative verdict, Peter Bedford wanted Jessica’s family to believe that what Mr Baker told MPs was totally wrong. He said to those present in his court: “There is no evidence to suggest anything that could have or might have been done differently to prevent what happened that day.”
He then continued by pronouncing: “Evidence of any link between the drug she was taking and suicide is inconclusive.”
These are statements that might be expected from drug company lawyers defending a suit, but not from those who are employed to make judgements that are fair, rational, accurate and lucid.
Peter Bedford is not alone in defending psychiatric medication in the court of the coroner.
Six weeks before she took her life in November 2014, 15-year-old Jade Kosanlavit (right) was prescribed Fluoxetine. Last February, Jade’s uncle Chris Proudman told the inquest that her family had concerns about the medication. He cited research which he said showed that Fluoxetine had an increased suicide risk of 64%.
Mr Proudman added: “I think the whole family just find it difficult to understand that medication with this increased risk of suicide as an outcome is still being given in spite of this sort of evidence suggesting that children or adolescents can be pushed over the brink.”
Senior Coroner for Liverpool and Wirral Andre Rebello (left), however, told Jade’s family that he was satisfied that medication was prescribed in accordance with what is expected in child and adolescent psychiatry across England. In making such a judgement, the coroner disregarded Clinical Guideline 28 (CG28), which gives Fluoxetine “last resort” status, to be prescribed only in cases of moderate to severe depression and only after prolonged sessions of “specific psychological therapy”.
Recording a verdict that Jade took her own life while suffering from a depressive illness, Mr Rebello said: “I can’t say that without medication, this wouldn’t have happened. What I can say is that it happened in spite of the medication.”
In April last year, prominent scientist Margaret Tisdale (right) took her life in a Bedfordshire village, after having been prescribed Citalopram.
At the inquest in October, it was Margaret’s sister Linda who raised concerns about the side effects of Citalopram. She said: “I felt that she wasn’t depressed, but was instead very anxious and stressed. I was concerned about the Citalopram she was prescribed, when I looked up the side effects. I don’t think she knew how serious the side effects could be.”
These concerns were crudely dismissed by the senior coroner for Bedfordshire, Tom Osborne (left), who replied: “If you went online and read the side effects of almost any medicine, you would never want to take any medication at all.”
Delivering a verdict of suicide, Mr Osborne stated that: “The person who took their own life that day was not Margaret – she had been overtaken by stress and distress.”
It would have been more honest to have said that Margaret, like so many others, had been overtaken by an adverse reaction to a mind-altering drug that she should never have been prescribed.
A Spanish proverb states: “En el país de los ciegos, el tuerto es rey”. This translates as: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”.
In his or her court, the one-eyed coroner can continue to turn a blind eye to the part played by antidepressants in inducing suicide. Just so long as the bereaved are kept in ignorance.
However, since the advent of the Internet, the coroner can no longer assume that the bereaved are blind to the effects of psychiatric medication. In fact, it is possible that some may be far better informed than the coroner.
Such was the case last October at a high-profile inquest in Dublin, where Stephanie and John (right), the parents of 14-year-old Jake McGill Lynch, were able to demonstrate conclusively to a reluctant coroner that Jake took his life because he was prescribed Prozac.
In their courts, coroners tend to remain unchallenged, like mediaeval monarchs, or the Pope when speaking ex cathedra, expecting their words to be accepted without question.
We have become used over the years to the coroners’ reluctance to mention psychiatric medication unless it is raised by others present in the court. But to use their privileged position to disseminate false information and pharmaceutical propaganda is tantamount to misuse of power.
But, hopefully, opportunities for the coroner to mis-inform without being called to account will be diminished. We have seen from the accounts above that questions put to the coroner are not always given an accurate response.
There is no reason, however, why the bereaved should need to ask questions about medication at all. They are now able to follow the example set by Stephanie and John. They have the capability to bring to court a wealth of evidence from NICE and other authoritative sources, to inform the coroner that SSRIs do, indeed, induce suicide. They may also be able to show that, as in the cases of Elena, Tom, Jessica, Jade, Margaret and Jake, there are valid reasons why the drug should never have been prescribed in the first place.
Under the Coroner’s Carpet
Failed in Furness
Who is going to tell us?
Jessica, Epilepsy & Antidepressants
Tom, aged 14
Jade, aged 15
The Scientist, the Doctor and the Coroner
Jake, Aged 14 (Part One, Part Two & Part Three)
This entry was posted in Articles by Brian. Bookmark the permalink.
← Previous Previous post: Treated at the Priory
Next → Next post: John, aged 17
“Suffering from Depression” – 2020
The Lost Children (2019)
Suzie, aged 16
Akathisia: Out of the Darkness
No Serious Indication
The GP’s Report
Jacob, aged 17
A Word to the Coroner
Millie and the Tsar
Drugging Scottish Children
Jesse, aged 16
Warning Markers
“When Side Effects Turn Deadly”
The GP, the Coroner & the Ombudsman
Quinn’s Garden
“Young, British and Depressed”
Letter from a Grieving Father
Saving Sarah
Steph’s Story
“The System is Not Listening”
Jasmine, aged 16
Bristol University Revisited
No Prior Intention
Aeryn, aged 16
Maria and Missed Opportunities
Afrika, aged 18
Citalopram and the Inspirational Teacher
Aryan, aged 17
Copyright © 2020 AntiDepAware. All Rights Reserved.
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Some years ago, after finding out from a cousin who was digging into the family history that my paternal great grandfather was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton, I made enquiries with the keeper of those records, the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust. They were very helpful and came up with the goods — a location, and they even sent me a map.
That’s how I was able to find George Burnham’s grave, which was also the resting place of his wife Matilda. George died in 1901 and Matilda in 1917. George landed in Australia from Shoreditch, London, in September 1863. Matilda (nee Wylie) came out from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, three months earlier. They met and married here, and lived in Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne).
The grave location is lot K661 (picture at top left), alongside the cemetery’s 1st Avenue (a happy coincidence as the first house I lived in at Rosebud was in First Avenue). The gravesite was bare dirt when I found it, but not long after I put a simple wooden cross (which I have now replaced as the first one I placed rotted away).
One update that I found out after the cross was replaced is that their daughter Alice Maud is also buried there (1876 to 1919).
I was very glad to have found the burial site of these great grandparents, and thought that otherwise it would have been lost to the wider family.
But of course everyone has two parents, and therefore two sets of family connections going back generations, but it’s not all the time that present day families have a lot of information on that background.
Well, a development occurred in that regard sometime in the 1990s, with some information being revealed by our mother Myrtle (see some of her story here). Mum mentioned to my sister Janice that her (Myrtle’s) grandfather was Chinese.
This fact was completely unknown to all of us, and Mum, then in her 80s, let it out of the bag because as she said (or as I think she said, I can’t check with Jan now) in these modern times it doesn’t really matter, and so what if it did, who cares anyway…. that sort of thing.
When this fact sunk in I remember there surfaced little details that made me feel a bit stupid, and maybe others did too. For example not wondering over all those years why our Uncle Les had those almond shaped eyes. That was just Uncle Les, perhaps we all accepted, but now there was another factor that explained it.
Anyway, armed with this revelation I managed to track down some details of my maternal great grandfather by going to the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages. But having to work backwards, if you know what I mean, what I ended up being able to find was the birth entry for Mum’s dad, who was named David Young, born in the late 1870s. This birth record was a page out of a ledger, with details filled in. Some of the particulars required were: Mother’s name, Anna or Annie Henderson or Anderson (it was hand written and not the greatest penmanship). Father’s name, Charles Ah Young (huh?). Father’s country of origin, China. Here then was documentary proof of Mum’s family secret.
I took this information to the curator of Melbourne’s Chinese Museum, who told me that Ah Young wouldn’t have been the actual surname, but rather a sort of play on his real name, while being close to the original. And “Charles” was also probably dubious, as in those racist days all the whities tended to call every Chinese man “Charlie”, so he probably just took that on. The museum curator also informed me that the mother was most likely very poor or a prostitute, but that in reality having a Chinese husband ended up being a good choice as they usually did not drink and did not beat their wives.
The offspring introduced in the document above (Mum’s dad, David) had five kids — these, not in order of birth, were our mum Myrtle, her sister Bess and three brothers, Albert, Les and Dave. Myrtle was the only one to have kids. Uncle Dave was the last one to pass away, and some time after, maybe a decade later, a box of old Young family photographs and other papers was being passed around among us next generation. This was sometime after 2015 I think.
From these, Janice uncovered an old receipt for the hire of a “carriage and pair” from an undertaker, issued to a “Mrs Young” and dated February 26, 1892. The carriage was hired to take a coffin from Albert Park to the Carlton cemetery. Our first thought was that perhaps this is for the burial of Charles mentioned above, and now that I had a name and a date I contacted the Cemeteries Trust again to enquire if they could possibly give me a grave location — and yes they could. Again the information was thorough, and included the location and the names and dates of all who were interred there.
It ended up that the 1892 burial was for an Albert Young, who must have been an infant as the age given was zero. Next to pass away was “Hannah” in 1931, aged 72. This must be the Anna (or Annie) on the badly scrawled birth record mentioned above for Mum’s father David. So the record taker back in the 1870s got that wrong too (probably a bit of “attitude” at work, and now we also know that Hannah must have been very young when she married).
Next was the man himself, Charles. He died in 1936, aged 90. The last one in was named Ethel, in 1959 aged 71. I’m assuming she was another one of Charles and Hannah’s kids. And another fact revealed, and it’s nice to know (as Mum had a brother named Albert), that her dad named one of his sons after the infant who was buried in 1892 — the little brother he never got to know.
The grave itself (pictured at the top right of this page) , like George Burnham’s, is also without a headstone, but at least has a low concrete border, with the name Young set in the foot. I found a piece of broken roof slate and scratched Charles Ah Young on it to put on the grave. I took Jan to show her what I found. The location is also on 1st Avenue, site U127 (recorded as CE-U-807-127).
Anyway, here’s the thing. My paternal great grandfather and my maternal great grandfather are buried literally within a stone’s throw of each other. Well, maybe a stone thrown with a run-up, and by someone with longer arms than me — but certainly within shouting distance.
So how’s that. Two gentlemen, coming to this country at around the same time (late 1860s) but from other sides of the earth (and cultural worlds) have a common descendant and end up being buried close by, with that same descendant able to identify their resting places.
I wish I could introduce them.
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HANGING WITH BRUBECK ON THE QUEEN MARY
February 1, 2013 · Posted in Commentary
Dave and Iola Brucbeck
I struck up a friendship with a book publicist in Los Angeles shortly after our two publishing companies joined forces in the 1980s. Lucinda worked for J.P. Tarcher Company, the most successful publishing enterprise on the West Coast.
She had met many great musicians during her earlier years as a young publicist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and formed a long friendship with jazz legend Dave Brubeck. When he appeared at the Long Beach Jazz Festival in 1987, he invited her to join him and his wife, Iola, for dinner before his performance that evening.
When Lucinda invited me to tag along that evening at the Festival and meet her old friends, she inadvertently forgot to tell me who they were. When we arrived at the Long Beach Hilton Hotel, I spotted Brubeck waiting on the front steps. While I was excitedly pointing out the great jazz pianist to Lucinda, he and his wife opened the back door of our car and got in.
As my head continued to spin following Lucinda’s introduction to her friends, I finally recovered from the shock enough to have possibly concealed my initial surprise. We made a quick visit to the Queen Mary before dinner and I acted as tour guide since I had stayed aboard the storied ocean liner just weeks earlier during a regional book convention.
During our dinner at the Hilton, Brubeck revealed he had been dealing with severe arthritis in his fingers—which he assumed had come from years spent in performance at his piano keyboard. He admitted the problem had affected his normal practice routine. I noticed that after he mentioned the pain in his hands, Iola massaged his fingers inconspicuously under the table.
Dave was summoned by a young festival organizer who reminded him that he was due onstage in less than an hour. He was anxious to see the performance by the young singer, Al Jarreau, who had taken the jazz world by storm. Brubeck considered him to be the greatest talent to have emerged in many years and said he felt that Jarreau had the potential to revitalize a music genre that badly needed his infusion of dynamic energy.
During our walk toward center stage on the Queen Mary parking lot, thousands of excited fans saw Brubeck coming toward them outside the fenced area and began to cheer as he drew near. The spectacle of hundreds of flashing cameras lighting the dark night on that cool September evening had me reconsidering my chosen profession. By the time our little entourage made its way onstage, I had decided that in the next life I would return as a rock star. Yes, indeed, this could make me forgo my present vocation rather quickly.
As Dave took center stage to perform, we were guided to the wings of the stage where we found assorted musical instrument cases to sit upon. The master of ceremonies gave him a short, but dramatic introduction. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the reigning King of Jazz…Daaaaaaave… Bruuuubeck!” Thunderous applause greeted his introduction as he coolly acknowledged his fans with a casual wave.
During the five-song set, his performance showed no signs of decline due to his arthritic fingers. They moved across the keyboard as gracefully and effortlessly as when he had begun his career as a young musician. The crowd erupted once again as he played his signature piece, “Take Five.” He glanced our way often, and I soon realized that his gaze was aimed directly at Iola. They seemed engaged in their own personal unspoken language that had, no doubt, been duplicated during performances for many decades.
The following day, I wisely made a command decision to keep my day job, and continued in my role as a quasi-literary “evangelist” in promoting the works of our company’s stable of authors.
My friend Lucinda eventually moved to Nashville in 1989 and started her own publicity agency. She became a contributing editor for Publisher’s Weekly and is the author of several books.
Dave Brubeck died last month just before Christmas at the age of 91. Iola, his wife and partner of 70 years, still resides in the family home inWilton, Connecticut.
I gave up my “day job” in 2008 when I retired from publishing. My plans for pursuing a second career as a rock star remain presently unclear.
Bob Vickrey is a freelance writer whose columns frequently appear in Southwestern newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and Ft.Worth Star-Telegram. He is a member of the Board of Contributors for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He lives in Pacific Palisades, California.
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About me,
I wanted to share something during the information age.
I met computer in high school years. In 1995, everything was started by registering with the newly opened Computer Software department. I actually won the electricity department. Even if I am Giresun second, I am still not aware of how great the glory is for me. In 2000, after graduating from college, I developed my experience in technical jobs at computer companies and internet cafes. In 2002, I entered the department of Computer Technology and Programming, and after this part I switched to Anadolu University. After a break, I started to read again in 2011 and graduated in 2015.
I started to work in Giresun,Turkey Provincial Health Directorate in 2006 as a person in charge of the automation system and as a support person. In the first month of 2008 I left for military service. Until I left, I gained experience in Server, Web servers, telephone support and databases. Immediately after arriving from the soldier in March 2009, I started to work as a technical support and training staff in a private company in Ankara,Turkey. After working here for 4 months, I moved to Istanbul to improve my career.
I started to work at Teleperformance Metis Inc. in Istanbul,Turkey and initially supported operating systems for home users and small businesses such as Windows 7 and Windows XP. As a short-term customer satisfaction, I was promoted to support Server operating system and Microsoft Office products. After working in this department for about 7 months, I got a job offer from Bilgeadam Eğitim Hizmetleri A.Ş. and started to work in February 2011. I also managed to manage the internal SCCM installation first by developing myself in Microsoft products.
About 4 months later I completed and delivered a Ministry’s SCEP project in Ankara. After this project, I started to work as an Outsource at Maltepe Plaza to do SCCM Administration work at Turkcell. I have completed the transition project from SCCM 2007 to 2012 here. Also, it was a great advantage for me that SCCM was the most widely used place. I may have used all the features of SCCM until the end. At the same time, I developed myself in SQL writing by reporting with SCCM. As PowerShell started to develop, I did a lot of work in PowerShell by doing PowerShell Scripts. After the SCCM project in Turkcell was over, I returned to Bilgeadam’s internal staff in November 2015.
After giving SCCM and PowerShell tutorials for about 4 months, I started to work on Microsoft as Outsource as Windows 10 TSP. I have worked with about 200 medium-sized companies for 8 months, planning to migrate to Windows 10. As a Senior Advisor to Bilge’s internal staff due to change of duty, I served by SCCM, PowerShell, Windows 10, MBAM trainings and projects until September of 2017. We decided to move in October with my wife’s admission to the Politeknika Warsaw for Master’s degree study and registration. After discovering the cities around Warsaw for 3 months, I got a job offer from Schneider Electric Polska and have been working here since January 2018. I manage Linux based Amazon Web Services and the HPE IDOL system. My days are going to explore Linux, AWS, HPE IDOL and Poland.
For your time, thank you …
Will continue
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Cathi's Latest Book Reviews
Author Edward Willett | Reviewed by Cathi Shaw | July 13th, 2018
In the first book of this series, Ariana meets her ancestor, the famous Lady of the Lake, and is sent on an important and dangerous quest to reunite the pieces of the fabled sword Excalibur.
Ariana’s life is already pretty difficult when she starts to hear the singing – her mother suddenly disappeared, she’s trying to get used to living with her aunt after bouncing around a series of foster homes, and she’s taking a lot of grief from the clique of “in” girls at school. But she’s also dealing with these sudden premonitions about the future, things seem to get weird whenever she touches water, and now someone, somewhere is singing to her. Soon, she’s met the famed Lady of the Lake – who turns out to be an ancestor – UNDER Wascana Lake, has acquired a nerdy sidekick, and is sent on a dangerous mission that pits her against otherworldly forces. Can she figure out what it all means, much less survive the challenge?
When the author contacted me to see if I would review the audio version of this book, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. But I was pleasantly surprised with this young adult spin on the King Arthur legend.
As the blurb notes, the protagonist in this book is Ariana, a girl who has had a rough start to her life. Her father is not in the picture, her mother mysterious disappeared years earlier, she was then placed in foster care because her aunt had been going through cancer treatment. Now her aunt is well and able to care for her, she finds herself in a new school that is ruled by a group of mean girls who have singled her out to be bullied. When she fights back she finds herself suspended. Then things take an interesting twist.
Ariana befriends Wally, and unexpected nerdy sidekick, who looks younger than he is. Wally is still waiting impatiently for his adolescent growth spurt to kick in. As they both try to evade Wally’s older sister (ringleader of the mean girls), they find themselves in the woods where they encounter a supernatural presence who identifies as The Lady of the Lake and who claims Ariana is her heir. She then tasks them both with a quest to find the broken pieces of Excalibur before the evil Merlin can do so.
This was the type of book my kids would have loved when they were younger. The characters are believable and real, the story is full of adventure and danger, and the re-imagining of the Arthur legend is entertaining. In addition, Willett has set his series in Canada, which was a nice bonus to the book. Song of the Sword has a Harry Potter-like feel to it. Willett has a real gift for capturing the young adult voice.
I really enjoyed this novel. I’m looking forward to seeing where Ariana and Wally go on their next adventure in Book 2.
Buylink: https://www.amazon.ca/Song-Sword-Edward-Willett/dp/1550505807/
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Review by Cathi Shaw
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Judge Dismisses Some Charges Against Merritt
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 17, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judge Christopher Hite of the San Francisco Superior Court has already dismissed one and a half of the 15 felony criminal charges brought against Sandra Merritt by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for her undercover journalism work which exposed Planned Parenthood's trade in baby body parts. The statute of limitations has run out on these dismissed charges so they cannot be brought again.
The undercover videos, most of which were recorded at the National Abortion Federation's (NAF) 2014 and 2015 abortion convention and trade shows, exposed Planned Parenthood's illegal involvement in harvesting and selling aborted baby body parts to companies such as StemExpress. The recordings capture Planned Parenthood executives haggling over the prices of baby body parts, picking through bloodied arms and legs of aborted babies in a pie tray, and discussing how to alter abortion methods to obtain better body parts for sale.
Merritt and Merritt's co-defendant, David Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress, are the first undercover journalists to be criminally prosecuted in the history of the state. As Liberty Counsel defends Merritt, no other citizen journalist or journalism organization has ever been charged with a crime for undercover recordings made in the public interest.
During the two-week preliminary criminal hearing, Judge Hite dismissed the charge regarding "Doe 8," an abortion professor at a taxpayer-funded, public university, who never showed up to testify last week.
The other charge concerned two alleged events with "Doe 9," a Planned Parenthood doctor. However, half of that charge was dismissed since the attorney general's office never played the video in court of the alleged incident on April 8, 2014.
Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "Each day of this hearing reveals that this case is frivolous and should be dismissed immediately. The state of California has abused the legal process by prosecuting Sandra Merritt when she did nothing wrong. The entire case should be dismissed."
Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.
SOURCE Liberty Counsel
CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org
lc.org/
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Cambodia New Vision
Speeches / Comments
Samdech Hun Sen
Personal Biography
Lok Chumteav Dr. Bun Rany – Hun Sen
Golf Records
Library & Link
CNV-FAQ
ភាសារខ្មែរ
Selected Impromptu Comments during the Meeting with Cambodian Workers and Students in Malaysia
HE Sam Rainsy and Lok Chumteav,
Samdech Preah Anuj Preah Norodom Arun Rasmey,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Culture of Dialogue – Cambodia’s Unique
I am so pleased today to be able to take a presence here together with HE Sam Rainsy and Lok Chumteav in this very happy meeting with all of our workers and students who are staying legally for work and study in Malaysia. I thank HE Sam Rainsy the initiative to have such a meeting while we are staying in Kuala Lumpur. I appreciate his thought and preparation to take the opportunity that we are all present here. HE Sam Rainsy proposed the idea and sent me an SMS while I was in Jakarta. I think it is a good chance that we can be present together in this auspicious time to meet with our people working in Malaysia at a time that the Khmer New Year just passed recently.
Taking this solemn occasion please allow me to wish the Cambodian people the four Buddhist blessings on the year of the Goat, BE 2559. For those of you who are Muslims, I am calling on Allah to keep his eyes on you and bear you happiness and progress. HE Sam Rainsy just mentioned that it is a unique situation in the world that after the realization of win-win policy, we have proceeded to the culture of dialogue, which, he said, cannot be achieved by any one person alone. It requires cooperation and we two – HE Sam Rainsy and I, are the cofounders. The two of us are now demanding the support of our people in securing success of the dialogue of peace for the utmost interest of our nation.
It is important that I recall about the need for culture of dialogue. Why do we need it? What have we achieved with that so far? In a dinner party in Jakarta the other day (thrown by the President of the Republic of Indonesia on the occasion of the Asian African Conference Commemoration 2015) HE Shinzo Abe and me were seated next to each other. I told him about the culture of dialogue that Cambodians are pursuing. I told him that HE Sam Rainsy and I were present together at the Sangkranta Angkor event in Siem Reap province. He laughed and said I could not do it with the opposition (parties in Japan). That is why I said it is the unique point of Cambodia that we have discovered.
Though with existing mechanism, we may not be able to solve problems if we do not devote to the value of being loyal and respectful of one another or keeping high the national interest. However, the mechanism has already been established in accordance with the dialogue we had in the National Assembly. People have always seen HE Sam Rainsy and I going into private room for discussion. We do not do that to find way to destroy the country but to find out means to secure efficiency of the culture of dialogue. HE Sam Rainsy may have remembered my proposition that we need to set up a group of members of National Assembly, where ten from each elected party will be members. When we see the importance of it we then incorporate the idea into the National Assembly’s Internal Regulation.
We called on HE Pen Panha, who is the chairman of the jurisdiction committee to work out amendment to incorporate the idea. That is what should be seen as a reform so that there will be a mechanism in National Assembly to oversee the draft laws before they go through discussion, which could lead to conflict in the National Assembly as has happened in other countries. We have seen examples in many countries like South Korea, Taiwan, India and Thailand. We do not want to see that happen in our country.
Culture of Dialogue’s Achievements
As for HE Sam Rainsy, he has two roles to play. The culture of dialogue mechanism will not cease to exist after this term. We will discuss further in the next term as we in this term have only two elected political parties in the National Assembly. Firstly, the whips of the members of the National Assembly of the ruling party and parties outside the Royal Government must dialogue with each other is one matter. Secondly, they are also dialogue partners to the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia on important national issue. People could consider this a meeting between the Prime Minister and the minority leader of the National Assembly.
I do not wish to use the term opposition party anymore. I wanted to use the term minority party or the party outside of the government. HE Sam Rainsy and I are leaders with elected seats in the National Assembly. The difference is (I am) in the Royal Government and the other one is not in it. We have proved that we can work together and unite. We come here to meet our people together. I do not know who you voted for but the one thing that I know is that you all are Cambodians. The culture of dialogue allows us to resolve many issues. We have resolved the need for electoral reform which many did not hope we could do it before the Khmer New Year. We did it.
We even transferred the job to the newly elected leadership of the National Election Committee before the arrival of the Khmer New Year. That was achieved not by means of applying the culture of hostility but dialogue. There is this other story. We will have a new TV station. On April 9 2014, HE Sam Rainsy asked me if it was possible to setup a commission to redistribute frequencies for TV and Radio as was raised by some NGOs or political party. I would not allow such thing to overpower the law. I gave my opinion that we cannot afford to have this idea of a political party formed has to have own TV. A company needs to make a request for investment. That it favors whatever party is their problem. When they followed the recommendation, things go smoothly. This was achieved because we had dialogue not hostility.
These are some of the results that I wish to list them out for all our people to see how the culture of dialogue can bring about. You may read our history in the “Moha Boros Khmer” or the Great Khmer Men” and you would learn how many parts Cambodia was divided, and in that instance a huge Cambodia had reduced to a small country. In fact I had said something about thanking the French about the France-Siam Treaty 1904 and 1907 or we would not have the chance to celebrate Sangkranta Angkor 2015 on the land of Angkor. However, while thanking the French on the western part of Cambodia, we are not happy with what the French did on the eastern part of our country. I was not born yet. They did not ask for the Cambodian opinion but the French parliament to trim out our land. We were able to reclaim the western part of our country from Siam.
The culture of dialogue resolves many issues. Democracy does not mean that (politicians) have to insult one another. HE Sam Rainsy and I are not in agreement on every issue but we have agreed not to use insulting rhetoric to resolve the problem. It will not solve the problem. We must seek the way together to resolve whatever problem there maybe. Lately, there was this issue of housing and rents and healthcare for our workers. We exchanged our opinions. Lok Chumteav Mua Sokhuor (a member of the National Assembly from the minority party) also shared information with me about people who reside for work abroad. Checking against information from my source, I made my decision to halt it.
We have to seek a mechanism for negotiation to guarantee safety for women working at home (in foreign countries). Our people have gone through so many hardships and they should not suffer any harder. While in Indonesia, I also went to see HE Megawati Sukarnoputri, former President and leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P). She called upon one of her female ministers to talk to me in Bandung and she told me that according their estimate, there could be 20,000 illegal migrants working on fishing boats. I could tell myself these are not all Cambodians. There must be some from Myanmar and Laos too. She even told me that she met with a Cambodian worker who told her that while working at a construction site, he woke up in a fishing boat one day.
We must find the way to prevent our people from being duped to migrate. We also need to work harder on creating more jobs inside the country so that our people will find jobs at home. This workload cannot be carried by the Royal Government alone. All political parties, now we have only two elected to the National Assembly, including those unelected, have to work together to foster the culture of dialogue, which I suggested in formula like one party leader with another party leader (1 + 1) or one party leader with two others (2 + 1). Those who like the chance to have dialogue, they are welcome. Some may not like it and may want to set up own party. I wish they all jump into the water before crying out loud it is deep or shallow.
Culture of Dialogue – Democracy with Good Appetite
I may ask one question, by holding on to the culture of enmity, according to our experiences of hundreds of years, what had Cambodia achieved? We achieved nothing but losing our size gradually. How many people had died or maimed? I think it should be enough and everyone must understand that. We may belong to different political philosophy and parties but we must not be enemy with each other. We have no choice. Cambodia is our homeland. It does not belong to Hun Sen or Sam Rainsy alone, or anyone else. While Hun Sen is Prime Minister here, everyone can live together. When someone else were to be Prime Minister, for example HE Sam Rainsy becomes Prime Minister, there would be a strong repelling force, should he not allow me to live in peace. With the repelling force in place, Your Excellency cannot live in peace either. Every political party, small or big, has its own supporters. Inappropriate action on them would bring about repelling power.
It was with this philosophy that I told HE Sam Rainsy that I cannot apply politics as in some other countries. I would not do a politics like in Myanmar. No one gets a Nobel Peace Prize. (As politics evolved in the past) I did not order for you to be arrested or jailed, how could you get the prize? However, the core of the matter is I could not do it. I would not approve such action. I would be glad to sign for the pardon (for politicians) according to law. Whatever that rests in the power of Prime Minister and according to the law on Prison, we were able to get the matter resolved easily.
Well, this is how much I think I should say to set light on some of the advantages of the culture of dialogue in place. We may need to observe, not to find false with, that the culture of dialogue would not be sufficient with efforts of HE Sam Rainsy and me. It requires support of leaders of all levels and concerned parties as well as the locals to guarantee long life of the democracy through culture of dialogue. We should not correct the understanding that fighting and insulting one another is democracy. Democracy by means of culture of hostility is one that makes us lose our appetite. It is now time to carry out democracy through culture of dialogue for good appetite./.
ASEANASEAN SummitDemocracyDialogue CultureElectionsElectoral ReformIdeologyImpromptu CommentsKhmer New YearMonarchyNational Election CommitteeNECOpposition groupsPeace and WarPreah Borom Ratanak KaodSam RainsySangkrantaWin-Win Policy
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Hernandez Gets 60 years in Mardi Gras Killing
by NewOrleansMusicMan in Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras Crime Beat, TX 6th Street Mardi Gras
Austin, TX Mardi Gras Bar Poster
This is an old story but a sensational one. I got it from The Austin, TX Statesman.com By Steven Kreytak | Monday, November 22, 2010, 06:50 PM
UPDATE 9:15 p.m.
A Travis County jury has sentenced Martha Hernandez to 60 years in prison for murder in the killing of Christy Lynn Espinosa, whose body was found burning in eastern Travis County after she disappeared from a Sixth Street Mardi Gras celebration.
Hernandez, 27, will be eligible for parole after serving half that time.
Hernandez also received a 20-year term for tampering with evidence. The sentence will run concurrently.
Her husband, Kenneth Hernandez, faces murder and tampering with evidence charges in the case and is scheduled to be tried next month.
Jurors in Martha Hernandez’s murder trial began deliberating a sentence at about 6:45 p.m. today after prosecutors implored them to issue a harsh punishment for the suffocation and burning of 21-year-old Christy Lynn Espinosa in 2009.
“She was an innocent victim that was out having a good time on Mardi Gras,” said prosecutor Amy Meredith. “She did nothing wrong to this defendant. She did nothing wrong to Kenneth Hernandez. She did not deserve what happened to her.
“If this is not a life case I don’t know what is,.” Meredith said.
Hernandez, who was convicted of murder and tampering with evidence earlier in the day, faces 5 years to life in prison.
Defense lawyer Alexander Calhoun asked the jury to consider that Hernandez “is a human being just like the rest of us.”
He noted that Hernandez has two young children who love her. Calhoun did not ask for a specific sentence.
“Only the 12 of you can figure out what the appropriate sentence is,” he said. “I am going to ask you to give her a fair sentence.”
Christy Lynne Espinosa’s parents told a Travis County jury today that their daughter was a compassionate and giving person with a comedic streak whose loss has fractured their family.
“When you have a child, that’s the happiest day of your life and when you lose a child, it’s unbearable,” said her mother, Dianna Espinosa. “If you were having a bad day you no longer were going to have a bad day because of Christy. She wanted to make sure she was going to make your day brighter.”
The testimony of Dianna and Antonio Espinosa came during the sentencing trial for Martha Hernandez, who earlier in the day was convicted of murder and tampering with evidence in Espinosa’s death.
Espinosa, 21, was suffocated after she disappeared from a Mardi Gras celebration on Sixth Street in February 2009. Her body was found burning off rural Imperial Drive in eastern Travis County hours later.
Prosecutors said she was killed by Hernandez, 27, and her husband, Kenneth Hernandez, who will be tried on the same charges next month.
Hernandez could receive life in prison. The jury is expected to begin deliberating a sentence this evening.
The only witness called by Hernandez’s lawyers during the sentencing phase was Francisco Medina, Hernandez’s older brother. Medina, 31, said his sister was the youngest of four children born to their parents in Sabinas, Coahuila, which is about an hour’s drive south of the border at Eagle Pass.
He said their father died when Hernandez was about three years old and he and his sister came to the United States to live with their mother when Hernandez was about 5 years old. Medina said her mother remarried and their stepfather, who worked at a mattress factory and later as a security guard, helped raise them.
Medina said his sister eventually became an American citizen.
Medina said when his sister was about 15 she was raped by a cousin, who fled for Mexico. When she was in ninth grade, he said, Hernandez got pregnant and dropped out of Stephen F. Austin High School.
Medina said the family of four formed a band playing conjunto music and they traveled around Central Texas playing. Medina said his sister, who played drums and bass, quit that band after she married Kenneth Hernandez about five years ago.
On cross-examination, prosecutor John Hunt asked about the rape accusation, noting that the man accused was 18 at the time. Hunt asked Medina whether his sister “stated to the police that they just kind of started liking each other and that she didn’t use the term rape?”
Medina said he did not know.
Update 3:33 p.m. A jury has found Martha Hernandez guilty of murder and tampering with evidence in the February 2009 killing of 21-year-old Christy Lynne Espinosa, whose body was found burning in eastern Travis County after she disappeared from a Sixth Street Mardi Gras celebration.
Friends and family of Espinosa, a Crockett High School graduate who worked as a waitress at Applebee’s, wept after the decision was announced.
Hernandez faces up to life in prison at the sentencing phase of the trial, which will begin this afternoon.
Earlier: Prosecutors told a Travis County jury today that the truth will never be known about why 21-year-old Christy Lynne Espinosa was killed and set on fire following a 2009 Mardi Gras celebration on Sixth Street.
“We don’t have to prove why someone did what they did,” Assistant District Attorney Amy Meredith said during closing arguments of Martha Hernandez’s murder and tampering with evidence trial today.
What is clear, Meredith said, is that Hernandez is guilty of murder.
“She is absolutely guilty.”
The jury in state Distict Judge Bob Perkins’ court began deliberating at about noon.
In her argument, Meredith cited the evidence against Hernandez:
Somebody who left with Espinosa the last time she was seen on Sixth Street, who could not be identified, gave Martha Hernandez’s old phone number to Espinosa’s boyfriend.
Hernandez’s military dependant identification was found near Espinosa’s body
Hernandez could not be excluded as a contributor to DNA found on Mardi Gras beads found near Espinosa’s body
Hernandez told police that she put her hand over Espinosa’s mouth attempting to suffocate her while her husband drove them around that night. Hernandez said her husband ultimately killed Espinosa.
Hernandez said she gave her husband, Kenneth Hernandez, a lighter that he used to set Espinosa’s body on fire.
Earlier, prosecutor John Hunt told the jury that under the Texas law of parties, the jury may find Hernandez guilty of either crime if they believe she committed the crimes herself or if she aided or attempted to aid Kenneth Hernandez in the crimes.
If convicted, Hernandez, 27, faces up to life in prison. Her husband, Kenneth Hernandez, 35, is also charged with murder and tampering with evidence and is scheduled for trial next month.
Defense lawyer Alex Calhoun told jurors that if they do not know what happened on Feb. 25, the morning Espinosa’s burning body was found on rural Imperial Drive, then they should acquit Hernandez.
“We don’t know can be reasonable doubt,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun argued that Martha Hernandez was under the control of her husband, who he described as an abusive and manipulative man.
“Control has been a theme that’s run through this case,” he said, describing Kenneth Hernandez as bigger than his wife, athletic and independent.
He also suggested that Martha Hernandez did not plan to kill anyone that night.
“If you are going to go out and you are going to plan to kill someone are you going to give that person’s boyfriend a number that would trace back to you,” he said.
Martha Hernandez told a Travis County sheriff’s detective that the couple ended up leaving the Sixth Street area with Espinosa after meeting her there and returning to their car so Kenneth Hernandez could smoke a cigarette.
They drove around drinking, and Martha Hernandez said at one point her husband said he wanted to have three-way sex with Christy, something Martha Hernandez said she refused to do. After that Kenneth Hernandez began to put his hand up Espinosa’s shirt and told his wife that he had given Espinosa’s Xanax earlier in the evening.
Soon Kenneth Hernandez became concerned that he would get in trouble, Martha Hernandez said, and at one point her husband told her to put her hand over Espinosa’s mouth and nose and stop her breathing. Martha Hernandez said that after she couldn’t follow through on the killing her husband put his hand over Espinosa’s mouth.
Calhoun said Martha Hernandez lacked intent to kill Espinosa, an element required for conviction. He said she was in a daze because of her husband’s abusive behavior and when she realized what she was doing she stopped and took her hands off of Espinosa’s face.
Meredith said the case is not about any domestic problems that may have occurred between Martha and Kenneth Hernandez.
“This is about this defendant and what she did to this victim,” Meredith said. “She committed a heinous, heinous crime … and she needs to be held accountable.”
6th Street Austin TX DJ Alex. E DJ Mazzive Light Bar Lounge & Terrace Mardi Gras Murder
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House Closer to Sandy Aid Bill
Updated Apr. 21, 2017 1:42PM ET / Published Jan. 15, 2013 7:00AM ET
House members sort Sandy aid bill on Monday. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
The House moved closer to passing a $51 billion bill for Sandy relief aid on Monday night when the Republican-controlled Rules Committee approved a measure that would not allow legislators to cut down on the size of the bill. Some Republicans offered amendments to try to cut some $300 million from the bill, but the House Rules approved just one—cutting $13 million from funding to accelerate the National Weather Service Readiness Project. House Speaker John Boehner is said to be eager to put the debacle behind him after facing criticism for not bringing the $60 billion Sandy aid bill to vote, and instead passing only a $9 billion flood-insurance measure at the start of the year.
Read it at The Hill
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Stop Bashing Wall Street!
The president has attacked corporate greed, and the media—including the author—have been brutal as well. But maybe the only way out of this financial crisis is to trust the people who helped get us into it. Like the Citigroup investment banker who gave up his 2008 bonus.
Charles Gasparino
Updated Jul. 14, 2017 10:41AM ET / Published Feb. 02, 2009 1:08AM ET
Richard Drew / AP Photo
What a delicious irony this is—last week, just as President Obama was publicly bashing the stupidity of the banks and big Wall Street firms for doling out bonuses and receiving “taxpayer assistance, then going out and renovating bathrooms or offices,” senior members of his economic team were privately begging for input from Wall Street. The administration was conducting around-the-clock discussions and interviews with senior Wall Street executives, including many from the same firms he was theoretically appalled with, about how to fix the lingering financial crisis.
While populism may feel good, it doesn’t actually solve the problems we face. Inside these firms are many decent, hardworking, and, above all, incredibly smart people.
The discussions, which I first reported on CNBC, centered around the creation of a “bad bank,” which, as initially envisioned, would essentially purchase the estimated $1 trillion to $4 trillion of toxic mortgages and mortgage securities that have been clogging the financial system for at least two years. These securities have been the main source of the banking system’s woes; every quarter, firms like Bank of America and Citigroup have taken huge losses on these assets, which remain on their balance sheets because if you tried to sell them, no one would buy them at a fair price. These losses are at the heart of the country’s economic problems: If banks keep losing money, they can’t lend to individuals and businesses. The economic system, in short, is shutting down.
But if the government steps in as a buyer, the big financial firms could sell this toxic debt at marginally higher prices, get the problem stuff off their books and start lending again. It’s a plan being pushed by the new chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair, and if you believe her, it’s a win-win for everyone: Wall Street gets the bad debt off its books, and if the government buys the mortgages and mortgage-related debt at 40 cents on the dollars, chances are that the prices of the securities will rise once the markets and the economy recovers.
Sounds good, right? The markets loved it, rising around 200 points when the first reported on CNBC. But then reality set in. Through the latter half of last week, senior members of the Obama administration put aside their populist ranting and began asking the people who know something about the mortgage market about what they thought. According to executives who have had direct conversations with members of the president’s economic team, there are many problems with buying and, more importantly, pricing securities when there’s no real market. For one thing, there is nothing like the NYSE in the mortgage market—prices are determined between sellers and “vulture investors,” who are willing to buy mortgage bonds and snap up the securities on the cheap—so cheap that the sale itself could leave many banks insolvent.
There are other issues, Wall Street executives warned. The old Resolution Trust Corporation, which bought insolvent S&L’s during the late 1980s and early 1990s, took on a liability of close to $400 million. We’re talking possibly trillions here, and that’s just counting mortgage debt. If there is a deep recession, auto loans and credit-card debt will begin to blow up as well, and where will the money come from?
Meanwhile, many firms have their own complex models to price the bonds, but this is more an art than a science since the bonds themselves are comprised of scores of mortgages—some of which are paying, some of which are not, and some of which could go into default in the future. Of course, the Treasury, the FDIC, or the Fed can always bite the bullet and buy the $1 trillion to $2 trillion of securities and mortgages at a level sufficiently above the market price that doesn’t plunge the banking system into insolvency.
But can they sell a bailout of that magnitude to the American people?
It’s unclear if the government bureaucrats fully understood and digested what the Wall Street wise men said, though initial reports suggest they did. Earlier in the week, the bad bank concept was front and center in the government’s bailout planning. Later in the week, as I reported on CNBC, the momentum had shifted. The bad bank idea hit a snag. On Friday, a Treasury Department spokesman described the plan as one of many options and remedies that will be unveiled at some point, possibly as early as this week.
According to one person with knowledge of the matter, the bad bank will likely be one aspect of a “kitchen-sink approach.” There simply isn’t enough money to buy all the bad debt from the banks, so that idea will be supplemented with the purchasing or guaranteeing of mortgages directly from individuals, additional guarantees of bad debt on the banks’ books, and possibly the infusion of more capital—along the lines of what the government did for Citigroup and, most recently, Bank of America.
The moral of this story isn’t simply whether a bad bank is a good or a bad idea, it’s whether the constant attacks against Wall Street by the president and the media (including, at times, myself) is good for the country. Or are we just demonizing the people we need to get us out of a mess, which, admittedly, they put us into in the first place. Wall Street traders, bankers, and salesmen can be a loathsome bunch (just go to any bar or restaurant where they congregate) and they make for incredibly easy targets—whether it’s John Thain’s $35,000 commode, or as reported on the front page of The New York Post, former Citigroup founder Sandy Weill’s continued use of the company jet even as his firm is sucking in billions of federal bailout aid. More than anything else, their business model of taking enormous risk has plunged the country into possibly the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
So while populism may feel good, it doesn’t actually solve the problems we face. Inside these firms are many decent, hardworking, and, above all, incredibly smart people. Whether we like it or not, the people who had the knowledge to create all these fancy derivatives and mortgage-backed bonds—the CMOs, CDOs, and the rest of the crap plaguing the big banks—may be the only people with the knowledge we need to save the financial system before we start seeing breadlines. In short: They know where the bodies are buried.
Does the president understand any of this? Possibly. Even as he indulges in Wall Street bashing, his economic advisers regularly meet with top Wall Street executives about the financial meltdown, and have apparently taken their advice. (In addition to changing direction on the bad-bank plan, several Wall Street executives advised the president that it would be ruinous to raise taxes, which may be the reason Obama has shelved a reversal of the Bush-era tax cuts. At least for now.) He is also bringing senior Wall Streeters into his inner circle. Last week, Citigroup announced that top investment banker Michael Froman joined the Obama administration as its deputy national security and economic advisor. And it must be noted that just as Obama was attacking bonuses from bailout-addicted companies like Citigroup, Froman was receiving one. But in Froman’s case, he donated his entire bonus to charity—splitting it between pediatric-cancer research in memory of his 10-year-old son who died recently from brain cancer, and organizations that help individuals and families affected by the economic crisis.
So maybe its time for a moratorium on Wall Street bashing and a little more outreach to some very smart people about how to fix the banking crisis. It’s gotten so bad that friends of mine who work on the Street (and are lucky enough not to be among the tens of thousands laid off) are afraid to say where they work when they attend parties with non-Wall Street types. But think of it this way: If we can join forces with Joseph Stalin to defeat a common enemy in World War II, we can certainly make nice with some investment bankers who can save us from another Great Depression.
Charles Gasparino appears as a daily member of CNBC's ensemble. He is also a columnist for Trader Monthly magazine, and a freelance writer for The New York Post, Forbes and other publications.
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Manas Dhandanayak December 12, 2017
Top Telugu Actor’s Qualification
Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad born On 22 August 1955 better known by his stage name Chiranjeevi is an Indian film actor, dancer, producer, singer, voice artist, TV host, politician, businessman, investor and a member of the Indian National Congress. He was the Minister of State with independent charge for the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.Prior to politics, Chiranjeevi has attended the Madras Film Institute, and had worked primarily in Telugu cinema, in addition to Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 1978, with the film Punadhirallu. However, Pranam Khareedu was released earlier at the box office. Known for his break dancing skills, Chiranjeevi starred in 150 feature films in a variety of roles. In 1987, he was starred in Swayam Krushi, which was dubbed into Russian, and was screened at the Moscow International Film Festival.Chiranjeevi has garnered the Indian Express Best Actor, and the state Nandi Award for Best Actor awards for his performance in the film.In the same year, Chiranjeevi was one of the Indian delegates at the 59th Academy Awards.In 1988, he co-produced Rudraveena, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
Vara Prasad is the son of Late Sri Venkat Rao and Srimathi Anjana Devi. He was born in Mogallturu a town on the Banks of River Godavari in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh India. He graduated from Y.N. College in Narasapur with a B.Com degree. He is an NCC cadet.Chiranjeevi had participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi as an NCC cadet in the early 70s. In 1977, after his graduation at Y.N. College in Narsapuram, Chiranjeevi moved to Chennai to seek a career in acting.On August 26, 2008 in the public meeting held at Avilala near Tirupati, he announced the party name as Praja Rajyam saying the Rajyam (Rule) belongs to Praja (People). He unveiled the party flag in this meeting.
AKKINENI NAGARJUNA
Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor, producer and television presenter who works primarily in Telugu cinema and television. He has acted in over ninety films as an actor in a lead Nagarjuna was born on 29 August 1959 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu to veteran actor Nageswara Rao Akkineni and his wife Annapoorna Akkineni Nagarjuna did his schooling at Hyderabad Public School and later went to Ratna Junior College to do his intermediate. After that, he went on to do Mechanical engineering in College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai (also called as Anna University). and earned his B.S. in Automobile Engineering from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Nagarjuna revived his father’s production Annapurna Studios which has become one of the most successful production companies of recent times in Tollywood.Nagarjuna is a close friend to the business tycoon Anil Ambani.Nagarjuna owns several restaurants in India and abroad and often visits them on a regular basis.Nagarjuna is investing close to 87 crores in real estate projects in Dubai. He is planning to team up with SRK to build a national level power project in Hyderabad.
DAGGUBATI VENKATESH
DAGGUBATI VENKATESH is an Indian film actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning 30 years, he starred in 72 feature films.
13 Dec 1960 (Age 56)
Venkatesh graduated from the Prestigious Don Bosco Egmore Chennai & graduated with an MBA degree from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, US. After his return to India, he wanted to get into production. He became an actor in telugu films. His father, D Rama Naidu and his brother D. Suresh Babu successfully runs one of the most prestigious banners in Telugu Cinema, Suresh Productions. He is married to Neeraja and has a son, Arjun Ramnath, and three daughters, Aashritha,Hayavahini and Bhavana.
He started his acting career as a child artist in 1971 with the role of` Keshav` in telugu film Prem Nagar.He along with his brother Sureshbabu Daggubati are the co-owner of `Suresh Productions` which is one of the largest film production companies in the country .He is the brand ambassador for Non banking financial company `manappuram general finance and leasing LTD`.He has received highest number of Nandi awards in best actor category.
Gadde Rajendra Prasad
Better known as Rajendra Prasad, is an Indian film actor predominantly works in the Telugu cinema.
19 Jul 1952 (Age 65)
Prasad was born to Sri Gadde Venkata Narayana and Mother Srimati Manikyambba in a middle-class family from Dondapadu, near Gudivada, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh.Prasad completed his mainstream education, graduating with a diploma in Ceramic Engineering before entering the film industry.
During the initial phase of his career he got petty roles but emerged as a very popular comedy actor in the decades of eighties and nineties starting from Vamsy’s Ladies Tailor (1985). In his 26 years film carrier he acted in more than 200 Telugu movies and few Tamil movies. He is fondly called the King of Comedy,Natakireeti, Divine Comedian, Rastra Hasyapathi, Andhra Charlie Chaplin & Millennium Family Hero and many more by his fans.
Ravi Teja
Ravi Teja is an Indian film actor known for his work in Telugu cinema.
26 Jan 1968 (Age 49)
Before starting his career in Tollywood, Ravi Teja spent most of his childhood in Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai and Bhopal. Later on he moved to Vijayawada along with his family and joined Siddhartha Degree College to pursue his Bachelors in Arts. Half way through his graduation, he left to Chennai on October 2nd 1988 to join Films.
In 2003, Ravi Teja played the lead in Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, which became one of the biggest hits of the year. The year 2006 has been very special to Ravi Teja as he gave one of his career’s biggest hit Vikramarkudu, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, despite the flop Shock, a Ram Gopal Varma production. In 2008, the movie Krishna directed by V. V. Vinayak, has broken all the previous records of Ravi Teja.
Raja The Great under Anil Ravipudi’s directionRavi Teja’s upcoming movies are Touch Chesi Chudu under debutant director Vikram Sirikonda’s .
Konidela Pawan Kalyan
Pawan Kalyan is a popular Telugu cinema actor and a film director. Fondly known as Power Star.
02 Sep 1971 (Age 46)
Pawan Kalyan was born to Venkat Rao and Smt Anjana Devi in Mogalthur, Andhra Pradesh, India in 1971. He is the youngest brother of Telugu actor Chiranjeevi and actor/producer Nagendra Babu. Pawan Kalyan’s notable movies include Tholi Prema (1998), Thammudu (1999), Badri (2000), Khushi (2001) and Jalsa (2008).The Only Information about his Educational Background is he failed in Intermediate Thrice.Apart From Acting Kalyan also worked as a producer, director, screenwriter, writer 2011 Pawan turned himself as a politician & Promised his fans to be a parttime acting.
Mahesh Babu, popularly known as Prince, is one of the reigning young stars of Telugu cinema.
09 Aug 1975 (Age 42)
Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu was born to actor Krishna and in Chennai. He did his schooling at St Bede’s School in Chennai and obtained a degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. Mahesh stands tall at a height of 6’3” and a cricket fan.
Raja Kumaradu was Mahesh’s debut and starred him opposite Preity Zinta. His role as Raja won him the Nandi Best Male Debut. In 2000, he starred in Yuvaraju and Vamsi, in which he shared screen space with Namrata Shirodkar and his father Krishna. Murari in 2001 with Sonali Bendre won him the Nandi Award for Special Jury. He won the award again in 2002 for Takkari Donga with Lisa Ray and Bipasha Basu. Year 2003 was another year for award winning performances with Nandi Award for Best Actor for Nijam and Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Award for Okkadu with Bhoomika Chawla.
Prabhas Raju Uppalapati
Popularly known as Prabhas is a Tollywood actor and the nephew of Tollywood star.
Politician Krishnam Raju Uppalapati. Prabhas born name as Venkata Satyanarayana Prabhas Raju Uppalapati is an Indian Film Actor. He was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. His Father Late U. Suryanarayana Raj Paragathi was a producer and His mother Siva Kumari. Prabhas attended the DNR School, Bhimavaram and graduated with a B.Tech. degree from Sri Chaitanya College, Hyderabad.
Prabhas’s movies, Eeshwar and Raghavendra, did not fare very well at the box office but he gained stardom with M.S. Raju’s film, Varsham, opposite Trisha Krishnan, in 2004. After the success of Varsham, Adavi Ramudu and Chakram did not live up to the expectations of Prabhas’s fans. However in September 2005, he made a comeback with the phenomenal blockbuster, Chatrapathhi, opposite actress Shriya Saran.Prabhas played SS Rajamouli’s epic film Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), which is the fourth-highest-grossing Indian film and it’s sequel Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), which is the second highest-grossing Indian movie of all time. He became one of the top Actor in South Indian Film Industry for Baahubali Film Series (2015-2017)
Nandamuri Kalyan Ram
Nandamuri Kalyan Ram is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Telugu cinema. He was born to actor and politician Nandamuri Harikrishna and Lakshmi. He is one of the grandsons of N. T. Rama Rao, who was an actor and a statesman. Actor Jr. NTR is his brother. He is the owner of the production company named after his grandfather, the late NTR, called N.T.R. Arts. He had played lead role in several movies such as Athanokkade, Hare Ram and Pataas. He also owns a VFX company named “Advitha Creative Studios”, which provided special effects for movies such as Legend, Nannaku Prematho, Krishnashtami etc.05 Jul 1978 (Age 39)He has one brother N. Janaki Ram ( who died in a car accident 2017 ) and one step brother Jr. NTR (a leading telugu movie actor) and one sister Suhasini. Kalyan Ram got married on 10th August 2006 to Ms. Swathi.He had completed his MS at illinois institute of technology at Chicago,US.
NAVEEN BABU GHANTA
aka #Nani
Naveen Ghanta better known by his stage name Nani is an Indian actor who stars predominantly in Telugu films. After his education, he became an assistant director and worked with Srinu Vaitla and Bapu before auditioning for the main lead role in “Ashta Chamma” .Nani worked as a Radio Jockey with World Space Radio and was quite popular as “Non Stop Nani”He was born on 24 February 1984 in Hydrabad, Telangana, India.
he was born & brought up in Hyderabad he did his schooling from St. Alphonsus, Hyderabad and intermediate in Narayana, SR Nagar. He graduated from Wesley’s. It was during his undergraduate days, He got addicted to movies. There is lots of Maniratnam’s influence on him. He watched Dalapathy film innumerable times.More than Actor Nani Wanted to become a Director.Producer Anil is a distant relative of him and he was producing Radha Gopalam with Bapu at that time. He joined Bapu as a clap director for that movie. He learnt a lot from him. After that He worked for films like Allari Bullodu, Dhee and Asthram.
#facts#indian actors#news#Telugu#telugu actors#telugu actors educational qualifications#telugu cinema
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Edwin Morgan
Posted by Citizens Theatre August 22, 2018
Edwin Morgan: A Biographical Note
Edwin Morgan was the first Scots Makar in modern times. Imaginative, curious and lively, he was one of the best-loved and most influential poets of the 20th century. Here, Professor James McGonigal of the Morgan Estate provides more information about the Scottish author:
How to sum up a poet who was also a performer, librettist, translator, editor, broadcaster and critic? ‘Creativity’ might be the word, energetic and sustained.
Image by Alex Boyd (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Edwin Morgan (1920–2010) spent his whole life in Glasgow (setting aside four years’ military service in the Middle East) but through writing he explored different eras, cultures, characters and forms. Translation was one way of doing this. His earliest books were from Anglo-Saxon (Beowulf, 1952), Italian (Eugenio Montale, 1959) and Russian (Sovpoems, 1961).
Experimental concrete and sound poetry offered another way, as did computer and science fiction poetry, often in the voices of machines. His breakthrough collection, The Second Life (1968) combined these with Glaswegian voices and settings, vibrant with life, as well as tender gay love poems, half-concealed. From Glasgow to Saturn (1973) and The New Divan (1977) extended these themes, bringing international recognition. Poetic drama, whether medieval French and Dutch folk plays for Glasgow’s Third Eye Centre in the 1980s, or the more ambitious Cyrano (1992) and Phaedra (2000), seemed a natural development, and a challenge. His millennial A.D. trilogy on the life of Jesus questioned pious interpretations of a radical message.
Terminally ill with cancer, Morgan continued to produce powerful and prize-winning poetry in Cathures (2002) and A Book of Lives (2007). He seemed to possess, one reviewer noted, ‘More lives than a basketful of kittens’.
Take a look at the Edwin Morgan Archive at the Scottish Poetry Library to learn more about the poet's life and work.
Our forthcoming co-production of Edwin Morgan's Glasgow-Scots translation of Cyrano de Bergerac will be a great opportunity to experience the verve and energy of Morgan's writing. See it at Tramway from the 1st September.
Cyrano rehearsals
Image by Tim Morozzo
Cyrano de Bergerac is a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. It runs at Tramway 1 – 22 Sep, The Lyceum 12 Oct – 3 Nov and Eden Court 7 – 10 Nov.
BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW
Labels: 2018 Citizens Theatre Cyrano de Bergerac Edwin Morgan Glasgow Poetry
Cyrano in Glasgow by John Corbett
Cyrano de Bergerac: Introducing Nikola Kodjabashia...
Cyrano de Bergerac: Introducing Tom Piper
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Classic Jonny Quest Background Info and Message from Craig
© 2008 by Craig Fuqua
I had just turned 3 when Jonny Quest premiered in 1964, so I don't remember watching the show until it was on Saturday morning reruns later in the '60s. I remember thinking how great it was that adults had put so much effort into the art for a "kid's" show. I didn't learn until the 1980s that Jonny Quest was a prime-time family show.
I watched the episodes every Saturday until my early teens, when I started sleeping until noon on Saturdays. I didn't pick up the series again until it was part of the "Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" show, which was a syndication package released in 1986. I got up early on Sunday mornings to tape the episodes and cut out commercials (because blank tapes cost $6!), then taped them again when they reappeared with the original end credits. The first showings had generic credits that scrolled rapidly across a blue background. I found out later the episodes had been edited and sped up to cut the runtime by about four minutes.
Around this time, I went to a Dallas Comicon convention and saw Doug Wildey, but only from a distance. He was there to promote the new JQ comics by Comico.
Sometime around 1990, I began researching Jonny Quest. Without the Internet, the research opportunities were all print-oriented. I found what I could in my local library, then drove to one 60 miles away because it had an archive of TV Guides from 1964. I built an episode list and found out some things that intrigued me: "Arctic Splashdown" was called, "Splashdown Antarctica"; "Calcutta Adventure" was listed two weeks in a row; and there was no listing for "Riddle of the Gold."
I was a newspaper reporter at the time and decided I'd try to freelance an article about JQ's 30th anniversary in 1994 to a magazine. I sent a proposal to Toon Magazine and got a call from the editor, accepting it. With that, I made arrangements through Hanna-Barbera to talk to Don Messick, the voice of Dr. Quest for most of the original series and all of the 1986 version. He was always the voice of Bandit and did a ton of other voices, including monkey squeaks as well as minor characters. But when I called Toon Magazine back to find out my deadline, I was told the editor who had OK'd my story was "no longer with the magazine," and I never heard back from them. However, I got an official list of JQ episodes that had their original air dates plus the production codes. And Don faxed me a list he'd made of all the voices he'd done for the show along with the recording dates.
From Don's fax, I learned the working titles to some of the episodes: "Arctic Splashdown" had indeed started as "Splashdown Antarctica." For the rest, look through our Fact Sheet.
Soon after I got Internet access (at my work), I found Richard Hill's "Palm Key" website and visited it again and again. Richard is/was a graphic designer and had some great material. Sadly for us, his work schedule took him away from the site and he eventually took it down. I soon had an AOL account and started putting up web pages to share my Jonny Quest research with the world. Then Lyle put up his page and we began corresponding. In late 1998, we registered the domain name ClassicJQ.com and combined our websites there. I finally got to meet Lyle when he was in the Dallas area for a training class. Here's a picture of Lyle and me from that historic week.
Craig, left, and Lyle, with part of Craig's Jonny Quest collection.
Since junior high school, I've been a collector, going from one subject to another. I turned to Jonny Quest in the 1990s when I found out there were things to get. Before eBay, I only found a few things to buy (a production drawing from "Lizard Men" and the large poster by Doug Wildey. Once eBay was around, my collection grew steadily and you can see most of my collection here on the website. There are a few things I haven't gotten around to scanning yet, but they're coming. I've gotten more interested in the international JQ items that were produced within the first 5-10 years of the show.
The website is very much a product of the visitors who've taken the time to send us news items, photos/scans, and corrections. Thank you all.
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Serafino Iacono
Mr. Iacono has over thirty years of experience in capital markets and public companies and has raised more than four billion dollars for numerous natural resource projects internationally. He serves as an Executive Chairman at Gran Colombia Gold Corp. since March 27, 2019. He is currently Executive Director of Puerto Bahía, a Director and Chairman of Western Atlas Resources Inc., a former Co‑Chairman and an Executive Director of Pacific Exploration and Production Corp., and a former director of Petromagdalena Energy Corp. Mr. Iacono was also a co‑founder of Bolivar Gold Corp. and Pacific Stratus Energy, among others, and is involved in numerous resource and business ventures in Latin America, Canada and United States.
Marianella Bernal Parada
Mrs. Bernal has more than 13 years experience in public and private sectors related to investment, strategic and financial planning. She served as Private Advisor to the Minister of Information & Communication Technologies of Colombia and as Chief of its Strategic Planning Office between 2015 and 2018. Other positions Mrs. Bernal had previously held include Chief of Strategic Planning Office of Cormagdalena (between 2013 and 2015), Commercial Advisor at Helm Securities Comisionista de Bolsa, and Corporate Account Manager at Bancolombia.
Juan Carlos Navas Díaz
Country Manager & President of Alianza Petrolera Argentina S.A.
As a hands-on, analytical senior executive with over 25 years of success leading corporate finance, management and operations in mining, energy and mortgage banking, Mr. Navas Díaz has been the Country Manager for Argentina at Falcon Gold Corp. He has been serving as Executive Director, General Manager and President of Grupo ValGold de Venezuela since 2006. He was Executive Director and VP of Administration & Finance at Bolívar Gold Fields Ltd., which controls Gran Colombia Resources, Antill Invest House, Geo Expert, Minera Siboney, Havana Cigars and Corporación Campos de Oro. Other positions held by Mr. Navas Díaz include International Marketing Manager at Antil Invest House S.A. & Skalar Analitical BV and National Marketing Coordinator at Industrias Ventane C.A. (now PDVSA Gas).
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Perron v. Perron, 2012 ONCA 811
COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
CITATION: Perron v. Perron, 2012 ONCA 811
DATE: 20121123
DOCKET: C51977
Blair, Rouleau and Hoy JJ.A.
Monique Denise Perron (now Waring)
Applicant (Respondent)
Joseph Ferdinand Dave Perron
Respondent (Appellant)
Mark Power, François Larocque and Jo-Anne Thibodeau, for the appellant
Aaron Franks, Michael Zalev and Kathryn Junger, for the respondent
Heard: March 27, 2012
On appeal from the order of Justice Alan C.R. Whitten of the Superior Court of Justice dated March 8, 2010, with reasons reported at 2010 ONSC 1482, 91 R.F.L. (6th) 110.
Rouleau J.A.:
[1] The respondent appeals an order granting the mother custody of the parties’ three children and providing the appellant with access rights.
[2] On appeal, the appellant maintains that the trial judge should have considered whether it was in the best interests of the children to include homogeneous French-language education as a condition of granting custody to the respondent. He asks this Court to order the respondent to enrol the children in a homogeneous French-language school.
[3] This appeal therefore raises a fundamental question: in the context of determining custody, what importance should be placed on the children’s language of instruction?
[4] For the following reasons, and despite the fact that in my view the trial judge committed an error, I would dismiss the appeal. The error here was the failure to consider ordering homogeneous French-language schooling as a condition of the custody order. At the time of trial, there were factors that militated both for and against including such a condition. In my view, however, time is the decisive factor in this case. Given the time that has passed, it would not be in the children’s best interests to order now that they change schools, in spite of the advantages generally provided by homogeneous French-language education.
B. FACTS
[5] The appellant and the respondent were married on August 31, 1996. They have three children: William, born in 2002, Matthew, born in 2004 and Emma, born in 2005.
[6] The appellant is a French speaker, whose first language learned and still understood is French. He learned English as an adult. He works as a teacher at École élémentaire catholique Monseigneur-de-Laval, located in Hamilton, which is a homogeneous French-language school in the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. He speaks to his children in French and wants them to develop both French language and culture. The father’s family is also French speaking.
[7] The respondent is an English speaker who has some knowledge of French. She works for the Department of National Defence in Hamilton. The respondent helps her children with their homework in French and converses with them in French when they address her in that language. Her mother, Mona Waring, the children’s maternal grandmother, is a Francophone and is bilingual in French and English. She lives near the respondent, and visits often. She talks to the children in French and reads with them in that language.
[8] The appellant’s and the respondent’s wills expressed the desire that their children attend a homogeneous French-language school.
[9] The parties separated on September 1st, 2006. At that time, William, the eldest child, was enrolled in Junior Kindergarten in a Catholic homogeneous English-language school, St. Mark Catholic Elementary School, located near the respondent’s home.
[10] Since September 2007, William has been enrolled in a French immersion program at St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School, located in Hamilton. Matthew and Emma are also registered in the French immersion program at that school. From Grade 1 to Grade 8, their classes are taught 50 percent in French and 50 percent in English.
[11] Initially, the appellant agreed to enrol William in the French immersion program at St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School. He subsequently opposed those educational plans, and now wants his three children to attend a homogeneous French-language school. As for the respondent, she wants her children to receive education in both French and English as occurs in a French immersion program.
C. DECISION BY THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
[12] At the trial, the appellant asked for sole custody or, in the alternative, joint custody of the children. The respondent asked for sole custody. The appellant also asked for an order stipulating the children’s enrolment in a homogeneous French-language school.
[13] The disputed issues at trial were custody of the children and the financial obligations of the parties. The custody dispute focussed on the parenting skills of the parties and the language of the children’s education. The trial judge assessed the merits of the respondent’s request for sole custody in light of the best interests of the children.
[14] After a 10-day bilingual trial, the trial judge concluded that it was in the best interests of the children to grant custody to the respondent and access rights to the appellant. The trial judge’s reasons include numerous findings of fact that are not favourable to the appellant and that support his decision not to grant joint custody to the parties. What the reasons do not address is the possibility of granting custody to the respondent and also making an order directing the children’s language of education.
D. ISSUES
[15] The appellant maintains that the trial judge erred in his treatment of the children’s language of education. In oral argument, the appellant abandoned his request for joint custody as well as his appeal on issues relating to the equalization of net family property. For this reason, the discussion that follows focuses solely on one incident of custody, namely the children’s language of education.
[16] On appeal, the disputed issues are as follows:
Did the trial judge err by failing to consider whether it was in the best interests of the children to make a custody order with a condition about the children’s language of education?
If there was such an error, should this court make the conditional order on appeal?
What is the appropriate remedy?
E. ROLE OF FRENCH LANGUAGE
[17] The French language has special status in both Canada and Ontario. For example, access to homogeneous French-language schools is guaranteed by s. 23 of the Charter.
[18] The education offered in a homogeneous French-language school is quite distinct from what is provided in a French immersion program. A homogeneous French-language school responds to the cultural and linguistic needs of the Francophone community. In contrast, the French immersion program is designed for English speakers in an English-language majority environment and provides bilingual instruction – usually 50 per cent in French and 50 per cent in English. See Solski (Tutor of) v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 SCC 14, at para. 50.
[19] In Ontario, the document entitled Ontario’s Aménagement Linguistique Policy for French-Language Education provides a framework for homogeneous French-language schools. This policy sets out guidelines for those schools in order to respond more effectively to the specific needs of the French-language community and “increase their capacity to create teaching and learning conditions that foster the development of the French language and culture to ensure the academic achievement of every student”: Aménagement Linguistique Policy, at p. 2.
[20] Homogenous French-language education brings many advantages. It promotes full mastery of the French language and the development of the child’s cultural identity. This type of instruction also allows the child to become bilingual in French and English, because a homogeneous French-language school helps the child to develop a high level of skill in both French and English: Aménagement Linguistique Policy, at p. 42. In addition, in a social environment dominated by English, a child will generally communicate in English in many aspects of daily life and, as a result, acquire knowledge of the language of the majority: Aménagement Linguistique Policy, at p. 23. It should also be noted that bilingualism provides a number of advantages in terms of employment: Aménagement Linguistique Policy, at p. 42.
[21] Apart from these advantages, where children have one Francophone parent, knowledge and mastery of the language and culture of the linguistic minority promotes and helps maintain the bonds between the children and the Francophone parent.
[22] It is against this backdrop that the court should consider a parent’s request for an order for French-language schooling.
F. ANALYSIS
(1)Standard of review applicable on appeal
[23] In an application for custody or its incidents, the powers of the court are set out in ss. 21(1) and 28(1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12., as follows:
21(1) A parent of a child or any other person may apply to a court for an order respecting custody of or access to the child or determining any aspect of the incidents of custody of the child.
28(1) The court to which an application is made under section 21:
a) by order may grant the custody of or access to the child to one or more persons;
b) by order may determine any aspect of the incidents of the right to custody or access […] [emphasis added].
[24] One “aspect of the incidents of custody of the child” is the choice of the child’s school.
[25] Section 24(1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act provides that, “[t]he merits of an application under this Part in respect of custody of or access to a child shall be determined on the basis of the best interests of the child […].” Section 24(2) of the Children’s Law Reform Act goes on to provide a non-exhaustive list of the factors that the court shall consider when evaluating the best interests of the child. One of those factors is the ability and willingness of each person applying for custody of the child to provide the child with education: Children’s Law Reform Act, s. 24(2)(d).
[26] Custody orders made at trial are entitled to great deference on appeal: Van de Perre v. Edwards, 2001 SCC 60, at para. 11. Because of this restricted power of review, an appellate court may only intervene when there has been a material error, a serious misapprehension of the evidence, or an error in law.
[27] Even where such an error is found, the court must put the children’s best interests first in fashioning a remedy. That is, for this court to order a change in schools on appeal, it would have to be convinced by the evidence that the order is in the children’s best interests: Ursic v. Ursic (2006), 32 R.F.L. (6th) 23 (Ont. C.A.), at para. 32.
[28] In the circumstances of this appeal, the appellant must first establish that there has been serious misapprehension of the evidence or an error in law. He must then demonstrate that there is convincing evidence that it would be in the best interests of the children to order a change of schools and that this is the appropriate remedy on appeal.
(2)Did the trial judge err by failing to consider whether it was in the best interests of the children to make a custody order with a condition about the children’s language of education?
[29] On appeal, the appellant no longer seeks sole or joint custody of the children. His claim instead is that the trial judge should, after deciding to award sole custody to the respondent, have considered the language of the children’s education. According to the appellant, the trial judge failed to appreciate the importance and scope of the evidence at trial on the role of homogeneous French-language schools where French is the minority language. The appellant maintains that if the trial judge had understood the importance to his children of attending a homogeneous French-language school, he would have made it a part of the custody order.
[30] During the trial, the appellant presented a significant amount of evidence on the challenges faced by the French-speaking linguistic minority in an English-language environment such as Hamilton. That evidence spoke to the risk of linguistic assimilation and cultural alienation in a minority linguistic setting, as well as to the essential role played by homogeneous French-language schools in maintaining French language and culture. The whole of this evidence equipped the court to properly assess what language of education would be in these children’s best interests.
[31] The trial judge considered the question of language in assessing who should get custody and access. At para. 130 of his reasons, he acknowledged that there is a direct link between the risk of assimilation and the respect for the language rights of minorities. He also noted, at para. 132 of his reasons, that there “is no doubt that a fully French school would advance the French language capabilities of the Perron children more so than at French Emersion (sic) school.” However, the trial judge also expressed a concern that the appellant may use French language and culture as a wedge between the respondent and her children if joint custody were ordered. In his opinion, the French immersion program proposed by the respondent provided the children with sufficient exposure to the French language.
[32] At para. 135 of his reasons, the trial judge stated that, “[t]he language issue in this trial is in some ways a distraction from what is in the best interests of the children”. He then granted sole custody of the children to the respondent because, according to him, the language rights cannot take precedence over “the serious shortcomings [of the appellant] as a parent capable of sharing his children” (para. 135 of the reasons).
[33] The trial judge was not wrong to note the relative insignificance of the language issue as compared to the appellant’s shortcomings when determining who would get custody of the children. At the same time, the statement that the language question is “a distraction from what is in the best interests of the children” is incorrect. The language of the children’s education is important to considering their best interests. The trial judge needed to understand this factor and give it the appropriate weight in his determination of the issues.
[34] In this case, the trial judge granted sole custody to the respondent and limited access rights to the appellant. He did not subsequently consider whether it would be in the best interests of the children to include in the custody order a condition about the language of education.
[35] In his response to the respondent’s application, the appellant explicitly asked for an order requiring that the children enrol in a homogeneous French-language school. Section 16(6) of the Divorce Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.) provides that when a court makes an order for custody, it “may impose such other terms, conditions or restrictions in connection therewith as it thinks fit and just.” There are several examples where courts have considered it appropriate to include conditions in custody orders. See for example Crites v. Crites, 2001 CanLII 32739 (Ont. C.J.); Brown v. Brown, 2011 ONSC 2101; Madden v. Richardson, 2004 ONCJ 10; Chauvin v. Chauvin, [1987] O.J. 2280 (Dist. C.).
[36] It is my view that in the circumstances of this case, the trial judge should have turned his mind to the possibility of a conditional order. That is, he should have considered whether including a French-language schooling condition as part of the order for custody would have been in the children’s best interests.
[37] It may be that the trial judge did not consider the possibility of a conditional order because of the parties’ approach during the proceedings. A review of the trial proceedings suggests that the focus at trial was on who would get custody and on terms of access. I have concluded nonetheless that it was an error under the circumstances not to consider the option of ordering French-language schooling as a condition of awarding sole custody to the respondent.
[38] The appellant no longer contests the award of sole custody to the respondent. There were good grounds for that decision in this case. On the other hand, in light of my conclusion that the trial judge erred by failing to fully consider the question of the children’s language of education, I must consider whether this court should grant the order requested by the appellant.
(3) If there was such an error, should this court make the conditional order on appeal?
[39] Having found an error, the next question is whether this court should make an order for French-language education . To make this order requires convincing evidence that a change in schools is in the children’s best interests.
[40] Any assessment of the best interests of the children must take into account all of the relevant circumstances as to the needs of the children and the ability of each parent to meet those needs. The emphasis must be placed on the interests of the children, and not on the interests or rights of the parents: Gordon v. Goertz, [1996] 2 S.C.R. 27, at para. 49.
[41] The question of the children’s language of education must take into account all the factors set out in s. 24(2) of the Children’s Law Reform Act as a whole. Linguistic and cultural considerations alone cannot dictate the result. See for example Van de Perre, at para. 38; Y.(L.) v. F.(B.J.), 2004 NSSF 22; D.(W.) v. C.(L.), 2004 SKQB 10.
[42] The custodial parent should generally be left with the day-to-day decision-making about the child’s life. This means that courts should be deferential to the decisions of the responsible custodial parent who “in the final analysis, lives the reality, not the speculation, of decisions dealing with the incidents of custody”: MacGyver v. Richards (1995), 22 O.R. (3d) 481 (C.A.), at para. 31. At the same time, since the best interests of the children must always be paramount, where best interests dictate, the court must intervene.
[43] In my opinion, the court should be particularly sensitive to the language of education in circumstances where there is only one Francophone parent and the English-speaking parent has been granted custody. In such circumstances, there is necessarily less contact with the French-speaking parent and the linguistic and cultural environment of the children is likely to become that of the linguistic majority.
[44] It is true that, in this case, the children would have some exposure to French in the French immersion program. But since French immersion instruction largely reflects the majority culture, the risk of cultural and linguistic alienation of the children from their father and their father’s family is increased.
[45] In a linguistic minority environment, homogeneous French-language schools are generally preferable to French immersion programs for ensuring that both languages, namely French and English, are maintained at the highest level. In a region with a large English-speaking majority, homogeneous instruction in French does not result in losing the language and culture of the linguistic majority. This does not therefore imply a choice of preferring the culture and language of the minority over those of the majority. In a minority setting, homogeneous French-language schools in fact make it possible to maintain cultural and linguistic links with both the French-speaking and English-speaking parents. In accordance with s. 24(2)(d) of the Children’s Law Reform Act, the children’s language of education should therefore be taken into account when determining their best interests.
[46] As stated in s. 16(10) of the Divorce Act, by issuing an order for custody, “the court shall give effect to the principle that a child of the marriage should have as much contact with each spouse as is consistent with the best interests of the child.” Sharing the language and culture of both parents makes that contact more enriching for the children and increases the possibility that they will want to maintain both languages and cultures.
[47] Homogeneous instruction in French also promotes an in-depth knowledge of both official languages of Canada, which opens doors to a wider array of university and job opportunities. In addition, as mentioned by the appellant, if the children receive their primary-level instruction in French, they will acquire the right under s. 23 of the Charter to have their future children educated in the language of the minority.
[48] To summarize, at the time of trial, the following factors supported an order for homogeneous French-language schooling:
1) the desire of the appellant and the respondent during their marriage to have their children educated at a homogeneous French-language school;
2) the higher level of mastery of French and higher level of bilingualism likely to result;
3) the maintenance of cultural and linguistic links with the French-speaking parent and with the father’s family and the maternal grandmother, as well as with the English-speaking parent and family;
4) the greater degree of choice of universities and employment opportunities that bilingualism affords; and
5) the certainty that the children would have the right to have their future children educated in French, as provided by s. 23 of the Charter.
[49] On the other hand, there were also factors in this case that favoured a decision that the children should continue their education in a French immersion program. In particular:
1) William was having some difficulties with English;
2) there were concerns that the appellant would try to use French language and culture to isolate the respondent; and
3) the reality that a change of schools would have been disruptive to the children, particularly in the case of William, who had already changed schools once before.
[50] It is also important to emphasize that it is quite exceptional to include in a custody order a condition concerning the choice of school. As already mentioned above, educational decisions and other decisions relating to the incidents of custody are almost always left to the custodial parent (or parents). In general, it is desirable to leave the day-to-day decision-making about parenting to the custodial parent(s): MacGyver, at paras. 30-31; Sawatzky v. Sherris (2002), 170 Man. R. (2d) 51, at para. 5.
[51] In my view, depending on the trial judge’s appreciation of the evidence, the circumstances of this family could have warranted a conditional order for French-language education, tailored to the needs of this family.
[52] We are not, however, on appeal well-placed to assess all the evidence relevant to the children’s best interests. The trial judge would have been in a better position to weigh all of the relevant factors, decide the issue and, if appropriate, tailor a condition about the children’s language of education, taking into account the circumstances and needs of these particular children.
(4) What is the appropriate remedy?
[53] I turn now to the appropriate remedy.
[54] The fact that more than two years have passed since the date of the order on March 8, 2010 must be considered. The overall situation and the needs of the children have changed since the original order was made: William is in Grade 5, Matthew is in Grade 3, and Emma is in Grade 2. We do not have any evidence about the children’s current situation apart from the fact that they are getting satisfactory marks in school.
[55] At this point, the fact that the children have spent three additional years at St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School must be added to the original reservations the trial judge expressed about ordering a change in schools. I note that the reasons in Ursic emphasize the need for convincing evidence to support an order requiring children to change schools. It is therefore my view that despite the advantages these children would have enjoyed through enrolment in homogeneous French-language instruction, a change in schools at this stage would not be in their best interests.
G. CONCLUSION
[56] For these reasons, I would dismiss the appeal.
[57] If the parties are unable to agree on costs, the respondent should file submissions on costs within thirty days of the release of these reasons. The appellant will then have fifteen days to file responding submissions. The submissions of each party must be limited to ten pages.
“Paul Rouleau J.A.”
“I agree R.A. Blair J.A.”
“I agree Alexandra Hoy J.A.”
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Snapshot: The ANA Inspiration Tournament Kicks Off at the Mission Hills Country Club
The LPGA tour’s annual arrival at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage means that spring, too, has arrived in the Coachella Valley.
The 2019 ANA Inspiration tournament—“Golf’s First Major,” as the program cover declares—begins in earnest on Thursday, April 4, and will wind up this Sunday, April 7. Will we see another edge-of-your-seat playoff finish this year? No one can say. But all of the world’s top women pro players are here, and they’re all teeing off for a shot at the title and the winner’s check of nearly $500,000.
As a result of the wet winter, the verdant rolling hills of the championship layout are lush and thick. Traditionally, courses hosting major tournaments are prepared to be at their most challenging. In particular, the length of the rough is always a major discussion point.
“It’s tall (at) a few holes, but just the thickness of it definitely slows the club down going through it. It’s how the rough usually is at majors, so it’s definitely setting up as it should,” said 2014 winner and perennial crowd favorite Lexi Thompson.
Said two-time winner Brittany Lincicome: “It’s fantastic. They’ve lengthened three holes, and I’m hoping they play it back as far as possible. The rough is thick. I’m playing the yellow ball probably again this week so (it) may be easier to find in the rough.”
Last year’s winner, Pernilla Lindberg, added: “The rough is juicy. I know it’s been a wet winter out here. … If they just leave it the way it is at the moment, it’s going to be a good test, a good challenge.”
The magic of the legendary Dinah Shore tournament on this famous golfing track was best summed up by 2011 winner Stacy Lewis: “I love this golf course. It was the first time I played as an amateur. Obviously, I had a really good result. I love playing in the desert and just the history of this tournament. Just coming in with good vibes, seeing all the girls jump in the pond—it’s my favorite tradition we have. I’d love to be able to do it again.”
Rest assured: Some victorious and thrilled woman will take the jump on Sunday. Scroll down for a handful of photos from the day before the start of this year’s tournament.
Dinah Dinah
Mini Rough Mini Rough
Lexi Thompson Lexi Thompson
A Little Practice A Little Practice
So Yeon Ryu So Yeon Ryu
http://cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/news/snapshot/itemlist/tag/lpga#sigProIdda931b7f8f
Published in Snapshot
Know Your Neighbors: Meet Shirley Spork, a Palm Desert Woman Who Paved the Way for Generations of Female Golfers
The Coachella Valley is a place where retired celebrities, in some ways, are taken for granted. Among us are retired movie and television stars, business tycoons, writers, NASA scientists and sports professionals—including Shirley Spork, one of the 13 original founding members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), and a renowned sports-education professional.
Spork, 90, is a long-time resident of Palm Desert. The red-haired girl from a working-class family would go on to, through personal determination, break ground and help make a lasting contribution for women in a sport that had never been friendly to females.
Spork was born and raised in Detroit, the only child of parents who did not play golf. At one point in her early childhood, the family lived next to a golf course.
“There was nothing much to do in the neighborhood,” she says. “I saw the boys caddying, but I wanted to play the game.”
Spork’s first club was a putter she bought for a dollar she had earned by selling, back to golfers, the golf balls that had gone into the water between her home and the course.
“I was about 11 when I was constantly going onto the course, and the ranger kept chasing me off,” recalls Spork. “I sold the used balls to some of the golfers, and they got to know me. Their ticket to play was supposed to get punched after the first nine holes, but sometimes it wasn’t, and they’d give me their ticket so I could play as if I had paid.
“I read about people like Babe (Didrikson) and Patty (Berg) and thought, ‘If they can do that, maybe I can do that,’” Spork says about the female golf pioneers. “I bought that putter because it looked good among the other clubs in the $1 bin. The guys all laughed at me.”
Spork actually built a small green so she could practice: “I cleared a space, dug a hole, stuck a flag in it and played by myself!” She later got some used irons from the friendly golf pro, and her uncle found a golf bag someone had thrown away.
“I wanted to compete in junior golf, and the Detroit Free Press said the PGA was giving free lessons. Whoever showed the most improvement got a $10 gift certificate. I won, and that got me my first distance club, a Louise Suggs driver. I was 12.
“Lots of girls came from families that belonged to country clubs, and they would compete in the city championships. I wanted to join the Women’s Professional Golf Association (an LPGA precursor), which was the only game in town at that time, but I was still in high school. The WPGA only lasted about three years, and then it ran out of money. There were no pro tournaments for women back then.
“Women now compete much as the men do, even if they don’t make as much money, but back then, women made their way as trainers and testers, and a lot of time was spent trying to find companies that would sponsor tournaments.”
Spork has documented her story in a book, From Green to Tee, released earlier this year.
“I call it that, because I actually started on the green, with that putter, but I made it to the tee,” she says.
The book includes stories about Spork’s rise to prominence in the game, and it also sets out the history of women’s golf and the challenges faced by the women who were trailblazers.
Spork graduated from Eastern Michigan University, where she received a teaching degree.
“We had moved back into the city when I was in high school, and the lady upstairs had a daughter in teacher’s college,” she says. “I didn’t want to go. I wanted to be a golf pro. But I went, and I studied physical education.”
She also competed in and won tournaments, and was honored not by her school’s women’s physical education department, but by the men’s.
“When I finished school, I started teaching, because my parents had sacrificed to send me to college, but my heart wasn’t really in it,” Spork says. “My mom said, ‘You should be doing what you want to do, not what we want you to do.’ I spent many years teaching part of the year and golfing whenever I could.”
Spork’s educational background served her well in establishing the LPGA Teaching Division, dedicated to working with young people, and educating golf pros about how to teach effectively.
“People may not realize that just because they play well, that doesn’t mean they can teach others,” Spork says. “When it comes to women golfers, we have to educate about smaller hands, less height, less body strength, club length—things like that. And you have to teach people how to teach; it takes five years to become a Class A teacher.”
From the time when she was young and wheedling her way onto golf courses, Spork has met many golfers who helped her find opportunities to get more time on the links—and to find her way into tournaments and jobs.
“Golfers I met could see that I was going to be a golfer,” she says. “Some of them helped me get privileges at country clubs so I could qualify for city and state tournaments. Sometimes I had to go in the back door. I did whatever I could to be able to play.”
Spork’s career includes tournaments around the world, corporate sponsorships, helping design golf courses, being a golf pro at country clubs, and teaching generations of golfers.
The second annual Shirley Spork Pro-Am Golf Tournament was held at Palm Valley Country Club this past April, with the proceeds supporting The First Tee, a youth-development organization introducing golf and its values to young people through in-school and afterschool programs.
“I was never a great player,” Spork says, with charming modesty. “When I started, there were so few women who stood up for themselves.”
However, Shirley Spork did stand up for herself—and it paid off.
Anita Rufus is also known as “The Lovable Liberal,” and her radio show airs Sundays at noon on KNews Radio 94.3 FM. Email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Know Your Neighbors appears every other Wednesday at CVIndependent.com.
Published in Know Your Neighbors
Sponsor Wanted: The Kraft Nabisco Championship's Future Is Unclear—but the Tourney Is Unlikely to Move
Promotion is everything when it comes to sports events. Dinah Shore knew that; that’s why, back in 1972, she attached her name, and fame, to a brand-new women’s golf event at the Mission Hills Country Club.
To this day, many still call the LPGA’s first major of the year simply Dinah. Soon, that might be the only name this tournament has.
As of Monday, April 7, what has been known since 2002 as the Kraft Nabisco Championship will cease to exist under that name. The food giant, associated with the tourney since 1982, will not be the title sponsor anymore. Instead, the LPGA will take over the event, and the hunt for a new sponsor will start.
Remember the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, the other famed local golf extravaganza? A while after Hope’s passing, Chrysler dropped out, and the event struggled to regain its former glory. Thankfully, Humana and the Clinton Foundation eventually stepped in, in 2012, as sponsors.
I’ve covered the Kraft Nabisco Championship for 15 years now. I’ve watched the great champions like Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Karrie Webb jump into the lake adjacent to the 18th hole after wining the tourney. That victory leap is one of the most notable traditions in the game.
So how do you sell golf history nowadays? I asked Annika Sörenstam, a three-time winner here at Mission Hills, that very question. The now-retired golf superstar is optimistic about the tourney's future.
“I’m pretty sure that the tournament will stay here,” she said. “First of all, this is a major championship. There’'s so much history here. This, I think, is a really an exciting opportunity for a company to be involved with. It's just a lot of positive energy. I’m very optimistic that the things are going to go well here.”
Sorenstam isn’t the only person who is optimistic about the tourney’s future. Tournament director Gabe Codding is optimistic, too—and his job could be on the line thanks to the uncertainty over the sponsor.
“With this year’s event, we’re celebrating the 30-year legacy of Kraft Nabisco as a sponsor, and I was there for 20 years of it,” he said. “This tournament has emerged as the most historic event on the LPGA tour. So right now, it’s all about finding the right partner who loves the location, who loves the history and who loves to be involved with the first major.”
Codding is confident that a new title sponsor will be found, perhaps within six to eight months.
"We will take a time to find the right sponsor, to make sure that the chosen sponsor stays with the tournament for a long time," he said.
As for his future with the tournament, Codding said that he started working at the event when he was barely 18, and is prepared to exit if needed after serving more than five years as the director.
“The day I know that there’s somebody who can contribute more to the tournament than I can, I'll be ready to step aside. I'll be OK with it!" Codding said.
There are sporadic rumors that the tourney could move to Arizona or even Nevada. However, that’s unlikely to happen.
The tournament’s traditions include a statue of Dinah Shore at the 18th green. How could you move a monument to Dinah—the first lady of golf—and the legacy she created here at Mission Hills to Las Vegas? Let’s hope she will forever stay here, greeting the champions on their way to history.
Published in Local Issues
Snapshot: Palm Desert's Nicole Castrale Gives Locals Someone to Root for at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship
As she teed off Thursday morning, April 3, at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Nicole Castrale had a lot to prove.
The 11-year LPGA veteran and onetime Palm Desert High School golfer needed to show that any physical concerns caused by her September 2013 hip-replacement surgery were behind her. She has been swinging the club again for just three months, after all.
By the end of the day, she had proven a lot, turning in a one-under-par 71 that put her five strokes off the lead and in a tie for 14th place.
“I now have a right hip that works, so it’s nice,” said the Palm Desert resident. “I’ve been able to pick up some speed, which is good, so I’m hitting further off the tee.”
To what did she attribute her opening round success? “I just played real solid,” Castrale said. “I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. I didn’t make problems worse, and I just stayed real patient out there.”
Playing just down the road from her home also seems to agree with Nicole. “I’d say it took us 11 minutes to get here this morning. It’s nice to sleep in your own bed,” she said.
Is there added pressure to perform well in front of family and friends? “I always thought this golf course set up well for my game,” she said about the Mission Hills Country Club. “It’s a great course. One of the best we play all year.”
She then admitted that she does tend to force things a bit when playing at home. “My parents are here, and I’ve been here since eighth-grade. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. It’s an easy place to get around. My golf coach is here. I’ve got a great golf course I practice at, Toscana Country Club. It’s just home.”
In fact, family is never far away from Castrale when she’s at work: Her husband, Craig, doubles as her caddie. So how did Craig feel about their first day’s results?
“It’s a great start at any tournament, especially at a major, to get anything under par,” he said. “Long way to go, but definitely nice to have it under our belt and get the afternoon to rest.”
Castrale Takes a Shot Castrale Takes a Shot
Castrale Talks to the Media Castrale Talks to the Media
Celebrating a Good Round Celebrating a Good Round
For the Cameras For the Cameras
In Front of the Sand Trap In Front of the Sand Trap
Making a Putt Making a Putt
Nicole and Craig Castrale Nicole and Craig Castrale
The Family That Works Together The Family That Works Together
http://cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/news/snapshot/itemlist/tag/lpga#sigProId5779c7cc0b
What do the Castrales do in the Coachella Valley when it’s time to kick back and relax?
“Basically, we hang out at our house with our daughter,” said Castrale, laughing. “We’ve gone to The Living Desert, but we’re homebodies.”
Husband/caddie Craig agreed. “I’m just excited to spend as much time as possible with my wife and our daughter and all the family and friends. It’s great.”
Snapshot: Locals at the Kraft Nabisco Championship's Champions Junior Challenge
Monday marked the beginning of the now 42-year-old LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship, and the event began with a one-day tournament featuring California’s top young amateur female golfers.
The prize for the winner of the KNC Champions Junior Challenge: the final qualifying spot in the major championship’s field.
This year marked only the third anniversary of this new tradition and offered 39 excited young golfers—selected by a committee of the Southern California Golf Association—a special opportunity. Two of the talented amateurs—15-year-old Jiyoon Jang, of Rancho Mirage, and 17-year-old Mackenzie Raim, of Palm Desert—are locally grown, and both were members of the Palm Desert High School varsity girls’ golf team.
Each team of three players was accompanied by a previous winner of the prestigious Kraft Nabisco Championship, which was founded by Dinah Shore back in 1972. This year’s champion coach squad included, among many others, LPGA legends like Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Amy Alcott and Pat Bradley, who mentored Jiyoon Jang’s team as the players made their way around the Arnold Palmer Course at the Mission Hills Country Club.
“These young ladies are the future of our game,” said Bradley, the winner of the 1986 tournament, at the end of the round. “This game has given me so much, and to help these young ladies today was a great thrill for me.”
Jiyoon Jang shot a 3-over-par 75 on the day, and finished in a tie for 17th, five strokes behind the winner.
“I could have made a few more putts and gotten a few more chips, but this was an unforgettable memory for me,” she said after her round. “Pat Bradley said to us on the first tee that it’s not life and death—it’s just a game, honestly. I’m just going to take one shot at a time and just keep going.”
Bradley said she was impressed by the 15-year-old golfer.
“Miss Jang played great,” Bradley said. “I was very proud of her. She missed a couple of putts that I know she thought she’d made, and of course, this game can beat you up if you’re not careful.”
Bradley noted that Jang finished strong. “I was very pleased to see her stay positive, and when she made an eagle on 18, that was her reward for staying positive today.”
Jang said that eagle was the highlight of her round. “I wasn’t really going in to make an eagle. I just hit my fairway wood and tried to keep a smooth tempo. Then when I hit my putt, I just stuck with my line, and it dropped right in the center of the hole. It was really exciting, because Pat Bradley just started cheering and screaming.”
Meanwhile, Jang’s Palm Desert High teammate, Mackenzie Raim, enjoyed an even-par 72 finish, which put her in a tie for fifth. Lilia Vu, of Fountain Valley, was the winner at -2.
All in all, not a bad day for the local challengers. Scroll down to view an image gallery.
Jiyoon Jang and Pat Bradley Jiyoon Jang and Pat Bradley
Jiyoon Jang and the Media Jiyoon Jang and the Media
Jiyoon Jang in the Swing of Things Jiyoon Jang in the Swing of Things
Jiyoon Jang, Pat Bradley and the Scorecard Jiyoon Jang, Pat Bradley and the Scorecard
Jiyoon Jang Tees Off Jiyoon Jang Tees Off
Mackenzie Raim and Jiyoon Jang Mackenzie Raim and Jiyoon Jang
Mackenzie Raim Mackenzie Raim
http://cvindependent.com/index.php/en-US/news/snapshot/itemlist/tag/lpga#sigProId58ef247dfe
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